AEW President Tony Khan believes that wrestling media does more good than harm, and he made a powerful case for it on a recent edition of MVP’s “Marking Out” podcast.
During a recent appearance on the “Marking Out” podcast, Khan said that wrestling newsletters helped him discover Japanese and Lucha Libre wrestling when he was younger.
He also admitted that there may be misinformation within the space and that the journalistic standard in wrestling is way lower than in mainstream sports, however the positives still outweigh the negatives.
You’ll be able to take a look at some highlights from the podcast below:
On wrestling media being a net positive: “Yeah, I feel overall there may be more help than hurt. I feel there could be, at times, misinformation and even disinformation where people put incorrect things out into the world in wrestling uh for their very own profit. And I find that there’s sometimes a whole lot of truth, and sometimes there’s not in a few of these stories. And when you realize them firsthand, it might probably definitely be interesting.”
On the positives of wrestling media: “I feel where there may be a net profit and a whole lot of good things, there’s a lot wrestling on the earth. And for me, that is where I learned quite a bit in regards to the international wrestling. We’re talking about Japanese wrestling. It’s where I first examine and learned about a whole lot of the wrestling happening in Japan and in Mexico, which I’m a giant fan of the Lucha Libre and I learned a whole lot of from wrestling newsletters about that. “And then you definately mentioned contributing. I mean, the extent of my contributions can be sending in results from shows that I went to. But a superb example of that’s, I wrote that I actually enjoyed once I saw on Super Bowl Sunday… there’s perhaps 1,500 people within the constructing, and MVP and Chris Benoit beat the hell out of one another and had this improbable match. And I said, ‘This was one other level from anything on the show. It is a superb match, these guys wrestled really hard and set a superb standard.’ And you realize, while you’re a young wrestler coming out, I feel that it might probably help construct your fame hearing about this stuff.”
On seeing several NJPW talent wrestle for the primary time: “After I heard that the Super Jr. [Tournament] was going to be on streaming, and it was like 15, 16 years ago. First time I’ve seen Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Prince Divot and saw some familiar faces on this like Taka Michinoku and Tiger Mask, and those who I had seen wrestle. So I absolutely think that there are advantages. You’ll be able to examine wrestlers, and then you definately exit and you need to watch them. They may very well be very influential on you. And there definitely are positives and negatives, but I definitely think the positives would far outweigh the negatives in the case of wrestling newsletters and wrestling media.”
On rumor mongering in wrestling media: “There’s different ethics in journalism, and I do think that to your point [MVP], the sourcing, verifying of rumors — there’s a much higher standard for reporting things in football than there may be in wrestling. The sort of sourcing it is advisable report what’s only a rumor — like these locker room rumors, you don’t see real football writers writing these sorts of things. In wrestling, the journalistic standard is way lower. But there are the advantages from the coverage that you simply get, similar to with I feel in some other sport where you need to have the highest writers talking about what they see, giving their opinions. I don’t at all times agree with the football writers, I don’t at all times agree with the wrestling writers. But I respect that folks follow something year-round, especially wrestling which really truly is year-round. But should you follow the game, and similar to in football or wrestling, I feel it’s the same thing where there are some writers that set the next standard for his or her writing and for his or her ethics.”
On Sting’s AEW run: “Sting and Darby versus the Young Bucks I feel was the one biggest retirement match within the history of professional wrestling. In Revolution 2024 in Greensboro, in a city that has a lot pro wrestling history as we all know, we set every record for attendance and box office for Sting’s retirement match. We had Ric Flair and Ricky the Dragon Steamboat, who would even be right here if we were making a top five for me, on that list.”
“Sting and Darby won every match they ever had. What an incredible team,” Khan said. “And in his undefeated run, Sting became World Tag Team Champions with Darby, and what must have been an ideal moment for them, celebrating the championship win in Phoenix with Sting’s family, was marred by the Young Bucks. And the Young Bucks, Sting’s family, they did something no person had ever done to Sting in all those many years. They hurt Sting’s family. To have Sting’s retirement match in AEW, and to have Sting exit on top, and to have him be so completely satisfied with it, it means quite a bit to me.”
Mark Henry doesn’t want WrestleMania to return to a single night, and he’s made his reasoning very clear.
During a recent interview with the Toronto Sun, Henry explained that sitting through 5 or 6 hours of anything is solely an excessive amount of for anyone.
He pointed to long AEW pay-per-views as an ideal example of how marathon shows hurt the experience, and declared that the two-night format protects each the fans and the event itself.
You’ll be able to take a look at some highlights from the interview below:
On if he thinks WrestleMania should return to 1 night: “I don’t. I feel it sucks to be anywhere for five and a half six hours. And you realize, like I really like food, but I can’t eat for five hours. I like movies but after even the longest, drawn-out movies — if it’s two and a half, three hours I’m going to sleep. I’m gonna miss that last two hours of that movie.”
On the worth of two nights: “You have got to have things in a spot where you’re not hurting yourself. And that’s what two nights does. I’m a giant fan of AEW. But sometimes you have a look at a AEW PPV, it’s 5 hours. Man, your butt starts tingling from sitting so long, you realize? I mean, you get cramps. So, it it’s it’s been done before, we’ve experienced it. I don’t wish to return to that.”
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