Tony Khan says three key things have made 2025 a year of momentum including wrestlers stepping up and the new media rights deal

AEW has had a rebound year in terms of feedback to the product after a bumpy year or two. Tony Khan, AEW’s president and head of creative, says there are three keys: his enthusiasm for pro wrestling, his wrestlers stepping up, and feeling buoyed by the new TV rights deal.

“I think everybody has stepped up [this year],” Tony Khan told PWTorch’s Brian Zilem. “And it’s a team effort. As the coach of the team, I have to try to do my very best week in, week out.”

He described the creative process each week that builds the shows that are broadcast to fans. “I show up every week hoping to put on a great event with some ideas and looking to work with the wrestlers,” he said. “If you come to an a AEW show and you work in the company, one thing you can always count on is I’m gonna be there and I’m gonna want to help you put on a great event.”

Khan, who grew up a pro wrestling who participated in early online chat forums and even wrote letters to the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter with his thoughts on wrestling’s current events, says his love of wrestling is evident in how he approaches his job. “I love wrestling,” he said. “I’ve loved it since I was very, very young, and I consider myself very fortunate to work in this job, and I bring that to work with me every single day.

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…

Check out the latest episode of the Wade Keller Podcast weekly Tuesday Flagship episode with guest cohost Rich Fann: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “wade Keller” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)

•Is Chris Jericho going to stay in AEW or go to WWE?

•Is WWE’s ruthless aggression toward AEW with head-to-head weekend shows good or bad for the industry?

•Naomi’s pregnancy shaking up the WWE Women’s Division

•Is The Vision a disappointment so far?

•What’s going on with Bayley (and why can we hear her inner-thoughts)?

“And as long as I’m grateful to be in the wrestling business and grateful for this position, I think that can only be a good thing for AEW”

He said the wrestlers on his roster, though, have been part of the perceived resurgence in the AEW product this year in key areas. “I think really the big success in a AEW this year has been from the wrestlers stepping up.”

He said the new media rights deal with WBD has also given them momentum and confidence. “Certainly the media rights agreement that we negotiated has been the lifeblood of the promotion, and that’s been a major reason for the momentum that we’ve had this year.”

Fans feedback helps steer his decision-making, he says.”The fans really love what we’re doing with a AEW and I like to stay in touch with them and I like to hear their feedback and it means a lot when the feedback’s good and almost every week. There’s been really good feedback this year. Not everything always has to be a hundred percent positive. I want to hear the truth and what people like about the show and this year. People like most of the things about the show and most of the shows, and that’s really exciting. And then it makes me want to keep doing those things and, and putting on the shows fans want to see.”

AEW presents its annual Forbidden Door PPV event on Sunday afternoon. Check out a summary of Tony Khan’s comments during yesterday’s media Q&A here: AEW media call report: Tony Khan speaks with the pro wrestling media ahead of the AEW Forbidden Door pay-per-view