Tony Khan knows what fans expect tonight, has ‘no plans to disappoint anybody’

Still concerned that AEW’s decision to promote CM Punk’s arrival at Aug. 20’s “The First Dance” edition of Rampage without, you know, ever actually promoting him might mean Punk won’t be there? Maybe you’re a WWE loyalist trying to convince yourself we’ll hear Living Colour on FOX and not TNT tonight? Or perhaps you’re a “just want to watch the world burn” type hoping the Chicago show, and the weeks of overt and subtle teases about The Best in the World, might just be wrestling’s greatest troll job?

In any of those cases, see if AEW President Tony Khan’s latest comments on Busted Open Radio this morning resolve the issue for you:

“It’s great to be able to have those possibilities and not to have everything spoiled for you. But on the other hand, I think everybody has a pretty good idea what to expect tonight. I don’t like to let people down. I have no plans to disappoint anybody tonight. I think people are gonna be very happy with what they see. They’ve been waiting to see this for a long time. Finally, at The First Dance, I think we’re gonna satisfy a lot of people and make a lot and make a lot of wrestling fans really happy. And we’re gonna make some new fans. They’re gonna be people who are gonna read about what happened tonight and they’re gonna want to check out AEW and that is exactly the reaction we’re looking for.”

What people expect is CM Punk, and anything less wouldn’t just disappoint. It just might start a riot in Chicago’s United Center, and cause a lot of angry tweeting & commenting online. But it doesn’t sound like a bait and switch.

The big show will give us a different kind of Rampage episode, too. Here’s TK on that:

“The format of tonight’s show will be very different. It’s gonna be different than last week’s Rampage and really different than most Rampages. I think for an average Friday night, it’s gonna be a great wrestling show every Friday on Rampage. I would expect the format [for Rampage going forward] to be more similar to what we did in the premiere episode than what we do tonight.

“I think tonight’s episode will be a very atypical format. It’s gonna be unusual but it’s also gonna be the biggest surprise we ever delivered and that’s why it necessitates a very different format than we’ve done for just a standard wrestling card. We also unlocked something that going forward is gonna be a tremendous way to present Rampage on Friday nights. Even though tonight’s show is gonna be a little bit different from last week’s, really what we will be doing going forward I think its a very important show we’re doing tonight and I’m very excited about the buzz and all of the momentum the company has right now.”

It’s really imminent, isn’t it?

See you at 10pm ET.