Tony Khan Reportedly Had Plans For A Giant Egg And Turkey For AEW Thanksgiving Episode
On the latest episode of the AEW Unrestricted podcast, Aubrey Edwards and Tony Schiavone sat down with former BTE Champion Charlie Ramone. Ramone primarily serves in a behind the scenes role in AEW as well, and he explained his job responsibilities in AEW.
"I actually have a job title. I try to do absolutely everything I can," Ramone noted. "I'm a Special Projects Manager. I do cinematic matches. Anything that happens outside the ring, that's essentially what I'm in charge of so doing all the coordination with that and helping everything run smoothly.
"So getting guests in, helping them set up everything, getting locations locked down, that type of stuff is what I do. I love the security aspect. I love the props aspect. I love the artistic aspect. I can't let any of that other stuff go. I even love getting Monster's for Mr. Schiavone."
Ramone talked about what he did prior to AEW. He revealed how he got into AEW and what one prop assignment got him to stick around AEW.
"I'd been a police officer prior to AEW, and with policing going the way it had been, I didn't see a good or a bright future," Ramone admitted. "After discussing things with the department, I left, and I went to Cody, promptly, the next day and I said, 'How do I get back into wrestling?' And he said, 'Go meet with QT [Marshall]. It's gonna be a long road and get back in the ring, learn what to do and hopefully, the best happens.' Wished me the best of luck and I went with QT, stayed in touch with Cody and eventually, it came down to Tony Khan needing a prop.
"AEW had just been formed, and Tony Khan needed a specific prop made and I was the only person available. I just knocked it right out. They appreciated my work, and then I never left. The prop was the, now infamous, Shawn Spears chair. That was supposed to be an unprotected chair shot to the head, so therefore, I wanted to make sure the chair could be safely used, and it wasn't. As Tony said, ' Pilot error.'"
Shawn Spears hit Cody Rhodes in the head with the chair at Fyter Fest. Rhodes has explained what went wrong with the spot and does not blame Ramone for the spot going wrong. Ramone recalled the reaction he and Jon Moxley had to Spears practicing with the chair.
"Shawn walks up to me and Mox," Ramone recalled. "We're hanging out near Go position? And he says, 'Can I see the chair one more time?' I said, 'Absolutely,' and the way he swung it didn't look right to me and Mox. And we said, 'What are you doing with that chair?' He said, 'I don't really do this too often.' I was like, 'Oh s**t,' and so Mox gave him a crash course. 'Gotta hit him this way.' It was good. He went out there. He tried, and luckily, everybody survived."
Ramone discussed the props he had to make or acquire. He recalled Tony Khan asking him to acquire props reminiscent of an iconic 1990 Survivor Series moment.
"As far as acquisitions, there's a lot that you haven't seen that I've had to turn down," Ramone revealed. "Probably one of the weirdest ones was the turkey for the Thanksgiving episode. Tony wanted a giant egg and a turkey. Because that was a little bit out of my scope and I had a lot of stuff to do, that got delegated to another group of people.
"And when that didn't get accomplished, I remember Tony sitting there talking to me saying, 'I was told that just couldn't happen. How on earth could it happened in 1985, but it can't happen in 2019?' I said, 'I got no clue.' Thankfully, I didn't have to stay on that project. That would probably be one of the weirdest things that I have tried to make or acquire, a giant egg and turkey costume for someone to pop out of, like The Gobbledy Goooker."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit AEW Unrestricted with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.