Tony Khan Reflects On AEW All Out Brawl
Tony Khan looks back on the infamous brawl that went down at AEW All Out.
All Elite Wrestling President, Tony Khan had quite the mess on his hands during the infamous brawl that took place following the company’s All Out pay-per-view.
In case you somehow didn’t know, now-former AEW World Champion, CM Punk decided to air out his grievances during the All Out post-show press conference. Punk would take aim at Kenny Omega, Matt, and Nick Jackson as well as several other members of the company. However, it didn’t stop there as Punk, Omega, and The Young Bucks would engage in a physical altercation following Punk’s controversial remarks. The brawl led to Khan stripping Punk and The Elite of their respective titles and all four men would be subsequently suspended.
While a company never wants bad publicity, especially by four of it’s top stars, Khan used the issues as a learning experience, as he explained when appearing on Busted Open Radio:
“Don’t forget that you have great people around you,” he said. “No matter who you are, there are people around you. Everyone has different situations, family, friends, people at work, people at school, but don’t forget there are people who care about you and want to see you succeed. We had a lot of stuff happening, but there are a lot of great people at AEW that want to make the company go and no matter what the problem is, those are people who want to be here and make the company work.
Before the Tournament of Champions, a lot of people in the tournament stepped up and said, ‘I don’t care what’s happening, I love this place, I love you and I want to make it great. I’m here for whatever you need.’ To hear those words of reassurance from people like Jon Moxley, Chris Jericho, and Bryan Danielson means a lot. Having a lot of people return, no matter what you think of them, having people who were away, their returns mean a lot. Samoa Joe, who is one of the biggest stars of all time and is a great presence in the locker room, it’s great to have him back.
Even MJF, who has made a big difference on TV, I don’t agree with everything he says, but I do think the wrestling fans love to see MJF on shows and it makes a big difference for AEW and Dynamite when he’s there. It’s really been about the fans rallying around AEW and the wrestlers and staff rallying. We’ve seen people do it time after time, whether it was the pandemic lockdown, some of the challenges we faced, the absolute low point of this company when Mr. Brodie Lee was sick, on the verge of passing, and when he passed, rallying around him and his family.
That is the most serious example we’ve ever faced and really, compared to that, it’s all kind of…I don’t know what to compare being as serious as that. That’s as big as it gets and puts in perspective everything else that we do. If we all came together and were a family then, we can get through just about anything. For me, I’ve learned a lot, but the most important thing is, whatever position you’re in, if your back is against the wall, just remember that there are people there that you can turn to.”
AEW bounced back quite nicely as the company held their next big event, albeit not a pay-per-view, last night in the form of their special Dynamite edition of Grand Slam. TJR’s full report on the show, including who the new AEW World Champion is, can be found by clicking here.
(h/t to Fightful for the transcription)