How Tony Khan Kept Adam Cole And Daniel Bryan’s AEW Debut A Secret

Keeping anything secret in today’s digital world is almost impossible and that’s why AEW president Tony Khan had to take extreme measures to make sure Adam Cole and Daniel Bryan‘s All Out debut didn’t get spoiled.

As the former NXT champion detailed during a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, he had to fly to a different city a day before the show to make sure no one spotted him at the airport. He then stayed at a different hotel than Bryan:

“I didn’t even fly into Chicago [the site of All Out], I flew into a different city the day before,” recalled Adam Cole, “I didn’t even stay in the same hotel as Bryan”

The former WWE star then remembered how they both showed up at the Now Arena after the show had already begun and waited outside in the trailer until the time for their debut had come:

“We showed up to the building while the show was going on,” said Cole, “And we waited outside in a trailer.

The locker room didn’t even know until the absolute last moment. It was the most secretive debut I’ve ever been involved in, and Tony Khan took every measure to make this as big of a surprise as possible.”

Adam Cole and Daniel Bryan made their debut after the main event between AEW champion Kenny Omega and Christian at All Out. While Cole aligned himself with the Elite, Bryan chose to oppose them.