Tony Khan Shares His Excitement for the Paramount Skydance & WBD Merger, Says He’s Proven He’s ‘The Ultimate Corporate Soldier’

As previously reported, AEW President and CEO Tony Khan had glowing praise for the pending Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery merger yesterday, along with Paramount CEO David Ellison, during a live session on X. He also expressed his belief that the merger “will make AEW stronger.” During today’s media call for AEW All Out 2026, Khan spoke further about the upcoming merger.

Khan expressed that he would work to fit AEW into “any corporate structure,” and that he’s also proven himself as “the ultimate corporate soldier.” Below are some highlights of his comments (via Fightful):

Tony Khan on the Paramount Skydance & WBD Merger

“I think this is exciting because we grew in a situation where the new corporate leadership in 2022, at that time, over four years ago, was something of an unknown entity to us, and we really won them over immediately. It’s something I take a lot of pride in. We’ve been through several different regimes here. When AEW launched, AT&T was still in charge, and then it’s been a lot of change with Discovery coming in. There was a period of transition there during 2020, 2021, where a lot of changes were made before Discovery took over in 2022, and they’ve made a lot of changes over the years and for AEW, there have been changes for the better, clearly, as we’ve grown the company and expanded.”

On AEW Fitting Into Any Corporate Structure and Being a Good Corporate Soldier

“Now, we enter something that I consider more of a known quantity, and I’m very excited about it. I think we’ve proven that AEW is a feather in the cap of a media company that we are a great partner, and for me, I’ll work to make sure that AEW fits in any corporate structure. I’ll work very hard, and I think I’ve proven time after time that I am the ultimate corporate soldier, and that is why AEW continues to grow and expand as the media landscape changes, and I think that’s why Warner Bros., even as the company has evolved and changed, AEW has always been a very important part of the portfolio for years and years, and I expect that’s gonna continue with AEW and Warner Bros. for many years to come.”

AEW is currently in the midst of a multi-year media rights deal with WBD, which is slated to run through 2027. The deal has an option for a fourth year if it’s picked up.