Tony Khan Issues AEW Grand Slam Denial

Tony Khan wants to make something clear about AEW Grand Slam.

On February 15th, AEW will hold its first-ever taping in Australia when Grand Slam hits the Brisbane Entertainment Centre. The taping also marks the first time Grand Slam has been held outside of the United States, with the special being a fixture at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York since 2021.

On the show “Timeless” Toni Storm will look to recapture the AEW Women’s Title when she clashes with Mariah May. The event represents something of a homecoming for Storm, who was born in New Zealand but moved to Australia aged four.

In the only other match announced to date, Kenny Omega will team with Will Ospreay to take on Konosuke Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher.

Tony Khan Sets Record Straight On AEW Grand Slam

During an interview with TV Insider, Khan addressed the upcoming TV special, saying it will be one of the biggest TV events of the year.

It’s my first time going to Australia. I’m really excited about it. I’m excited to learn more about the fans, meet new people and have a great experience. It’s something I look forward to have AEW make its Australian debut in Brisbane for Saturday night, Collision, Grand Slam: Australia. I think it’s going to be a great event.

We got huge matches, and I believe it will be one of the greatest Grand Slam cards in AEW’s history. It’s always one of the biggest events on the calendar. There are already some huge matches with “Timeless” Toni Storm returning to fight her protégé “The Glamour” Mariah May for the AEW Women’s World Championship in Toni’s home country. It’s a return and a homecoming.

It’s an important chapter in one of AEW’s greatest rivalries unfolding before us now. The huge tag team match with Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay teaming for the first time ever in AEW to take on the AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita and “The ProtoStar” Kyle Fletcher, who is returning to his home country of Australia.

This will be one of the biggest TV events of the year. This will arguably the biggest TV card of the year.

Khan also pushed back on claims from some sections of the internet that Grand Slam was originally intended to be a pay-per-view but was scaled back. He said it was always planned to be a TV special as it has in previous years, claiming it’s one of TNT’s biggest nights of the year.

Yes. Having this be a TV event has always been the plan. That’s something that the network wanted. It’s something the network brought to us recently as an opportunity to follow NBA All-Star Saturday. We saw it as a huge opportunity. It was a great vote of confidence for our partners at Warner Brothers Discovery. It will be one of the biggest nights of the year on TNT. It’s a great opportunity given the lead-in.

According to a recent report, Tony Khan has been “back in the weeds” with AEW creative. Although he’s always retained the final say on everything that makes it to television, the AEW boss had taken something of a step back from the finer details.

However, Dave Meltzer has suggested that the shift isn’t necessarily a good thing, noting that Khan should continue to delegate as he’s essentially working multiple full-time jobs.