Tony Khan breaks silence to send a message to popular celebrity slamming AEW
Tony Khan just sent a message to a popular celebrity who criticized AEW and its fans.
O'Shea Jackson Jr., is a well-known name in Hollywood. He has made a name for himself as a successful actor, rapper, and songwriter. His most notable film role came in Straight Outta Compton, where he played his real-life father, Ice Cube.
Jackson is not only an acclaimed actor and rapper but he is also a wrestling fan. Recently, he went on Chris Van Vliet's podcast, where they discussed professional wrestling. During the course of this interview, Jackson Jr. didn't hold back as he criticized AEW for its lack of storytelling and also took shots at the company's fans.
Tony Khan, who is known to be quite passionate about AEW, didn't take too kindly to this, and he hit back at the actor.
"@OsheaJacksonJr You might enjoy checking out new experiences + entire worlds of international graps out there, I think learning about them is fun. All wrestling is awesome; I hope you enjoy whatever you like, + maybe someday you'll be interested in wider circles!"
Check out his tweet here:
Ricky Starks recalled how Tony Khan informed him he was hired
Ricky Starks has been one of the most impressive stars in AEW ever since he joined. Starks' AEW career began when he answered an open challenge for the TNT Championship that was laid out by Cody Rhodes. Although he lost that match, he had done enough to earn himself a contract.
During a recent interview with Hold the Mayo, Ricky Starks stated why he decided not to renew his NWA contract.
"I didn't re-sign [with NWA] because I felt like I had hit my ceiling already," Starks said. "I quit, basically, right when COVID happened. So I had no paycheck. So I was making all my money online from my t-shirts on my website. I had did this video. I make these different vignettes, these videos... A promotional package for myself. I direct all of them, I pay for all of them, I produce all of them. And I had posted it online. I posted it online, and Cody [Rhodes] had replied to it like 'Oh, this is cool.' That was... That may have been in May or something like that. The end of May comes around, I get an email from him saying, 'Hey, we want you to come in and do this Open Challenge for the TNT Title.' I said 'Okay. I'm just cooped up in my house right now. I'll do it.'"
Starks then revealed that Tony Khan texted him and told him he was being offered a contract.
"So, I have the match," Starks said. "And then I walk to the back, and people were just like 'That was good. Good job. Blah blah blah. Good job.' But I didn't hear anything about if I had a job or not. People were just like 'Man, you may have a job. You did really good.' So I go home, and then the night that it airs, the match itself, I get a text from Tony like 'I'd like to offer you this deal... I'd like to offer you a contract.'" [H/T - WrestlingInc.]
Tony Khan's passion for his company is seemingly one of the reasons AEW has such a loyal fanbase.
What are your thoughts on Tony Khan's response to O'Shea Jackson Jr.? Sound off in the comments section.