Tony Khan Says He Started Working On AEW In April 2018
AEW starts on TNT this Wednesday, but the wheels have been in motion for much longer.
Their first pay-per-view was in May, the company was launched in January. The precursor show, All In, took place last September. However, it was months before that the company was formed in the mind of Tony Khan.
Fightful contributor and Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Howard Thurston noted on Twitter Monday that the company was already well underway by the time All In aired. AEW Founder Tony Khan would expand on that, as the two discussed a Wall Street Journal article.
On the origin of AEW- Tony Khan’s wrestling project that ended up being named All Elite Wrestling was in the works months before All In happened on Sept 1, 2018. WSJ was inaccurate on that point in its article today. Suspecting others may make that mistake this week.
— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) September 30, 2019
I explained that to them pretty clearly in the interview, to be fair. I officially started on the project that became AEW on April 6, 2018 when I saw my friend Kevin Reilly at a party in Beverly Hills & said that I was interested in creating a wrestling league + working together.
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) September 30, 2019
So there you have it. The concept of All Elite Wrestling wasn’t a hastily prepared response to the success of All In as many have suggested, but was in the works for nearly five months ahead. They’ll have their first cable effort this Wednesday night on TNT.
Fightful will have weekly coverage of AEW Dynamite every Wednesday, including a post-show podcast.
