Tony Khan Names Best Celebrity Guest AEW Has Welcomed So Far

Over the past several months, AEW has seen the likes of Dan Lambert and fighters from his American Top Team gym infiltrate AEW Dynamite and Rampage, something that is not lost on AEW President Tony Khan.

In an interview with Josh Martinez of Z100 New York, Tony Khan talked about Lambert, American Top Team, and other celebrities appearing on AEW TV. He also took the opportunity to put over Shaquille O'Neal and his appearance on AEW Dynamite a year ago.

"Dan is a friend of mine and where Dan goes a lot of the top stars in Mixed Martial Arts go with him,"Khan said. "We've seen big names like Paige VanZant last week, or Junior Dos Santos, and Andrei Arlovski, and of course, Jorge Masvidal, where they've come to AEW to defend Dan and attack the AEW wrestlers.

"So we've had big names from MMA, big names from sports like Mike Tyson and Shaquille O'Neal. You know, we've probably never had a better guest in AEW than Shaq. He was so great on every level with us and you know, not just a hard worker and put in a great wrestling match, but also backstage the most humble person we've ever had in the history of the company in terms of coming in.

"He went around and thanked every wrestler and it was unbelievable to all these pro wrestlers to have Shaq coming up to them and saying nice things, but also saying ' you know, I did my best out there. I hope I didn't embarrass anybody. I just want to make pro wrestling look good. Because I like wrestling.'

"To hear that from Shaq of all people, one of the biggest sports stars of all time, one of the greatest athletes ever, that was so cool. And we've had great entertainers come into AEW including Snoop Dogg and many others. So I always love having crossover opportunities to get big stars in."

Last week's AEW Dynamite saw the return of Paige VanZant, who came out to attack Brandi Rhodes after a confrontation between Rhodes and Lambert. Tony Khan revealed he wouldn't be surprised if more American Top Team appearances happened in the future.

"You know, we've established America's Top Team fighters are very dangerous," Khan said. "And we did get Junior Dos Santos in the ring and Andrei Arlovski's gone out and beat people up. So I do think there's a constant threat. And Paige VanZant had been around AEW before and now she's back so it's something to keep an eye on.

"And we'll have to see how Masvidal's fight schedule lines up but I would certainly be open to it in the future. But he's gotta make the UFC a priority too. I really like those guys at the UFC. Dana's been so good to me. Dana White and Hunter Campbell are great executives and I really have a lot of respect for the UFC."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Josh Martinez Of Z100 New York and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription