Backstage details on AEW keeping Tony Khan’s latest announcement a secret – Reports
AEW President and CEO Tony Khan and the company higher-ups kept a recent major announcement on Collision a secret, as per a recent report.
Last Saturday on Collision, Tony Khan along with Bryan Danielson announced a "Continental Classic Tournament." The tournament will be a 12-man round-robin with the winner earning an opportunity to challenge the AEW World Champion, MJF, at the "World's End" pay-per-view at the end of December 2023.
The American Dragon will also be a part of the tournament, despite his recent orbital bone injury and the bandage around his eyes. Although the announcement was made on live TV, the episode of Collision was taped last week and aired on TV this past Saturday. Hence, the announcement may have already been made for the live audience.
However, according to a recent report by Fightful Select, the announcement of the "AEW Continental Classic Tournament" was kept a secret by Tony Khan and the higher-ups. Although the Collision episode last week was taped days before airing, the announcement was not shown to the crowd in Oakland, California.
Instead, the announcement of the tournament was kept a secret until last Saturday and was shown to the audience all around the world on TV only. If the report is to be believed, Khan and the company higher-ups must have done this to surprise fans with the major announcement and avoid any spoilers.
What else happened on AEW Collision last week?
Apart from the major announcement regarding the upcoming 12-man tournament, AEW Collision also witnessed some notable moments. A four-way match for Full Gear in which Ricky Starks and Big Bill will defend their world tag team titles against House of Black, LFI and FTR was announced.
Julia Hart also defeated Willow Nightingale to add herself to the three-way match against Kris Statlander and another unannounced challenger for the TBS title this Saturday.
In the main event of the show, Sting teamed up with Adam Copeland and Darby Allin to defeat Lance Archer and The Righteous in a trios match. It remains to be seen if the loaded Full Gear PPV this Saturday manages to deliver.