AEW President Tony Khan had built a reputation of being available to the talents and considering the ideas pitched to him regarding the storylines. The company gained quite traction since its inception in 2019. Now, some information has been reported regarding the company’s creative process.
Talents can’t pitch ideas to Tony Khan directly
Sean Sapp posted behind Fightful’s paywall to shed some light on the inner workings of AEW. The preferred method is for talent to talk with one of the AEW coaches, who will then contact Khan. If the discussions are about booking, TK must be alerted.
This recently happened with Jonathan Gresham was who frustrated about how he was booked and his character. His point of contact was Sonjay Dutt. Gresham didn’t get to meet Tony until a few hours before Death Before Dishonor. This is when he cussed Khan out and asked for his release.
It was also noted the coaches present dozens of ideas, either from themselves or from talent, to Khan, who is then in charge of turning those ideas into reality or rejecting them. Those responses must then be reported back to the talent. Christopher Daniels, QT Marshall, Pat Buck are among those who are typically involved in the process. Megha Parekh and Sonjay Dutt assist as well, and Khan communicates with them at least ten times every day.
The report states:
“The general preferred process is that talent speaks to one of the AEW coaches, who are then in contact with Tony Khan. If the conversations are about booking, they have to be relayed to Tony Khan. The coaches pass on dozens of ideas either from themselves or talent to Khan, who is then in charge of making those ideas a reality or deciding they don’t fit. Those answers are then to be relayed back to the talent. For those asking about names involved in that, it’s usually AEW coaches, as well as Christopher Daniels, QT Marshall, Pat Buck. We’re told that Megha Parekh and Sonjay Dutt also help out and Khan is in communication with them at least ten times a day.”
Whatever be the case, Khan is the one who takes the final call.
