Tony Khan Talks WCW Taking “Eye Off The Ball”, Listening To Fans
AEW President Tony Khan recently spoke with the media following Ring Of Honor's Supercard Of Honor show about how it all went down. He made it clear that he's unsure of the future for the company overall, but he does think it was a success this weekend.
"I don't know where the future of it is, but tonight being such a great success and the support of the fans, that's going to help a lot. When you watch the shows, when you watch AEW, when you watch ROH, you're helping. You're helping me, you're helping the wrestlers, you're helping give us a chance, and I really appreciate it.
"What is awesome about the wrestling fans, and what I really try to do, and I think we've done a good job of doing is, I watch wrestling for 30 something years. I see companies get in a pattern where they don't listen to the fans. And look, anybody in this position is going to make a mistake every once in a while. Nobody bats 1,000."
Tony Khan admitted that they do make a couple of mistakes. However, he is always listening to the fans, so that when any issues take place, he looks to fix them.
"But what's really cool is that if we make a mistake here or there, we have always tried to listen and make it better. I think the fans really do know, and appreciate that," he said. "We have a really good track record of coming through on our promises. Then if we do something on a show that isn't exactly what people expected or what they wanted to see, I do try to listen to that.
"I can't always give everyone exactly that week what they expect. A lot of times things are happening, and they're going somewhere, there's a plan. And I just know that the loyal support of our fans is what made this show possible. And now the loyalty and support we got from everyone here in the building tonight, and on PPV is why I think there's a really good future for Ring Of Honor."
Khan also discussed keeping the shows fresh, and ensuring they have great finishes. He admits that it isn't easy, but he doesn't want to fall into the trap that WCW Monday Nitro did of the show ending the same all the time.
"It's really hard to do this every week, and I don't take it for granted. Is there anybody that's watched all the Nitro's and Thunder's through more than once? It always ends the same way, doesn't it? It always ends the same way," he said. "It's when you take your eye off the ball, it's sad that it always ends that way, isn't it? I am the last person on the planet that should be hoping that turned out differently than it did. Yet, I watch it and it's still hard to watch. I never want that again for the fans.
"I think it was a hard transition period, and I hated the uncertainty for the fans of Ring Of Honor of what was going to happen, because it wasn't my decision. It wasn't the one who decided what was going to happen. All I could do was make my best offer, and thankfully it was good enough, and it was accepted. I knew immediately that there were things that I could do to help this company.
"Obviously, I knew that as soon as they accepted my offer, and this was going to go forward, I knew that I had a lot of wrestlers in AEW already that could go back, like a Jay Lethal, Lee Moriarty, Mercedes Martinez. Even Willow, that has wrestled in Ring Of Honor but has also been a regular in AEW for a long time. Reaching out to Samoa Joe made a lot of sense when the timing was right. I couldn't do it straight away, but it worked out. It's a great story and I think it was a great night.
Tony Khan is hoping for his roster to just keep going and pushing on. However, he made it clear that the fans and wrestling media will play a big part in making that happen. Khan also made it clear that he believes AEW gets held to a higher standard than anything else.
"For me I just want to keep it going, and that involves the fans. I can't do it, I need all of you, that involve the fans and the media. It involves the people covering wrestling, and I don't ask anybody to sugarcoat it. I just want people to watch the wrestling and give it a chance," he said. "Sometimes it's hard, well it's not hard, who am I kidding.
"I have the easiest job in the world. Sometimes I work myself because I feel like AEW, because we do things the right way and have good shows pretty regularly. And there's a decent amount of wrestling on almost every episode. If we ever get away from something, or do something that people don't like, I think sometimes we get held to a different than other people.
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