"No one knew who he was" - Wrestling veteran recalls his first impression of AEW President Tony Khan when they met backstage in WWE
Dutch Mantell recently discussed his first impression of Tony Khan upon meeting the business mogul backstage at a WWE show in 2014.
Tony Khan brought forth the advent of All Elite Wrestling on January 1, 2019. The AEW President and his father Shahid Khan also own the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham Football Club. Ever since its first event, AEW has been considered direct competition for Vince McMahon's WWE.
Speaking on the Wrestling Shoot Interviews podcast, Dutch Mantell voiced his thoughts on what it was like meeting TK for the first time. The former WWE manager remembers being surprised by the latter's knowledge of the industry:
"About 2014, I was with WWE and we were in Jacksonville and that's where Tony lives,'' said Mantell. "He was backstage and he came up to me and he introduced himself and he says 'I'm the part of the family that owns the Jacksonville Jaguars'. I knew that somebody named Khan owned it but he was his son and he started just talking just about wrestling and his knowledge was unbelievable." (1.09-1.58)
Mantell also gave an insight into Mr. Khan's backstage demeanor back then:
"He didn't say he wanted to get into the wrestling business but he was walking around and talking to everybody. Of course nobody knew who he was right. I told somebody about him I said 'He's got like a billion dollars and somebody said well 'He'll introducing to me, I put him in the wrestling business' (laughs)," Mantell continued. (2.02-2.32)
“It’s clear that my father thought it (AEW) was a bad idea, but I always knew I had the drive, desire and knowledge to make it work.
I back myself in a big way in these situations,”
- Tony Khan https://t.co/Uu9apQ5RGZ
Tony Khan gave an insight on founding All Elite Wrestling
In just 3 years, AEW has cemented its prominent position in the pro-wrestling realm. Under Tony Khan's leadership, the promotion has widened its grasp on a global scale.
AEW's first-ever pay-per-view Double or Nothing was held in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 25, 2019. The show earned critical acclaim for featuring instant classics like Cody vs. Dustin Rhodes. The main event saw Chris Jericho topple Kenny Omega to earn a shot at the inaugural AEW World title.
Appearing on the Barstool Rasslin' podcast earlier this year, Tony Khan disclosed that the foundation of AEW dates back to 2018:
"I started working on the concept that became AEW about four years ago. It’s crazy because people I really wanted to reach out to at the beginning [like] CM Punk, Chris Jericho, The Young Bucks. We were talking a lot and those guys really helped start it, because Matt brought Nick and so many other people; Cody and even later, Kenny."
(You can read more here)
This day in #AEWHistory, @IAmJericho vs. @KennyOmegamanX is officially announced for Double or Nothing 2019 https://t.co/suLV2DrYKd
Tony Khan's hard work and passion has propelled AEW's reach to incredible heights. With the acquisition of Ring of Honor, Mr. Khan has a lot on his plate. It will be interesting to see where the AEW boss plans to take both promotions in the future.
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