"I didn't know that he was a real person" - Top AEW official reveals how Hulk Hogan influenced his love for pro wrestling
AEW CEO Tony Khan recently spoke to Forbes, with the video posted on their YouTube channel. He spoke about how he fell in love with professional wrestling and the role Hulk Hogan and Sgt. Slaughter played in it.
The President of the promotion revealed that he first saw Hulk Hogan in The A-Team and Sgt. Slaughter in the G.I. Joe cartoon, only later realizing they were wrestlers in WWE (then WWF). Khan, who was eight at the time, said he's been hooked to pro wrestling ever since:
"I was a TV kid. I watched The A-Team and Hulk Hogan played himself on The A-Team so that was pretty cool but I didn't know that he was a real person, I just thought he was a guy on TV at first. Then I watched G.I. Joe and the host of G.I. Joe was Sgt. Slaughter. But I didn't know he was a wrestler. Then I saw ads for wrestling and Hulk Hogan and Sgt. Slaughter were part of the WWF so I thought that was pretty interesting. And then I watched more of it and that was when I was eight years old. I've never looked back in the last 30 years of being a huge fan," revealed Tony Khan.
Chris Jericho had a ton of praise of AEW CEO Tony Khan
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Also on the Forbes feature, we got a brief appearance from former AEW World Champion Chris Jericho. The wrestling legend spoke about his close relationship with Tony Khan and commended him fo changing the course of wrestling history with AEW:mm
"Being around Tony Khan is infectious. He's a wrestling fan and I'm a wrestling fan and that's why I'm here today. Tony Khan has a real passion for pro wrestling. He started AEW for the right reasons and changed wrestling history as a result," said Chris Jericho.
Chris Jericho was one of the first major names to sign for AEW when the promotion was formed in 2019. Jericho went on to become the first AEW World Champion, beating Hangman Adam Page to win the title.
He currently heads the Inner Circle stable, which also consists of Jake Hager, Proud N Powerful and Sammy Guevara. They are due to take on American Top Team this week in a trios match which will see Junior Dos Santos make his professional wrestling debut.
If any quotes are used from this article, please add a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling and credit Forbes