Tony Khan Recalls His Reaction To WWE Releasing Keith Lee
As a special guest on the Sports Guys Talking Wrestling Podcast, Tony Khan spoke about Keith Lee joining AEW and how stunned he was to hear he was let go by WWE.
The All Elite Wrestling Owner revealed how eager he was to sign Lee and believes the former NXT Champion was a big reason why the show that night was #1 on all cable that night.
"I am a huge fan of Keith's work," Khan stated. "I am a huge Keith Lee fan and when Keith became available, I was stunned. But I was very eager to jump on it and sign Keith. So I was thrilled to have Keith debut on AEW Wednesday Night Dynamite this week and, you know, he was a big part.
"The anticipation of his arrival and the big free agent signing and Keith Lee in AEW was a big part of AEW being the number one show on all cable on Wednesday. AEW finished ahead of the NBA, ahead of everything, South Park, a great show that I love, and ahead of the Olympics on USA."
Last night on Dynamite, MJF cut one of the realest professional wrestling promos in a very long time, talking about his troubles with racism and bullying as a child and that pro wrestling was his only motivation to get out of bed every morning. The 25-year-old star told the story of how CM Punk was his favorite wrestler growing up and blamed Punk for stalling his love for wrestling by quitting on the business in 2014.
While talking about Max, Tony Khan mentioned how important it was for MJF to gain a win over "The Best in the World" and how excited he is for the 25-year-olds future with the company.
"He's a terrible person, but he's a great wrestler. He's had a great young career and he's accomplished so much in his 20s and he's still got a lot of years left in his 20s and a lot left to accomplish in the wrestling business because I believe he's going to have a great career.
"What a win over CM Punk, and I mean, that's what sets AEW apart is, you get to see the great veterans and the best stars of today and it's a great mix and you never know what's going to happen. CM Punk's comeback has been awesome. It's great to come back to Texas. I can't wait to come in March to Texas and bring our shows to San Antonio and bring our show to Cedar Park in March, we're going to have great shows."
Tony Khan continued to talk about AEW and why the company decided to create a 1-hour television show on Friday's, AEW Rampage. The All Elite Owner said his love for Mid-South Wrestling inspired him to do a one-hour show along with his experience doing a late-night one-hour Dynamite.
"I'm a huge fan of Mid-South Wrestling," Khan mentioned. "Actually in the summer of 2021, before Rampage, I watched a ton of Mid-South Wrestling shows on the run-up to doing a one-hour show because I didn't have a lot of experience. The only one-hour wrestling show I've done on TV before Rampage launched on TNT, was, we did a late-night Dynamite. A special one-hour episode and it featured some great wrestlers including Scorpio Sky, Anna Jay, they had great matches.
"And, you know, we had a great show. I have to say, Mid-South Wrestling is one of my favorite promotions ever, and obviously, JR, Jim Ross, was a huge part of it. I have a ton of respect for him. I really, really like and value JR a lot as a person. He's actually made a hometown in Jacksonville, Florida, and I've gotten to know him a little better and I like him a lot."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Sports Guys Talking Wrestling with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.