Tony Khan Had Started Planning Launch of AEW Months Before All In

Tony Khan has revealed that plans for the creation of AEW had been in motion since before the 2018 All In event.

The inaugural All In event held on September 1, 2018, is widely considered to be the precursor of All Elite Wrestling. The success of the event is what many believe led to Tony Khan deciding to start his own promotion.

The exact timeline of events, however, has been a matter of debate recently. Multiple different accounts of the sequence in which the key people were made aware of the project and brought into the fold has been shared online.

During a recent interview on, The Rich Eisen Show, Tony Khan was asked about the belief that All In led to the formation of his company. The AEW President explained that the narrative is not true and he had first shared the idea with former TNT President Kevin Riley months before All In:

“I had started working about five months before that in April of that year I guess so you know I guess it would be like four and a half months earlier with a friend of mine who was the president of TBS and TNT Kevin Riley.

I ran into him at a party and brought up to him that I thought it would make a lot of sense to bring pro wrestling back to TBS and TNT and he was interested. Then I started working on it and well before like almost two months before All In I was actually talking to the Young Bucks.”

Tony Khan later revealed the date of his first serious discussion with Mattew Jackson and his wife Dana Massie, which in turn led to him making acquaintances of the rest of The Elite and Chris Jericho:

“On July 3 which would be almost two months before the show I had a really long call with Matt and his wife Dana and we had a really nice talk. That led to me starting to talk to the Young Bucks.

Then I started having conversations with Chris Jericho through his agent. Not long after that right around the same time and actually I think I might have like within a week or so give or take had a dinner then and followed up on that.

So I was talking to Chris Jericho and the Young Bucks and then through the Young Bucks also to Cody Rhodes and Hangman and a number of other great wrestlers. Kenny Omega was going to be available from New Japan not long after that. So I was actually before All In.”

The AEW executive also mentioned how he was in attendance for the 2018 All In event, though according to Khan, he was there only as a spectator.