AEW President Tony Khan addressed the long-standing ban that kept the Briscoe Brothers off Warner Bros. Discovery networks following Mark Briscoe’s TNT Championship victory on Saturday. During the AEW Full Gear press conference, Khan confirmed that the executive responsible for preventing the team from appearing on television is no longer employed by the company. Mark Briscoe captured the TNT Championship earlier in the night, marking his first singles title in AEW. He was presented with a custom camouflage title belt to commemorate the win. When asked about the journey from being banned to holding the network’s signature title, Khan spoke bluntly about the past regime. Khan said: “Someone who’s long gone, long departed. Somebody who is long gone and, you know, we’ll leave it at that.” Khan mentioned the positive relationship with the current management team. Khan continued: “This place is the best. This is the absolute greatest. It’s a great place. And again, that is not somebody that is part of the family of the network or part of this family now.” Mark Briscoe reflected on the moment, acknowledging the specific controversy involving his late brother, Jay Briscoe. In 2013, Jay posted homophobic comments on Twitter that resulted in a high-ranking Warner official blocking the duo from AEW programming. Mark spoke about learning from those mistakes. Mark said: “It’s just crazy because, so many years ago, it was, you know, we didn’t know there was a point where the trajectory of the Briscoe brothers, it was just all up, up, up. And then, you know, some unfortunate comments were made by my big head brother. But, you know, it’s one of the things where you live and you learn. And we’re just so grateful that people have seen and acknowledged that we did learn from our mistakes.” Khan noted that he tried “every day” to overturn the decision while Jay was alive, but the executive “would not budge.” He credited current WBD CEO David Zaslav for the regime change that allowed Mark to be featured on the network. If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit the AEW Full Gear Press Conference with a h/t to WrestlingNews. co for the transcription. Check out the full press conference on the AEW YouTube channel.
https://wrestlingnews.co/aew-news/tony-khan-confirms-executive-responsible-briscoe-ban-long-gone/
Tag: tony khan
Backstage update on if former WWE stars joining AEW or not – Reports
A new backstage update has surfaced regarding whether All Elite Wrestling (AEW) plans to bring onboard some former WWE stars who were recently released by the Stamford-based promotion.
Since AEW’s founding in 2019, the Jacksonville-based promotion and WWE have been rivals. In its early days, AEW relied heavily on former WWE talent to garner attention and achieve quick success. Over time, however, Tony Khan’s promotion has established stability with a solid core roster. Now, the movement of stars between the two promotions has become more common and functions as a two-way street.
Recently, the futures of four former WWE wrestlers came under the spotlight: Trey Miguel, Zachary Wentz, Myron Reed (collectively known as the Rascalz), and Wes Lee. Trey Miguel and Zachary Wentz, currently signed with WWE’s partner company TNA, are nearing the end of their contracts. Wes Lee was released by WWE earlier this month, while Myron Reed has been working independently.
A new report by Fightful clarifies whether these stars will join AEW, and for now, the answer is no. Sean Ross Sapp, in the latest edition of Fightful Select, revealed that AEW has no specific interest at this time in signing the aforementioned talents. However, he noted that this situation could evolve in 2026.
### Tony Khan Takes a Cautious Approach with Ex-WWE Talent
In an earlier report, Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp detailed how AEW President Tony Khan has adopted a more meticulous strategy for evaluating free agents who recently left WWE before deciding to bring them into AEW.
In the past, AEW has not shied away from signing former WWE superstars, including high-profile names such as Chris Jericho, Adam Copeland (Edge), Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, and CM Punk. However, Sapp mentioned that some signings have presented challenges, with certain wrestlers expressing dissatisfaction with their roles in AEW.
The most notable example is CM Punk’s tenure at All Elite Wrestling, which was marked by controversy and backstage tension, ultimately leading to his termination.
All of these factors have contributed to Tony Khan becoming more selective when it comes to signing wrestlers from WWE, particularly ex-WWE stars.
For now, AEW appears to be focusing on building its roster internally, but the door remains open for future signings as circumstances evolve. Fans will be watching closely to see how this ongoing rivalry between AEW and WWE continues to shape the wrestling landscape.
https://www.sportskeeda.com/aew/news-backstage-update-former-wwe-stars-joining-aew-not-reports
Ex-WWE star seemingly spoils AEW and Tony Khan’s grand plans
AEW head honcho Tony Khan supposedly has a huge initiative in mind pertaining to his company’s women’s division. Former WWE superstar and current ROH Women’s Champion Athena has shed some light on the plan in question during a recent interview. This past weekend, All Elite Wrestling hosted this year’s edition of the WrestleDream pay-per-view in St. Louis, MO. This Wednesday on AEW Dynamite, the promotion officially revealed the brackets for the tournament intended to crown the inaugural Women’s World Tag Team Champions, weeks after the belts were officially unveiled. Also last month, Jamie Hayter challenged The Triangle of Madness to face her and her allies in the first-ever Women’s Blood and Guts match. The aforementioned announcements and angles have injected a lot of excitement and momentum into AEW’s currently stacked women’s division. It appears that Tony Khan may have an even grander plan in the making for his female performers, in the form of an all-women’s show. During her recent interview with WFAA 8, ROH Women’s World Champion Athena revealed that the All Elite head honcho had “absolutely” considered running a women’s event, and that manifesting such a show was just a matter of timing. “Absolutely. I know TK has absolutely thought about that; it’s just about timing when it comes to those things. We have the best roster in the world. I know everybody says it, but we actually do have the best roster in the world. I do know that is on his brain, it’s been on his brain since I have been in AEW at least. It’s just about timing.” [H/T TJR Wrestling] It remains to be seen if All Elite Wrestling will organize an all-women’s event anytime soon. Athena found a tag partner on this week’s AEW Dynamite Mercedes Mone’s big celebration on the October 22 episode of Dynamite, following on her eleventh and twelfth title wins this past weekend, unfortunately ended in humiliation for the former WWE superstar, as she was embarrassed and eventually ambushed by Harley Cameron and Kris Statlander. Afterwards, The CEO was approached backstage by Athena, who offered to team up with Mercedes to bring home the Women’s World Tag Team Titles. It remains to be seen if the “Forever” ROH Women’s Champion will win her first All Elite title with “Ultimo” Mone, who is herself scheduled to challenge Statlander for her AEW Women’s Championship at Full Gear 2025.
https://www.sportskeeda.com/aew/news-ex-wwe-star-seemingly-spoils-aew-tony-khan-s-grand-plans