Tony Khan comments on the creative process in AEW.
During the AEW All In post-show press conference, Tony Khan was asked by Neal Flanagan of POST Wrestling about the creative process in AEW.
Tony noted that there are 27-30 people who he works with and who might pitch ideas. He said that he gets pitched 100s of ideas a week and he has to decide which ones to do. He praised Jennifer Pepperman for her work with Mercedes Mone, and says she works with others too. He said RJ City was the only person who understood his references for Toni Storm and Mariah May. He stated that Jimmy Jacobs gets too much shit online, praising Jimmy for being the only other guy besides himself to be at every show.
Tony said he took pride in being the Cal Ripkin Jr of AEW and being at every show.
In the middle of his answer, Tony said things have been easier this year going into AEW All In.
"Last year, we had literally just launched Collision. I frankly think it's an easier environment backstage at Collision than it was a year ago to do things. It's a lot easier flow between the two shows than it was a year ago. I think the locker room is in a much better place than it was a year ago. As evidence by when we came up here vs what happened here a year ago. It's a much easier job, I have dealing, because I had to deal with the people on Collision last year and it's a much easier meeting process to put the TV together than it was a year ago. We were obviously dealing with a lot of things going into Wembley last year, which obviously showed up," he said.
Tony did not outright reference CM Punk, who was the focal point of the launch of AEW Collision, and the backstage altercation between Punk and Jack Perry at AEW All In 2024.
Tony said that AEW is much like a sports team, where there is a head coach and then coordinators and specialists who all work together to present the best product.
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