The pro wrestling promotion announced Monday it is coming to Mission Ballroom on Feb. 25 to broadcast “AEW Dynamite” live and tape an episode of “AEW Collision.”

This is the seventh time AEW has held its shows in Colorado and just the second time in Denver; it was also at the Mission Ballroom for its Fyter Fest special last June.

The company previously had performances in Colorado Springs, Loveland and Broomfield — including the final event at the 1stBank Center before it was demolished.

Tickets for the show will go .

The pro wrestling promotion announced Friday that it will be airing Dynamite live and taping Collision on June 4 at the Mission Ballroom. The two shows are being promoted as the sixth installment of .

This is the sixth time AEW has held its shows in Colorado and the first time it’s been in Denver. The company previously had performances in Colorado Springs, Loveland and Broomfield — including the final event at the 1stBank Center before it was demolished.

Tickets for the show will go .

Jacksonville executive Tony Khan, the president and CEO of All Elite Wrestling and son of Jaguars owner Shahid Khan, was on the receiving end of an attack on AEW “Dynamite” Wednesday night. Khan — who is rarely seen on screen and never in any storylines — was attacked by Jack Perry after Khan had “officially” reinstated him from a suspension stemming from a real-life kerfuffle with CM Punk at the All In pay-per-view in August.

Perry and Khan embraced after they talked and then Perry punched the 41-year-old in the gut, sending him sprawling to the ground. The Young Bucks — executive vice presidents Nick and Matt Jackson — came out with Kazuchika Okada, seemingly to Khan’s aid. As the brothers helped Khan up, they teased performing their trademark EVP trigger — a double knee attack to the face — to the head of AEW. Instead, they gave him a “Tony Khan Driver” — a piledriver combined with an attack from the top rope.

Khan laid motionless in the ring before a referee came out to save him. A day later, he looks much better.

TONY KHAN, KAYFABE GOD.

— Cory McCartney (@coryjmccartney)

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AEW, known for its passionate fans and wild professional wrestling performances, delivered on the promise to put on a great show at Wednesday’s event. From pyrotechnics, flying sparks and no small amount of dramatic fights, the event made for an exciting sendoff for Broomfield’s largest event center.

In May, to end the management and operations contract for the building, after years of “underperformance and underutilization,” according to city staff’s presentation at the May 23 meeting.

The center was built to host 180 to 190 events per year, according to the presentation, but peaked in 2016 when only 33 events were held. In addition to its underutilization, the event center has proved to be a strain on the local police department and emergency services, city staff said. Since 2016, there have been 738 medical calls to the event center.

The building is owned by the Broomfield Urban Renewal Authority (BURA) and was constructed for $45 million, financed by bonds. By the time BURA pays off the event center bond, it will have paid approximately $135 million.

For wrestling fan and spectator Mike Guild, nothing could be a better swan song for the 1stBANK Center than AEW.

“AEW is the best live show in the world… I’ve been a wrestling fan my whole life and AEW is the most fun, inclusive and entertaining form of wrestling there is,” Guild said.

“I was excited when I heard this was going to be the last show here, because with wrestling you have no idea what you’re going to see,” Guild said. “So I was hoping they would strike a deal where they would let them do something catastrophic to the building to start tearing it down.”

There was no wrecking ball involved in Wednesday’s show, but there was still plenty of action, complete with steel chairs and suplexes. And, despite the closure of the center, AEW said there would still be plenty of future opportunities for wrestling fans on the Front Range to see live shows.

“We’ve been looking at opportunities at the Ball Arena for shows, and we have the weekly TV shows Wednesday and Saturday,” said Rafael Morffi, the vice president of live events and touring for AEW.

“We’ve also played down in Colorado Springs. There’s plenty of venues in the marketplace.

“The 1stBANK Center has been great to work with…great leaders with a first-class facility,” Morffi added. “We’re excited we got to send the arena off in fine fashion. And I guarantee we always put on a good show.”

AEW announced on Saturday that the 44-year-old professional wrestler has been following a backstage incident during the promotion’s All In show last Sunday at Wembley Stadium in London.

The announcement was made ahead of Saturday’s “Collision” show and Sunday’s “All Out” pay-per-view — both taking place at the United Center in Chicago, Punk’s hometown.

According to , Punk — whose real name is Phil Brooks — and another wrestler, Jack Perry — son of late actor Luke Perry — had an altercation following Perry’s preshow match against Hook. Both men were suspended, according to .

“The incident was regrettable and it endangered people backstage,” AEW co-founder and president Tony Khan said in a , formerly known as Twitter. “That includes the production staff, the people who help the show on every week, innocent people who had nothing to do with it.

“I’ve been going to wrestling shows for over 30 years, I’ve been producing them on this network for nearly four years. Never in all that time have I felt until last Sunday that my security, my safety, my life was in danger at a wrestling show. I don’t think anybody should feel that way at work. I don’t think the people I work with should feel that way. I had to make a difficult choice today.”

AEW GM opens

— AEW on TV (@AEWonTV)

For Punk, this unceremoniously ends his two-year run in AEW — one that began with immense fervor among fans and filled with highs, lows and behind-the-scenes drama. Punk had controversially left World Wrestling Entertainment in 2014 and effectively retired from the squared circle for more than seven years. The on the Aug. 20, 2021, episode of “Rampage” has nearly 17 million views on YouTube.

His AEW run was a mixed bag — two world champion title runs but zero defenses due to injuries. He won the world title from “Hangman” Adam Page in May 2022 at Double or Nothing, but five days later he had to step away from the ring after suffering a foot injury. He returned to the ring on Aug. 28, losing his belt to interim champion Jon Moxley, only to win it back less than two weeks later at All Out. Following the event, he was involved in an altercation involving AEW executive vice presidents and pro wrestlers Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson after he had made critical comments about them and several others in the post-event . Khan soon after announced that Punk’s title was vacated.

After a nine-month absence, Punk returned to AEW where he was a fixture on “Collision.” Since he never actually his title, he defended a belt with a spray-painted “X” on it and called himself the “real world champion.”

Cody Rhodes will face Roman Reigns in the main event of this year’s WrestleMania looking to write the final chapter of a story that began seven years ago when he left the company. When Rhodes departed in 2016, he was mired in playing different characters with no hopes of being a top-card wrestler.

He spent the time on the independent circle, including Ring of Honor, before becoming one of the significant figures in the formation of All Elite Wrestling, which has become the biggest competitor to WWE since WCW in the late ’90s.

Rhodes came back to a hero’s welcome at last year’s WrestleMania. A torn pectoral muscle last June put a slight roadblock to the comeback, but Rhodes returned in late January and won the Royal Rumble. That set up his match with Reigns, who will put his 946-day championship reign on the line April 2 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

“It����ap satisfying and vindicating. But it����ap hard for me to look at it and say, ‘Hey, I told you so. I knew I had it,’ unless I beat Roman Reigns,” said Rhodes about his comeback.

During his interview with The Associated Press, Rhodes also discussed his father, previewed his match against Reigns and reflected on the past seven years.

AP: The main event between you and Roman looks like two wrestlers peaking at the right time.

RHODES: I’m from Georgia, so there’s an element I see a little differently in the sense that Roman’s not a Bulldog; he’s a Yellow Jacket. Roman went to Georgia Tech, the MIT of the South. I’m sure MIT people are freaking out that I’m saying that, but it����ap not an easy school to get into. That forms his wrestling IQ. His conditioning is that of a high-level athlete. That����ap why he was able to stand in there with Brock Lesnar (last year) and look the part. You mentioned he’s peaking at this point. That����ap a scary thought if you think about the success he’s already had. What might be in my favor is simply the fact that I don’t think Roman knows enough about what I’ve done and who I am. My thing is taking something that wrestling purists, analysts, observers, and journalists say cannot be done or will ever be done again and subverting those expectations.

AP: This main event, more than others at WrestleMania, has the feelings of a family story due to your dad (who passed away in 2015). It����ap Dusty Rhodes’ son against one of “Dusty’s Kids” that he trained at NXT.

RHODES: When he passed away, “Dusty’s Kids” was something that I heard a lot because his influence and legacy were being spread out. That was a statistic being touted. Bayley, Sasha (Banks), Becky (Lynch), Seth (Rollins), Roman, Sami (Zayn), Kevin (Owens), the core ones, were all doing better than I was. It wasn’t something I could complain about or throw a tantrum over because they were honoring him. It almost felt like they were honoring him more than I was. And there’s jealousy and envy that comes with it. I would have loved to have done a promo class or been around a ring with my father. I got a far different education from him than they did. But that����ap why in these interviews, even on nights I don’t want to say his name or talk about him, you hear it nonetheless because his fingerprints are all over WrestleMania. Every one of those people I just named, for the most part, is doing something spectacular. You want to add yourself to that list, and you almost can’t function if you don’t. I feel like that����ap slightly weaponized in a sense by Roman toward me. I wasn’t adjusted and ready for it. I’m ready for it now.

AP: You already had a lot of support from fans when you returned last year, but it seemed like you picked up more after going through with your match with Seth Rollins after suffering a torn pec while preparing for the match because people could see what you were going through physically.

RHODES: It was just a matter of I had to do it. The doctor said I couldn’t hurt it anymore, and I had the surgery lined up. I don’t want to be dramatic and say I could not live with myself, but that����ap not the type of wrestler or athlete I was brought up to be. Every person who texted me and gave me these wonderful superlatives about it, I said you would have done the same thing. That crowd needed that match, and I was going to have that match.

AP: It might be hard looking at it right now, but how is life for Cody Rhodes after the past 3-4 years?

RHODES: Life is splendid. When I left my former gig to come back to WWE, it was a far bigger gamble than “All In” (the first AEW show in 2019) ever was. That����ap why I get these “All In” vibes when I think about WrestleMania because I certainly could have been the laughingstock of the industry. And going into the biggest event ever involved in the wrestling ring from any measurable standpoint is one part of life being great, blessed and lucky. The other part is I have my family in terms of Brandy (his wife) and Liberty (his daughter), for them to come to this and experience this knowing that it wasn’t a life wasted. Every sacrifice I’ve made, early morning gym trip, times I wasn’t able to be home or won’t be able to be home, it����ap not a life wasted in what we do and that makes this run just all the sweetest.

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But the lifetime professional wrestling fans knew, like many others, that All Elite Wrestling’s return to Colorado after nearly three years was going to be the polar opposite of the weather outside. It was going to be red-hot for the 4,000-plus fans inside the building.

AEW made its long-awaited return to Broomfield for the first time since March 4, 2020, an inauspicious occurrence. That was the penultimate event for the fledgling company — barely a year old at the time — before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the world. For the next year-plus, shows were held mostly in the company’s base of Jacksonville, Fla., before limited fans, mostly their peers.

But now it was back and in front of a crowd in Colorado.

The Blanchards traveled from Fort Collins for the event. They’ve seen AEW in the past, including the aforementioned March 2020 event, as well as in Las Vegas in May 2022. But they appreciated that the company was back in Broomfield for the first time in 33 months.

“It����ap in Colorado, and we love wrestling,” said Casey Blanchard, who said that he started watching pro wrestling in the late 1980s. “… The fact that it came to Colorado, we’re all in on it.”

For some, Wednesday’s show was well worth a much farther drive.

Aileen and Marcus Lopez drove six hours from Ohkay Owingeh, N.M.,, to attend the show. This wasn’t the first time they ventured away from home to see AEW. They traveled nine hours earlier this year to see the company in Las Vegas as well.

Live, ‘a different vibe’

AEW, which began in 2019, was to have debuted in New Mexico in May 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic shut down that show. It was rescheduled for Dec. 30, 2020, but, again, the pandemic deterred those plans. Then came Wednesday night at the 1stBANK Center.

“We didn’t hesitate,” Aileen Lopez said about buying tickets and traveling north. “I didn’t care what the cost (of the tickets) was.”

For Aurora resident Tyra Hyman, this was her first time seeing AEW live. A wrestling fan since she was 9, the pomp and circumstance are what lure her in as a spectator.

“The acrobatics, the skills, the athleticism,” Hyman said. “Also, the characters. They have so many unique characters. Also even the gear at times. I like to sew, so one of my goals in life is to become a professional wrestling costume designer.”

Whereas this was Hyman’s first AEW adventure, Jake Little and his daughter, Izabel, were seeing AEW for the second time in mere months. The family from Parker traveled in October to Cincinnati to see a show, in part, because they didn’t know if or when it would return to Colorado.

“We didn’t think they would come back,” Jake Little said. “They had not traveled west since they started doing live shows again (after the pandemic). This is the furthest, and now they’re headed out to California.”

All Elite Wrestling debuted in California this past June following the Las Vegas event on Memorial Day weekend, but trips to the Mountain Time Zone had been nonexistent until now.

And it����ap not just the fans who draw energy from the live atmosphere. It����ap the wrestlers themselves who appreciate the synergy coming from the audience and they reciprocate with their performance in the ring.

For one of those performers — Ethan Page — Wednesday was a career moment. The 33-year-old Hamilton, Ontario native, who now resides in Michigan, wrestled one of AEW’s top stars Bryan Danielson, a former WWE champion. It was their first meeting and Page’s first time stepping foot in a ring in Colorado in his 16-year career. It����ap a moment that he will cherish.

“For me, any kind of big match with AEW is a big chance. And Bryan being one of the biggest stars in the company, for me to be able to showcase my talent with someone of his caliber is absolutely a real opportunity and a dream come true scenario for me career wise,” Page said. “Knowing that I was getting booed out of the building pretty much the entire time (Page wrestles as a “bad guy”) was a great pat on the back. But there was a moment when the crowd was dueling chants for myself and for Bryan. For me to able to earn the respect of the audience with one of the greatest wrestlers of all time and to be treated as an equal was a big accomplishment for me even in losing the match.”

The opportunity — both with whom he was wrestling but also where — wasn’t lost on Page, who was cognizant of the appreciation from the crowd who carried signs supporting him, be it with his nickname “All Ego,” or drawings of him pointing his finger at his smile.

“When the pandemic was ending and we were bringing people back to the arena that was a feeling. We didn’t get that for about two years,” Page said. “To finally get that again to have that opportunity to perform for more than just your peers was incredible.

“And when you’re talking about coming to Colorado for the first time since then, you’re talking about an audience that hasn’t seen their form of entertainment live for two-plus years. It����ap why we had one of the hottest crowds in a long while because it was fresh to the Colorado audience. We had a great set of fans.”

A foot in the door

The four-plus hour show also provided an opportunity for Colorado’s local performers to get a foot in the door with the second-largest professional wrestling company in the United States, be it working on AEW’s flagship program “Dynamite” or “Rampage” or “Dark Elevation.”

One of those was Tyra Russamee, a Thailand-born professional wrestler who started performing in December 2015. She opened Wednesday night’s card against former AEW women’s champion Hikaru Shida.

Emblazoned in her red, white and blue gear, Russamee stepped through the ropes to rousing cheers from hometown fans chanting her name for a tear-invoking moment for the Colorado resident.

“I was not expecting that,” said Russamee, who has wrestled in 11 countries and can typically be found wrestling every weekend somewhere in the state for any number of local promotions — Primos, Lucha, Libre and Laughs, Colorado Springs Wrestling, New Era and more.

But that in itself showed the importance Wednesday night for the local wrestlers to be selfless, humble and learn from the best. It was a fulfilling platform that showed them that their goal for national achievement is not only attainable but that it����ap also not impossible.

“Some of them didn’t dare, or want to, come out of their comfort zone,” Russamee said. “My advice is to be open to every experience — small role or big role. All that knowledge can be useful. Always be prepared to be on call.”

As Russamee was, when the call rang out to serve as an extra as a member of the EMT team as part of the show.

Whether it was an in-ring role, serving as an EMT member or arm candy for another performer, AEW’s return opened the door for television exposure for Colorado’s independent performers, who might not get the international exposure otherwise.

The night didn’t come without its bumps in the road, or in Russamee’s case, a slight concussion and nicked-up jaw, but those paled in comparison to the opportunity for worldwide promotion. A wonderful experience. Powerful. Uplifting. More exposure. Not wanting to be complacent.

“I’m still dreaming. I don’t want to wake up,” Russamee said.

For one night, AEW was back in Broomfield.

“I’ve said it over and over, we’re not really back. It����ap not all the way back until we get (expletive) back to Broomfield,” AEW superstar and former three-time world champion Jon Moxley told the live crowd at the end of Wednesday’s event.

“We’re (expletive) back.”

The show, dubbed “New Year’s Smash,” features a bevy of matches, highlighted by a falls count anywhere match between Death Triangle and The Elite to help determine the fate of the AEW world trios championship.

Here’s a look at how you can watch and what to expect at the show:

How to watch

Date: Wednesday, Dec. 28

Time: Doors open at 4 p.m. Matches start at 5 p.m.

Location: 1stBank Center, 11450 Broomfield Lane, Broomfield

TV: TBS

Tickets: $29-90 on . Floor seats are sold out, but tickets to the show are still available.

Announced match card and predictions

Ethan Page vs. Bryan Danielson
Singles match

How we got here: Page felt slighted after Danielson challenged AEW world champion MJF. Page feels he should be the next contender for the title.

Who should win: Danielson.
A Danielson-MJF feud has plenty on the line. The AEW champion took out William Regal — Danielson’s mentor and former leader of their faction, the Blackpool Combat Club — soon after Regal helped MJF win the title against Jon Moxley. While Page’s trajectory may take him to that top level one day, this feels like a stepping stone for Danielson.

Who will win: Danielson.

Ruby Soho and Willow Nightingale vs. Tay Melo and Anna Jay A.S.
Tag-team match

How we got here: Soho suffered a legitimate broken nose after her mixed tag team match against Melo and Sammy Guevara on Sept. 4. Now that she’s healed, it’s time to exact revenge the best way one can in the pro-wrestling world: inside the squared circle.

Who should win: Soho and Nightingale.
It feels set up for a feel-good win.

Who will win: Soho and Nightingale.

Top Flight vs. Claudio Castagnoli and Jon Moxley
Tag-team match

How we got here: A pseudo-rematch of sorts. Moxley defeated Top Flight’s Darius Martin on last week’s “Dynamite” in a one-on-one match. Top Flight with AR Fox last eliminated Castagnoli and Moxley on “Rampage” Friday in the (deep breath) “$300,000 Three Kings Christmas Casino Trios Royale.”

Who should win: Top Flight.
The tag-teaming siblings have had a rough start in their AEW run. Darius Martin has suffered numerous injuries over the years. Now that he’s finally healthy, it’d be fun to see the duo get some momentum rolling. And what better way than with an upset and taking out these two members of Blackpool Combat Club, especially with tensions rising from within the faction over the past few months.

Who will win: Top Flight.

Death Triangle vs. The Elite
AEW world trios championship
Best-of-seven series (Death Triangle leads 3-2)
Falls count anywhere

How we got here: The Elite — consisting of The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega — were the first AEW world trios champions after defeating “Hangman” Adam Page and The Dark Order in the finals of the championship’s inaugural tournament at All Out on Sept. 4. Their reign was short-lived, however, after they were stripped of the titles following a legitimate backstage altercation following the event involving then-world champion CM Punk. Death Triangle defeated the Best Friends on Sept. 7 to be crowned the new champions. On Nov. 9 at Full Gear, the two teams began a best-of-seven series to decide who will be champions. Death Triangle leads 3-2 entering Wednesday’s bout.

Who should win: The Elite.
Fans should win, too. These two teams have absolutely torn down the house in each of their five encounters and a match with a falls-count-anywhere stipulation adds more fuel to the fire. Look for a car-wreck of a bout that ends with The Elite forcing a seventh match that includes ladders.

Who will win: The Elite.

Samoa Joe vs. Wardlow
AEW TNT championship
Singles match

How we got here: These two hosses were tag-team partners. At Full Gear, Joe defeated former champion Wardlow and Powerhouse Hobbs to win the title after he attacked Wardlow with the belt in order to secure the victory.

Who should win: Samoa Joe.
Joe is one of the best in the industry on the mic and having him carry the belt a bit longer would do nothing but add prestige to the title.

Who will win: Samoa Joe.

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AEW announced during its broadcast of “Dynamite” on Tuesday that it will host a “New Year’s Smash: show on Dec. 28 at FirstBank Center in Broomfield.

The event will feature two shows with “Dynamite” broadcasting live on TBS while “Rampage” will air on TNT two days later. Doors will open at 4 p.m.

Tickets range from $29 to $90 and will go on sale Oct. 28 at .

AEW, which was started in 2019, was last in Colorado on March 4, 2020, a week and a half prior to the COVID-19 lockdowns. The show was headlined by then-newly crowned AEW world champion Jon Moxley teaming up with Darby Allin against Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara.

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The son of a billionaire, Khan decided being a squared circle fan wasn’t enough — he wanted to shake up the culture and pair his modern spin with an old-school flavor and in 2019, All Elite Wrestling was born.

“If you’ve seen other wrestling and said, ‘This isn’t for me,’ give AEW a chance,” the 38-year-old Khan said. “It����ap a lot less likely to insult your intelligence than other shows out there.”

Yes, that����ap a direct shot at WWE, the longtime industry leader that essentially stood alone for almost two decades as the preeminent force in American wrestling.

Not anymore.

Like the challenger chasing the champion, AEW has turned from plucky upstart into the talk of the pro wrestling world. Khan said AEW’s “All Out” pay-per-view earlier this month had more than 200,000 buys, its weekly “ Dynamite ” TV show on TNT routinely tops 1 million viewers — and has defeated WWE’s flagship “Raw” in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic — and Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, Kenny Omega, Sting and a star-studded roster will set an AEW attendance record when more than 20,000 fans are expected Wednesday night to pack Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York for its “Grand Slam” card.

AEW has fans buzzing — who’s the next surprise superstar to debut!? — and put WWE on notice that it����ap a major player for talent, bragging rights, ratings and revenue that countless other promotions have failed to capture. Khan runs it all behind the scenes, adding AEW to his other job titles with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, English soccer team Fulham FC and his business ventures. He writes and structures AEW programming — which includes four weekly shows and four pay-per-views each year — and those boyhood dreams of booking for a company have come true.

“I’ve found the company has gotten stronger the more I take on,” Khan said. “And I think the fans would agree with that. The really hardcore fans would actually really agree with that. The people who know, know the more hands-on I got about everything, the company has gotten a lot stronger.”

WWE isn’t going anywhere — not with billion-dollar TV contracts and a global reach that includes a roughly $50 million payout for a Saudi Arabia show — but some of its biggest stars are leaving for AEW and the promise of fat paychecks, a lighter work schedule and five-star matches without the “ entertainment ” aspects of performing.

Khan’s funding an AEW videogame, and Mike Tyson, Snoop Dogg, Rosario Dawson and Shaquille O’Neal are among the A-listers who have appeared or wrestled on TV.

And, Khan says, AEW has already turned a profit.

“Our TNT deal is very fair. I think we’ve performed at such a high level that we’ll justify a big increase on our next deal,” he said. “We are very fortunate to have their support. The timing of that deal was great, to get that in January 2020, that is a huge revenue stream for us.”

Khan talked with The Associated Press by phone about AEW’s future as the hottest wrestling promotion in the business. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

AP: Do you have WWE’s attention? Do you feel it might finally see AEW as true competition?

Khan: I’m a big wrestling fan and I would say, objectively, AEW is the hottest wrestling company right now. So many people who watch wrestling know that AEW’s gaining ground, AEW is hitting all-time highs. It����ap helping us build new fans, it����ap helping people want to take the leap and check the shows out. I’m sure other wrestling companies are paying attention to that. We have great relationships with a lot of wrestling companies that know what����ap going on with AEW. I think if you work in the wrestling business, you’re following what we’re doing and the success we’re having. We’re catching a lot of eyeballs outside of the world of wrestling and mainstream attention, so you better believe in the world of wrestling people are paying very close attention to it.

AP: How did AEW come out of pandemic as a healthy company?

Khan: We made up a lot of market share in that time and really closed the gap between us and our competition. When we went back to packed arenas and got back to full capacity, and really now in recent months, have hit the stride we wanted to hit, we’re stronger than ever. Now all of a sudden we’re the ones who are the No. 1 wrestling show on cable. We went through nearly two years of “Dynamite,” we did 100 episodes and episode 101 was when we finally beat Raw. That was a big milestone for us. Just as important a milestone, was the number we hit, which was so strong, and just as important to us was to be No. 1 on cable for the third straight week.

AP: How can you keep such a loaded roster happy in the future?

Khan: I think that����ap a good problem for any organization to have when you have a deep bench. We have a very deep bench right now. I try to rotate who wrestles on television and give TV time to different wrestlers so we have a lot of people with momentum and can switch out the matches and keep things fresh. I think that serves you well in sports, too, when you can rotate and rest people and give experience to young talent and develop people and also rest your veterans so they don’t have to go out and do it every single week.

AP: Have you been surprised by the star talent made available to AEW?

Khan: I had a lot of wrestlers that were very well-regarded in terms of the hardcore fans. But in terms of the very mainstream audience, not as many recognizable names, and I knew I’d have to really build that recognition. I didn’t expect somebody with so much recognition and as much experience wrestling on TV as Jon Moxley would become available so quickly. He has been such a great blessing for this company. He was a great champion through the pandemic. He’s still one of our most important stars today. I didn’t expect that at the time. Since then, absolutely. By making this a great home for wrestling and a place where wrestlers want to work, we’ve had so many people that want to come here, and have defected. It is more than I ever could have dreamed.

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