AEW President Tony Khan disputes Cody Rhodes’ recent claims
Tony Khan has just set the record straight regarding which member of The Elite he met first while they were getting to know one another ahead of their partnership to form AEW. This would be one-half of The Young Bucks, Matthew Jackson.
All Elite Wrestling was formed with Tony Khan as the President, and he had his co-founders and Executive Vice Presidents. These were The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, and Cody Rhodes. These stars remained as the four EVPs of the promotion until Rhodes left the company in 2022.
In an exclusive interview with Comicbook.com, Tony Khan brought up how the first Elite member he had talked to was Matthew Jackson, along with his wife Dana. He even mentioned the specific date on which they met. He also talked about how his approach to the talks may be what intrigued Jackson.
"It was a few months after my first conversation with Kevin Reilly that I had my first conversation with Matt and his wife Dana. The first person I talked to out of The Elite was Matt and Dana. They called me on July 3rd, 2018," Khan mentioned. "I think Nick thought, 'This guy's crazy.' Everybody's heard charlatans come out of the woodwork in wrestling, and they'd seen a lot of that, and I don't think those guys were going to take it seriously, but something about my approach intrigued Matt."
This comes at a time when Cody Rhodes has claimed that he was the first to talk to Khan. Khan also brought up how his reputation as the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars may have added to his credibility.
"Honestly, I think it was the fact that it's coming from the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars is what it was. I think it gave us a lot of credibility." [H/T - Comicbook.com]
Tony Khan also made a recent revelation regarding a major star's creative plans
One of the most talked about storylines in AEW is Mariah May turning on her idol Toni Storm.
During an interview with Sports Illustrated, Tony Khan revealed that the plans for her booking had been there from the start, and he had even consulted Bryan Danielson about this.
"Bryan Danielson and I were flying home from Double or Nothing, and we were talking about wrestling and what stuck out to us, and Bryan asked, 'Have you seen Mariah?'" said Khan. "I said I had, and that I was amazed at how, very quickly, she’d become one of the top stars in Stardom. We both agreed she was very polished and charismatic. That’s when I asked Bryan if he’d seen All About Eve and Sunset Boulevard."
After a few months of being allies, now both women will settle this entire situation in the ring at All In, and Mariah May has the chance to defeat the woman she seemed to look up to for the coveted AEW Women's Championship.