Tony Khan discusses appearing on-screen on AEW programming.
In the past, AEW CEO Tony Khan has rarely appeared on-screen, beyond making announcements. However, he has gotten more involved in recent weeks. The Elite attacked him on the May 24 episode of AEW Dynamite. He then made a brief appearance on the May 22 episode.
During the AEW Double or Nothing media call, WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard asked Tony Khan about his mindset regarding appearing on-screen.
“I’ve really tried to limit the amount of appearances that I personally have made over the past five years,” Tony Khan said. “I think it would be fair to say that less than one-tenth of one percent of the television time has been spent on me over the last five years. That’s how it should be. Occasionally, like you said, if a match needed to be made or a major announcement, I would come out and do those things. I am planning to visit the the fans again this weekend. I love being at the events, before and after with the live crowd and visiting with the fans and signing autographs and taking photos and things like that whenever I can.
“It’s really important to me that the focus of the show is on the wrestlers and the wrestling. I think even when there’s a story like the struggle for control of the company, the power in the office, I think it’s still important to feature it in the context of a wrestling show and with the wrestlers. So even with the thing last night, I think I was [on-screen] for at most two seconds on the show. That’s how it should be. You don’t need to see a ton of me.”
Tony Khan On His Appearance On 5/22 AEW Dynamite
Tony Khan then stated that the show should be about the wrestlers. He noted that specifically with the May 23 episode of AEW Dynamite, he was the only one who could help Allin get into the building.
“It should be about the wrestlers,” Tony Khan said. “The reaction Darby got when he got into the arena, and because the Young Bucks had banned him from the arena and Kenny Omega has been out with the surgery, then there’s really only one person that could lift that ban.
“I felt like that ban really needed to get lifted. It was really important going into Double or Nothing for the fans to see Darby and for him to save Bryan Danielson on his birthday and for Bryan and Darby to stand tall.”
Tony Khan went on to highlight Team AEW before he circled back to his on-screen character. He reiterated that it was important to limit the extent of his appearance and focus on the wrestlers.
“It was important Darby was there to back up Bryan last night,” he said. “I felt like there was only one person that could get him in there. But again, I think it was also important that, at most, maybe two seconds of that would be me. The rest was him because it’s important to showcase the wrestlers on the wrestling show.”
WrestleZone will have coverage of AEW Double or Nothing as it airs on May 26.
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