"It had to be the first main event" - Tony Khan looks back on the importance of AEW's first show

AEW President Tony Khan has taken the time to reminisce and look back at the importance of his company's first pay-per-view, Double or Nothing 2019. Khan has admitted that he knew the show would be headlined by Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho months in advance.

Double or Nothing 2019 was a landmark show, solidifying AEW as a new promotion to look out for. The show was memorable for its variety, its classic matches, and the debut of Jon Moxley from WWE.

The show was main evented by Kenny Omega taking on Chris Jericho, with the winner moving on to the first-ever AEW World Championship Match. Jericho went on to face Hangman Page in the title bout at All Out 2019.

Speaking with Freddie Prinze Jr. on the "Wrestling with Freddie" podcast, Tony Khan revealed that the success of Omega and Jericho's first match in NJPW convinced him to choose them for the main event.

"For my first show, I had big picture ideas, big picture thoughts, like, I felt really strongly about certain aspects of the card," said Tony Khan. "For example, Kenny Omega versus Chris Jericho, I really felt like it had to be the first main event. It had done huge business for New Japan as the main event of the Dome show a year prior."

Khan went on to describe how he knew that there would be an audience for the old-school mentality of featuring this memorable NJPW match.

"I really felt like a big part of my business case was seeing how successful that show had been around the world and knowing that bringing that to America, on American Pay-Per-View, there would be an audience for that match,” said Khan. (H/T WrestlingNews.co)

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Tony Khan was a huge fan of Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho's first match

When Tony Khan referred to the "Dome show" while speaking to Freddie Prinze Jr., he was talking about New Japan Pro-Wrestling's "Wrestle Kingdom 12" event.

Wrestle Kingdom 12 had a number of stellar matches on the card, including a No Disqualification Match between Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho for the IWGP United States Championship.

The match was highly praised by fans and critics alike, and it even garnered a five-star rating from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer. Omega picked up the victory in a match that some consider to be one of the first seeds that eventually blossomed into AEW.

Do you remember this match? Let us know in the comments section down below!