Since 2019, Tony Khan has been the man in charge of All Elite Wrestling – and he’d even add Ring of Honor to that in 2022.
He’s a very busy man, and is generally considered to be vital to how the companies work. However, should Khan be hit by a bus – he knows exactly who he would hand the reins over to – and that’s Bryan Danielson.
Bryan Danielson Would Be Tony Khan’s Choice To Run AEW If He Was Unable
During an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Khan would be asked about the in-ring status of The American Dragon. Khan would provide the answer, as well as some insight into just how much he trusts Danielson.
“He hasn’t been around as much lately, because he’s been recovering from an injury. But if I got hit by a bus, or if I was ever incapacitated for some reason, the person I told my father that he should turn to is Bryan Danielson.”
Danielson was last in the ring for the main event of AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door II – where he defeated Kazuchika Okada by submission.
He suffered a broken arm during the match, and as such will miss All In. Danielson is someone who has been involved with the creative direction of AEW shows alongside Khan, being noted as a key backstage name during the start of AEW Collision.
Given the injury history of Danielson and his passion for the industry, we can expect him to continue to gain backstage influence in AEW. We could see Khan test the waters of handing off more to people like Danielson using Ring of Honor – a lesser watched promotion compared to AEW.
Khan has also not always been in complete control of AEW creative, with a notable example being the women’s division, which was originally booked by Kenny Omega.
Khan Is A Fan Of Long Term Booking
With Tony Khan however, he tends to look at things in a long term way. Due to this and having a deep roster, Khan is able to work around injuries. Khan had the following when asked for more insight on how that part of AEW works, using All In as an example.
“I have long-range ideas and plans for things we can do. I do everything in pencil. On the AEW All Access show on TBS, I gave a look at a matrix that I built with all the different ideas. There are rows and columns for the different stories and where they can intersect and the different dates and how everything progresses. But this changes so often. We’ve had major changes this summer.
We lost Bryan Danielson with a broken arm, and Pac has been out with internal injuries. Jamie Hayter has been out injured. These are three great wrestlers. In the case of Pac and Jamie Hayter, they are great former champions and also British stars I really was hoping would be involved in the Wembley Stadium show. But we have such a deep roster. It’s like when a sports team has an injury and switches people around and brings people in. That’s what we do.”
Do you think Khan is already looking at potential replacements for his jobs in AEW? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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