Tony Khan On The AEW-IMPACT Wrestling Working Relationship: "It Was Kenny's Idea"
He gave Omega 100 percent of the credit
Jan 20, 2021
A working relationship between All Elite Wrestling and IMPACT Wrestling was formed back in December and there has been some crossover between both companies. Kenny Omega is currently being managed by IMPACT EVP Don Callis and he teamed with The Good Brothers on Dynamite and at Hard To Kill. Tony Khan has also appeared as a character in paid ads on IMPACT TV and Private Party and Matt Hardy appeared on last night's episode of IMPACT Wrestling.
Tony Khan was asked about how the working relationship came together on the latest edition of Oral Sessions With Renee Paquette and he revealed it was Kenny Omega's idea.
The AEW president said: "It was Kenny's idea. He asked me about it and I love good ideas and I don't do every idea. I try not to do the bad ones... This was something Kenny brought up that I thought was a great idea and he put a lot of time and thought into it and I give 100 percent of the credit to Kenny.
"And Don Callis and Kenny have a really close relationship and, you know, I think that that is what was behind it. But I also think Kenny believed Don would be a very powerful advocate for him and could still roll with a really really strong heel manager for Kenny as the top heel in the territory, and really I think the top heel in wrestling right now. And I think that's something people wanted to see. There are some wrestlers like say Steve Austin in 2001 where I don't think people were ready to boo him or that they wanted to see that person be a villain. But I absolutely think people were ready to see this Kenny Omega and he was excited to present it. He didn't just want to present the same Kenny Omega people had seen. He put so much thought into innovating and into changing...
"And then I went with Kenny to the taping and they've got their pay-per-view this weekend and it was something he believed in. He wanted to help Don but he also thought that it could help us and he was right. And I wanted to support the idea, so I greenlighted it. I said, 'We'll do this. We will partner with them and I'll come with you.'"
