Tony Khan has opened up about his past meeting with Shane McMahon and his thoughts about a potential on-screen role in AEW.
Recently speaking to Jonathan Coachman and Vince Russo, AEW President Tony Khan opened up in detail about his meeting with Shane McMahon from a few years ago. Reflecting on their conversation, Khan revealed that McMahon had no interest in becoming an on-screen character in AEW.
“I had one really pleasant conversation with Shane [McMahon]. Shane reached out to me and said I’d love to get together. Where are you gonna be? I was going to be in Dallas, we were doing a bunch of shows around Arlington, Texas, and I said to Shane, ‘That’s where I’m gonna be, I can meet you here,’ and we had a nice conversation, and talked for a few hours at the airport.
“I thought it was really strange that a photo came out from it. I thought it was pretty unusual; it could just be someone who worked at the airport, but I had nothing to do with it,” Khan said. “It’s very unusual, I talk to people all the time, from all different media places, Shane’s a very recognisable face in Sports and the world of wrestling, where any wrestling fan would recognise him.
“So that could be what it is, someone recognised we were in a room and wanted to take a photo, I’m in a lot of rooms with a lot of people, I’ve only had that happen one time, so I thought that was unusual. You can see in the photo I’m very surprised, and I noticed he wasn’t as surprised as I was,” he further continued.
Reflecting on their conversation, Khan shared, “I’ve only had the one really nice talk with him. I thought that was interesting. I also thought it was impressive how, in one conversation, somehow it got out that I talked to him, but it was a very pleasant chat, and he seems like a really interesting guy. I don’t think the role of being an on-screen person in a wrestling show seemed like the thing he was interested in, but he had a lot of interesting experiences that are different than mine, but I don’t think he went into it thinking I want to be a character on this guy’s show”
Back in 2024, WrestleTalk and Fightful reported that AEW President Tony Khan had a meeting with Shane McMahon. Shortly after, they also released a photo of their meeting, which led to heavy speculation around McMahon possibly joining AEW.
Chris Jericho had a choice, and ultimately chose AEW.
In an interview with Jonathan Coachman & Vince Russo, Tony Khan was asked about Chris Jericho’s status with AEW during his time away, noting the long period of absence before eventually making his return recently. Coachman asked the AEW President how close Jericho came to leaving for WWE.
“I can’t say with any certainty. I do know that Chris had a choice, and he wanted to be in AEW,” he said. “He would be the best person to ask. But I know that I’ve been in communication with Chris. He told me he definitely wanted to be in AEW and very specifically in Winnipeg on that date. We’ve had that circled for a long time going back to last year.”
Khan reiterated he didn’t know Jericho’s mindset at the time, but revealed he was consistent expressing how much he loved AEW while exploring his free agency.
“It was a choice that Chris made, rather being in AEW than wrestling anywhere else, and I think that’s awesome. So I can’t say for sure Coach exactly what his mind was or what he was thinking but he definitely has been consistent that he loves AEW and that he wants to be here and I’m glad he chose to be in AEW and that’s a choice he made because he was a free agent,” Khan said.
After being gone for close to a year, Jericho made his return on the April 1 edition of Dynamite, declaring that he was back. He will appear on this week’s Dynamite to share more information.
Tony Khan said his WWE bid back in 2023 was reasonable.
It was recently revealed that the AEW president put in a $6.9 billion dollar bid for WWE back when it was up for sale. In an interview with Vince Russo & Jonathan Coachman, Khan said he though what he had offered was reasonable, and would have kicked himself if he didn’t at least make an offer.
“I was very interested in the process and I think that if there was going to be a sale, I would at least wanted a chance to be involved. If it had gone for any less than that, I would have really kicked myself,” he said.
“While respecting the confidentiality of that, I would say I don’t have any complaints about that process from my side right now,” he continued. “While respecting the confidentiality of the whole thing, I also would say that, at the time, that seemed like to me, just reiterating, if it had gone for any less I would have kicked myself. Why wouldn’t you put in a bid. I thought it was a very reasonable number.”
Khan’s bid came to light as part of an ongoing lawsuit between shareholders and WWE, with plantiffs questioning WWE’s eventual sale to Endeavor. WWE’s new parent company has since combined WWE and UFC into one corporate entity, TKO.
The most detailed update on the Janel Grant case, with her new filing and claims, a look at those claims in detail, what is net for the case, the key thing regarding the future of the case and why it really comes down to the judges ruling, and timeline for all of this. We cover new cais and the arguments for and against binding arbitration or continuing the civil case.
Update on WrestleMania, the card as of this point, reasons for some of the new matches, when matches changed and why, as well as the business for the show, how far behind are ticket sales and interest in the show as compared to the same period last year.
Chris Jericho returns to AEW and as much detail as we have on the decision
AEW Dynasty update and updated major event ticket sales
The death of J Robinson, a college coaching legend and his connections with a number of key figures in pro wrestling, including the recruiting of Brock Lesnar by WWE and the politics behind why WWE waited an extra year to offer him a deal.
The most detailed look at the television ratings for all the pro wrestling shows this past week, including competition, comparisons with one year back, Raw vs. Dynamite and how close it has become, and more.
It’s CMLL tournament of champions month starting this week
Anniversary shows at Arena Mexico and Arena Coliseo this week including a look back at the first show in each building
A look at the four title match show at ArenaMexico on Tuesday
A super hot match to watch on AAA
A look at Stardom’s biggest stipulation of the year and Yokohama Arena show
Current Tiger Mask retires
Best of the Super Junior tournament update
Largest crowd of the year for women’s wrestling in Japan
Hodge trophy winner looked at
Maple Leaf Wrestling announces new TV deal and a look at the weekend shows
Stabbing at a pro wrestling show
Very interesting political match will take place with TNA champion vs. AEW star
American gold medalist challenges UFC undefeated champion
Rebellion notes
Lots of injury updates and business notes
Wrestler complaining about AEW not booking them enough
Kenny Omega talks his and Kota Ibushi’s health
Brody King talks the chants
Tony Khan and his enemies
Kayla Harrison on why her next bantamweight fight will be her last and why she should never have fought at bantamweight to begin with
Crazy Dana White story
Will Mayweather-Pacquiao II take place and what are the issues
Fedor Emelianenko wants to return to combat next year
Nick Khan acquires TKO stock
Bret & Ross Hart talk Badnews Allen in WWE Hall of Fame
— Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Raw, Pat McAfee, Thursday ratings, WrestleMania, Best of the Super Juniors, Wrestling Dontaku, Sakura Genesis and more tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio.
— Paramount Skydance just received nearly $24 billion in funding from Saudi Arabia ($10 billion), Qatar and Abu Dhabi as reported today by the Wall Street Journal. This money was needed for the $111 billion purchase of WBD. They are now hopeful the deal closes by the end of July.
— WWE will announce what matches for WrestleMania will be on Saturday and what matches on Sunday on ESPN’s Get UP show at 9:35 a.m. tomorrow.
— The Hulk Hogan Netflix documentary will be released on 4/22. The trailer came out today featuring an interview with Hogan shortly before his death. Linda Hogan, Jimmy Hart and Kevin Nash were among those talked with for the documentary.
— For Wrestling Dontaku in Fukuoka on 5/3, Yota Tsuji faces Gabe Kidd for the global titel, Ren Narita vs. Oleg Boltin for the Never title, Aaron Wolf vs. Don Fale and Konosuke Takeshita & Shota Umino vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens. For 5/4, Callum Newman defends the IWGP title against Shingo Takagi, Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi & Boltin defend the trios titles against Will Ospreay & Great O’Khan & Henare, Takeshita vs. Owens for the TV title and Mistico & El Desperado vs. Ichiban Sweet Boys.
— Raw tonight is from Houston with Finn Balor vs. JD McDonagh, LA Knight vs Austin Theory, Rhea Ripley & Iyo Sky vs. Michin & B-Fab and CM Punk, Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, Seth Rllins, Gunther, Jade Cargill and others are on the show. They had 12,673 tickets out earlier today.
— We’re looking for live reports from the show with any matches not on the Netflix show to [email protected]
— There isn’t really a lot to take out of the Thursday night ratings. AEW did not carry their audience gains over to Thursday and did a number lower than they’ve been doing on a more competitive Saturday. They did 373,000 viewers and 0.07 in 18-49. TNA in its regular time slot on AMC did 200,000 viewers, down about 20-23 percent from recent weeks, but stayed even at 0.05 in 18-49.
— MJF and Pat Buck did an angle Saturday night at the WrestlePro show in Rahway, NJ, to build to a match between the two on 5/31. Among those who wrestled on Saturday’s show were Scotty 2 Hotty and son Keagan Garland, Lady Frost, Dan Maff, Gates of Agony, Ricochet (beating Sidney Akeem) and Anthony Bowens beating Max Caster.
— We’re looking for your thoughts on NXT Stand & Deliver and NJPW Sakura Genesis, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match from each show to [email protected]
— Taka Michinoku was involved in an auto accident. He was coming home after a match and a car crashed into him. The airbag deployed and he took a hard hit to the face and was bleeding. An ambulance was called. His car was damaged enough that it didn’t work. He later said he suffered a concussion but he wrestled the next night.
— Tom Aspinall confirmed that he still hasn’t been cleared to start sparring after the eye pokes in his fight with Cyril Gane in November.
— Tony Khan will be appearing on Jonathan Coachman and Vince Russo’s podcast tomorrow.
— Puebla tonight sold out hours ago with a main event of Mistico & Mascara Dorada & Atlantis Jr. vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Gran Guerrero & BlackTiger plus Templario & Esfinge vs. Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja.
— There will be a 1980s wrestling convention in Parsippany, NJ at the PAL on 5/16 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Names appearing are Jake Roberts, Ted DiBiase, Mil Mascaras, Koko B.Ware, Wendi Richter, Jacques & Raymond Rougeau, Brian Blair, Jim Brunzell, Demolition, Ken Patera, Tatanka, Nikita Koloff, Tito Santana, Tommy Rich, Tony Atlas, Boris Zhukov, Cheryl Roberts, Steve Keirn, Austin Idol, Johnny Rodz, Bugsy McGraw, Jimmy Valiant, Baron Von Raschke, Paul Ellering, John Laurinaitis, Dan Spivey, Jose Luis Rivera, Bill Apter and more.
— VICE ran a story on celebrities who are wrestling fans, listing Margot Kidder, Danielle Fishel, Vanesse Hudgens, Timothee Chalamet, Freddy Prinze Jr., Matthew McConaughey, and Cardi B.
— Brian Adias turned 66 today. Hall of Fame promoter Johnny Doyle, a longtime partner of Jim Barnett, was born on this day in 1909. Pampero Firpo was born on this day in 1930. Peter Maivia was born on this day in 1937. Dr. Sam Sheppard, famous for the TV series The Fugitive, who later became a pro wrestler and invented the mandible claws that Mick Foley and Bray Wyatt used, died 56 years ago today at the age of 46. Roberto Cruz aka El Solitario, one of the five biggest stars in Lucha Libre history, died 40 years ago today at the age of 39. Jack Veneno, the biggest star ever in the Dominican Republic and a national hero for his NWA title win over Ric Flair, died five years ago today at the age of 79.
— Lady Frost debuts in AIW on 5/15 in Cleveland at the Globe Iron.
— There will be a press conference at the Palladium Theater in New York on 4/15 for both the Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano show on Netflix and the 4/17 Alycia Baumgardner vs. Bo Me Re Shin boxing match at the Theater in Madison Square Garden which will be the ESPN debut of MVPW, Jake Paul’s women’s boxing promotion.
Working with AEW and Tony Khan has been an enjoyable experience for Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling boss Scott D’Amore.
At the end of March, D’Amore and Khan worked together as ROH and MLP co-promoted their Global Wars Canada event. D’Amore spoke with Late Night Grin about the experience and praised Khan for how he’s made a positive impact on the wrestling industry. He described Khan as being a fun and happy guy, which balances well with D’Amore’s more analytical approach.
“I think it’s been really enjoyable. One of the things is — Tony Khan has a love and a passion for professional wrestling that is near-unmatched,” D’Amore said. “He is a superfan, and he’s very proud of that fact. And the enjoyment he gets out of being around wrestling, creating wrestling, and really making a difference in the business is huge for him.
“I mean, he’s a good guy. You know, people complained about this and that and anything else. And that’s cool. But when you look at it, here’s somebody who has changed wrestling for the better. People make more money in wrestling because of what he’s done and what AEW has done. More people are getting opportunities. And people genuinely get treated extremely well. You’ve got someone who’s taken the pro sports approach to how you treat your athletes and applied that to professional wrestling — and that’s an amazing step forward in our industry.”
It was announced during Global Wars weekend that MLP has agreed to a television deal with TSN in Canada. D’Amore told Late Night Grin that, when launching the promotion, his goal was to create something that would make a difference in pro wrestling and shine a spotlight on Canadian talent. Getting this TV deal is a big step toward that.
“For people that don’t know, in Canada, TSN — that’s The Sports Network. That’s what TSN stands for. It’s basically our ESPN,” D’Amore said. “It was the very first all-sports network in Canada. It’s legendary here. It’s the equivalent for American fans of being on ESPN or UK fans back in the day, the equivalent of being on Sky Sports. So It’s huge.”
D’Amore noted that, like NJPW caters toward the Japanese market, MLP is geared toward Canadian fans but welcomes viewers from all around the world. The promotion is holding an event in Las Vegas during WrestleMania week as part of Palms Slam Fest.
Last week MJF called out Nic Nemeth in a lengthy tweet citing disrespect and issued a challenge for a match. It was later made official by Create-a-Pro Wrestling for May in Melville, New York.
In an interview with Pep Shop Collectibles, while promoting the feud, Nemeth commented on MJF’s post claiming his intention to hype the AEW star took a turn for the worse.
“We saw some beef online, it was Max being insecure and being mad at me and saying a bunch of mean things and some of them true. He made some good points. Some digs, some gut punches that hurt. All I did was say that I think the world of him and I want him to be better and I want him to be like Dylan Carrizo. I want him to be someone that leads his company and leads everybody into 10 years from now where they’re talking about this might be one of the greatest of all time. So, I look forward to it.”
Nemeth added that he feels MJF was provoking him for the fight to the extent that Tony Khan might be forced to step in and potentially consider cancelling the match.
“As long as his boss (Tony Khan) lets him fight me, I think he’s counting on his boss stepping in and being like ‘Oh, sorry’ because he’s afraid to back down now. I ain’t afraid of sh*t, I don’t lose to anybody. I think I’m the best damn wrestler going today and then some. That’s me being humble. I look forward to this match, I look forward to kicking the sh*t out of him, maybe breaking his leg and tapping him out if I have to.”
Nemeth and MJF have never faced each other in a wrestling ring making this a first-ever collision between the two. Ever since the dispute escalated in January this year, a back-and-forth online exchange occurred. In MJF’s last post targeted at Nemeth, he labeled the former WWE wrestler as being an unworthy opponent against someone like him.
Two veterans of the Attitude Era want to talk to AEW CEO Tony Khan, and Khan apparently wants to talk to them too.
Vince Russo—formerly the lead creative voice in WWE, WCW, and TNA, among other promotions—brought up Khan’s name on The Coach and Bro Show with former WWE commentator Jonathan Coachman.
“Top of my bucket list right now is I want to meet Tony Khan,” Russo said. “I would mark out having a conversation with Tony Khan. It would be surreal to me.”
Coachman followed by saying they want Khan to come on the show. “We need AEW to be successful in the wrestling business,” he added.
Coachman went into more detail on social media. “We have an open invitation for Tony Khan to come on our show.”
Khan himself replied to Coachman’s post. “I would love to come on the show with you and [Russo], Coach!” he wrote. “I’ve been a fan of both of yours for many years!” He added that Russo was doing a “tremendous job” with Juggalo Championship Wrestling, “which I enjoy very much.”
Russo then shared Khan’s post, a sign that the former WCW World Champion could be checking off that bucket list item soon.
“Tony, it would be an honor—seriously,” Russo wrote.
Les Thatcher is on the road this week at the Squared Circle Expo, but that did not stop he and Victor Sosa from getting together on a new Wrestling Weekly.
The guys talk the road to WrestleMania, all the happenings in AEW, and a few stories from the territories regarding Ricky Morton and the late great Dennis Condrey.
Former AEW and ROH wrestler Mercedes Martinez recently opened up about her time in AEW and how she was not properly utilized there.
Speaking to A2theKWrestling, Martinez revealed the time she started to realize how her in-ring time was coming near its end.
“I’m blessed for the opportunity that Tony [Khan] gave me for the last four years. But it felt like the last year and a half, almost two years, I just sat on the shelf not doing anything for the company,” she said.
Expressing how she was not properly utilized there, the 45-year-old continued, “And it kind of messes with your mind a lot. It kind of just makes you think, ’Am I worth it? Does he really want to utilize my talent and my expertise?’ I know my style is not like a TV style. It’s very just raw. It’s very rugged. It’s very old school in the sense of very power and strong style. And maybe the girls didn’t want to wrestle somebody like me with that style because it’s very raw. But I also look at Eddie Kingston and be like, ‘Well, if he can do it, I know I can do it. You need a female like that.’”
“It’s kind of one of those things where I’m just like, ‘Man, I’m hitting that age group. I’m 45, and can I still go with the new generation?’ Maybe that’s their thing. Maybe they didn’t want to put me into creative storylines or anything like that I’ve pitched,” she continued. “So it’s just one of those things where I’m like, maybe if we don’t renew the contract, which I already knew wasn’t going to happen, that I’m gonna go out the way I want to go out.“
Earlier this year, she shared a thoughtful message and opened up about embracing one final run in 2026. Her career began in the late 2000s, but she had her first recorded match (as per Cagematch) in 2001. Throughout her long and celebrated career, Martinez wrestled across multiple promotions, including WWE, AEW, ROH, and many more.
The new edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has arrived.
As you might imagine, the lead story is a full review and ratings for last Sunday’s AEW Revolution — the company’s first PPV of the calendar year and one that featured a lot of matches, a lot of blood, and a lot of returns.
Dave Meltzer also gives some updates on the WWE WrestleMania 42 card for next month and all the news around WWE’s biggest shows of the year.
He also covers Thursday’s big news reveal that Tony Khan put in a bid for WWE back in 2023.
All that, plus a lot of other news, thoughts and recaps from the world of wrestling and MMA.
“I don’t know how much I can say, but I will say this. I chose to walk away from my previous employment by choice. I’m on my own journey. I love wrestling,” Steel said. “I just want to be around people that love it just as much as I do. So I chose to walk away.”
She further shared how AEW President Tony Khan texted her “five days” after she announced her WWE departure.
“My plans at first were to go to Japan. I was gonna take the last two, three months of the year as a little mental break, financial break, and I was gonna go overseas and do it the right way this time. And five days after I tweeted that tweet [about leaving WWE ID], Tony Khan texted me, so plans changed.”
“I love wrestling, like I said, and this is my escape from reality. Once I started to feel like my only escape was work, I started to not like it and not have fun. I want to always love this, so I chose to walk away. As well as my mental, personally, I was losing myself,” Steel continued. “I was losing the love for wrestling, the only thing I’ve loved, so it was pretty quickly on that I was like, ‘Yeah, I need to do my own thing.’”
Steel, 22, had her recent match on the March 1 episode of ROH, where she lost against Mina Shirakawa.
In a “what if?” moment in pro wrestling if there ever was one, new reporting out Thursday revealed that AEW head Tony Khan put in a bid for WWE during the company’s 2023 sales process.
That news was first reported by Brandon Thurston for Post Wrestling, courtesy of documents via the ongoing WWE shareholder lawsuit in which the process that saw Endeavor ultimately win out is being questioned.
The recently unredacted court filings originally from November 2023 show that along with the already known interested suitors TKO, Liberty Media and KKR, a company called Base 10. While Khan wasn’t specifically mentioned, the documents read that it’s “the owner of All Elite Wrestling, a professional wrestling promotion that plainly would enjoy significant synergies with WWE.”
Base 10 is a separate entity from Beatnik Investments, LLC, that is also owned by members of the Khan family. It was incorporated in 2014.
According to Thurston’s math, the offer listed in the documents was the lowest of the four, working out to $6.9 billion. By comparison, Endeavor led the pack at $8.5 billion, followed by Liberty Media ($8.5 to $8.9 billion) and KKR ($8 billion to $8.7 billion).
Aside from the dollar values, the key difference was Endeavor’s offer was an all-stock deal where investors just got their shares converted into TKO stock as opposed to the other three offers that were all cash.
Thurston also noted that the non-AEW affiliated bidders got access to a data room “where they had access to nonpublic information about WWE — a standard practice at that stage of a major M&A process.” He stated there’s no information supporting Base 10 got that same opportunity, perhaps due to its lower bid, Khan’s ownership of AEW, or a combination of those factors.
MVP praised Tony Khan’s vision of budget-friendly ticket prices for AEW shows.
MVP addressed the distinction in ticket prices for wrestling events while speaking on the Battleground Podcast. He emphasized that Khan’s philosophy is for AEW events to be affordable for wrestling fans, and their families.
MVP said:
“Right now in our country, we have a problem with affordability across the board. I don’t care what your political affiliation is. It’s tough, and whatever your wrestling affiliation is, you have to admit that there are some companies that are charging more than the average wrestling fan can afford to go and see some good, live wrestling.”
“AEW, affordability matters and we love the fact that Tony Khan has set up a company where we get down to wrestling. It’s where the best go to wrestle. A father of two or three, a family of four can go to an AEW show and have a great time. Case in point, in Fresno, Save Mart Center. You have AEW Dynamite live, and then after that, you have a Collision taping. So you get two shows for the price of one. You can buy affordable seats ringside. You can sit just a few rows back from ringside and not have to spend two months’ salary to do it, and I think that’s a beautiful thing.”
The topic of ticket prices for wrestling events has been debated on social media in recent months. AEW World Champion MJF commented that “unlike WWE,” fans do not have to “sell the soul of your firstborn” to attend an AEW event.
Last October, Wrestlenomics published a report of Pollstar data showing that average ticket prices for WWE Raw and SmackDown events in the United States and Canada had roughly doubled since the September 2023 TKO merger.
Tony Khan had high praise for Ronda Rousey after her AEW Revolution appearance and addressed the possibility of her signing with the promotion.
Sunday night’s pay-per-view saw Rousey make a surprise arrival after Marina Shafir lost to “Timeless” Toni Storm. When asked about how the appearance came about at the post-show press conference, Khan cited Rousey’s friend Shafir as being key to making it happen.
“Well, Ronda is a really good friend of Marina Shafir, and Marina brought her in as backup,” Khan said. “Everyone was banned from ringside, so that match was a great wrestling match. I thought Toni and Marina Shafir was a great wrestling match. [Shafir and Storm are] going to have a no holds barred fight on Wednesday night, and I’m looking forward to that.”
While further addressing Rousey’s AEW status, Khan expressed that she’s welcome any time she wants, referencing the one match she worked for ROH in 2023.
“Ronda’s actually wrestled for me before, but never in AEW. Ronda wrestled in ROH,” Khan noted. “We had a great match a few years ago, also here in Los Angeles, it was Ronda and Marina teaming up in ROH against Billie Starkz and the World Champion Athena. I thought it was fantastic. I love that match.
“And when Marina said Ronda was going to be her backup, it was like, ‘Okay, well, everyone’s banned from ringside.’ But once the match was over, Ronda did get involved, she made her presence known, and then Marina really took advantage of the situation, landed a sucker punch on Toni Storm while everybody was very mesmerized that Ronda Rousey was in the house.
“Ronda Rousey is a huge star. So, we have a great relationship with her. She’s wrestled for me before in ROH and she’s always welcome here in AEW anytime.”
At the PPV, Storm defeated Shafir before Rousey showed up to assist her ally. She called out Storm, which led to referees having to break up a confrontation between the two. Shafir then sucker-punched Storm while she was distracted.
“Getting a front row seat to watching this woman shine as her most authentic self brought me so much joy – I’m sorry I couldn’t keep it together better and resist grinning ear to ear all night but I couldn’t be more proud watching @marinashafir’s growth and determination on full display,” Rousey posted on Instagram.
“Thank you @aew and @tonyrkhan for letting me steal the best seat in the house.”
Rousey made her pro wrestling in-ring debut for WWE in 2018 and had two separate runs before wrapping up with the promotion in 2023. This May, she returns to her MMA roots in a highly anticipated clash against Gina Carano that will stream live on Netflix from the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
Hangman Page can never challenge for the AEW World Championship again — unless he breaks his word and goes back on the stipulation he agreed to.
The main event of Revolution on Sunday night saw MJF retain the AEW World Championship against Page in a Texas Death match. As a result, Page is unable to challenge for the title ever again. Tony Khan was asked about that stipulation at the post-PPV press conference and described it as a “gentleman’s handshake.” Like when Cody Rhodes faced Chris Jericho at AEW Full Gear 2019, there is nothing on paper in AEW canon that means the wrestler has to follow through on the stipulation. But Khan believes Page is a man of his word.
“It’s the same thing with Cody, it was a gentleman’s handshake with both of them,” Khan responded when asked how strict the stipulation is. “They both came to me and said, ‘I want to put this at stake.’ And both of them, I told them, ‘That sounds f***ing nuts, dude.’ Both of them really wanted to do it. And in both cases I said, ‘Are you sure?’ And they both said, ‘Yeah.’ So it is an agreement we made. Second time it’s happened. [Page] is somebody that’s known for being a man of his word, and we made an agreement. So it’s a verbal contract.”
After Rhodes lost to Jericho at Full Gear 2019, AEW legitimately stuck to the stipulation and never had Rhodes challenge for the World title again, with Rhodes instead focusing on the TNT Championship until leaving the promotion for WWE in 2022.
Khan said he believes the MJF vs. Page stipulation added a lot of intrigue to the Revolution main event. When asked about filling Page’s void in the title picture, Khan noted that AEW has a “fantastic line of competitors” who want a shot at the championship.
Page is a two-time AEW World Champion, having held the title in 2021-2022 and 2025.
