Tony Khan Reflects On AEW World Title Stipulation Requested By Cody Rhodes, Adam Page

Years ago, not long after AEW first came into existence, then-EVP Cody Rhodes made a declaration: if he lost his world title challenge against Chris Jericho at Full Gear 2019, he'd never again be able to compete for the championship. Rhodes eventually lost, and the stipulation generated a lot of criticism in the years that followed. Speaking on "Q101," AEW President Tony Khan addressed the situation.

"In the case of Cody, it was Cody's idea to do that," Khan stated. "I did have some reservations about it at that time, and he felt pretty strongly about it, and that's how it came to be. And I went along because I could see why he wanted to have that, and it would certainly build unpredictability around the event."

Khan maintains that the idea was successful on the initial night, but it became challenging to book around in the months and years that followed. The TNT Championship was created, at least in part, to give Rhodes a title that he could win and defend. It led to a rivalry with Darby Allin that Khan seems to consider one of the company's early highlights, but he reiterated that the idea of Rhodes being unable to challenge for the top title was not something that came from him.

This led to Khan being asked if "Hangman" Adam Page came up with the idea to enact the same stipulation earlier this year, or if it was a concept that came from Khan himself this time around. The executive and creative lead admitted that the idea again originated from talent.

"That was also something [Page] asked me about," Khan said. "In that case, knowing what we were doing, I thought that it made a lot of sense for where we were."

According to Khan, because AEW is in a much different position now than it was at the beginning, it makes more sense to put Page in that position. When Rhodes made it so he couldn't challenge for the AEW World Championship, Khan noted that the company didn't have as many top stars, and the decision resulted in Khan changing his creative direction.

"It's a huge risk," Khan admitted about both scenarios. "In each case, the wrestler asked me about it and I had some reservations, but they were different reservations and the company was in a different position each time, and it added in each case a lot of [un]predicatability to a huge world title fight on a major pay-per-view."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Q101 and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.