Tony Khan on Shaquille O’Neal Thanking Wrestlers Backstage in AEW

– Speaking to Z100 New York’s Josh Martinez, AEW President Tony Khan discussed Shaquille O’Neal in AEW, celebrity guests, and more. Below are some highlights (via WrestlingInc.com):

Tony Khan on AEW’s best celebrity guests: “Dan is a friend of mine and where Dan goes a lot of the top stars in Mixed Martial Arts go with him. We’ve seen big names like Paige VanZant last week, or Junior Dos Santos, and Andrei Arlovski, and of course, Jorge Masvidal, where they’ve come to AEW to defend Dan and attack the AEW wrestlers. So we’ve had big names from MMA, big names from sports like Mike Tyson and Shaquille O’Neal. You know, we’ve probably never had a better guest in AEW than Shaq. He was so great on every level with us and you know, not just a hard worker and put in a great wrestling match, but also backstage the most humble person we’ve ever had in the history of the company in terms of coming in.”

On Shaquille O’Neal thanking every wrestler backstage: “He went around and thanked every wrestler and it was unbelievable to all these pro wrestlers to have Shaq coming up to them and saying nice things, but also saying ‘you know, I did my best out there. I hope I didn’t embarrass anybody. I just want to make pro wrestling look good. Because I like wrestling.’ To hear that from Shaq of all people, one of the biggest sports stars of all time, one of the greatest athletes ever, that was so cool. And we’ve had great entertainers come into AEW including Snoop Dogg and many others. So I always love having crossover opportunities to get big stars in.”

On Paige VanZant appearing in AEW: “You know, we’ve established America’s Top Team fighters are very dangerous. And we did get Junior Dos Santos in the ring and Andrei Arlovski’s gone out and beat people up. So I do think there’s a constant threat. And Paige VanZant had been around AEW before and now she’s back so it’s something to keep an eye on. And we’ll have to see how Masvidal’s fight schedule lines up but I would certainly be open to it in the future. But he’s gotta make the UFC a priority too. I really like those guys at the UFC. Dana’s been so good to me. Dana White and Hunter Campbell are great executives and I really have a lot of respect for the UFC.”

Shaquille O’Neal worked a tag team match on AEW Dynamite in March 2021, teaming with Jade Cargill for her in-ring debut against Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet. Shaq got put through a table, but Cargill managed to pin Velvet to pick up a win for the team.