Maven had huge praise for AEW President Tony Khan.
Back in May 2025, the former WWE star uploaded a YouTube video highlighting his backstage experience at an AEW show. The video featured several AEW stars. On The Ariel Helwani Show, Maven discussed wrestling’s “unwritten rules,” like shaking everyone’s hand backstage.
He called the rules stupid and said they often create unnecessary issues, rather than proving respect. He believes some of these customs still remain, though not as strongly as before.
Reflecting on his AEW visit, Maven said, “When I was backstage at AEW, that environment seemed like a good place to work. Seemed like a good place to work. Good, great vibes. And Tony Khan seemed like the best boss to work for. I know he gets a lot of critics, you know, talking about him online.”
“I sat and watched. They were about 30 minutes away from ending the show and my contact told me Tony wants to meet with you. He just has to wait till, obviously, the show’s over. So we, yeah, no problem. I mean, we’re here. We don’t have any place to be. Yeah. So I sat and I watched Tony for 30 minutes.”
“And every wrestler that came out of that ring, he got up from his producing chair, took his headphones off, made sure every one of them was healthy, happy with the match that they had just had. And you can tell when someone cares as opposed to when someone’s going through the motions.”
“He cares. I left and I told him to his face, you have changed my perception on what I thought you were. And everybody that I talked to there seemed happy to be there and seemed happy with the product that they were putting out in front of the fans.”
Maven’s take on AEW is the opposite of how Bully Ray feels about the state of the promotion. Despite praising him as being a nice guy with a good heart, Bully said the AEW product is lost, Khan is not a real booker and the talent knows it too.
Read More: Jim Cornette Says Bully Ray Is Telling The Truth About AEW
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