Tony Khan Discusses Why Talent Doesn’t Always See The Spotlight At AEW

In his recent Grapsody interview, AEW owner Tony Khan responded to a question about maintaining morale and trying to keep the roster happy while dealing with the variety of booking issues in the industry (via Wrestling Inc). Khan shared his thoughts on the unique nature of the wrestling business and how he handles those types of concerns. You can find a few highlights and watch the complete interview below.

On why some talent isn’t in the focus from show to show: “You have people that are going to be a focus week-to-week. Eddie’s a big part of tonight’s show, we’ll see Eddie on ‘Rampage,’ tonight. There are dozens of wrestlers featured on ‘Dynamite’ and ‘Rampage’ every week, and throughout those three hours you see lots of names, but there’s lots of names you aren’t seeing in AEW every week, and sometimes they’re silent about that, and sometimes there’s a reason: somebody’s hurt, somebody’s working on another project, somebody’s getting repackaged, or frankly there’s just not enough slots on three hours.” 

On the unique dynamic between a company and the roster in the wrestling industry: “It’s not really common in the NFL for the backup quarterback to complain to the coach that he’s not playing. It’s not common in the NBA for the backup point guard to slight the coach because he’s not getting minutes.” 

On how he handles frustrations from the locker room: “I take it with a smile, and I’ll keep taking it with a smile. It’s ok. I understand that everyone wants to wrestle and wants to do things.”