Tony Khan names favorite non-AEW wrestlers

During his recent appearance on Barstool Sports’ My Mom’s Basement podcast, Tony Khan listed some of his favorite active wrestlers who are not part of the AEW roster.

Khan named four wrestlers from promotions AEW is partnered with, praising NJPW star Zack Sabre Jr., Starlight Kid and AZM of Stardom, and CMLL’s Mistico.

“I just said Zack Sabre Jr,, that would be very high on the list. That’s a good answer. Starlight Kid, very good. AZM, very good,” Khan answered. “Mistico, by far. Mistico is one of my all-time favorite wrestlers.”

Khan said he’s such a big Mistico fan that he’s been booking Mistico on Dynamite since college, back when the show only existed as an e-fed that Khan would write online. He’s now gotten the chance to actually work with Mistico in AEW, booking him in a feud with MJF that’s taken place in both the United States and Mexico.

In addition to naming Sabre among his favorite non-AEW wrestlers, Khan also listed him as one of the best technical wrestlers of all time. Sabre is the current IWGP World Heavyweight Champion and has a title defense coming up at AEW & NJPW’s Forbidden Door pay-per-view in London later this month. That defense will be against either Daniel Garcia, Nigel McGuinness, Lee Moriarty, or Hechicero.

Stardom will have a representative at Forbidden Door competing in a four-way match for the TBS Championship. The identity of that representative has not been announced yet.

Stardom tag match added to cross-promotional All Together event

A Stardom tag match is the latest addition to All Together 2024, a cross-promotional event featuring several Japanese wrestling promotions.

AZM & Miyu Amasaki vs. Starlight Kid & Natsupoi will take place at the Monday, May 6 event. Rivals Starlight Kid & Natsupoi are uniting for the bout:

A ‘supernova’ prospect for STARDOM, Amasaki made her debut in 2022, and instantly joined Queen’s Quest. On May 6 she joins a regular teammate in AZM, who is riding high from her first US tour, albeit one that saw her fall short to Stephanie Vaquer for the STRONG Women’s Championship. AZM will be more than happy to show her high speed expertise against familiar foes though, in the form of Starlight Kid and Natsupoi.

With SLK representing Oedo Tai and Natsupoi Cosmic Angels, this is certainly a team of strange bedfellows. In fact, the two women are best known for their fierce rivalry over the High Speed Championship a couple of summers ago, and have never once teamed together. Aligned against a unified and common foe, might this be an exhibition that has wide reaching influences on STARDOM at large? Find out May 6!

AZM made her AEW debut on Collision last week, losing to AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm in a title eliminator match.

All Together is the first event under the United Japan Pro-Wrestling banner. It was announced in December 2023 that NJPW, AJPW, NOAH, DDT, Ganbare, Big Japan, Dragon Gate, Stardom, and Tokyo Joshi Pro had come together to form the industry group.

The nine promotions are continuing to operate separately while collaborating to advance pro wrestling in Japan following the COVID-19 pandemic.

A portion of the proceeds from All Together are being donated to victims of the Noto Peninsula earthquake that happened at the beginning of 2024. The show is taking place from Budokan Hall in Tokyo and will stream live on Abema pay-per-view.

Here’s the updated lineup:

  • Hiroshi Tanahashi, Naomichi Marufuji & Sanshiro Takagi vs. EVIL, Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi
  • Tomohiro Ishii & Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Jeff Cobb & Masa Kitamiya
  • Kaito Kiyomiya, Shota Umino & Yuki Ueno vs. Konosuke Takeshita, Yuya Uemura & Shun Skywalker
  • Kenoh vs. Kosei Fujita
  • SANADA & KAI vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Chris Brookes
  • AZM & Miyu Amasaki vs. Starlight Kid & Natsupoi