– Tony Khan begins the call Thursday by hyping up Final Battle in Columbus and notes that this will be his fourth Final Battle since acquiring Ring of Honor.
– Kevin Kellam of Sportskeeda asks Khan about the potential of putting ROH on TV following TNA’s new media rights deal with AMC.
“I have had great offers to put ROH on TV. Right now, we have a streaming service (Honor Club), and I have had opportunities, at times, to move ROH to TV from great media partners. But right now, we have to look at the AEW situation. AEW’s got a media rights deal with a half a billion contract, and given I have a half a billion dollar contract to produce wrestling television, I really want to make sure I get really good rights fees and that the situation for ROH is, not necessarily equal with AEW because it’s fairly historic for a challenger wrestling brand to have the kind of media rights that we do and to have the kind of following that AEW is.
“I’m very much interested in having an ROH TV show, and I think the media rights don’t necessarily have to be equal or definitely not greater than, but I do want to get a rights fee that makes sense and have a perfect situation with a media partner. We’ve had good conversations with big companies, and we’ve had conversations with good money behind them, but I didn’t necessarily think it was the right partner.”
Khan continues by calling Warner Bros. the “perfect media partner” for AEW. Khan also says that the current system with ROH, being behind a paywall and occasionally posting shows to YouTube, has brought good revenue.
– Jason Powell of prowrestling.net asks about Zayda Steel’s appearance on ROH and whether or not she’s signed. Khan didn’t confirm but was excited to have her on and to see what she can do.
– Jon Alba of Sports Illustrated follows up on ROH’s media rights. Khan reiterates that it has to be the right partner and for the right money. He praises the ROH brand and is happy with the current blend between AEW and ROH. Khan calls back to when Jim Crockett bought the UWF and how that purchase had drawbacks for him and says Crockett paid four times for the UWF than what he paid for ROH before inflation. Khan also noted the costs ROH had to incur for maintaining the syndication TV contracts, which he admits was only something he heard.
Khan continues talking about the success of the first All In show and the results of that. He notes that acquiring ROH brought him the Briscoe brothers, which eventually led to Mark Briscoe’s current TNT title reign. He says he’s willing to wait on the right media rights deal for ROH and is hopeful one will come in the future.
– Amy Nemmity of WrestleJoy asks Khan about the top moments from ROH.
– Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful asks about acquiring Jack Harlow’s “Lovin On Me” for Blake Christian’s theme song, which Christian also has advocated for.
“The last time I addressed this, I had gotten 1% approval. … I just need to get the other 99%, and we’ll be there.”
– Sully Khan of Slam Wrestling asks about Lee Moriarty vs. Nigel McGuinness. Tony Khan hypes up the upcoming match at Final Battle while also calling Moriarty one of the highlights of ROH this year.
– Samantha Schipman of Daily DDT asks about Nick Wayne’s injury status and the status of the ROH men’s TV title. Khan admitted that the injury timeline changed for Wayne and how that altered on-screen plans, comparing it to decisions made during Covid. He admits that he didn’t know Wayne would not be back during this time and praises the bright future he has.
Khan continues about wrestling injuries like Penelope Ford, who had to be pulled from Blood and Guts and the women’s tag team tournament, and Queen Aminata, who was not cleared this week and will be addressed on ROH TV.
Khan then talks about Athena and her impact on ROH, calling her the MVP of the brand, and hypes up her match against Persephone at Final Battle.
– Ella Jay of A Wrestling Gal asks if there will be more Mercedes Mone appearances on ROH. Khan praises Mone and hopes there will be more appearances from her on ROH after Final Battle amid her other appearances around the world. He then hypes up Mone vs. Red Velvet.
– Brian Zilem of Pro Wrestling Torch asks about Persephone and the CMLL partnership. Khan talks about AEW and CMLL talent appearing in each other’s promotions and the big moments that have come from that. He called Grand Slam Mexico the most successful AEW Dynamite shows in many years. He says it’s been great working with CMLL CEO Salvador Lutteroth Lomelí and the continuing partnership between the promotions.
“The partnership bears fruit year-round for both sides, and most of all, I have a lot of respect for Salvador. That’s how it got started. A few years ago, Rocky (Romero) got me and Salvador on a Zoom, and he told both of us, ‘I think you both are going to like each other a lot, and it would make sense for AEW and CMLL to talk.’ And that led to Mistico coming in for the first time.”
– Khan closes the call promoting Final Battle.