Tony Khan Explains How AEW Scouts for Talent, AEW Being ‘Where the Very Best Wrestle’

During a recent interview with Sportico, AEW President and CEO Tony Khan discussed how AEW seeks out talent, the company having the best roster in the world, and more. Khan also discussed why AEW is the place “where the very best wrestle.”

Khan noted during the interview that wrestlers in AEW are there “because you really love wrestling” and that “you want to be a great wrestler.” Below are some highlights:

Tony Khan on How AEW Seeks Out Talent

“I think for AEW, we’ve got the best roster of pro wrestlers in the world, and we scout all over. There are great talent pools. There’s great wrestling all over the world. Here in America, independent wrestling. You’ve got great wrestling in Japan. We’ve got a great relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling and with Stardom, where we’re getting the best women and men out of Japan over the last few years, I really believe, and also out of Mexico, where we’ve got a great relationship with CMLL, and we work together. There are a lot of wrestlers who work in both promotions, AEW and CMLL, which is the oldest wrestling promotion in the world. CMLL has been running out of Mexico for 92 years, and we’re the first promotion with AEW that they’ve ever hosted in Arena Mexico. Our most-watched episode of AEW Wednesday Night Dynamite this year and in the past couple years has been this year’s AEW Grand Slam Mexico out of Arena Mexico, which was fantastic. So getting those great Lucha Libre stars out of Mexico has worked really well for us. Also out of England. The UK has got a fantastic, fantastic, really great crop of young wrestlers, and some of the top young wrestlers in the world have come out of the UK. We’ve got great stars out of Australia, and they’ve wrestled all over the world and built their reputations.”

Khan on the Promotion Being Where the Very Best Wrestle

“We’ve got great stars that come from all over, and there’s no one criteria. There’s no one set way to be a pro wrestler. They come in all different shapes and sizes and ideas. And what’s great about the women and men in AEW is they love pro wrestling. If you’re in AEW, it’s very likely that you’re there because you really love wrestling and you love what you do and you want to be a great wrestler, and AEW is where the very best wrestle.”

AEW presents a special Blood & Guts edition of Dynamite later tonight on TBS starting at 8:00 pm ET. It will also be simulcast on HBO Max.

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Sportico with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.