AEW's Tony Khan Comments On Recent Rise Of Maya World Ahead Of Forbidden Door

Just six months after signing with All Elite Wrestling, Maya World has a major opportunity awaiting her at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door. There, she'll take on "The CEO" Mercedes Mone, a decorated champion and World's personal hero, in the finals of the 2026 Women's Owen Hart Foundation tournament.

According to AEW CEO Tony Khan, World's rapid rise isn't a shock, especially given her strong work ethic and in-ring talent. "She's come in and surprised a lot of people. I'm not surprised at all," Khan said on the Forbidden Door media call. "I think Maya World's excellent. If you followed her work in Ring of Honor this year, it's a great example of somebody making the most of every opportunity as well as her matches in AEW. Also a great example of somebody making the most of any opportunity to be on television and to be part of the team. Maya World is doing excellent things. She just had a fantastic match against her mentor Athena and picked up the biggest win in her career so far to reach the tournament finals. Now she's going to face her idol, the woman who made her want to be a pro wrestler, her hero. I think that's very cool."

The winner of the Women's Owen Hart Foundation tournament will earn the right to challenge for the AEW Women's World Championship at AEW's biggest event of the year, All In. Should World defeat Mone, her subsequent match at All In would mark her first singles title match in AEW. "The Toxic Spider" Thekla currently holds the AEW Women's World Championship.

The young star secured her finals spot by besting Skye Blue on the "AEW Dynamite: Summer Blockbuster" special. She then conquered her coach, ROH Women's World Champion Athena, in the semi-finals on "AEW Collision."

World's entry into the 2026 Women's Owen Hart Foundation tournament came after AEW doctors ruled Sareee not medically cleared to compete in her scheduled opening round faceoff with Blue. Khan noted that due to a recent death in her family, AEW originally pitched for World to take time off the road. World ultimately turned that down, and when a spot in the tournament opened, she felt like a natural candidate to replace the former IWGP Women's Champion.

"Maya World has been through a terrible personal tragedy," Khan said. "She was also offered the chance, if she wanted to take us up on it, to take some time away and everybody would have understood. She would have been welcomed back anytime with open arms. And Maya did not want to take the time off. She was there. It was in Cincinnati. Given that she had come to work, even though obviously given all the terrible family tragedy that she's dealing with, there was no pressure on her to come into work, but she wanted to come into work. Given this opportunity and the history involved, I felt like it would be a really strong opportunity for Maya as a wrestler. She wanted to do it."

Khan further praised World for her recent performances in Ring of Honor, AEW's sister promotion. One saw World survive a Proving Ground bout against Athena, which earned her a follow-up ROH Women's World Championship match. World then emerged as one of the final two in a Survival of the Fittest match for the same title at ROH Supercard Of Honor.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit AEW with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.