Tony Khan Discusses Growth Of AEW And NJPW Since “Cold War” In 2019 And 2020
AEW and New Japan Pro Wrestling’s relationship has reached new heights, and Tony Khan is very happy with that.
When AEW and NJPW first got together for the initial Forbidden Door event, it was viewed as a true seismic shift in the wrestling industry, as something on this scale had not been done in some time. Later on, it grew into more Forbidden Door events, with CMLL and STARDOM joining the foray, leading to a sister event in Wrestle Dynasty happening in 2025.
At the Full Gear media call, AEW head Tony Khan talked about how his wrestlers are going to New Japan for the upcoming Wrestle Kingdom 21 show, and how it’s helping build up the relationship between the two companies.
“I’m thrilled to help with Wrestle Kingdom. When I became a wrestling promoter, AEW at the very beginning of our journey here did not have the best relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling, and it’s really grown a lot. It got very strong in 2021. There was something of a cold war between us in 2019 and 2020, but there were a few links between us in Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho, guys that worked in both companies. But there was not a lot of communication in 2019 and 2020 between AEW and New Japan. I was happy to have Chris and Jon still participating in New Japan while they were primarily wrestling in AEW. And then in 2020, the pandemic hit and it changed a lot of the relationships and the dynamics in wrestling. I became close with Rocky Romero, and then I became close with Gedo, and we were able to put together an agreement in 2021 to start working together closely. It was a big change from our first two years, and then in 2022, we worked together to put on the first Forbidden Door. Both companies have had tremendous success in wrestling, AEW and New Japan Pro Wrestling. We built a great relationship with each other, and in this case, AEW has grown so much. We have so many huge stars and great big names in AEW, and I think that it’s really exciting to see so many of AEW’s great stars wanting to participate in New Japan Pro Wrestling, wanting to help our partner, and joining in and helping us with this cross promotional effort just as New Japan has sent great stars to participate in AEW. A lot of the top stars in AEW, frankly, have come from New Japan and built a great reputation in New Japan and come to AEW. I think it’s great to be able to have the relationship work both ways, to be able to help them and support them, and that’s what being a partner and a friend is all about.”
-Tony Khan
The relationship between the two companies has come under scrutiny by fans and critics alike, especially after, as Tony Khan noted, many top-tier New Japan talents came to AEW after their contracts ended, including Okada, Ospreay, Jay White, and, of course, The Elite. While dual contracts with wrestlers like Konosuke Takeshita have helped with bridging between the companies, this year feels like the first in which they’re on an even footing.
As for Wrestle Kingdom 21, multiple AEW vs. New Japan matches have been announced, including Will Ospreay vs. Callum Newman, Shingo Takagi vs. Jon Moxley, Gabe Kidd vs. Yuya Uemura, MJF vs. Ryohei Oiwa, and the main event being Kenny Omega vs. Yota Tsuji for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. For more on the announced matches for Wrestle Kingdom, including match graphics, you can click here.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on the relationship between AEW and NJPW as soon as we hear more.
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