Tony Khan spoke about the changes that have happened backstage at AEW compared to a year ago.
In June 2023, All Elite Wrestling premiered the first episode of their Saturday night show, Collision, which featured CM Punk on screen for the first time since the infamous incident that took place during the All Out 2022 after-show. With Punk away from Elite, fans were left wondering what would happen if all the parties involved gathered in the same venue for their first show at Wembley Stadium. As is well known, what actually happened was the infamous incident that took place between Punk and Perry following the “real glass” comment during the TNT Champions pre-show.
Despite the 2023 show being meant to be a triumph for the promotion, the infamous altercation between Punk and Jack Perry that took place during the show ended up being the main talking point.
Moving on to All In 2024, during the post-show press conference, Khan was asked about AEW's creative process and how All In has been received well in terms of putting the show together. Khan emphasized that they have a “football team” of people working together to put together the show, pitching hundreds of ideas, and while he didn't directly address the altercation, he added that the environment backstage is much better.
“Last year we literally just launched Collision, so I think that's helped us this year. I think backstage at Collision is a more comfortable environment, honestly, than it was a year ago. I think the flow between the two shows is also a lot smoother than it was a year ago. I think the locker room is in a lot better place than it was a year ago. And that's evident when you look at the difference between when we got here and what happened here a year ago.
“My job has been a lot easier since I had to deal with the Collision guys last year. And the process of meetings to put a TV show together has been a lot easier than it was this time a year ago because we had to do so much for Wembley last year. Of course, that was evident. But today was, I think, the most amazing day I've ever had.”
Tony Khan defends AEW bookings
While the multiple storylines leading up to All In were praised by fans and well constructed, not everyone was a fan of the championship build, and at the press conference Tony Khan defended the title build, which one reporter described as a “joke.”
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