Tony Khan comments on dealing with the backstage tension within AEW.
In recent weeks, a number of reports have shined some light on this dynamic. From Eddie Kingston getting suspended after a confrontation with Sammy Guevara to CM Punk's reported belief that Hangman Page went into business for himself during a promo, the wrestling world has been buzzing about this pattern.
During a media scrum after the show, Khan discussed handling the tension within the backstage environment. He noted that a lot of professional wrestlers don't like each other, and while it can be challenging, it's part of the business.
"That is a dicey situation and it is contentious and frankly challenging, but I have to do what’s best for the sake of the company and everybody you’re talking about are great professional wrestlers with big reputations and some of them have been around from the beginning and some have been around for about a year now. The fact is, these are people that drive revenue and they help create jobs for everyone. It’s no secret a lot of professional wrestlers don’t like each other, but I think now it’s probably more out in the open than it’s been in awhile, I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing for the pro wrestling business given what the product we produce is. It involves tension and people wanting to fight and people know there’s a lot of people around here that want to fight each other and I don’t think that’s terrible," Khan said.
Khan previously shared his belief that not everyone needs to get along in the professional wrestling business. He doubled down on those comments during the scrum, noting that the industry has thrived on "creative tension". He noted that getting people into the ring to settle their differences can be exciting.
"I think there’s still a lot of wrestlers in professional wrestling that don’t get along and now it’s more apparent than ever that there are those things. I also think the industry has thrived on creative tension for a long time. You might say, ‘what if it doesn’t manifest itself into a match right away?’ In the 90s, which is arguably the all-time business peak and interest peak and the general peak of pro wrestling in many ways, the late 90s and early 2000s, there was a big group of pro wrestlers who did not like each other and didn’t get a long. A lot of times, they weren’t in the same companies and they would rib each other, and it wasn’t going to produce a match. We produce wrestling matches and there are a lot of matches between people who don’t get along and don’t like each other and it’s not always an easy road to get people into the ring, but when you can get people into the ring to settle their differences it can be exciting," he said.
Khan continued by describing how it's apparent that some people don't like each other, and he personally doesn't like everything either. He made it clear that he tries his best to deal with it all, but at the end of the day, he'll do what's right for the business.
"There is a lot of conversation about people not getting along and not liking each other. I definitely think it’s more apparent than ever that there is a lot of that. I don’t like everything either. I don’t like everything people say and there are people who have said things pretty blatantly and people that work here who have gone out and slammed me, blatantly, in public and there is only so much I will take. I’m a pretty nice guy and I’m very flexible. It’s nice being home. Being here, seeing a lot of my friends, I have a pretty calm demeanor, generally, with people and I’m willing to put up with a lot of abuse. I have a demeanor of service. I try to service people and that includes wrestling fans. I will gladly offer a hand or whatever I need to do to make somebody feel better. There is only so much slamming me and knocking me that I can put up with. On the other hand, I’ll do what is right for business when I have to. When people don’t get along or don’t like each other, I’ve had people said as much stuff about me over the last few months as anybody and sometimes you have to take it and move on with business and that’s part of it," he said.
In the same scrum, Punk detailed his issues with Colt Cabana, Hangman Page, and AEW's EVPs. His comments can be found here.
Catch up on our coverage of AEW All Out by clicking here.
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