"I'm a good Samaritan" - Tony Khan opens up on top AEW stars appearing on WWE RAW during John Cena's 20th-anniversary celebrations
AEW President Tony Khan recently explained why he allowed his promotion's stars to send tribute videos for John Cena's 20th-anniversary celebration on last week's WWE RAW.
Cena, one of the most popular figures in the wrestling industry, celebrated his 20th anniversary with WWE on the 27th June episode of RAW. The entire roster welcomed him as he promised to make his in-ring comeback during an emotional promo.
During the show, WWE aired a special video montage of wrestlers thanking The Cenation Leader, including Chris Jericho, Paul Wight, and Bryan Danielson from AEW. Cena has previously worked with them during their stints with the Stamford-based organization.
Speaking on the Battleground podcast this week, Tony Khan detailed that WWE personally reached out to him for the favor.
"I think when people ask for a reasonable favor, I'm a good Samaritan. There's no reason why you can't help people out. In this case, that's just trying to be a good Samaritan and do the right thing to help out if you think it's a good cause. WWE reached out to me personally and asked me if we would send in videos from some of the top stars. They asked me for videos from Chris Jericho, Paul Wight, Bryan Danielson, and Mark Henry."
He also mentioned that he let the stars decide if they wanted to share their congratulatory videos:
"I thought those were great wrestlers to ask for and I had no problem with it. I also left it up to those wrestlers if they wanted to do it. I sent them to our head of HR. She told him that they'd asked about this, and if they wanted to do the videos, it was fine with us, but it's up to them. They sent them in and that's how it happened." (H/T WrestlingNews.co)
EVERYONE has well-wishes for @JohnCena!
#Cena20 #CenaMonth #WWERaw https://t.co/HAxWyqeNM6
Former WWE referee comments on AEW stars paying tribute to John Cena
Ex-WWE match official Jimmy Korderas expressed his views on AEW stars sending videos to thank John Cena for completing two decades with the company.
Legends of WWE continue to send congratulations to @JohnCena for 20 incomparable years with @WWE!
#CenaMonth #Cena20 #WWERaw https://t.co/iODj9HSyM5
Korderas highlighted on Twitter that the kind gesture from the three All Elite Wrestling stars was a very welcoming sight.
"Look, the tribute that they paid to him, the 20 Years of John Cena on Monday Night was done absolutely phenomenally. You know, the appearances by people who are in AEW like the Big Show and Bryan Danielson and Chris Jericho was nice. They were added into this package." (H/T: EWrestling News)
There has been no confirmation yet of when John Cena will return for his next match. But there is plenty to get excited about as The Cenation leader promised to return for several bouts in the future.