AEW It was officially launched in 2019 as a new alternative in the Wrestling industry, and six years later it continues to consolidate as the main competition of WWE. What few knew is that the project took, in part, by a decision of Vince McMahon that Tony Khan considered an error. During your participation in Leap Academy With Ilana Golan, Tony Khan confessed that the announcement of the XFL resurrection in 2018 McMahon directly influenced their way of thinking:
“When they announced that they were going to relaunch the XFL, I thought it was a terrible idea, “ said. “The amount of money they were going to invest, competing against the NFL … that was not going to work. And I was right: the XFL broke. Then I thought: 'Do you know what would work? A second Wrestling League'”.
Khan explained that unlike American football, the world of wrestling had such a big talent base It was more viable to create an alternative company to WWE to compete with the NFL. As a fan of both sports, he assured that Wrestling needed a new option rather than American football.
The Xflon the other hand, it ended up closing in 2020 – largely due to the pandemic – and was later acquired by The Rock, who merged it with the USFL To form the current UFL in November 2023.
Since then, Tony Khan has turned that vision into a tangible reality. AEW has not only signed some of the biggest stars of worldwide, but has built a solid base of fans and its own identity. What began as an idea against the failed return of the XFL, today is a company that has changed the dynamics of the industry and has forced WWE to keep guard.
