Ok HammyEnd readers, I’m out of the closet. I’m the best person on the HammyEnd writing team to write this piece and I will not be ashamed of it anymore.

The noise has been around for months, but 2019 saw the official announcement of All Elite Wrestling. All Elite Wrestling is allegedly set to receive $100m worth of investment from Shahid Khan to support his sons’ new venture. Tony Khan will take up the position of president of the new company which is frequently utilising the term “by the fans, for the fans.” Listening to Tony on the X Pac 12360 podcast, I was impressed by his knowledge of the product and background information, if you listen to the ‘General Manager’ of Fulham FC speak about the art form of professional wrestling for even five minutes, you can tell that this guy just loves it.

Professional wrestling has had a gap for a while, the independent scene is booming but no company had the clout, finances or buzz to really whet the appetite for the wrestling community that is deep into the product. All Elite Wrestling merchandise is already number one of Pro Wrestling Tees: an online store that houses the merchandise for many a wrestling company, wrestler or wrestling personality that is not part of the giant that is WWE.
The buzz is largely thanks to Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks (Nick and Matt Jackson) who take up the position of Executive Vice Presidents within the company. Cody was part of the WWE machine from a young age making his debut on television at the age of 21 (his father is the late Dusty Rhodes, a member of the WWE Hall of Fame for his long litany of work in the industry). Rhodes left the WWE, disillusioned with the mollycoddled and uncreative environment of World Wrestling Entertainment and became the hottest individual on the independent scene. He came together with the Jackson’s (all three are members of the wrestling stable: the Elite) to create a wrestling event called All In. All In became sold out in 30 minutes with over 10,000 people in attendance, becoming the first non-WWE or WCW event to do so in the United States since 1993.

If Tony Khan was to surround himself with three non-WWE members to create a wrestling company, these were likely the best three. The wrestling community is truly excited for what is to come from All Elite Wrestling as they promise the best to fans and wrestlers (Chief Branding Officer Brandi Rhodes announced at their rally in Jacksonville that both male and female wrestlers of a similar level will be paid exactly the same). There have also been mentions of a favourable schedule on the road which may help them attract stars from WWE, much like TNA did in its prime as they once held a roster containing the Dudley Boys, the Hardy Boys and Rob Van Dam to name but a few. AEW have also said that they will compensate their talent for any injuries and possibly long term a health care package. Tony Khan has also mentioned potential full time jobs in the office as well for wrestlers, it really sounds like an opportunity for people to be ‘All In.’ To add to all this positive press, at their rally in Jacksonville, the Executive Vice Presidents announced that the second show from AEW will be in the city with a “large portion” of the money to go towards victims of gun violence.

Trademarks were filed for all the branding months ago, but one of which is the name ‘Tuesday Night Dynamite.’ This potentially hints at All Elite Wrestling targeting a weekly television slot which would be a major boost should it come with a strong network. WWE programming does not currently have a cable slot for Tuesday night which is a positive for the initial growth of All Elite Wrestling’s fan base (of which is already has over 120,000 followers on Twitter).

At the rally in Jacksonville, a number of roster additions were announced which included British wrestler PAC (formally known as Neville in WWE), Hangman Page and most notably, Chris Jericho. Chris Jericho, a veteran of the business, is a superstar and like a fine wine is doing some of his best stuff as he gets older. Jericho spoke of not needing the money, but he “believes in doing something new and different.” The Canadian wrestler will bring eyes alone and is a huge pull for the company in its early days.

Tony Khan on the aforementioned podcast said he spends his time working for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham FC but his free time was spent watching and taking in professional wrestling, all but confirming that the 36 year old has zero free time left in his life. “Wins and losses will never matter more” which suggests that All Elite Wrestling will display the product with a respect to the athletic art form that it is and not the wink of “we all know this isn’t real.” A tape trader and self confessed fan of ECW back in the day, Tony as a fan will have a vision of what he wants All Elite Wrestling to be and it does feel like it’s been a very impressive start as a budding promotion.

‘Double or Nothing’ is the first event to promoted by All Elite. It will take play at the MGM Grand Arena on May 25th with the first match all but announced, Hangman Page vs. PAC in a match that could carry a card on its own.

Professional wrestling has an injection of excitement that it’s missed for a long while, if you were previously a fan or grew up to appreciate the product, now is the time to get back in as All Elite look to assemble a roster of excellent wrestlers. I’m interested, no matter what my disagreements are with Tony Khan on a footballing basis.