Tony Khan Reveals When He Found Out Okada Was Coming To AEW

During a recent Media Call for AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door, AEW President Tony Khan spoke about NJPW star Kazuchika Okada making his AEW debut last Wednesday on "Dynamite."

Khan revealed that even before he knew he was going to be in the wrestling business, he always had admired Okada.

"Well, I was really excited to have him there. It was an honor to meet him in person finally. It was a huge honor. Huge honor to have him on AEW 'Dynamite' and for him to be making his debut to some extent in an AEW ring. It was an honor to have him step into an AEW ring for the first time on AEW Dynamite.' That is something that I'm been looking forward to for a long time. I have so much respect for Okada. I've admired him for many, many years. Long before we launched AEW or before I knew I was going to be in the wrestling business."

Khan noted that fans all over the world will be looking forward to Jay White defending the IWGP Heavyweight Title against Okada, Adam Cole, and 'Hangman' Page.

"He's still a relatively young man. What a top prospect at a young age he was. It's going to be great to see him compete. I think fans all over the world will look forward to that match. Seeing Okada in the same ring, wrestling for the IWGP Title. Trying to win it back this weekend from Jay White.

"Also having a couple of other great champions from pro wrestling. Adam Cole has won titles from all over the world. And has competed in NJPW Pro Wrestling. He's one of our top stars. 'Hangman' Adam Page, the former World Champion, one of the top stars in AEW. Also, former Tag Team champion here. Somebody who has been a winner here and in ROH. Also won a lot of NJPW matches himself and dreamt of winning the IWGP Title for a long time."

The AEW President also admitted that he would have liked to have all the people involved in the IWGP Title Match on TV longer. Khan revealed that he thought that Okada would have been on TV sooner. He didn't know Okada was going to be on TV until the week before.

"Would I have liked to have all the people involved on TV longer? Yes," admitted Khan. "That was one of the challenges, I knew that I was going to face going in. While back, I didn't know that. I thought we could get Okada in sooner. I found out he wasn't coming till the week before. I had to deal with it."

Below is the full media call: