Tony Khan Never Thought a Wrestling Challenger Brand Would be Possible

– During a recent interview with Midday with Chad Hastings and Zay Collier, AEW President and CEO Tony Khan about creating AEW and never thinking it would be possible to create a challenger wrestling brand. Below are some highlights (via WrestlingInc.com):

Tony Khan on creating a challenger wrestling promotion: “It was actually inconceivable to me that there would be another challenger wrestling promotion. After those companies went out of business, there wasn’t anything that represented a true challenger brand in the sport.”

On his early talks with Turner’s Kevin Reilly about AEW: “My first conversation was with Kevin Reilly who was at the time the president of TBS and TNT. I talked to Kevin Reilly at a cocktail party and brought it up to him, he’s a friend of mine, and I suggested in April 2018 that I think there’s a real opportunity. It’s just over five years ago. It’s crazy how time has flown.”