SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
AEW President, Tony Khan, joined Ariel Helwani for a wide-ranging interview on booking AEW, MJF, success of Rampage, the future of ROH, and much more. Below is a live account of the interview highlights from PWTorch Contributor, Mike McMahon.
TK to Helwani on how he juggles his jobs: "The world has changed and you are able to multitask now. So much of what we do is online or in our phones."
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani: "The network was really pleased with how we did with Rampage Grand Slam. I'm excited about doing another 2 hours on Friday night with Battle of the Belts after Rampage."
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani: "Most of Rampages, through Full Gear, are live. We are going to step it up going into Full Gear. Rampage will be live this week. We are doing a standalone Rampage show in Canada on Thursday."
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani on MJF: "This is one of those things I don't want to talk about … he is one of the best wrestlers in the world. He's a great talent. I have so much respect for that part of what he does."
He compared MJF to Piper.
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani on MJF: "He has been well compensated and I'm glad he's on the show."
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani: "I am a device. When it is necessary it can be an effective one. We've done 160 episodes and I've made 4 appearances. They've all done about a million (viewers) and they were all necessary."
Tony Khan … ratings draw.
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani on booking: "It's me. I put together an outline every week. It's done well. I started doing it that way and you can look at the numbers, there's a direct line up when I started doing it."
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani on WWE's regime change: "There's probably more similarity in what we're looking for in free agents, and I think that's already going to start being a thing … I think we are looking at more similar people."
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani on Malakai Black: "Who have I let go that hasn't been an expiring contract or for cause?"
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani: "Burger King is a challenger brand. What is Burger King marketing? It's basically, 'McDonald's sucks, guys.' So for AEW, it's part of what we are. We are a challenger brand. Embrace it. It's a corporate philosophy handed to me by my boss."
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani: "I consider (WWE) the industry leader, and I consider us a strong challenger brand. Would you criticize Pepsi for not selling as much as Coke?"
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani on CM Punk: "I cannot share anything (regarding Punk). I can't talk about it. I appreciate that you had to ask."
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani on CM Punk: "You can ask, but I cannot answer or comment."
TK to Helwani on Omega/Bucks: "The whole thing, I don't want to talk about it."
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani on Saraya: "I don't want to say what her role will be yet. Stay tuned to Dynamite and Rampage and find out the plan."
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani on Bray Wyatt: "I don't want to talk about people I have or haven't talked to, but he's a great guy."
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani on scouting/signing: "There is a big group of coaches and executives. We promoted some recently to VP level. … at the end of the day I have to decide if I am going to put them on the roster, sign them and pay them."
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani: "At one point, AEW Dark was the premiere tryout system in America. We weren't the only ones scouting it. Plenty of people will tell you WWE was recruiting off AEW Dark during the pandemic. If anyone says that's not true, OK, whatever, you're full of shit."
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani on booking: "I come in with an outline, I sit down with Tony Schiavone, WT, Sonjay. There are others, like Danielson, Jericho, Moxley. Omega, the Young Bucks. CM Punk. Different people would have ideas. You also have a good amount of people who pitch ideas."
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani: "I would love to have more time. Everything would be stronger if we had more hours of TV."
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK said he hopes to land ROH TV "within the WBD ecosystem."
Sounds like currently, they are not interested.
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani on Twitter use: "It's great engagement. I love connecting with the fans, hearing what they think. I was an online wrestling fan. Twitter brought back (the connection)."
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani: "Back in the early days of AOL, remember the buddy list? I had wrestlers on my buddy list. I was 12 and I was talking to Brian Pillman Sr., Lou Thesz, DDP sent me tickets to a show."
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani: "I called and they said, 'no we are with you.'
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
Helwani presses TK because he said he never spoke to Nick Khan just minutes ago. TK clarifies, "I never met him in person."
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK said he has spoken to Triple H and Stephanie as well. But not recently.
"I thought we were friends, actually. I haven't seen them in a long time. I wish them the best. They were really nice to me, once upon a time as a football owner."
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani on if HHH/Steph are the right people to run WWE: "Time will tell. It's an interesting time in the wrestling business."
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani: "I have moved some shows to Sundays to avoid the risk (of UFC) but there is no risk of intersecting with football in the first 3 quarters. It's only in Q4 with Full Gear that we have to not compete with the NFL. When I do run Saturday, I try not to go against UFC"
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani: "My original idea for AEW was Tuesday. It was opening up in Oct of 2019. Tuesday or Wednesday was the only day I would have done."
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani: "My original idea was to launch Tuesday. Millions were conditioned to watch wrestling then. Wednesday was more open to Turner because of basketball conflicts."
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani on Cody: "We are in the realm of stuff I can't talk about. I have a lot of respect of Cody. I wish him the best in what he's doing."
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
TK to Helwani: "A lot of the people I brought in were part of layoffs and cost cutting. Not desperate times are tight cost cutting, but record profit cost cutting. If I was making record profits, I wouldn't be laying off people. That's what I talk about being a good boss."
— Mike McMahon (@TorchMcMahon) October 6, 2022
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