AEW News and Notes
Tidbits from Tony Khan’s All Out conference call…
– Asked about the CM Punk scrum at All Out and why he didn’t stop him, Tony Khan said he didn’t know what he was going to say and that he can’t comment about anything beyond that. He was focused on other talent coming up and important stuff to talk about from them.
– Asked about whether Punk will return, Khan said he can’t comment about that but has nothing but good things to say about his contributions to AEW.
– Khan says the Owen Hart tournament will return in 2023 and looks forward to continuing the relationship with the family.
– Khan said that injured ROH Women’s Champion Mercedes Martinez was cleared Wednesday.
– Khan says Ricky Starks’ injury last week was real and he couldn’t be cleared. Winner of Starks/Archer Friday will go against Cage on Saturday’s Zero Hour with the tournament finals happening on the 11/23 Dynamite from Chicago.
– Asked about running a PPV in WWE’s backyard, TK talks about the success of Grand Slams in the past and that Saturday should be a big success. They are closing in on $1 million for FG and cited millions of dollars in cost savings toward routing recent events to the Northeast.
– Khan says he has enjoyed working with AR Fox thus far and in general spending more time talking with talents like him during the Orlando Dark tapings. He liked what Fox did in recent Dark matches and came up with pairing him with Top Flight for Wednesday.
– Khan says they will evaluate the ROH situation and TV deal after Final Battle. He points to their PPV success and says there is a biz case that doesn’t cannibalize AEW. Again talks about WBD and their relationship.
– Khan says Hangman Page is doing well and is looking forward to his in-ring return. Doesn’t give any timeline for his return or any other details.
– Khan says Full Gear will end at a “reasonable time” on Saturday. It will be a relatively tight night of wrestling vs. a lot of video packages and such. Says wrestling won’t necessarily start right at 7 Eastern for the Zero Hour pre-show.
– Asked about the return of The Elite, TK says he can’t comment on the investigation or ‘backstage aspect of it’ and focuses instead on the rivalry between the various wrestlers involved, their past matches, and the Trios title matches.
credit: Wrestling Observer via @wrestlingobserver