Tony Khan reviews former WWE Intercontinental Champion's AEW debut
Tony Khan has reacted to the AEW debut of Johnny Elite after the former WWE Superstar appeared as the 'Joker' on last week's episode of Dynamite.
Fans first heard of the 'Joker' entrants within AEW's Owen Hart Foundation Tournament when the brackets were announced. The draw saw Samoa Joe and Britt Baker pitted against the mystery opponents, which turned out to be Maki Itoh and Johnny Elite (formerly John Morrison) respectively.
Speaking on Busted Open Radio, AEW President and head booker Tony Khan had his say on Johnny's debut. Khan described the value someone as experienced as the former Intercontinental Champion brings and lauded the debutant's performance against Samoa Joe:
“Oh man, it was great to have Johnny Elite here,” Khan said. “What a great match-up he had with Samoa Joe. It was a great way to make his debut in the Owen. That was tremendous, and really, I am very glad he was here. He’s a great mentor to some of the young wrestlers in the locker room, and somebody I think fans have looked up to for a long time, and he went toe-to-toe with one of the toughest wrestlers in AEW. One of our great stars, and one of the greatest stars in the history of Ring of Honor – Samoa Joe.” (H/T Wrestling Inc.)
And #TheJoker is..... #JohnnyElite!!!
Watch #AEWDynamite LIVE on @TBSNetwork right now! https://t.co/u7R8sp0udn
Samoa Joe left the match with his hand raised, qualifiying for the semi-finals of the tournament where he will face Kyle O'Reilly. He had little chance to savour his victory, however, as Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt and Satnam Singh emerged to lay a beating on the ROH TV Champ.
Samoa Joe is one victory away from an AEW Double or Nothing final
Samoa Joe made his first appearance since his WWE departure to save ROH World Champ Jonathan Gresham after the main event of Supercard of Honor on April 1st.
WEDNESDAY on #AEWDynamite marks the 3rd Anniversary of AEW’s debut LIVE from Vegas at 8/7c on TBS! Dynamite features #OwenHart Foundation Men’s Tournament Semifinal @KORCombat vs @SamoaJoe LIVE at 8pm ET/7pm CT on TBS! Who will go to the finals to fight @AdamColePro at #AEWDoN? https://t.co/iCXnZqAk6u
Joe has since returned to his prizefighting form, capturing the ROH TV title from Minoru Suzuki in his Dynamite debut and dominating thus far in the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.
He still has to beat Kyle O'Reilly in the semi-finals before getting to face Adam Cole in the finals at Double or Nothing. But with the way Joe is fighting, it seems he has a strong chance of lifting the cup at this month's pay-per-view.