Tony Khan Explains When Deal With New Level Came Together, Says They Want To Show Up Every Week

New Level (Kofi & Austin Creed) made their AEW debuts at All In, aligning with Swerve Strickland to capture the Trios Championships.

The duo had been together in WWE for over a decade, and they’ve been in the company individually even longer. They departed the company in May.

Asked by SP3 of Sports Illustrated and In The Weeds at the All In press conference, Tony Khan explained when the deal with New Level came together.

“I was very careful. Of course, when I saw the New Level were going to be potential free agents, I want to play it safe for the sake of all three of us; me, them, and the company to do things the right way. After their 90 days were up, and only after the 90 days had expired, I gave it an extra day or two to be safe. I engaged with their representatives, and it was clear there was interest, but it’s also an interesting situation because AEW is where the best wrestler, and these are two wrestlers that fit what we do perfectly. It’s a great opportunity, but it wasn’t something I had planned or budgeted for. It’s not the kind of thing you can negotiate in five seconds; it takes some time. It wasn’t like it was a done deal the second they got released or were able to look elsewhere. The whole situation was a big surprise to me. Knowing that, I tried to create an environment with tag teams and trios where there would be an exciting opportunity. Knowing we had this huge pay-per-view event, I tried to build the tag team and trios teams where we had the opportunity, if such a deal were to be made, where we could do something really special. It was a great audible. This was a great call. There is no way I could’ve planned for it because never in a million years would I have ever thought Austin and Kofi would be free agents. We’ve been doing this seven years and it was unthinkable that Austin and Kofi would be free agents. When they were, I had to go in with an open mind, but we’re in business and we had to figure it out. I couldn’t just assume it was going to get done. I was very pleased that we were able to figure it out and make it happen,” he said.

Tony also commented on the work ethic of Kofi & Creed, saying, “Something that got me excited about New Level, these guys are not afraid to work very hard. They told me, ‘We see Jon Moxley at Dynamite and Collision basically every week. We want to be at Dynamite and Collision basically every week. We’re going to be there practically every week.’ That’s really exciting to have people coming in like that. It’s only going to bring more fans and attention.”

Along with winning the Trios Titles, Kofi & Creed confronted AEW Tag Team Champions Adam Copeland & Christian Cage after they retained the titles.

Fans can find results from AEW All In by clicking here. Check out the post-show podcast for a full review here. 

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