The AEW President has hit back at WWE’s Chief Content Officer.
On July 31st, WWE released the long-awaited “American Nightmare: Becoming Cody Rhodes” documentary via Peackock, detailing Rhodes journey back to the company in a main event position. During the documentary, Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque referred to AEW, where Rhodes formerly held the position of EVP, as a “secondary promotion”, a statement that sparked quite the discussion online amongst fans.
During a recent interview with Orlando Sentinel, AEW President Tony Khan had the chance to respond to Triple H’s comment, highlighting the success of AEW All In and the promotion’s general popularity in the UK compared to WWE as evidence of the contrary.
“We certainly won’t be the secondary promotion at All In. We’re No. 1 in the UK, on TV and with a record gate. I have a lot of respect for Cody. I know these weren’t his words, to be fair, but we’re not secondary in a lot of markets – for the first time in a long time, WWE has been secondary in a lot of markets. .. I’m proud of where we’re at and we’re not taking a back seat to anybody.“
-Tony Khan
Rhodes departed AEW in February of last year and subsequently made his return to WWE at Wrestle 38. One year later, he found himself in the main event of WrestleMania 39 as he unsuccessfully challenged Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in a story that seems far from over.
In terms of what’s next for AEW, the company will be making their UK debut at the historic Wembley Stadium on August 27th, with tickets sales having been a resounding success thus far, as highlighted by Khan in the interview.
