In an interview with Indiewire, AEW CEO Tony Khan spoke about wrestling returning to mainstream prominence and why competition between companies has been the catalyst. Here are highlights:
On how competition created a pro wrestling resurgence: “There’s a number of big factors that would play into why wrestling has seen such a great renaissance in recent years. I think it comes from the great competition in wrestling right now, and the fact that there are so many great stars competing right now. Everyone knows that the most real thing in wrestling is the competition between the companies. The companies hate each other, and it will be a natural resource that powers the industry. They want to beat each other and take everybody’s free agents, and that makes it interesting for everybody else.”
On signing free agents to AEW: “It’s been very exciting to bring a lot of the top free agents in, and many of them are international stars that are being introduced to some fans on American television for the first time ever. I think now, in a digital era where the information is at our fingertips and entire libraries of matches are at our fingertips, it’s more feasible than ever for fans to familiarize themselves and for these wrestlers to connect with the domestic audience upon arrival.”
On the intent with the creation of AEW: “AEW is a challenger brand in the pro wrestling industry. When we started All Elite Wrestling, pro wrestling had been a monopoly for about 20 years. It was something that was really important to me to create an alternative pro wrestling promotion with a major following.”
