It all started with ‘The A-Team.’
Ahead of All Elite Wrestling’s Pay-Per-View debut in Seattle, founder Tony Khan spoke with us about his love of professional wrestling and the stamp the Pacific Northwest has made on the business.
First some background. Tony Khan was born and raised in Champaign, Illinois. The son of Shahid Khan, the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham F.C. in London.
“The first time I saw wrestling on TV, I saw Hulk Hogan on The A-Team,” Khan said. “I watched a lot of TV. I was a TV kid. I had a TV in my room and a satellite dish.”
Khan said before the advent of Direct TV, his family had a satellite dish that he could watch all sorts of programming from around the world.
He recollected watching the news via a satellite feed and Peter Jennings would be smoking cigarettes during the commercial breaks.
“I could find pretty much anything I wanted to watch,” Khan said. “And I really liked The A-Team a lot.”
The A-Team starred George Peppard and Mr. T and was an hour-long action-adventure show about a commando squad who were accused of a crime they didn’t commit.
“One of the things I found pretty unbelievable about The A-Team – in hindsight – I never would have questioned as a six, seven-year-old kid,” Khan said. “Hulk Hogan was supposedly in Vietnam.”
At the time, Khan said he didn’t understand that Hulk Hogan existed outside of The A-Team.
“The A-Team were trying to distract the cops and they did so by having Hulk Hogan lift a car,” Khan said.
Another show Khan loved as a kid was G.I. Joe.
“I watched G.I. Joe after school every day,” Khan said. “When I watched G.I. Joe, Sgt. Slaughter was a live-action host. He introduced the show, did the wraparound, and closed the show. He was also an animated character.”
Unknown to Khan at the time, Sgt. Slaughter was a professional wrestler whose gimmick was that of a former U.S. Marine who fought in the Vietnam War.
“When I was around seven years old I started seeing wrestling on TV,” Khan said.
This was about 1990. Hulk Hogan and Sgt. Slaughter were beginning to feud in the then-WWF.
“I saw Hulk Hogan and Sgt. Slaughter were wrestlers who were wrestling and I watched their matches,” Khan said. “I followed other people and watched their matches and that’s how I started watching.”
From there Khan said he started watching WWF competitor WCW, reading all the magazines, and using his satellite dish to watch independent wrestling throughout the country.
Khan said he went to his first show shortly after he started watching wrestling on TV. The WWF came to his hometown in Illinois. The main event was the Undertaker vs. the Ultimate Warrior.
He said he remembers trying to get other kids to watch wrestling with him. A budding wrestling promoter was born.
Nearly three decades later, Khan formed All Elite Wrestling in 2019.
A promotion that now has the record for the most tickets sold for a wrestling event in history, with over 80,000 tickets sold at AEW ‘All In’ in London.
He books three shows a week – totaling five hours of television – with his stable of talent which includes several wrestlers that call Puget Sound home.
Talent which includes Darby Allin, Swerve Strickland, Nick Wayne, Aubrey Edwards, and the ‘American Dragon’ Bryan Danielson.
“I think it’s fantastic and I’m so glad to come to a market that’s home to some of our biggest stars,” Khan said.
One of those stars is Bryan Danielson. Danielson, who was born in Aberdeen, told us that he fell in love with professional wrestling when his family took him to a WWF show at the Tacoma Dome.
“When I was like eight or nine years old – probably in third grade – I got to see the Ultimate Warrior – who was my favorite wrestler – and Rick Rude,” Danielson said. “It’s really funny because my dad talked about it until the day he died. The Ultimate Warrior have Rick Rude a sunset flip and then pulled his pants down and Rick Rude’s butt cheeks were facing right towards us.”
A moment that Danielson said his father loved because of the embarrassment his sister endured after witnessing the exposure.
“One of the greatest things that’s ever happened to AEW was when Bryan Danielson took interest in the company and wanted to come here,” Khan said.
Khan called Danielson one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.
“Bryan has become one of my favorite people in real life and I’m very fortunate to work with him every week,” Khan said. “He’s got one of the greatest minds for pro wrestling and he has a fascinating mind. He’s one of the most well-read, affable, and intelligent, thoughtful people I’ve ever met.”
Traits not commonly found among wrestlers, he noted.
“He stands in a class of his own, in my opinion, in terms of respect,” Khan said. “He commands from his peers and his fans and anybody who’s ever worked side-by-side with him.”
On the AEW television shows, Danielson has been referencing winding down his long career, with many thinking Sunday’s ‘WrestleDream’ PPV in Seattle to be his last match in his hometown.
“I’m excited for the Seattle crowd,” Khan said. “I really am so happy to be able to create a homecoming for some of our top stars and I think the fans are going to be really happy with WrestleDream and the great show they’re going to get on Sunday at Climate Pledge Arena.”
More information about tickets for AEW WrestleDream can be found at aewtix.com.
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