Tony Khan Discusses Bandido Returning at ROH Final Battle, Using Frank Sinatra Song for Chris Jericho’s Match

– During the post-show media scrum for last night’s ROH Final Battle 2024 event, ROH Owner and AEW President Tony Khan discussed the return of former ROH World Champion Bandido at last night’s event. He also discussed getting the rights to use the classic Frank Sinatra track, “New York, New York,” for Chris Jericho’s match against Matt Cardona. Below are some highlights (via Fightful):

Tony Khan on Bandido’s ROH return: “It was really great to see him back. When I first acquired ROH, Bandido had been the reigning champion and we had the match to crown the undisputed ROH Champion, he was the lineal champion at the time. It was great to get Bandido, who actually missed Final Battle 2021 due to COVID and we crowned an interim champion and then the undisputed champion at my first ever event, Supercard. That was my first time working with Bandido. I really wanted to sign Bandido when we first launched AEW. He made a choice and signed with ROH. He became a great World Champion for them and when things changed and I acquired the company, Bandido became a great asset to AEW and ROH. It was exciting to have him return tonight in New York.”

On getting the rights to use Frank Sinatr’s “New York, New York” for Chris Jericho’s match: “For the King of New York, I thought it would be appropriate. Chris Jericho is the King of New York, so what better way for him to come to the ring for his championship match than ‘New York, New York.’ I thought it would be something special and it came out great. It was a great part of the presentation. Since we all woke up in a city that never sleeps, we all wanted to play that song. It was a great moment and something special for Final Battle.”