All-Elite Wrestling president and CEO Tony Khan has made numerous high-profile moves since officially founding the company in 2019. He has also added major talent over the last two years including CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Keith Lee, Christian Cage, Malakai Black and Ruby Soho, among others. The company is gearing up for the third annual Revolution pay-per-view this weekend, and on Wednesday in a conference call, Khan talked about the possibility of adding two more high-profile names to the roster, Jeff Hardy and Cesaro.
I don’t think anybody should consider it a foregone conclusion (that Jeff Hardy is coming to AEW). I do really like Jeff a lot. Jeff is still obligated to another company here for at least several more days. But at some point when Jeff is free and clear, I would love to have Jeff in AEW.
Tony Khan on Jeff Hardy
Despite earlier reports and rumors, Khan said: “I don’t think anybody should consider it a foregone conclusion (that Jeff Hardy is coming to AEW). I do really like Jeff a lot. Jeff is still obligated to another company here for at least several more days. But at some point when Jeff is free and clear, I would love to have Jeff in AEW. Jeff is a friend of mine, I really like him very much. I think the world of him and I have a lot of respect for him as a wrestler, and he’s a very nice person. I think he would fit in very well in AEW, and we would love to have him, potentially.”
He’s a phenomenal athlete. His strength is tip-top. (He has) very few peers in the power department. Also mentally, he puts great matches together. He’s got great psychology, and is just a great guy. So yeah (signing him) is always something I’d be open to.
Tony Khan on Cesaro
Recently, Cesaro opted to leave the WWE after more than a decade with the company. It was also noted that there would be no 90-day non-compete clause due to his departure not being a release. “I do like him a lot,” Khan said. “I have to say, I met him many years ago, and he’s a real gentleman, Claudio (Castagnoli). I have a ton of respect for him as a pro wrestler. He’s a phenomenal athlete. His strength is tip-top. Very few peers in the power department. Also mentally, he puts great matches together. He’s got great psychology, and is just a great guy. So yeah (signing him) is always something I’d be open to.”
With numerous additions to the AEW roster over the past few years, Khan talked about the challenges of managing such a large talent pool. “It is a challenge to manage such a huge roster, and it’s a good challenge,” Khan said. “I think we have the best roster in professional wrestling right now. There are so many great stars on it. I’m always excited when we can strengthen it and bring new people in. I am very pleased that we’ve had such a great partnership with TBS and TNT, that we have two hours of Dynamite, and that’s been even stronger since we went to TBS. And that they gave us another show with Rampage on TNT, and it gave us more opportunities to showcase talent. That’s also gone very well. Consistently, it’s been one of the strongest shows in our time slot. It bodes really well for us, and I think it could mean more opportunities in the future for the roster we have. In the meantime, there’s so many great talents to develop, and we’re constantly looking within for people ready to step up … The strength of the roster is good. You’d much rather have a very strong roster with a lot of depth and challenges trying to utilize people than be very thin.”
