Tony Khan Names Surprising AEW Star “One Of The Greatest Wrestlers Of My Lifetime”
Tony Khan was delighted to hold on to one of his most trusted stars.
In late December, Dustin Rhodes announced he’d signed a new multi-year contract with AEW. Rhodes has been with the company since 2019 but became a regular in Ring of Honor in more recent times.
Rhodes currently holds the ROH World Tag Team Titles with Sammy Guevara and the ROH World Trios Titles with Marshall and Ross Von Erich. On January 9th it was announced that the Von Erich’s had now officially signed with AEW.
During a new interview with the Battleground Podcast, AEW boss Tony Khan said he was delighted to have re-signed Rhodes and agreed deals with his tag team partners Marshall and Ross Von Erich. Khan said the Von Eich’s are a team with great potential, but Rhodes is one of the best wrestlers he’d ever seen.
“I think Dustin Rhodes has been a great, great wrestler in AEW. He’s challenged for the TNT Title. We’ve seen Dustin Rhodes wrestle at the top of the professional wrestling in AEW, as great as he’s ever been. He’s somebody that I’ve watched since I was a small child. He’s one of the first wrestlers I ever saw. I’ve been following him my whole life, and it’s amazing the level that Dustin’s wrestling at right now.
Like you said, he’s got two world championships in Ring of Honor. Absolutely, he’d love to chase singles gold too, either in ROH or in AEW.
But Dustin Rhodes still today wrestling at the top of the profession, it’s amazing what he’s been able to do, and it speaks to his genes, it speaks to the Rhodes legacy, and it speaks to Dustin Rhodes, who I think is one of the greatest in-ring fighters, one of the really greatest wrestlers in my lifetime, and one of the great minds in wrestling too.
Dustin has a great mind for it, but that’s what’s amazing, he’s still so athletic, he’s still so great. Who would have thought 30-plus years ago that we’d still be watching Dustin Rhodes? It’s amazing.”
Tony Khan Could Lose More AEW Stars To WWE
While Khan is pleased to have kept hold of Dustin Rhodes, Marshall Von Erich, and Ross Von Erich, more AEW stars could be about to follow Penta to WWE.
According to a new report, Penta’s successful debut of Raw has proven that stars from AEW can move to WWE and be presented as major acts. The report notes that several stars had previously felt they would get lost in WWE and this prevented them from exploring any kind of switch.
However, in early 2025 the mentality has changed completely and two AEW stars in particular are looking to explore a move to WWE when they become free agents in the coming months.
H/t to Fightful