Tony Khan Comments On Rivalry Between AEW & WWE, Welcomes 'Ethical' Competition

AEW President Tony Khan stated that he's open to competition with rival promotion WWE, provided that competition remains ethical. Khan made the statement in response to a question asked by Wrestling Inc's Sean Neumann on a media call ahead of this weekend's Double or Nothing pay-per-view.

"I'm always very eager to compete in whatever arena I'm in," Khan said. "I really love the competition in pro wrestling as long as it's done with some ethical standards. People running events at similar times — I don't know if that's necessarily unethical. I don't have a problem with it."

According to Khan, things haven't always been ethical on the "other side," referring to WWE. Khan is likely referring to his accusations of contract tampering by WWE last year, with AEW stars such as Malakai Black and Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler of FTR having reportedly been contacted by WWE officials in August. 

Khan stated that AEW and WWE have been rivals since "day one," and shared his belief that AEW will come out of Sunday having put on the best show. Double or Nothing is scheduled to air at the same time as NXT Battleground this Sunday, and WWE is holding its Night of Champions PLE on Saturday from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Khan compared the head-to-head nature of Sunday to the "old days" of the company, when "AEW Dynamite" used to air directly against "WWE NXT" on Wednesday nights before "NXT" shifted to Tuesdays. Double or Nothing is set to include an AEW World Championship match between the company's "Four Pillars" in MJF, Jack Perry, Sammy Guevara, and Darby Allin. Meanwhile, Battleground will feature Carmelo Hayes defending the NXT Championship against Bron Breakker.