Following the success of AEW All In London 2024, AEW president Tony Khan appeared in front of the press for the post-event media scrum of the grand spectacle that took place in Wembley Stadium. During the press conference, Khan decided to provide a more detailed look at the inner workings taking place in the Jacksonville-based promotion.

However, he also felt the need to disclose that the work environment in the promotion has come a long way from being as hostile as it was last year. For the unaware, AEW held the 2023 edition of the event last year in the UK as well, but that surely made headlines for all the wrong reasons. CM Punk got into a backstage brawl with Jack Perry that led to the firing of the Best in the World while Perry was suspended for a long time. The video of which was later aired by AEW. So now Khan took a subtle jibe at Punk without even naming the WWE superstar.

He said, “Last year, we had literally just launched Collision. I frankly think it’s an easier environment backstage at Collision than it was a year ago to do things. It’s a lot easier flow between the two shows than it was a year ago. I think the locker room is in a much better place than it was a year ago. As evidence by when we came up here vs. what happened here a year ago.”

The AEW President further added, “It’s a much easier job; I have dealing, because I had to deal with the people on Collision last year and it’s a much easier meeting process to put the TV together than it was a year ago. We were obviously dealing with a lot of things going into Wembley last year, which obviously showed up.”

While Khan did not take a direct jibe at the Cult of Personality, it is easy to understand through his words that he was talking about Punk and his backstage altercation that brought major infamy to the Jacksonville-based promotion. But do you know that Khan further compared AEW to a sports team, where he acts as a head coach who coordinates with specialists and coordinators to present the best possible product to the public?

Khan explains the inner workings of the promotion

In the interview, Khan explained that he works closely with a team of 27 to 30 people who present him with hundreds of ideas each week. Although he receives many proposals, he is in charge of selecting the ones he considers most suitable to implement in television programs. In his statements, Tony praised Jennifer Pepperman for her work with Mercedes Mone and mentioned that she also collaborates with other talents.

In addition, he highlighted RJ City, whom he described as the only one who fully understood his references when developing the characters of Toni Storm and Mariah May. At a key point in the conference, Khan defended Jimmy Jacobs from the criticism he received online. He noted that he is the only one, besides himself, who has been to all AEW shows. Khan expressed his pride in being the “Cal Ripkin Jr. of AEW,” referencing his unwavering presence at every event. So, what do you think? Has AEW actually improved a lot since last year? Let us know in the comments.