AEW Boss Tony Khan Recalls Booking Fantasy Wrestling Shows As A Kid

It's clear that AEW President Tony Khan loves professional wrestling more than most people, so much so that thanks to his wealth and connections in American media, he made All Elite Wrestling a reality at the beginning of 2019. During a recent panel at the "SXSW Festival," Sports Illustrated's Justin Barrasso asked Khan if he could go more in-depth on how "Dynamite" had been in the pipeline long before its debut. 

"I've been writing a show of my own called Dynamite since I was 12 years old," Khan said, explaining that AEW became a real possibility when he bumped into the President of TBS and TNT. He asked if there was ever a chance that wrestling could find a place on either network in the modern era, like when WCW aired on both channels in the 1990s. Khan was told there was a possibility, and he set his plan into motion.

Not only has Khan been able to showcase some of the best young talent in the world on shows like "Dynamite," "Rampage," and "Collision," but he's also had the chance to work with people he dreamt of working with as a child. During the interview, he elaborated on how it feels to now book some of his fantasy card wrestlers on weekly television.

"It's a really fun thing. There's people that are in AEW in real life that are a big part of the show now that were a big part of shows I wrote back then." Khan mentioned people like Sting, Adam Copeland, Christian Cage, and members of the Blackpool Combat Club as people he fantasy booked as a child, so working with them in real life is something Khan calls a fantastic experience.

Please credit "SXSW" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.