Tony Khan has reflected candidly on how his philosophy and public approach have evolved since AEW‘s launch in 2019 — acknowledging that the combative early posture toward WWE is firmly in the past and that he believes taking the high road has served him better. Speaking on The Coach and Bro Show, Khan articulated the shift in clear terms.
“At the beginning of AEW, there really was a collective rebel spirit. Now, I think AEW is very established, and people know AEW has a quality product and a lot of fans. I do want to grow that fanbase, but the way I would do something now might be different than how I would have done it six or seven years ago,” Khan said.
Tony Khan Says Being Nice to People and Taking the High Road Has Gotten Him a Long Way
Khan framed the evolution as both strategic and personal, crediting the shift in approach with generating goodwill that the more aggressive early posture would not have produced. “Some of it is the fact that I believe in taking the high road when possible. I feel like by taking the high road, that’s rubbed people the right way. Being nice to people has gotten me a long way, and I’ve been trying to do it more in recent years.” The comments reflect a broader maturation in how AEW presents itself within the wrestling landscape — less focused on positioning itself against its competition and more focused on developing its own identity and fanbase independently.