Tony Khan says he can trace his wrestling fandom back to his fandom of another pop culture icon.
In an interview with Josh Martinez of Z100, Tony Khan explained why the WWF Championship match between Ultimate Warrior and Sgt. Slaughter at the 1991 Royal Rumble holds a place in his heart as the match that first hooked him on pro wrestling. Khan said he was aware of Hulk Hogan and Slaughter because of their respective roles on The A-Team and GI Joe, and that ultimately carried over to him watching pro wrestling.
“I was a fan of TV before I watched wrestling. And I watched The A-Team and Hulk Hogan was on The A-Team. And I watched GI Joe religiously, the cartoon, and Sgt. Slaughter was the host, and he was also like a cartoon character. And so [WrestleMania VII] was a weird match for me, actually, because I was a big fan of Sgt. Slaughter. And then it’s like what is going on with Sgt. Slaughter? And he’s teaming with these guys.
“And you know, I really, really was kinda confused when I saw it. It was confusing to me as a kid, especially as a kid who honestly, my dad looked a lot like General Adnan, and my dad also looks a decent amount like Saddam Hussein, so that was a weird angle for me. So the first match I remember watching and really getting [drawn in], was Sgt. Slaughter and the Ultimate Warrior, where I was hooked but I was kinda torn by it.”
Khan also said he became a huge fan of Randy Savage and did a deep dive backward into the sport after that.
“I love pro wrestling and from the first time I saw it, I was like seven years old,” said Khan. “I guess I got hooked around the time I turned eight, just after I turned eight.”
