Tony Khan wants to make sure that Ring of Honor stands on its own separately from All Elite Wrestling.
All Elite Wrestling President Tony Khan hosted a Double or Nothing Media Call this afternoon and answered a variety of questions. When asked why Ring of Honor wasn’t purchased as part of the AEW brand, Khan offered an interesting insight into the situation.
“I just jumped on it, honestly,” Tony Khan said. “Me personally, It was a unique opportunity. I was on the phone, and I heard that if I paid a certain price, I could buy a Ring of Honor then in there, and I didn’t want to complicate it or make it any more difficult than it was going to be. I just said I’ll do it right then and there, me personally. It’s easy for me to do that. I didn’t have to go through any, you know — I guess the way I looked at it at the time was the price was right. The opportunity was right. And I was looking out for AEW.
“I think I’m always thinking of AEW. And in doing so, I think this transaction, it makes sense for Ring of Honor to be its own brand and stand on its own feet. Not saying Ring of Honor is a subsidiary of AEW or secondary in any way. I think that’s one of the things that made Ring of Honor Supercard a really compelling event is you didn’t feel like it was a developmental show or it was a secondary show. You had great matches on the card. It was a very well-received card. It’s been one of the best-reviewed shows of the year critically and commercially; It was a massive success. Is Ring of Honor as big as AEW right now? No. Is it selling as many pay-per-views? No.
“But that was incredible growth for Ring of Honor, a company that has over 20 years of history now and has sold a ton of pay-per-views over the years. And that was, of all the shows they promoted, one of the biggest Ring of Honor shows. It was the biggest show by far in years. When we get all the final numbers in, when it’s all said and done. It’s going to be probably 20 times or more than the recent Ring of Honor pay-per-views. Like 20 times as many people watching. So we’ve been able to rebuild and get Ring of Honor, I think to a stronger place than it’s been in many, many years.
“But I just don’t see it as a secondary thing or a subsidiary thing. It’s a separate standalone thing. It’s one of the most important wrestling companies in the world. So at the time, I thought it would make sense just to jump on it, and I was thinking, you know me personally, that’s a great move. But also, I think I want AEW and Ring of Honor to work together. But Ring of Honor isn’t supposed to be working for AEW, they’re your own two promotions, and they’re going to both be very strong with great champions, and I’ll operate them separately, and I think one thing that’s been great since the sale has been having some of the top stars in Ring of Honor wrestle in AEW including having the Ring of Honor World Television Champion Samoa Joe being involved in the Owen Hart tournament and now in the finals of the tournament, taking on one of the biggest wrestlers in the world Adam Cole.”
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What do you make of Tony Khan’s comments? Do you like the fact that he wants to make sure Ring of Honor stands on its own as a company separately from All Elite Wrestling? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the AEW Double or Nothing Media Call with a link back to this article for the transcription.
Check out the full media call below:
