AEW President Tony Khan Talks Goldberg Rumors, Use Of Wins And Losses, Being Open To Partnerships
AEW President Tony Khan appeared on X-Pac 12360 to discuss a wide range of topics surrounding All Elite Wrestling, the Goldberg rumors, and making wins/losses actually matter. Here are some of the highlights:
Possibility of Goldberg signing with AEW:
"I have spent some time with Bill, I really like Bill, a lot, and he's one of the greatest drawing cards ever in the business. He's a huge star, a household name, and yeah, if the situation was right, obviously. I haven't agreed to anything with Bill, but I like him a lot."
Not buying out other promotions, but open to partnerships:
"No. No. We're looking to start something new I am not looking to absorb. I am open to partnerships. There are a lot of people doing exciting things all over the world and especially internationally; I am very open to partnerships. And domestically, I think I've seen the future and it's what we're doing. I am very, very happy with where we're at today. Yesterday was a real big day for us as a company and we have a lot of work to do moving forward between now and May 25th, Double or Nothing in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand, Memorial Day weekend. It's going to be a real good time. But yeah I am not really looking to acquire a lot of other companies or even libraries, but as far as partnerships and things of that nature I think there's a lot of exciting things that people can do."
How wrestlers with full-time office jobs can be provided with healthcare:
"Some of the people working with us are still independent contractors. And what I am doing is a lot of people are doing full-time office jobs. The people doing full-time office jobs have similar benefits to other sports executives and I have a lot of sports executives that are currently working with us here in Florida at the Jaguars, so what I've said is 'Okay, well you're sports executives so I can set you up with healthcare packages.' But at the end of the day a lot of people are doing office jobs, so a lot of wrestlers are gonna end up with healthcare out of this."
Challenges AEW will face:
"It's gonna be a challenge every week to provide a compelling product, as we go forward and deliver something people want to see regularly, that people will pay to see, and that will make it a profitable business. I think that's very important, I think it will be on the company to deliver something that people want to see and I think we have the performers that can deliver that, we have the brainpower within the organization to deliver that. So, I think it's not gonna be easy, everyone has to work really hard, but I think that's the challenge that everybody's up too."
His vision for AEW:
"I want to grow this into being something that the wrestling community will embrace. From top to bottom, beginning to end, every show we're going to give you things we think you're gonna enjoy and I don't want to give you anything unless there's a reason. Where it's gonna be important later where you saw it, I don't want to give you anything that you're not going to enjoy now. If that makes sense, I think what we have, is we have a group of people with so much talent and so much wrestling know-how that I think we're going to be able to generate a wrestling show that's not just built with great work and awesome promos, but spontaneity and a live show that really feels like a live show like 'Oh, anything can happen.' I am excited about what we're going to do."
Importance of wins and loses in the company:
"[Pro Wrestling] hasn't been taken seriously as the true athletic competition it is, in other sports wins and losses matter and I feel like wins and losses are a huge part of the equation. I really want a win and a loss to be taken seriously and the win/loss component should be a huge part of the competition to build up to the championship. Something we will take very very seriously. In my background in sports, I am huge believer in statistics and I think that's one area where in wrestling we've seen some cool stuff get over. To me, I think there's real opportunities to do some interesting things just in terms of building up athletes the way UFC has as legitimate competition."
Climate of the pro wrestling business and the work ethic of his roster:
"The business climate right now is very good for what we're doing and I think there's a great opportunity, obviously there was a lot of talent that were going to become available in 2019 to put together a top roster and I think that's what we've already begun to do and we already have some of the best workers in the world. ... I don't have any question about the work ethic of the people I am going into business with. How can you question Chris Jericho's work ethic? And Cody and The Bucks are friends of mine, I mean those guys work their asses off. And Hangman Page is gonna be a big, big star in this business. I feel really, really strongly about that guy. PAC is another guy who's a really hard worker."
You can check out the entire interview in the video above or via iTunes.