All Elite Wrestling President Tony Khan held one of his media scrums following the Full Gear pay-per-view this past Saturday night in Baltimore, Maryland.
Below are highlights from the wide range of subjects that Khan discussed:
— He stated that Joey Janela was okay following his match with Shawn Spears. Janela was checked on my staff members after the conclusion of the match and there was a concern from those in the crowd watching.
— On the implementation of judges for the AEW title match, he didn’t commit to it being a regular occurrence but might be used for big matches. The idea was to tell the audience there wouldn’t be a draw even if they went the time limit. The judges consisted of Arn Anderson, Dean Malenko, and Keiji Muto, who didn’t play into the match at all beyond their introductions to the crowd.
— He downplayed his involvement as an on-screen character citing the recent segment where he was heard discussing the ‘Lights Out’ match with Jon Moxley. Khan stated everyone is aware of his role and it was strictly to deliver the news of the match and showed no interest in being a television figure.
— They did not encounter any issues with the Maryland State Athletic Commission over the violence on the show.
— Over the weekend, there was a report of an altercation between Excalibur and Jimmy Havoc at Jimmy’s Famous Seafood restaurant. Khan confirmed there was an incident but appeared to laugh it off and stating he had seen “much worse” and that it was a draw. He did not elaborate on details but Cassidy Haynes at Bodyslam.net, who initially reported the story stated the two talked it out after and Havoc was remorseful over the situation.
— He confirmed two matches for this week’s episode of Dynamite in Nashville with Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky defending the AEW tag titles against Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara and a rematch from Full Geat between Hangman Page and PAC.
— The Bea Priestley vs. Dr. Britt Baker match was originally scheduled for the pay-per-view portion but had to be moved to the Buy-In.
— Double or Nothing 2 is confirmed for the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Memorial Day weekend, which would indicate the date is May 23rd, 2020.
— There will be a pay-per-view announcement for a card in the first quarter of 2020.
— There were no serious injuries coming out of Full Gear.
— They would like to go to the U.K. and Canada.
— There have been no serious discussions with Bellator for cross-promotional purposes with Jake Hager. It’s a tricky spot for AEW because TNT has an agreement with ONE Championship, and it would seem difficult to heavily promote Bellator on a rival network.
— Chris Jericho was very hands-on with the parody video that received so much praise on last week’s episode of Dynamite and worked with Kevin Sullivan and the studio.
— Khan finished the scrum noting they sold a lot of late tickets before Full Gear and would love to run Madison Square Garden noting their viewership in that market.
Full media scrum courtesy: WrestleZone