AEW Boss Tony Khan Almost Purchased Different Promotion

Tony Khan held talks with wrestling promotion.

On January 16th, WWE officially announced a multi-year partnership with TNA Wrestling. The announcement came after the two companies worked together extensively throughout 2024 with the likes of Joe Hendry and Jordynne Grace wrestling on WWE television.

This wasn’t the first time TNA had a relationship with a major US-based company, as it worked with AEW from late 2020 until December 2021. This saw TNA talent appear on AEW television, while Kenny Omega and Christian Cage both held the TNA World Championship.

But what if AEW never existed, and Tony Khan was actually the one calling the shots in TNA?

TNA Wrestling Approached Tony Khan

Writing in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer noted that TNA Wrestling bosses tried to sell the company to Tony Khan in 2018. This would have been a year after Anthem Entertainment purchased a majority stake in the company and in the months after Scott D’Amore and Don Callis became Executive Vice Presidents.

“TNA did attempt to sell to Tony Khan in 2018 and had talks about a year ago with Scott D’Amore about selling but turned D’Amore offer price down.”

In late 2018, Khan purchased several trademarks linked to All Elite Wrestling, and the company was officially launched on January 1st, 2019. In March 2022, Khan announced the purchase of Ring of Honor from the Sinclair Broadcast Group.

In February 2024, D’Amore was surprisingly fired by TNA, with wrestlers, fans, and industry insiders expressing their shock at the decision. Following his departure, it was revealed that Scott D’Amore attempted to purchase TNA Wrestling for around $10 million.