Tony Khan On Collaborating With CM Punk: The Excitement Has Been Off The Charts And We’re Just Getting Started
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling
Tony Khan says he doesn’t want to put CM Punk or any AEW wrestlers in a position that makes them look bad.
During Thursday’s AEW All Out media call, Tony Khan was asked about the collaborative effort with CM Punk so far. Khan said it’s been great so far working with him, but it’s also indicative of the relationship he tries to have with most of the talent you see on TV each week.
“We’re having a great time. I had a great time with him last night in the trailer putting stuff together, I’ve had a great time with him this whole run, going out to dinner and trying to figure out ideas, coming up with ‘The First Dance’ and this match with Darby Allin. He’s great. He’s got a great mind and he’s a fun, cool guy. I think he’s got a lot of really interesting ideas and I collaborate with a lot of different people about stuff,” Khan noted, “whether it’s the Young Bucks or Kenny, or Cody or Chris Jericho and all of their individual stuff.”
Khan went on to name multiple names including Jon Moxley and Britt Baker, explaining that anything that is really on TV will be a collaboration between the talent and himself. Khan compared Punk’s situation to that of Sting, where he really enjoys sitting down and talking things out with him. Tony noted that he initially took some heat from people over the way that Sting was being used, but now he’s more physically involved and it’s shown growth and comfortability. Khan said Punk has already brought some great ideas to the company, and he’s a really good person to collaborate with.
Khan went to speak about Punk’s career and how he was used prior to joining AEW, then paused and said he just doesn’t really understand some of the things Punk was asked to do “before he left wrestling.”
“I don’t really understand some of the things he was asked to do before he left wrestling. I don’t think some of the stuff he was asked to do before he left wrestling made sense. And I told him, ‘If I ever ask you to do something that doesn’t make sense, it’s not coming from a malicious place. If something doesn’t make sense for you, tell me and let’s talk about it.’ That’s really how I am with everyone,” Khan said. “If someone doesn’t like something—I’m not trying to put something in that doesn’t make sense.
“Not one person, including Mr. Punk, including everybody on the roster, has creative control. It’s not like WCW, and I think that is one of the issues with WCW, when you have a person that has creative control in their contract and you hold up the show? I don’t know how you get through TV doing that, I can’t imagine if I had to deal with that. But what I do have is a lot of people that I want to sit down and talk to, and hear what they have to say. Just because nobody has a contractual right to say ‘you can’t put me in that match, you can’t make me do’ whatever, doesn’t mean I want to put people in bad situations and do things that don’t make sense to them or for their career, or for the fans. I like him a lot, he’s got a great mind, and he’s been great to me,” Khan explained. “It’s been really good for the fans so far, the excitement has been off the charts and we’re just getting started. I’m really looking forward to working with him and it’s really exciting.”
Khan closed by bringing up Jon Moxley and how people initially tried to speculate on his personality and being difficult, but Khan called him one of his favorite people and an easy guy to collaborate with. Khan said Moxley is a genius and has a great mind, and he thinks he’s strong-willed and brings so much to the table.
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Listen to the full media call below: