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The appearance of AEW President Tony Khan during the premiere of AEW Dark: Elevation last night (Mar. 15) stood out for a lot of fans.
He’s been acknowledged as the in-story matchmaker, but Khan’s on record as saying he’s not interested in becoming an on-screen character a la WWE Chairman Vince McMahon’s Mr. McMahon. But after weeks of appearing on Impact in “paid ads” for Dynamite, and showing up on the Brodie Lee tribute episode last December, some are wondering if Tony’s had a change of heart.
AEW’s main play-by-play voice, and Khan’s co-star for those Impact spots, says that’s not the case...
I know @TonyKhan very well. He never wants to take up TV time with an appearance, but needed to deliver a message tonight on #Elevation to an out-of-control Kenny Omega. He’s never done that on Dynamite and never intends to, but tonight he was the only one that could do it. @AEW
— Tony Schiavone (@tonyschiavone24) March 16, 2021
Tony Schiavone’s explanation matches the one Khan gave on Dark: Elevation. And it makes sense given Kenny Omega’s actions since he’s aligned himself with Don Callis, which have seemed to allow the AEW World champ to run roughshod over two companies (and counting).
But whether he’s hesitant to do it or not, TK has an established role in the story of his company’s champion now. It’s hard to imagine that won’t continue to come up - at least until his part in the story is resolved in a more concrete way.
We shall see.