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Tony Khan: “This is a loaded card”
Tony Khan is planning a pay-per-view caliber show for this week’s Dynamite.
Headlined by the Young Bucks against FTR, the show also features Adam Cole–Christian Cage, a tables match pitting The Hardys against The Butcher and The Blade, Hikaru Shida against Julia Hart in a women’s Owen Hart Tournament qualifying match and the AEW debut of Samoa Joe, who will meet Max Caster in a men’s Owen Hart Tournament qualifying match.
“It’s a pay-per-view quality card that’s free to everyone with cable TV,” says Khan, who is AEW’s CEO, general manager and creative chief. “This is a loaded card, and Young Bucks–FTR will be the main event. That’s one of the most anticipated matches on television in a long time.”
The Bucks last met FTR at Full Gear in November 2020, winning the tag titles in an enthralling fashion. That encounter provided resolution to a three-year story, which began when FTR and the Bucks worked for separate companies. It was also a ballad to their professional sacrifices, capturing a pursuit of greatness from the Bucks, who starred across Japan but had yet to receive full credit for altering the entire landscape of pro wrestling. And for FTR, after working under the bright lights of WWE but never quite receiving the spotlight they deserved for nonstop excellence in their matches. Their Full Gear match was a masterpiece and even saw Kenny Omega come to the ring to celebrate the Bucks’ victory, a role they would typically fulfill after major Omega wins.
“There was such a real reaction when the Young Bucks won the titles,” Khan says. “That match was a tribute to so many of the great tag teams that came before them, and it was a great, great match.”
The Bucks once again enter as the challengers. FTR are defending both their newly won Ring of Honor tag belts—captured on Friday at Supercard of Honor in an outstanding bout against The Briscoes—and their AAA tag titles. The Bucks are flourishing in their roles as the company’s villains, while FTR embraces their love for pro wrestling.
“Think of how much has changed over the past year-and-a-half,” Khan says. “This rematch has been a long time coming. Now they can do it in front of a sellout crowd in Boston.”
Rampage will be taped immediately following Dynamite, and the shows will help cap off a tremendous stretch throughout the industry where a plethora of companies showcased their talent during WrestleMania week in Texas. Prior to the company being sold, Ring of Honor scheduled its Supercard of Honor show in Garland, Texas. After Khan bought ROH, he vowed to follow through on the show despite preferring not to run any shows in conjunction, even peripherally, with WWE’s signature event.
“There was so much excitement over Supercard and the great influx of wrestlers coming into Ring of Honor,” Khan says. “Originally when Ring of Honor contacted me late last year, they wanted to promote a potential Briscoes-FTR match. So when they had Final Battle in December, I agreed to send FTR. Then Bandido couldn’t wrestle and ROH needed a replacement, and they wanted to bring in Jay Lethal, which we did. Gresham won that match at Final Battle, but he attacked Gresham at Supercard of Honor last Friday. That story is helping us moving forward, too.
“We also sent a lot of videos to Ring of Honor from a lot of past stars for Final Battle. I know that was really appreciated, and we built a relationship with Ring of Honor management. At that time, I thought it was very possible that another party was going to buy Ring of Honor. I can only speak for myself, but I don’t know if any other company was willing to follow through on the Supercard of Honor show if they bought Ring of Honor. That was a priority for me, and I was very happy with the show.”
Khan would not reveal the price he paid for ROH, but it is one he believes was fair for both sides.
“I’ll say that I am very happy with what I paid, especially knowing now how well the Supercard of Honor pay-per-view did for us,” Khan says. “I felt good about it when I did the deal, and I feel better about it now.”
Supercard ended with a surprise appearance from Samoa Joe. The two-time NXT champion will forever be an integral part of the history of ROH, particularly due to his battles in the ring with CM Punk. Following issues with concussions, Joe had mainly transitioned into broadcasting and then served as a commissioner figure in NXT before his last match in August, but he was signed to be an in-ring competitor in AEW.
“We signed Samoa Joe to wrestle,” Khan says. “He’s bringing star power to AEW, and he’s arrived at the perfect time for us. We’re extremely excited for him to make his AEW debut on Dynamite in the first round of the Owen Hart Tournament against Max Caster.”
The past weekend of wrestling was eventful, including former AEW executive vice president Cody Rhodes returning to the WWE ring. Always classy in his interviews, Khan opted to focus on the future of AEW when asked about Rhodes.
“I did lose a very prominent free agent,” Khan says. “But we’re debuting one tonight in Samoa Joe. In the past 30 days, we’ve also debuted Toni Storm, who was incredible last week in her win against The Bunny, and Jeff Hardy, one of the biggest stars in wrestling. We have a lot of excitement happening here, and that’s our focus.”
Tonight’s Dynamite presents itself as a genuine breakthrough opportunity for The Butcher and The Blade, who will wrestle Matt and Jeff Hardy in a tables match. Jim Ross, Excalibur and Tony Schiavone will be calling the action, providing a soundtrack to the AEW talent seeking to bring the company to new heights.
“My goal is to make tonight like a pay-per-view,” Khan says. “It’s a bigger box office than the card we just had on the Ring of Honor Supercard pay-per-view. This is the Young Bucks–FTR, Adam Cole against Christian and the Hardys in a table match. We’re going to deliver big matches. It’s a commitment to pro wrestling you won’t see anywhere else but AEW.
“This Dynamite is a great example of putting the strongest card on TBS we possibly can. It’s one of our most exciting cards, it features some of our biggest stars, and the debut of Samoa Joe—plus a main event that is going to be the best match of the entire week.”
The (online) week in wrestling
- Cody Rhodes opened Raw on Monday with a gripping promo. While he was interrupted by Seth Rollins, he made his intentions clear: he wants to be WWE champion.
- If done right, a SummerSlam main event of Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes could be huge.
- Sporting one hell of a bruise from WrestleMania, Bianca Belair outlined her future on Raw.
- FTR-Briscoes was fantastic. We’ll see if that level of excellence can be topped on Dynamite as FTR wrestles the Young Bucks later tonight.
- Seth Rollins is in-character for this photo. I suppose that is also the case for Michael Hayes.
- After losing to Dolph Ziggler on Saturday at Stand & Deliver, Bron Breakker regained the NXT title on Raw, which was certainly odd timing—and almost felt like it just checked a box to have a title change hands on the Raw following WrestleMania. Tuesday night on NXT, Breakker’s newest challenger emerged: the artist formerly known as WALTER.
Pat McAfee’s star shines even brighter at WrestleMania
In case we needed any further reminder, WWE has a burgeoning star on its hands in Pat McAfee.
McAfee shined at WrestleMania 38 in his match against Austin Theory. After retiring from the NFL in 2017 and then stepping into a wrestling ring later that year, McAfee possesses a gift and grit in his performances that are seasoned well beyond his level of experience.
The blueprint was set for McAfee in NXT: keep his in-ring performances limited, adding a whole new degree of excitement whenever he does perform. And as great a self-promoter as he is, bringing his Pat McAfee Show to remarkable success, he is also spectacular in the ring. Only 34, the current SmackDown analyst has unlimited potential in WWE, and he was one of the top babyfaces at WrestleMania.
Following the victory against Theory, it wasn’t necessary to have McAfee lose to Vince McMahon at WrestleMania 38. Yet that showed his willingness to work with the bigger story (“Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs. McMahon), even if it wasn’t about him. And, clearly, as evident from the appearances of McMahon and Brock Lesnar as guests on his show, he is highly regarded within the company.
McAfee is also well-respected within the world of sports. After his breathtaking performance at WarGames in December 2020, there was serious internal discussion of having McAfee reappear after the loss to The Undisputed Era and jump Cole and align himself with a new partner, Sports Illustrated learned. The mystery reveal was going to be NFL superstar Aaron Rodgers, which would have brought instant mainstream notoriety to NXT. Though it never materialized, McAfee has all kinds of connections that could be capitalized upon in WWE.
With Shane McMahon’s in-ring work altered by Father Time, McAfee has the ability to seize that special appearance role (so it was appropriate that he took the ensuing stunner from Steve Austin at WrestleMania, just like Shane used to do). And after years of debating who the biggest NXT star would be on the main roster, could it turn out to be McAfee?
Tweet of the Week
Brody King is nowhere near the star that Edge is, but I appreciate the moxie.
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- Cody Rhodes Makes Triumphant Return to WWE at ‘WrestleMania’
Justin Barrasso can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.
