Tony Khan is very proud of what AEW has been able to accomplish during the pandemic.
WWE and AEW were dealt bad hands with the pandemic shutting down live event operations, but both companies have moved forward, continuing to produce weekly television shows. Both companies have taken various measures as a way to adapt during the pandemic, and on their first tries at empty arena pay-per-view events, Tony Khan believes AEW won the battle.
"To do Double or Nothing, I thought it was the bastion of ingenuity. To sit back, with what we had, 'How can we do a great pay-per-view?' I thought -- [WWE and AEW] were both operating during the pandemic, we tested everybody coming in -- Double or Nothing kicked the crap out of WrestleMania. It was a much better pay-per-view. We were both operating under difficult circumstances. Ours, we were fortunate it was a little later in the pandemic and we had implemented testing and when we did Double or Nothing, we were still the only ones doing testing. What we did at that point, to set up a bubble and do that pay-per-view, I was so proud of it. We've come a long way since Double or Nothing," said Khan on the All Out media call.
WrestleMania took place less than a month into the pandemic and was split into two nights while Double or Nothing was a month and a half after WrestleMania. AEW has had stricter COVID protocols in this time, including testing from an early onset, while WWE didn't implement testing until June after multiple positive tests.
AEW has started to let fans into the building for events and Khan said Daily's Place will at 15% capacity on Saturday for All Out. He likened the experience to drive-in wrestling as people are in distanced pods and the venue is outdoors.
Fightful will have live coverage of AEW All Out beginning at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday.
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