There are many questions left to be answered now that Vince McMahon has retired from WWE and a new regime headed by Stephanie McMahon, Nick Khan, and Triple H has taken over. Chief among them is how competitor AEW will handle a wrestling world where WWE may be a more enticing destination for wrestlers than previously thought.
Tony Khan addressed the changing landscape in an interview with SportsGrid and overall appeared upbeat about what a new WWE regime could mean for wrestling overall.
“It’s going to change the competition, but I think that’s a good thing,” Khan said. “AEW’s got a big fan base. We’re on in 130 countries now around the world, and here in the US, we’ve built a great fanbase … And the competition is going to change. It’s a different person in the chair, opposite me, but I don’t think that’s going to be a bad thing for the wrestling fan necessarily.”
Khan admitted that there was a possibility AEW could lose out on talent that seemed a sure thing for the promotion not too long ago. But keeping things positive, he stressed that wrestling free agency is a plus, not a negative.
“I think that’s always been a concern, but now probably more so than ever, I imagine great wrestlers are going to be in demand,” Khan said. “And again, I think this is probably going to be good for the wrestling fans because that’s one of the most exciting things about pro wrestling: free agency. It’s one of those things that was really missing from the sport for almost two decades before AEW came in, because there was not a legitimate competitor in the free agent market, and now there is. I think it’s going to be some exciting times ahead, hopefully for many years to come.
“One of the worst things that happened, I think, in American sports in my lifetime was when WCW closed down. And there should always be another national wrestling company.”
Tony Khan Addresses His ‘Changing Competition’ From WWE
