Tony Khan Says AEW Has ‘November Rain’ Rights In Perpetuity, Talks Fan Criticism

Tony Khan says that AEW has the rights to use Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain” in perpetuity and discussed some fan criticism of the company. Khan secured the license to the classic hard rock song for promotion of AEW Full Gear, and he noted in an interview with Fightful’s Iridian Fierro for WGN Radio that the rights are on an ongoing basis. He also spoke about criticism from fans who tried to play down the company’s success at All In 2023; you can see highlights below:

On getting the rights to “November Rain”: “November Rain has been used in November wrestling pay-per-views decades ago, but never licensed Guns N’ Roses, never fairly compensated, and they were great to work with. So we work with a lot of the top musicians and licensing and publishing companies to get the top music in AEW, and then like you said, moments in wrestling are so important. You’re so right, and we’ve been able to create a lot of magic moments, in part because of the great music that we’ve been fortunate to license.”

On being able to properly license the song: “Well, to be honest, it has been done. ECW did use ‘November Rain’ as a promotional vehicle. Illegally, without the permission of the artist, but in this case, we’re on TBS and TNT, we gotta do things by the book, and it’s also the right thing to do. Guns N’ Roses is a great band. They are great to work with if you actually call them and try to work something fair out with them. They were awesome and I was really so pleased we were able to do it. Again, talk about one of those things that will live on and in perpetuity, that video will be able to play. It’s not the first time November Rain has been played in association with a wrestling show to promote a major wrestling event in the month of November, but it was the first time we’ve done it in AEW, and it was the first time it’s ever been done by anyone above board, legally, and the right way. I’m really proud of it. It was a great video and it really sets the stage.”

On criticism from fans: “Well, it depends on what it is. I think a lot of it is constructive. Sometimes fans have a good perspective, and a lot of times it’s really worth listening to the feedback. Sometimes, if it’s disingenuous, there’s nothing you can do. There’s just not, like you said, not constructive. But I do think it’s always worth hearing the fans out and hearing viewpoints. Sometimes it’s fans of a different promotion that don’t really have anything positive to say, no matter what you do, and that’s fine.

“We sold 81,035 tickets at Wembley Stadium, and there were people trying to tear it down. People were saying, ‘Oh, they only got 73,000,’ as if that’s bad. That’s more people than were at the Mike Tyson/Jake Paul fight, and people were trying to say that, like, it was a bad number for AEW, it’s insane sometimes. So, you do have to be willing to take it all with a grain of salt because we’ve accomplished a lot with AEW, and we still have so much more to do. Really, it, in many ways, began here in Chicago. So, it’s very fitting that we keep coming back here to this great city.”