Tony Khan Reflects On Steven Borden Becoming Part Of AEW, AEW All Out #1 Contenders Match

Tony Khan is happy to have Steven Borden as a part of AEW, detailing his relationship with the young star ahead of Borden’s match at AEW All Out. Borden, who is of course the son of Sting, is set to team with Darby Allin against Kyle Fletcher and Kevin Knight at this weekend’s PPV, with the winner getting a shot at the AEW World Tag Team Championships.

Khan was asked about Borden being part of the AEW roster during the media call to promote All Out. He went into length about his history with Borden and what it means to have him in AEW, while also previewing the match. You can see highlights below (per PWInsider):

On First Meeting Borden:

“Well, I first met Steven when he was playing college football. I don’t know, did you know that? If you didn’t, Steven played football at the University of Kentucky. He was a tight end and a very, very gifted athlete even then, and he still is a very gifted athlete. Several years ago, I actually brought Steven to Jacksonville and he tried out for the Jaguars. He’s a great athlete and a great guy.

“That’s the first time I met Steve’s father, Sting. I really enjoyed connecting with the two of them, and as Steven’s football career ended, Sting got back into wrestling. What a final chapter Sting wrote for his career. The final three years of Sting’s wrestling career were in AEW, and from Revolution 2021 to Revolution 2024, Sting went undefeated and had this incredible run in AEW.”

On Connecting With AEW Because Of Sting’s Run:

“Steven was right here for so much of it, and it invigorated his passion for pro wrestling in a way he had never experienced it. He saw his father having so much fun, and Steven connected with us in AEW and with his father’s partner, Darby Allin. As we prepared for Sting’s final match, Steven and Garrett became part of the story when Sting and Darby won the World Tag Team Championships in their penultimate match together going into Revolution. It was a celebration, and of course at the time, Steven and Garrett, Sting’s sons, were celebrating with their father when they were attacked. It made things even more personal for Sting and for Darby to have Sting’s family attacked that way. We saw Steven and Garrett come to Revolution dressed as Sting in different points of his incredible, iconic professional wrestling career.

“I also, when I saw Steven out there, saw a different side of Steven than the tight end I had watched play for Kentucky, and a different guy than I had seen backstage, who is a very, very nice person, a handsome guy, a very fun, engaging person. I saw him for something much more in that match than I’d ever seen as a wrestler. What an athlete. I saw Steven out there and I had chills.”

On Allin Training Borden:

“I was so excited that he wanted to train and get involved in wrestling, and Darby is such an incredible person. He is so authentic, and he’s been a great mentor to Steven in and out of the ring. It was a great bond between Sting and Darby; they learned so much from each other. Two great wrestlers, two world champions from different eras coming together and forming what I thought was a perfect team for three years undefeated together. Now it’s incredible to have Steven Borden come into AEW.”

On The #1 Contenders Match:

“Talk about two of the greatest young wrestlers in the world in Kyle Fletcher and Kevin Knight. Don Callis certainly knows how to recruit top talent, and as we do in AEW, we are where the best wrestle, and many of those great wrestlers are trained and managed by Don Callis. In the case of Kyle Fletcher, what a fantastic wrestler. He has been a tag team wrestler, he has been a top singles star, one of the top stars in AEW. Kevin Knight, the same now can be said for him: he’s been part of a top tag team in AEW, he’s broken out as a great singles star. Both of these men have been in pay-per-view main events, they’ve both competed for world championships, held singles championships, trios championships. Neither one of them has ever been a World Tag Team Champion, and it would complete quite a career arc to be a top champion in AEW, to be able to be a trios champion, tag champion, and singles champion.

“This is a World Championship match in the sense that you get a shot at the winner of the ladder match. So certainly when you have World Championship contention at stake, there’s big stakes here. Knowing that Kevin Knight and Kyle Fletcher both have been at or near the very top of AEW at times, and Darby Allin has certainly been at the top of AEW, you have these three very experienced yet young professional wrestlers entering or in the peak of their careers. You have Steven Borden, who is a wrestler in the prime of his athletic life, who is not as experienced as the other three, but he has so many intangibles. He’s got the support of the fans, he’s got all this athleticism. There’s so much to be interested in, and the winner of this match is going to get a shot at the World Tag Team Championship versus the winner of the three-way ladder match. So there are effectively World Championship stakes, a path to a title shot for the winner of this match, and I’m very excited about it. I’m excited for all four wrestlers, and I think it’s going to be an awesome match on a really tremendous lineup for AEW All Out this Saturday. Steven Borden and Darby Allin versus Kevin Knight and Kyle Fletcher is one of the very, very interesting matches that I am excited about for Saturday.”