Tony Khan Explains Late Reluctance To Confirm Chris Jericho Vs. Bandido At AEW Dynasty

On the March 26 episode of "AEW Dynamite," former ROH World Champion Chris Jericho challenged Bandido to a Mask vs. Title match at AEW Dynasty. Although it seemed to be official, company President Tony Khan had voiced that the match was not yet confirmed on a media call before the event, only to approve the bout hours later. Khan shed some light on the situation at the AEW Dynasty Post Show Media Scrum, explaining the hesitation to confirm the match was due to ensuring that Bandido's family would be in attendance at the pay-per-view.

"We did announce it formally on 'Collision' but also to your point, I did have talent's best interest in mind." Khan said. "There was a family lined up to come in and a lot of things happening this past week and also wanted to make sure frankly that we were able to get the right people here for the right moment that we wanted to have ... there were some challenges on the way this week, it was personal stuff, but it worked out." 

During the match, while referee Aubrey Edwards was distracted, Jericho hit Bandido with his baseball bat and managed to pick up the win. However, after Bandido's family informed Edwards that Jericho cheated, the match was restarted, eventually leading the Luchador to win the title. Khan explained that he was satisfied with the crowd reaction that the moment received, but also touched on fan speculation leading up to the match, explaining he thought the ongoing rumors were far-fetched.

"I love reading wrestling speculation, I love reading wrestling discourse, I love wrestling fans. I thought some of the speculation about why we might not be doing it was kind of ridiculous ... but it was just a personal thing that worked out." 

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "AEW" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.