Tony Khan Explains The Something Special He Saw In One AEW Star

Tony Khan has been in a reflective mood.

AEW recently celebrated the sixth anniversary of its flagship show, Dynamite, and that, combined with the arrival of former WWE star Andrade, has prompted a time of reflection. Especially when it comes to ex-WWE stars who have found a new lease of life after becoming All Elite.

Alongside Jon Moxley, Swerve Strickland, and Toni Storm are arguably two of the company’s biggest success stories. Strickland became a World Champion after WWE failed to give him a true run on the main roster, while, since joining AEW, Storm has become one of the biggest stars in the entire industry.

Tony Khan Praises Toni Storm & Swerve Strickland

During a new interview with Dirt Sheet Radio, Tony Khan was asked about signing Storm and Strickland and helping turn them into huge stars. He went on to explain that Strickland has been “phenomenal” for the company, while he said he saw something different in Storm and a chance to do something special.

“Well, those are two great examples. I think Swerve Strickland was a tremendous young wrestler whom I’d seen on TV. I thought he was excellent. And as I got to know him, I think he’s been a phenomenal signing for AEW. He’s a former World Champion, former World Tag Team Champion. He’s accomplished so much, and he has so much still in front of him in his career. Swerve Strickland was a great wrestler, and I was excited to bring him to AEW.

Then also, you mentioned Timeless Toni Storm as somebody that signed as a free agent here. Timeless Toni Storm is just so fantastic. She is known now as Timeless Toni Storm. She arrived with a great reputation as a worldwide phenomenon, Toni Storm, this really exciting young wrestler who’d been all over the world. And she built this great reputation.

But I saw something in Toni Storm that was totally different than any wrestler I’ve worked with. And she had a presence that I felt was more like Bette Davis or a character like Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard. But Toni’s so young and just such a young, charming, powerful young lady. For me, I thought there would be a great opportunity to tell some stories, to work with our partners at Turner Classic Movies.

You were on TBS tomorrow for Title Tuesday, and we do wrestling every week on TBS and TNT. But this brought TCM into the situation. I love old movies. I asked Toni Storm a long time ago, ‘have you ever seen Sunset Boulevard or All About Eve in particular’, and she had not. She really has come so far. But this is all things that were really inside of Toni Storm, I believe, the whole time.

She had this presence and she’s unlocked it and I think it’s phenomenal. I’m really proud she’s been able to find it. I’ve had the fortune to have a few good ideas over the years in wrestling.

I think one of them certainly was introducing Toni Storm to classic films like when I thought about that a couple of years ago and who would have thought it would take the turn it has and Timeless Toni Storm is one of the greatest wrestlers ever in AEW. Toni Storm is a great free agent signing, and then Timeless Toni Storm took it to a whole nother’ level as one of our best stars ever.”

Swerve Strickland is currently out of action after undergoing knee surgery in the days after Forbidden Door in August. At the event in London, Strickland unsuccessfully challenged Kazuchika Okada for the Unified Championship.

The surgery was to repair a torn meniscus he’d been dealing with since 2019.

H/t to Fightful