Tony Khan Wants More Credit For His NWA Empowerrr Contributions

During yesterday's Full Gear media scrum, AEW President Tony Khan was asked about how he contributes towards growing a women's division in AEW. Tony believes AEW has made great strides in improving their own women's division while also commenting on how he also assisted with NWA's Empowerrr show in August. 

"I don't feel like I get enough credit for what I did for the NWA show. Because a good number of people that were on the NWA show were wrestlers that I sent and paid," Tony Khan said. "So I do think I contributed because the highest-paid wrestlers on that show were people that I paid separately from what they already make in AEW to go on that show. I don't think they did a very good job telling people that, honestly.

"Even though it wasn't part of the deal we did, I wish they would have told more people that because it was one of the points I made when we closed it. I think it was, 'It would be nice if you told people because it's a big contribution from me. Does that make sense?" Tony asked. "So I did pay the wrestlers for [the all-women NWA event], so yeah, it's kind of like when you pay for dinner and nobody thanks you."

Back home in AEW, Tony explained how bringing in free agents like Thunder Rosa and Ruby Soho has added legitimacy to the women's roster.

"I really have been making a big effort this year to grow and improve our women's division. And I think we have made a lot of strides with our women's division this year as a company. We've added some big free agents, and I'm really excited with what's happening with the TBS tournament right now. Among the big free agents we added are Thunder Rosa, who came over from the NWA of course, and Ruby Soho."

Another company AEW has had a beneficial working relationship with is New Japan Pro Wrestling. However, Tony admits that the two organizations weren't on such amicable terms when AEW first started up.

"It's a great relationship. I really enjoy working with New Japan. It's changed a lot since AEW started because when AEW first started off, I think they were pretty pissed off with me," Tony Khan noted. "And then, as wrestling went on, they saw that I wasn't really trying to stop them from doing anything. And I actually made a lot of friendly gestures along the way, like Chris Jericho. I was very open to Chris Jericho working in New Japan. Also, I had been pretty open about Jon Moxley wrestling there. I cleared it time after time for Jon to work there, so they saw that it's a good relationship."

If you use any quotes from this article, please include an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.