5 stars who allegedly turned down Tony Khan’s pitches in AEW
Tony Khan is the CEO and President of AEW. Khan is also the Creative Head of the company and has primary control over whatever happens in the ring in the Jacksonville-based promotion. The relationship between a booker and the performers is sacred and can make or break the success of a company.
While wrestling fans have witnessed some incredible moments as well as questionable booking at the hands of Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman in WCW and ECW over the years, the verdict about TK's booking is still not out.
Here are 5 instances where AEW wrestlers rejected Tony Khan's booking.
#5. The House of Black refused a clean loss to FTR and Daniel Garcia
The House of Black is one of the hottest stables in AEW. Malakai Black, Brody King, and Buddy Matthews were in the news once because of rumors that they refused a clean loss to FTR and Daniel Garcia in a match set up for the January 27 episode of Collision in a Steel Cage Elimination match. That clash ended after Mark Briscoe helped Daniel Garcia escape the Steel Cage before Black could.
Dave Meltzer later said that the ending happened in the manner it did because Malakai refused to lose clean, and the Leader of the House of Black responded to those allegations.
#4. Miro refused a match set up by Tony Khan
Miro, fka Rusev, had some intense matches when he wrestled in WWE, and proceeded to do the same in AEW. However, even he refused a match that Tony Khan had set up.
This happened sometime in 2022 when The Redeemer refused to be part of a Battle Royal that the AEW CEO had planned. The match would have him and Hangman Page as the last two. Dave Meltzer said this on an episode of Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
#3. Jon Moxley refused to lose to CM Punk, according to Punk
Jon Moxley is now the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, and has been one of AEW's most reliable stars over the years. However, there are reports that even he refused a Tony Khan angle, which included him and CM Punk.
Moxley and Punk were in a feud that culminated at All Out 2022. According to the Second City Saint, Moxley refused to lose to Punk, and wanted to recreate the Rocky 3 story, where the World Heavyweight Champion Rocky loses to a young boxer, Clubber Lang, only to bounce back in a rematch.
#2. Andrade had refused a Collision angle that had him barging into Tony Khan's office
Andrade is among the most talented wrestlers of this generation and has had stints in both AEW and WWE. Fans consider Idolo a solid worker and someone with a good understanding of the business. However, even he refused an angle that had him return to Collision, and the reason is unknown.
Tony Khan's creative planned for the former WWE United States Champion to barge into Khan's office like Miro and Thunder Rosa did before the Collison episode that Idolo was to appear on.
#1. Ricky Starks refused a feud with Big Bill in AEW
Ricky Starks and Big Bill are a tag team and former Tag Team Champions. Tony Khan and his creative had once broached the subject of a feud between the two, which would break them up and make Starks into a major babyface and turn Bill into a heel. According to reports, Starks nixed the ideas.
Starks has been the subject of several rumors, including that he's all set to jump ship to WWE once his contract is up. Dave Meltzer though, has said that while several backstage entities in AEW think so, there's no clarity about what Absolute will do.