Tony Khan has disputed recent comments made by Dustin Rhodes about the future of AEW pay-per-view. Rhodes claimed that AEW would change its pay-per-view model a few days ago.
“I think now we are going to have two-day events for pay-per-view,” he said while appearing at the Terrificon panel. “I’ve heard that Down the Pike, so it’s going to be like a WrestleMania experience. You have two days of Double or Nothing or two days of All Out or Revolution or whatever.”
WWE has used the two-night model for its biggest event of the year, WrestleMania. It began in 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, to attract the largest audiences to the stage, as live spectators were not allowed in arenas due to attendance restrictions.
Rhodes first appeared on AEW in 2019 as part of the inaugural Double or Nothing event, which featured his half-brother Cody Rhodes. He would sign with the company before officially becoming a member of the Nightmare family later that year. He will wrestle in an infamous Bunkhouse match with Natural Nightmares partner QT Marshall to defeat The Butcher and The Bunny in 2020. On top of his in-ring work, Rhodes works as a coach backstage for promotions.
Khan’s reaction to the comments
Khan hastily brushed off the rumours and said that they are not true. He said that he sees rumors all the time in Pro Wrestling and said that although it’s bad enough, it’s even worse when someone from the company addresses it without knowing the whole truth.
Speaking on Busted Open Radio, Khan said, “I saw a report that we were talking about doing a two-day pay-per-view, and I was like ‘Who said that? “I looked up and it was Dustin. I was like ‘Why would Dustin say that?’ I love Dustin so much and I’m surprised he said this because it’s not something we discussed seriously internally.”
Khan further added that he enjoys seeing how other business models work, he will never steal or take anything from them and implement it in AEW. He added that for the foreseeable future, the promotion will continue to run a one-day pay-per-view event.
Khan also said that it is an exciting time for AEW. He says he thinks the company has been successful in building massive pay-per-view franchises like Revolution, Double or Nothing, Forbidden Door and All Out, and said it was good for him to see these developments develop.