Tony Khan Makes Re-Signing Top AEW Star A Priority
Tony Khan is ready to hand out a big contract renewal to one of AEW’s biggest stars who has become a close friend of the boss.
As the AEW Owner, CEO & General Manager as well as the man in charge of booking the promotion, Tony Khan has his hands in everything involving All Elite Wrestling. That’s his right as the owner of the company that celebrated five years of events at the Double Or Nothing PPV in Las Vegas.
The Double or Nothing PPV saw The Elite group consisting of Kazuchika Okada, Matthew Jackson, Nicholas Jackson & Jack Perry beating Team AEW’s Darby Allin, Bryan Danielson, Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler in a violent Anarchy in the Arena Match.
That Anarchy in the Arena Match ended after Danielson took three straight big moves in a row including a running knee by Perry, who pinned Bryan to win.
It’s well-known by now that Danielson plans to stop wrestling as a full-timer when his contract expires later this fall, but he will likely still wrestle on a part-time basis. Bryan’s AEW contract was originally for three years when he signed in 2021, so that means his deal will expire in the coming months.
In an interview with CBS Sports, Tony Khan made it clear that keeping Danielson around long-term is his goal.
“I would like Bryan to stay, in a perfect world, forever here in whatever capacity he’d stay with us in.”
“I’d hope that Bryan would finish his wrestling career here. I would do anything to make that happen. I want Bryan to stay with us wrestling as long as possible.”
“I know that he’s talked about an exit from full-time wrestling, which is what he’s been doing this year whenever he’s been healthy.”
“The only thing better than that is to have Bryan Danielson stepping up for the company, AEW, and fighting on our behalf.”
Khan also spoke about how Danielson fits in AEW.
“I appreciate some of the complimentary things he’s said about me personally, but especially I appreciate the things he’s said about AEW and what we do here and why he loves AEW.”
“I think Bryan Danielson fits on AEW like a glove. As long as he will consider wrestling with us, that door is always open. I would bend over backwards for him and do anything for Bryan Danielson.”
Tony Khan Stays In Touch With Bryan Danielson On A Daily Basis
As he continued to speak about former WWE World Champion Danielson’s value to AEW, Khan spoke about his friendship with the bearded star and wanting to re-sign him.
“I definitely think so. I hope so. I don’t know whether he’ll be wrestling full-time after that but I really hope Bryan will stay with me here in the office forever…”
“I talk to Bryan pretty much every day whenever I can. So I hope that will continue for the rest of our lives.”
During the post-AEW Double or Nothing media scrum, Tony Khan also teased the idea of creating another championship in a company that already has plenty of championships up for grabs.