Tony Khan discussed how Claudio Castagnoli‘s arrival in All Elite Wrestling came together and, in the process, he confirmed the date for Ring of Honor‘s next pay-per-view.
Castagnoli, the former Cesaro, made his AEW debut at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door as the mystery opponent Bryan Danielson picked for Zack Sabre Jr. The former WWE star won the bout, and he will also replace Danielson in the Blood and Guts Match on the June 29 episode of AEW Dynamite.
During the post-show media scrum, Khan described how he agreed to a deal with Castagnoli and noted that he initially planned to debut him at ROH’s next pay-per-view, Death Before Dishonor, which he confirmed for July 23. He stated that Danielson’s injury forced him to change these plans, as he shut “The American Dragon” down as soon as it was clear that he wasn’t 100%.
“I asked him about coming in actually before I knew for sure that Bryan was out, but I had a pretty good idea that Punk would be out,” said Khan. “And I could tell there were gonna be a lot of changes, and we had already had a lot of injured people. I had no idea we’d have even more on the run up to the show. But I just felt like it was the day after the Forum, so it would have been June 2, and I had interest, there was definitely mutual interest. But at that point I felt like there was a good chance. I wasn’t sure if it would be here or at another thing that actually I’d be interested to talk to you about in a minute. But I wasn’t sure if he would be coming in here or Death Before Dishonor, July 23 on pay-per-view in Lowell, Massachusetts, Ring of Honor’s return event on Bleacher Report, our first Ring of Honor event on Bleacher Report.”
“And I’m very excited about that and thank you to Bleacher Report and WarnerMedia for working with us to bring Ring of Honor back to pay-per-view after a successful return at Supercard of Honor. So I figured there was a chance that if Bryan made it back that there was a good chance that probably he would have started at Death Before Dishonor and it would have been a great moment there. But I think for the crowd here, this was something very special and as long as Bryan’s okay, that’s the most important thing, and I think he will be fine. And it was great to have a great moment here at Forbidden Door, so things worked out perfectly, so I was very fortunate.”
Khan elaborated by explaining that Danielson had been doing well previously, so he was hopeful he’d be able to return in time before he had a setback. Ironically, Danielson suggested Castagnoli to replace him without even knowing that Khan had signed him.
“I talked to Bryan on the phone last weekend, and he told me he didn’t think, he just wasn’t feeling 100% and as soon as he said that, I said we’re eight days from the pay-per-view but if you’re not feeling 100%, don’t even think about wrestling at the pay-per-view,” said Khan. “Don’t even think about wrestling at Blood and Guts. Because we had been feeling really well. I talked to him in St. Louis on the phone and he was doing great, and he was so optimistic.
“He was like that fired up Bryan Danielson we all know. He wanted to go, he was like I feel great, and he hadn’t done anything since Double or Nothing, and he really was optimistic. And then I didn’t even wanna take another chance as soon as he said that, so he mentioned Claudio and I said that’s funny because I have Claudio under contract. And I hadn’t told anybody, you’re the first person I mentioned it to, but I think that’s gonna work out real nice for all of us. And you’re gonna be okay, and he’s gonna do great, so it worked out.”
As Khan said, ROH Death Before Dishonor is confirmed for July 23. It will be held in Lowell, Massachusetts, and it will stream on Bleacher Report. This will be ROH’s first show since Supercard of Honor on April 1.
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