AEW's Tony Khan Explains Free Agent Strategy In 2025

AEW has had a quieter 2025 with respect to free agent signings, and Tony Khan has detailed the strategy behind it. 

Khan stated during his recent AEW Worlds End media call that the locker room is the best it has been since the company's inception.

"I think that we have a really tremendous locker room right now, and I'm very, very happy right now with the group we have in AEW, and it feels like the strongest the locker room has been internally, but also the best the quality of the TV wrestling has been," he began.

In 2024, AEW signed the likes of Mercedes Mone, Kazuchika Okada, and Ricochet, but the number of big-name signings decreased this year. The AEW CEO explained that he chose to add stars who would complement the existing roster.

"I thought that this year it wasn't all about trying to take big swings and bring all — it wasn't about trying to turn over and change all of the free agents. It was about bringing in people that were complementing what we do and have been very additive to AEW. So, we've had tremendous free agents come in this year, whether it was individuals like Kevin Knight or Speedball Bailey, who have been great as a team in Jet Speed, but also great individual wrestlers," he said. "Thekla is somebody who's come in here and has been a top contender, has wrestled top stars, and has picked up wins over some of the best women in AEW, competed in some of the most exciting matches, including the Blood and Guts match this year in Greensboro, North Carolina, which was a really successful AEW Dynamite for us."

Khan argued that the free agents he has signed this year have been effective, and is pleased to see that his policy towards free agents in 2025 has worked well.