Tony Khan recently spoke with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated and talked about the importance of signing former NXT Superstars Kyle O’Reilly, Adam Cole and Bobby Fish.
Tonight’s New Year’s Smash edition of AEW Dynamite on TNT will see O’Reilly make his in-ring debut for the company as he teams with Cole and Fish to take on Orange Cassidy and The Best Friends. Khan was asked why signing O’Reilly was an immediate priority.
“Kyle O’Reilly is a huge addition for AEW,” Khan said. “He’s a great, great wrestler. And not only did we get Kyle O’Reilly, we also got Bobby Fish and Adam Cole. These are huge signings individually, but even more massive together. Adam Cole’s debut at the end of All Out, that’s one of the most important moments ever in AEW, and now he’s surrounded by his former partners. To have Kyle O’Reilly debut and help Adam Cole get the win over Orange Cassidy in a great wrestling match last week on Dynamite, that builds more interest in AEW.
“Kyle makes his debut in the ring this week, and it’s symbolic that it is happening on the final Dynamite on TNT. So much of our run on TNT was spent battling these guys—Adam Cole, Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly. When we were head to head, it was threatening to us every time they were on camera. Now we’ve added them to our team in AEW, which is such an advantage. Having them here is tremendous. I wanted Kyle to sign with AEW as soon as he was a free agent.”
He continued, “This week on Dynamite will be special. We’ll see Adam Cole make his first appearance at Daily’s Place, and so will CM Punk. Sting will be there. And at the forefront of it all will be Cole and Bobby Fish teaming with Kyle O’Reilly, making his in-ring debut.”
Khan was also asked if there can ever be too much talent on the AEW roster.
“We’ve been expanding our programming over the past year, and I’d like to always keep AEW at the forefront of the fans’ minds as the home of professional wrestling,” he said. “It’s the place where you will see the best pro wrestlers, so the roster is constantly evolving. There is a ton of great talent in the world of wrestling right now, and I’m always looking for ways to make the show more exciting.
“I always want to upgrade the roster. That’s what we did with Kyle O’Reilly, CM Punk, Adam Cole, Ruby Soho and Bryan Danielson. We also have Thunder Rosa under a full AEW contract. Christian Cage came in as a free agent and wrestled at as high a level as he ever has. Malakai Black, Andrade El Idolo, we keep adding to our roster, expanding our programming and growing.”
