AEW: Tony Khan talks about the future of the women’s division
Following AEW Revolution, Tony Khan was the last guest of the post-show virtual media scrum. He answered questions about various topics, including that ending of the main event, the signings of Ethan Page and Christian Cage, and how they’ll handle fans at future shows.
Khan was asked several questions about the women’s division. I had the opportunity to ask a couple myself.
Hikaru Shida has been a great champion
The first question was about Hikaru Shida. Khan enjoyed the match and touched on the history between Shida and Ryo Mizunami going back to the first Double or Nothing. He went on to praise Shida for “being a great champion for us through the pandemic. She’s had so many great matches. I think she’s been a great champion and has been one of our most consistent performers in the past year.”
He also discussed Maki Itoh’s surprise appearance and called her “tremendous”. Khan said that he hoped to see her here often before mentioning her match on this week’s Dynamite. He didn’t elaborate much further on the plans for Itoh or Mizunami for that matter.
Per Dr. Britt Baker’s colleague, Reba’s still too hurt to wrestle this week, so GM @TonyKhan has allowed the DMD to bring a new partner! @NylaRoseBeast teams with Britt + @maki_itoh vs. @shidahikaru + @mizunami0324 + @thunderrosa22 on Wednesday LIVE on #AEWDynamite at 8pm on TNT! https://t.co/EwKr5FHSiU pic.twitter.com/OUILQitk1w
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) March 9, 2021
Red Velvet and the importance of AEW Dark
My first question for Khan was when would Red Velvet be “All Elite” and what does she have to do to be “All Elite”? “There’s very little she has to do–it’s coming, it’s coming,” Khan said. “She’s tremendous. I can’t say enough good things about her.”
Khan pointed out that Dark has been a great way for wrestlers to develop themselves and have been able to transition to matches on Dynamite. Red Velvet was in one of the biggest matches they’ve had on Dynamite with Cody against Shaquille O’Neal and Jade Cargill.
Discussing Dark, Khan explained that “Red Velvet, Will Hobbs, both members of The Acclaimed–Max Caster and Anthony Bowens–Lee Johnson, and many others who have come up through this pandemic working on Dark and made a name for themselves and become really important parts of AEW, so I think it’s really cool.”
The women will be main eventing soon
For the last two weeks, the women have been the most-watched match on Dynamite. Last week, the women main evented Impact Wrestling. Shida has done everything in her title reign except main event. My follow-up question was: When do the women get to main event Dynamite?
Khan responded with “I’m so glad you asked that. I’m so glad you asked that. Very soon. Very soon. It’s going to happen. What if I told you that it’s going to happen incredibly soon? Like in the next several weeks, I have a feeling.”
Big Swole is still important to the women’s division
There has been a lot of speculation over why Big Swole hasn’t been on TV. Prior to the new year, Swole had worked her way up to being the number one contender for Shida’s AEW Women’s World Championship. When the tournament was announced, many fans were disappointed that Swole wasn’t participating.
Khan explained her absence by saying she had flare ups with Crohn’s disease. “She’s a great wrestler and she has a great personality. I think in the ring, she’s gotten better and she’ll continue to get better.”
He reminds everyone that while she had a great record in 2020 and received a title shot against Shida, the records reset at the beginning of the year. Khan stresses that she’s had great matches and that he really likes Swole.
“In 2021, she hasn’t really been active because she’s been sick and she’s had Crohn’s disease keeping her out.” With the record reset, being active as the weeks pass “the ranking becomes completely dependent on your record in that calendar year.”
“For the Eliminator tournament, she was actually out when we started the Eliminator tournament with her flareup of her Crohn’s, so I think as she’s getting healthy and hopefully we can consistently get her available and have her in action on a regular basis. She’s a great asset to us.”
Next. Top 3 moments of AEW Revolution. dark
Things seem to moving in the right direction for the women’s division. Having the women main event will be a huge step forward for them. Hopefully, it won’t be few and far between. The women also need to have more than one match per Dynamite. Red Velvet has more than proved herself and the division will be stronger with her and the full-time return Big Swole.