Tony Khan Lists His Wrestling Mount Rushmore, Discusses AEW’s Character Work

All Elite Wrestling President and CEO Tony Khan has revealed which wrestlers adorn his personal wrestling Mount Rushmore.

Speaking with AL.com ahead of last night’s episode of AEW Dynamite, Khan listed Ric Flair, Bret Hart and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. They would join the current AEW World Champion, Chris Jericho, upon his Mount Rushmore.

Reflecting on how he became a fan of pro wrestling, Khan spoke about his favorite childhood wrestlers. He shared how The A-Team introduced him to Hulk Hogan at a time when he didn’t know what wrestling actually was.

“When I first really got into wrestling, my favorite wrestlers at first were Ric Flair and the Macho Man, Randy Savage. But the first time I saw wrestling was Hulk Hogan on ‘The A-Team,’ and I didn’t really know what wrestling was, and then I saw Hulk Hogan on WWF TV when I was a kid and that was the first time I’d seen pro wrestling.”

He continued, “Then I learned about other pro wrestling, like WCW and then later when I was like 13, I got really into ECW, I started trading tapes with people through the dial-up internet, junior-high up into high-school.”

Khan noted how, upon entering high school, his favorites changed to Austin, Hart and Jericho. With Jericho currently the champion of his promotion, Khan has since developed relationships with both Austin and Hart. It’s a development he admits is “kind of awesome.”

Many AEW wrestlers have been highlighting the creative freedoms the promotion provides them. It’s a factor that stars like Shawn Spears and Jon Moxley clearly consider important to allow them to flourish without being weighted down.

When asked how involved AEW are in crafting or adapting their rosters characters, Khan replied:

“It depends. I think we’re really involved in the presentation of whoever it comes in, whether it’s a complete overhaul … I think we have a big say, like I have a big say, in what the presentation’s going to be.”

Khan continued, “I think what’s great is when we work with people who have so much experience and knowledge, like Chris is brilliant. And I’ve sat with Chris and with Cody and people and we’ve had really interesting talks about how AEW can help develop a unique presentation for them.”

He highlighted how AEW’s version of Chris Jericho is a different iteration compared to previous gimmicks. He then pointed to Cody Rhodes. Khan explained how Cody evolved during independent circuit experience, but believes his “presentation is off the charts” in AEW.