Tony Khan is setting the record straight when it comes to the language that can and cannot be used on AEW Dynamite and Rampage.
All Elite Wrestling President Tony Khan recently sat down with Forbes to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about the reports that the company was asked to tone down language by Warner Bros. Discovery, Khan noted that toning down the language was actually a company directive.
“It was actually us making a point to the wrestlers in an all-talent meeting last week, and I think this got taken out of context a bit,” Tony Khan said. “I was saying to them and a number of people [who spoke at the meeting] were making a point….[to] all the wrestlers and TV talent that it does not serve us well if anybody goes into business for themselves.
“While we don’t script promos, if somebody is gonna go out and…do something or say something that might be considered by a network [to be] pretty questionable, I’d like to know so I can ask them [the network executives]. I communicate with them every Wednesday about things we’re gonna do, and if I’m surprised, then I can’t talk to them and then ask them on stuff that I might think is questionable.”
When asked about the recent AEW talent meeting that was held backstage before Dynamite earlier this month, Khan said it was just about making a point.
“We’re just trying to make a point, ‘Hey we’re in good standing. Don’t jeopardize our standing by going into business for yourselves, ladies and gentlemen,’ because if you’re gonna do something questionable, tell me,” Tony Khan said.
While All Elite Wrestling is in good standing with Warner Bros. Discovery, they’ve also had tremendous success on pay-per-view over their three short years of existence.
“We made a big change this year to the [pay-per-view] model adding Forbidden Door, which was an unprecedented success, the biggest debut of any of our pay-per-views actually,” Tony Khan said. “We hit new highs with even bigger numbers for the third Revolution and the fourth Double or Nothing.”
F4WOnline.com’s Dave Meltzer first reported (via The Wrestling Observer Newsletter) that Warner Bros. Discovery had asked All Elite Wrestling to tone down their language recently. Will Washington of Fightful/Grapsody later added more context and said an AEW source told him this was taken out of context. The network did not issue an edict on the matter, but rather it was communicated that AEW could get heat from WBD “if they fly too close to the sun.”
AEW also directly dealt with Ace Steel’s incident where he swore on Dynamite by fining him. Read more about the situation and how he accepted responsibility here.
READ MORE: Tony Khan: CM Punk Had Nothing To Do With Moving Colt Cabana To ROH
What do you make of Tony Khan’s comments? Are you upset about the company toning down the language a bit on Dynamite and Rampage? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
