Ahead of the 250th episode of AEW Dynamite, Tony Khan reflects on meeting with The Elite to start the company we know today.
All Elite Wrestling President Tony Khan recently sat down with Liam Crowley of ComicBook.com. While discussing the inception of the company, Khan recalled his first meeting with The Elite was with Matt Jackson and his wife Dana. Following that meeting, Khan met with Cody Rhodes and his agent Brian Wittenstein.
“It was a few months after my first conversation with Kevin Reilly that I had my first conversation with Matt and his wife Dana. The first person I talked to out of The Elite was Matt and Dana. They called me on July 3rd, 2018,” Tony Khan mentioned. “I think Nick thought, ‘This guy’s crazy.’ Everybody’s heard charlatans come out of the woodwork in wrestling, and they’d seen a lot of that, and I don’t think those guys were going to take it seriously, but something about my approach intrigued Matt.
Tony Khan couldn’t talk to Kenny Omega until last as he was contracted to NJPW
“Honestly, I think it was the fact that it’s coming from the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars is what it was. I think it gave us a lot of credibility. After that I met with Cody’s agent, Brian Wittenstein, because Matt reached out to Cody and said this was a great call,” Khan continued. “I talked to Matt and Nick together, and then met Brian, and then Brian introduced me to Cody and we had all these great talks.
“It was a while later before I could talk to Kenny because Kenny was with New Japan Pro Wrestling,” Khan added. “We actually launched with Matt, Nick Jackson, Hangman Page, Cody Rhodes, MJF, Pac, and Chris Jericho, Dr. Britt Baker, and many others that came to the rally in Jacksonville when we announced AEW on January 8th, 2019. Kenny joined us a month later after he fulfilled his obligations with New Japan. It’s crazy to think back.”
READ MORE: Tony Khan: A US Stadium Show Is Not Something We’re Looking To Do In The Immediate Future
What do you make of Tony Khan’s comments? Are you excited to check out AEW Dynamite 250 later on tonight? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
