Top executive discloses responsibilities Tony Khan avoids; backstage management of conflict among AEW talents
AEW president Tony Khan has had to deal with a lot in 2022, whether it be on a personal level or in his professional life, but one thing that has followed his main wrestling company around in recent times is backstage drama.
Wrestling has always been an industry that was built off the back of conflict and that, more often than not, ends up transferring itself from in front of the cameras to behind the scenes.
This has happened on multiple occasions in AEW over the past 12 months, with the infamous "Brawl Out" incident dominating headlines after All Out, Britt Baker and Thunder Rosa not seeing eye-to-eye, and Andrade El Idolo trying to start a fight with Sammy Guevara.
So it looks like I owe Sammy Guevara an apology...
New reports have come out that Andrade was the "aggressor" in the backstage fight before AEW Dynamite. In fact, word is Sammy made attempts NOT to fight.
Both men were told beforehand not to engage. Andrade did not listen. https://t.co/HRTtqSBihf
The man responsible for trying to keep everyone in line backstage is Tony Schiavone, who responded to a question on the "On Demand: Ask Tony Anything" podcast regarding his responsibilities in AEW.
"We went back and forth with the production truck today and one of the talents about how we are going to do this interview that's going to happen on Wednesday, and I had to kind of organize that. I'm also one that will get with wrestlers, and when two wrestlers have a problem with each other, I'm kind of the person that talks to him. So here I come in, say, 'Okay, you f***ers, get the f*** together. We got a f***ing TV show [to do]." (H/T Wrestling Inc.)
Schiavone also stated that Tony Khan doesn't want to get involved in backstage drama, leaving the legendary personality to organize things both on-screen and off.
"There's a lot of things that Tony Khan does not want to handle, and so I have to handle a lot of those, be it talent relations or organizational things. That's kind of what I've been doing, a lot of organizational things.” (H/T Wrestling Inc.)
One thing Tony Khan had to get involved in was the AEW departure of William Regal
One of the biggest wrestling rumors in recent weeks surrounded William Regal's departure from AEW and his return to WWE.
Well, Tony Khan has confirmed in a media call to promote the ROH Final Battle event on December 10th that Regal will stay with AEW until the end of the year, with the Englishman scheduled to return to WWE in the new year to spend more time with his son, current NXT star Charlie Dempsey.
On #AEWDynamite, William Regal bid farewell to The Blackpool Combat Club.
Is this the last time we see Regal in #AEW? https://t.co/gCWiY1kljr
On the most recent edition of AEW Dynamite, William Regal was shown having a backstage interview with Tony Schiavone, where he essentially gave the Blackpool Combat Club members a farewell message, stating that he has taught them all there is to teach.
Khan reportedly spoke to Regal about his departure date in October 2022, with the AEW president using his recent family problems as an indication of what decision he should make.
Do you think Tony Khan did the right thing by letting William Regal leave? Let us know in the comments section below!