CEO of wrestling start-up AEW on the impact of the WWE-UFC merger

Tony Khan, CEO of All-Elite Wrestling, says his company has been "on a really hot run of great shows" and the focus is still on wrestling and fans.

[@jotac87278]

The interviewer didn't even know the correct letters to your company, and TK didn't even correct him. He called it AWE.

[@MarcinScholke]

:)

[@Biscuitdough]

Yeah vince would've corrected him that's why he made money and tony didn't.... I still wish him well tho

[@RomaroBrandon]

People that are mad at the title, let me remind you that AEW exist because Dave Meltzer responded to a tweet saying ROH could not sell out an arena with 10K plus fans. Cody Rhodes said they could, and because of the success of All In AEW was created a few months later. It's only been 4 years not 10, not 12. If you don't think its a start up company that's fine but it's still the youngest one in America and probably the world right now.

[@willyonthejuice]

@jabron.destoroyah lol what? startups absolutely abuse an infinite money cheat code, its called venture capitalists. Nvision Imaging just raised 30 mill on a series A. Not a series B, C, D or E, Series A. Then when they are done with series E funding, they go public. Shit, Uber is still using the infinite cheat code. Those homies havent turned a profit yet.

[@BigReggii]

@jabron.destoroyah By definition its a start up . The term start up coined as a hip term formed in the late 90s with the rise of the internet and internet companies , one of those companies were Microsoft , Amazon and Ebay . Guess what ?Bezos and Gates borrowed money from their daddies . You may feel a different way but feelings dont matter only the truth matters . Now on AEW ??? So what if he borrowed money from his father which he will inherit , so what ... he had a idea with the financial capital to make it happen . He invested 100 million in 2019 of his family money into the venture , he made over 400 million since then .

[@MarcinScholke]

yeahhh

[@ishmael802]

No the reason AEW was created was because TV Rights for Live television was bidding for 100’s of Millions of dollars.

[@franciscodiaz4217]

WCW was not a start up because it existed as jcp nwa. AEW started from the ground up so it's a start up

[@huh8662]

Thanks guys

[@SSJofZ]

Hi

[@Larissa-lo6of]

AEW is a rubbish wanna-be WWE. I went to AEW shows and its disgusting and very weak.

[@artvandelayRFC]

"A hot run of good shows" 😂😂😂

[@christophermarriott1681]

Watch the product. AEW blows WWE's shows out of the water in quality.

[@artvandelayRFC]

@christophermarriott1681 Both companies weekly shows are boring but WWE PLE/PPV shows crap all over AEW. How can you say that when a cringe Lord like Orange Cassidy is booked like Goldberg in WCW.

[@brandonowen9881]

​​@@artvandelayRFCFr bro. One of their biggest stars right now is named mf "Jungle Boy" lmao...there's definitely some decent matches in AEW from time to time, but the marks just don't want to admit that it's a mostly a bunch of overhyped indy darlings with cringe gimmicks and stories that go absolutely nowhere. Not saying WWE is much better recently, but the one thing they got right was the Bloodline and bringing Cody back. Stealing the guy that basically helped kickstart the whole company was a Don move. As Cody mentioned himself in one of his promos leading up to WM39, having a rival promotion with actual financial backing is a good thing because it means there's more leverage for the performers in their contract negotiations to actually get paid what they're worth. So I'm all for AEW, but they could use a little more structure and direction.

[@deondagoat]

​@@brandonowen9881 Jungle boy is not one of their biggest stars 😂😂😂

[@Mega_Collosas]

​@@christophermarriott1681both suck ,how about that?

[@fp8101]

Tony "crybaby" Khan

[@USA0645]

At least it didn't said the n-word like Vince Mc ass

[@KevinMcTrollister]

Is he on some type of medication?

[@shoresy6927]

Lmao Tony just stop talking!!!

[@James.Gatsby]

"I'm in danger" -tony khan lol

[@AnthonyAscue]

Start up lol. Probably not intentional, but that is a world-class burial right there lol.

[@edwardiputo1592]

They are a start up company. It’s only 4 years old, they have fewer than 500 employees and revenue not in the $50 millions according to some. I don’t have the date to confirm

[@Mega_Collosas]

they don't care about aew fans feelings,they care about wwe being the biggest and only global brand

[@Shewant.johnnn]

Let tony do what he’s gonna do man. He’s a wrestling fan playing universe mode in real life. He smiles and smiles leave the man alone and let him cook

[@gamesps9562]

No, he took his daddy's cash, bought the game, and now his little cousins are playing it instead of him.

[@nightwand1742]

all he is cooking is nose candy

[@EliasRoy]

Yes he is cooking 😂😂😂

[@kingkade2581]

I see a lot of people in the comment section tomo all the money he has. Ted Turner was a billionaire. He eventually sold WCW. History tends to repeat itself a lot. Don’t believe me. CM punk is the same as hulk hogan to AEW. Really think on what’s gonna happen here in a couple of years.

[@cHriiSzbEe]

Thanks guys

[@chroniclesofnigeria1358]

Thanks guys

[@JacobPMendoza]

:48 Seconds “Not so great promotions outside of AEW”… Don’t sugar coat it Tony. You hate WWE

[@ChrisCards]

He was obviously referring to bad cross promotions... not a bad promotion. Context is important.

[@vincenzo4799]

Full interview?

[@Yoxu-0]

Fightful

[@paulanthonyhendricks1435]

Lol what a dork! It's funny how much he talks about WWE's mistakes but their accomplishments over the years is the reason he even has a relevant business.

[@GeorgeSturgis17]

Ratings show WWE and AEW are struggling

[@kingtrapfromchii]

Yes they need to merge

[@timfitz7794]

1st time I’ve ever saw Tony blink

[@j.c.j.edufraine9408]

Khan is talking nonsense. You see businessmen like Ari and Vince and then you look at this fool Tony Khan, I get second hand embarrassment

[@Maxx_d13]

Thanks guys!

[@curlyfriez213]

Wow he not cracked out LIVE CNBC 😅

[@THERLR11]

AWE is crazy

[@mgcuniverse9037]

AEW should have a partnership with One MMA

[@shinister9720]

We’re gonna leveL uP thE aLl Atlantic title in Winnipeg

[@Chris-wi3vu]

Isn't it called the International title now?

[@ENO355]

I wish I could talk to someone about the other company they own flex-n-gate who fired me for complaining about a protected Act I would love to do an interview on that I have all the proof you need

[@DMForever1]

What are the not great promotions that he is referring to, ones that he got the not great talent from?

[@chrismalinowski654]

Just cause the talent is great doesnt mean the promotion is. Separate entities.

[@The_OneManCrowd]

TNA, NWA, and Lucha Underground.

[@quentelhill5074]

​@@The_OneManCrowdnaw impact is great and is growing nwa on the other hand is failing

[@number6223]

WCW 2.0

[@michaelhubbard4989]

God bless Tony Khan.

[@DragonHeart613]

😒

[@K0NVICTx]

Idk why people hate on TK. He’s such a pro-wrestling fan, and just seems like the nicest guy. He lets wrestlers do what they want to do, although sometimes it can backfire, but at least he’s always TRYING to do the right thing.

[@DragonHeart613]

He allowed the toxic snake known as cm punk back into his promotion & now his locker room is completely divided.

[@Tuturial464]

He ripped on wwe when he should be focusing on aew and the talent he manages

[@K0NVICTx]

@@DragonHeart613 yeah but he’s a business man. CM Punk is a draw. But I do agree. I don’t recall any issues until Punk came.

[@K0NVICTx]

@@Tuturial464 eh, I don’t think he ripped on them. But he did throw some shade. He’s also creating competition & have heard him speak highly of WWE before. Wrestlings has moments, can’t blame him for trying to make a moment, or draw attention.

[@SuprGaming]

Punk is the biggest draw they ever had, without punk there rating where tanking. Punk is back and I love it

[@Prince-xy3km]

What is this guy interviewing Tony saying . Isaaunmpaaaa AEW

[@Random_Artist_Music]

How is it a start up lmao it’s been out 4 years and does better than more established companies

[@RomaroBrandon]

Exactly, it's only been 4 years and exist because of Cody Rhodes made a bet with Dave Meltzer.

[@DragonHeart613]

@RomaroBrandon Yeah khan had nothing to do with aew existing in the first place. It was all Cody.

[@RomaroBrandon]

@@DragonHeart613 no he had nothing to do with All In, that was Cody Rhodes & The Young Bucks but AEW is Tony Khan's doing.

[@jotac87278]

Those aren't binary. You can be a start-up and have some better shows than established companies. Companies that are 4 years old are still considered newly start-up. Hell, we live in America, and we are 250 years old, and we are considered young.

[@Random_Artist_Music]

@@DragonHeart613 are you serious? Maybe his idea but how do you think he had the money to start the company

[@GigaChadBigW]

why that guy is afraid to do the question!!!

[@michaelvazquez7851]

Good video

[@codyjohnson4174]

Lol I see a lot of people that would rather watch a pg kids show than a show for adults here. For hating AEW, there’s a lot of you here taking time out of your day to cry about things hundreds of people say a day, wrestling fans calling other wrestling fans marks, I mean it makes no sense really. I guess they’re all just upset AEW is about to set the all time record for wembley stadium, remember when all you guys were saying they won’t even sell 30,000 tickets. Well, you were wrong then, so you’re probably wrong now, and as for weekly shows, both WWE and AEW have good and bad weeks, truth is wrestling is just not popular or “cool” like it was in the 90’s, I’m the only one out of all my friends that watches wrestling, and I could care less about the ratings of either show and this civil war all the fans and picking sides, it’s really just how the world is today and it’s sad, but whatever. I loved the bloodline story but that’s died down, n AEW seems to be heating back up. It’ll go back n forth, n some idiot will try to say something pointless to me and they’ll think I’m gonna come back and read it lol na I got a life sorry. Can’t wait for sting vs Chris Jericho!

[@Kyle-wq2ps]

I mean he owns Fulham and jaguars

[@DragonHeart613]

Yet he spends very little on either but spends gazillions on aew. Fulham & Jaguar fans wondering why khan ain't spending any real money on their PL & Superbowl dreams like he does to try to compete with WWE.

[@Jaymariota27]

CM Punk is going to destroy the business

[@VlogsIWC]

Bros coked

[@scott-bg3lt]

1:09 😂 Ae w aahhh aaae Auuuuu

[@treyreal6837]

Tony khan is the best 🐐 much respect fam

[@King4sshole89]

😂😂😂😂

[@ricksanchez2425]

Al Pacino

[@eliebechara3811]

Impact 😅

[@Stizzfoshizz]

Lol start up? Dude is worth more than Vince

[@artvandelayRFC]

His Dad is, you mean. Also, Vince doesn't own WWE anymore.

[@Kingwheelie664]

​@@artvandelayRFCwell he still do now the deal not finished yet

[@kevbotchill]

Hey guys

[@tytharpe350]

WWE started with AEW first you all show think or remember the D Generation X's WWE Hall of Fame speech that came from the Co-Founder, when he told Billy Gunn that VKM can buy that little pissant company fire Billy Gunn. Also, before that comment trying to block ROH & NJPW from having a show at Madison Square Garden.

[@bigbrother1137]

CM Punk owns the Bucks!!

[@number6223]

Aew sucks 😂

[@charlottemarsh2202]

A troll?? Here?? 🤣🤣🤣

[@johnnyhazard6305]

Your motha

[@dutchcalhoun5518]

This little nerd has a wrestling league? Does Vince McMahon just wake up everyday and bully this dude?

[@number6223]

Here come the marks 🤣

[@JT-bs2lm]

Yeah they suck money.

[@frankthetank819]

AEW will never be WWE lmao they can try all they want 👍 Now ufc and WWE emerged let’s go🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@minced2fuk]

He looks sober.