Let’s face it: If you were a wealthy person who owned a pro wrestling company, it would be hard to resist the temptation to make yourself part of the action. For AEW CEO, GM and head of creative Tony Khan, who grew up a wrestling fan, that allure must be powerful indeed.
Yet Khan has resisted drawing too much attention to himself on AEW programming since the promotion’s inception, appearing only to make announcements and every once in a blue moon as an authority figure. If you’ve been to an AEW show in person, you know the only time he’s likely to pop up is to hype up the crowd before it goes live or to thank fans for attending once the cameras are off.
As for getting in the ring himself, as other promoters have been known to do from time to time, Khan has absolutely no thoughts of that. He told the Levack and Goz podcast that he’d much rather have the fans focus on what he calls “the best wrestlers in the world” (h/t Fightful for the transcription).
I don’t think anybody really wants to see that. Not anytime soon. That’s not anything I think we’re going to do. I do think AEW has a great roster, the best wrestlers in the world. I would rather try to put the best matches and we have exciting rivalries building in AEW right now.
With all due respect to Khan, he’d likely need to start a cruiserweight division to compete in even if he did want to try his hand in the ring. Still, with the roster already stacked with talent, Will Ospreay on the way and Mercedes Moné and Kazuchika Okada likely joining the company soon too, there’s definitely no need for TK to change his stance — and honestly, that’s a good thing.
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