AEW President Tony Khan recently sat down with Ariel Helwani for a far-reaching conversation that saw him touch on several widely-discussed topics. Among them was the fallout from his decision to fire CM Punk in 2023.
The Best in the World got into a backstage altercation with Jack Perry at the All In PPV in London, England, an incident which Khan later claimed left him fearing for his life. Punk quickly returned to WWE, and the billionaire later decided to air the security footage on an episode of AEW Dynamite.
That didn't really prove anything and instead led to Khan being widely ridiculed (it certainly didn't look like a near-death experience). Despite the backlash that followed, Khan appears to have no regrets and opened up on his decision to share the footage during this interview.
"I didn’t necessarily agree with the description of how it all happened," he started. "I think the tape spoke for itself, and I think that I didn’t agree with how it happened, and obviously it was a major part of why things were no longer able to continue with us, even though I would have liked to have been able to."
"It was clear when we started doing Collision, I wanted to reconcile and find a way to still do those things. And I guess that wasn’t possible. I wanted to find a way for everybody to be able to work together, and that didn’t work, and that’s okay. It seems like everybody’s happier and doing better right now."
"I know in AEW right now, everybody’s really happy, and it feels like this is the best the locker room’s been since the Jacksonville lockdown days," Khan added.
Much has been said about Chris Jericho leaving AEW to return to WWE for one final run. He hasn't been seen on AEW television since April, and Khan largely dodged the question when asked about Y2J's continued absence.
Claiming that "some of it comes down to just working out the dates," he was asked if Jericho's deal is nearly up and replied, "I would rather not get into that, but also I respect you asking about it, and if I could give as much information as possible to try and keep a very constructive dialogue. I absolutely hope we’ll get Chris back in."
Khan was later asked about whether WWE had contacted him about possibly enlisting Edge for "The Last Time Is Now" tournament meant to decide John Cena's final opponent at Saturday Night's Main Event next month.
He confirmed that they haven't, and stated that Adam Copeland remains under contract with AEW for the foreseeable future. This isn't overly surprising, as AEW is the one pro wrestling company that WWE has no interest in working with in any capacity.
As for whether he'd be open to signing two of professional wrestling's hottest free agents following their recent WWE release, Karrion Kross and Scarlett Bordeaux, Khan mused, "I have not spoken to him in many, many years. That’s interesting. I’m not sure I like Killer Kross. It’d be interesting at some point to talk to him again."
"It’s been a long time since I’ve talked to Killer Kross, and it would be interesting." There was a time when AEW was quick to scoop up any released WWE Superstars, but that's changed in recent years, especially as many of them have used Khan's company as a means to eventually return to what most see as the big leagues.
You can hear much more from Khan in the player below.