AEW and Ring of Honor President Tony Khan addressed the status of several wrestlers and the future of ROH during a media call on Thursday.
The call came ahead of Friday’s ROH Death Before Dishonor streaming special.
During the call, Khan answered a question about whether he had “feedback” on the IATSE union protests outside the 2300 Arena with a simple: “No, I don’t. Thank you.”
A representative of AEW did respond to a request from POST Wrestling for comment on that matter on Thursday with the following statement:
All Elite Wrestling has paid, and will continue to pay, the prevailing wages to all locals used as part of our residency at the venue and has maintained a great relationship with IATSE Local 8 for previous events held at other venues in Philadelphia. Any current demonstrations being held are between 2300 Arena and IATSE Local 8.
The call also covered the recent absence of Deonna Purrazzo, the future of Chris Jericho, extensive injuries in the women’s division, and the prospect of a television deal for Ring of Honor.
Deonna Purrazzo’s Status
Khan was asked by Jon Alba about Deonna Purrazzo, who has not appeared on AEW television since February or ROH since June. In a very lengthy response that stretched to over 15 minutes, Khan confirmed that she would be part of an upcoming ROH Women’s Pure Championship tournament and addressed the reasons for her recent inactivity.
He stated that Purrazzo had an experience in Mexico that “wasn’t positive with our partners,” which had influenced some subsequent booking decisions. However, Khan was highly complimentary of Purrazzo’s talent and professionalism, noting he wants to give her new opportunities.
I really appreciated a lot of the stuff Deonna said recently like positive comments about AEW and I feel positively about her too. That’s why we brought her here…I’m still very interested in Deonna wrestling and I think she’s been really open that she wants to get out there and wrestle more.
ROH Women’s Pure Championship Tournament and Injuries
In addition to Purrazzo, Khan named Serena Deeb and Queen Aminata as participants in the planned ROH Women’s Pure Championship tournament. He praised Deeb for acting as a great representative for AEW while wrestling for RevPro in England.
The tournament plans have been complicated by what Khan described as an “incredibly large volume of injuries” in the women’s division. He noted that the Casino Gauntlet match at All In: Texas resulted in injuries to roughly a quarter of its participants, including Mina Shirakawa, Thunder Rosa, and Syuri. ROH Women’s World Television Champion Red Velvet is also currently out with an injury.
Khan also confirmed that Queen Aminata will be available for this weekend’s events after having had her passport stolen during a UK independent show appearance, which affected travel plans.
Also on the injury front, Khan said that there was no need to crown an interim ROH Television Champion because Nick Wayne would be back in action soon.
The Future of Chris Jericho
When questioned about the status of former ROH World Champion Chris Jericho, Khan spoke in glowing terms about his contributions to both AEW and ROH.
While he did not address the prospect of a return, Khan made it clear the door is open for the multi-time world champion to come back.
I would never be in where I am in AEW without Chris Jericho, nor would we be in a position where I could have bought ROH. So I’m very grateful to Chris. I think the world of Chris and I would love to have Chris back…Chris Jericho is always in the highest of standing with with me and with AEW and ROH.
Potential ROH Television Deal
Khan also discussed the possibility of securing a television deal for Ring of Honor’s weekly show, which currently streams on the HonorClub service. He confirmed that he has had offers but has not accepted them, as any deal must make sense within the framework of AEW’s partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery.
I don’t want to do anything that would go against Warner Bros. Discovery ever. I never want to do that because they’re great partners to us and that’s what fueled this whole thing.
ROH Death Before Dishonor will stream exclusively on HonorClub from 7.00 pm ET on Friday, August 29.
