Tony Khan On If Any Talent Has Creative Control In AEW

Tony Khan says no talent has creative control in AEW, explaining how he handles creative pitches by the performers. Khan has been open in recent weeks about how he had gotten “too collaborative” in AEW before 2025 and that he had to pull back on that just a bit. At the same time, there has long been the belief that some talent like Mercedes Mone had control over their booking.

Khan was asked about creative freedom in the company on The Battleground Podcast. He said that no wrestler has creative control in the company and that while there’s a lot of freedom in how he works with staff and talent, no one has full control of their creative. You can see the highlights below:

On the Notion of Creative Control In AEW:

“There’s no creative control. Only I have it. No wrestler has that. And there’s a lot of freedom to work with the staff and the coaches and the wrestlers together and come up with ideas. I am one of the most collaborative people on the planet. And that’s how I’ve been able to succeed in multiple sports and build the greatest sports analytics engineering firm in the world, True Media…

“So we do great things. I love working with partners all over the world, media partners. In wrestling, I think we are really collaborative and when AEW’s at its best. That’s what it is, s the wrestlers coming in with ideas, I come in with ideas, we work together anduh that’s what I love.”

On Dealing With Creative Pitches:

“A lot of times there’s ideas that are fantastic, and I say, ‘That’s a great idea.’ There’s other times where maybe it isn’t necessarily going to work. And there may be something to it, but the timing or the scheduling or something about it doesn’t work. A lot of times the wrestlers come up with great ideas. But I have to choose what we what we do and don’t do. And within the constraints of doing two-hour TV shows, there’s only so many things you can do.

“So I think we’ve been really great about pacing the TV shows and putting on great TV shows every Wednesday on TBS and every Saturday on TNT, and now with everything being on HBO Max. And I really love trying to find things, trying to find ways to work with and collaborate with the wrestlers and the staff and the great people in AEW. And I also come up with a lot of ideas myself and trying to find a way to take my own ideas and the ideas of other people and make it all work.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Battleground Podcast with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.