Tony Khan Claims Ex-World Champion Is AEW’s Ric Flair

Tony Khan recently called an AEW star his company’s Ric Flair.

There is no doubt that the Florida promotion has versatile talents capable of bringing new audiences to its shows and keeping the business afloat.

Ric Flair, meanwhile, is a wrestling veteran whose in-ring career has spanned over 50 years, having started in 1972 with the American Wrestling Association.

Flair has since appeared across various promotions, including AEW from 2023 to mid-2024.

AEW President Tony Khan spoke on the recent episode of 103.5 KISS FM’s Hot Tag Wrestling Podcast, wherein he was asked if his company had a star similar to what Ric Flair was in the NWA.

Khan did not think twice before naming former world champion Jon Moxley as that wrestler.

He’s somebody who could be the top hero, the top fan favorite. He’s somebody who could be the top villain, as he’s proven. He bleeds buckets. They have very different mentalities in terms of they are very different. Jon Moxley is the ultimate blue-collar wrestler. Ric Flair is the ultimate white collar wrestler. But they have this hard-hitting mentality.

Moxley competed at All In: Texas, wherein he lost the AEW World Championship title to “Hangman” Adam Page in a Texas Death Match.

Tony Khan Recalls AAA Betrayal

Tony Khan’s promotion shared a cordial relationship with AAA during its formative years.

AEW and AAA’s partnership allowed them to swap talents to promote a storyline; at one point, Kenny Omega held the Mega Championship for over 740 days.

In an interview with Q101, he discussed being taken by surprise when Dragon Lee, who was signed with AAA, announced that he was moving to WWE.

I remember I was with Samoa Joe… and I talked to FTR, and they said, ‘there’s some kind of strange stuff going on here. And then right after Dynamite ended, that match went off, and they announced that Dragon Lee was signing with WWE… so it was really a double cross. And that would never happen now.

Tony Khan’s AEW is currently involved in a partnership with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Co., Ltd. (CMLL), a lucha libre company based in Mexico.