Tony Khan conference call notes: ROH TV deal, working with WWE, Punk-Moxley, ratings, more

Notes from Tony Khan’s media conference call today…

– Khan says the reason the All Out card took a long time to come together was waiting on wrestlers to return (cites Punk, Danielson) which would then kick off other angles. Danielson was cleared the same day of ROH Death Before Dishonor.

– Khan said the reason for Zero Hour name for the All Out pre-show, he wanted to tie into history of All In/All Out and present something new and fresh. Might keep Buy-In for DoN. ZH not a pre-show, it’s its own event. 1st show they have streamed on IG. 1 more match could be added.

– Asked about Rampage ratings, Khan said they had to put his biggest stars and angles on Dynamite due to all the injuries. Wasn’t able to offer big matches on Rampage because of that. He’s excited & wants to reset. Again talks about roster strength after this weekend.

– Khan said he is going to put his full attention on improving Rampage now that the roster is nearing full strength. Stars and big matches are coming back to the show.

– Asked about having the first Punk/Moxley match last week, Khan thinks it will benefit Sunday’s match. It’s their 15th ppv and they haven’t done anything like it. Said it was a big ratings draw and built even more interest in the PPV since doing it. Was really pleased with it.

– Khan said Punk & FTR were originally set to face Will Ospreay & Aussie Open at Forbidden Door. Said he had a Punk/Tanahashi tag team match idea that would have been MOTY candidate that he still may do at some point.

– Khan is asked if he thinks a working relationship between AEW and WWE is possible now because of leadership changes at WWE. He says he was pretty optimistic at first but is less optimistic now given how they’ve treated him.

– Khan said there was a talent meeting. They dealt with lots of housekeeping items. Some items that got reported were accurate & some were wildly inaccurate. Said there were some issues talent had come to them about (hinting toward WWE tampering story).

– Asked if he is looking at All Out as a chance to refresh the women’s division & Women’s title, Khan said he is. He is looking forward to the four-way and the eventual unification match with Thunder Rosa.

– Khan wants to put on the best AEW PPV he can which means he wants the best wrestlers on the show, some of those happen to be ROH wrestlers & champions. It’s not a focused effort to keep the ROH name out there.

– Khan said he is still working on getting Ring of Honor weekly TV.

– Asked about an eventual in-ring resolution for Kingston/Guevara, Khan said he’s not sure. If both wanted to sign a contract and do it, he would be up for it.

– Khan said ROH Women’s Champion Mercedes Martinez is out with an injury right now and should be back soon.

credit: @WONF4W