Tony Khan Comments On Tommaso Ciampa's AEW Debut, TNT Title Victory Ahead Of Dynamite

Plenty of fans were left in disbelief during last week's "AEW Dynamite" when Tommaso Ciampa, fresh off leaving WWE, showed up to confront then TNT Champion Mark Briscoe. They were in even more shock three days later on "AEW Collision," when Ciampa outlasted Briscoe in a grueling match to win the TNT Championship. While plenty of wrestlers have come into AEW with strong starts, Ciampa's title win was historic, as he became only the second person in AEW history to win gold in their first match with the promotion, following Mercedes Mone's TBS Championship win in 2024.

Appearing on the "Battleground Podcast" to promote this week's episode of "Dynamite" in Las Vegas, AEW owner Tony Khan was asked about Ciampa's debut and his thought process by putting the TNT title on Ciampa almost immediately. Khan indicated the decision was based on wanting to make a splash with a big time free agent signing in Ciampa, and a sort of make due to the audience in Arlington, Texas after a previous episode of "Collision" was canceled due to weather.

"It was our last 'Collision' in the Dallas residency," Khan said. "We were in Arlington around the Dallas Metroplex and we've had these great events. And because Dallas had been hit hard with the weather, and the fans were unable to come out, you know, a lot of events got canceled. And for us, we ended up moving the 'Collision' show two Saturday's ago. So I wanted to give the fans something really special. And when Ciampa became available, I thought that was such an exciting development."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Battleground Podcast" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription