AEW Dark and Dark: Elevation has helped Tony Khan and the talent alike. For the stars, it's screentime for one of the largest wrestling promotions in the world. For the AEW President, it presents an opportunity to have a closer look at wrestlers to sign them.
During his All Out media call, Mr. Khan spoke about some of the top guys in the company, appearing on the YouTube shows and working with young independent wrestlers.
"You'll see some huge, huge stars on that show [names Darby Allin, Jon Moxley, Orange Cassidy, Nyla Rose, Thunder Rosa and Eddie Kingston]. Huge stars compete on those shows on a regular basis, a lot of our top wrestlers compete in Elevation and Dark on a regular basis but they also do so in terms of working with young talent, young developmental talent we found a lot people who are important wrestlers in AEW now through them working on Dark and Elevation," said Tony Khan.
Tony Khan then named a few wrestlers like Red Velvet and Powerhouse Hobbs, who caught his eye while they were working on AEW Dark and AEW Dark: Elevation.
"Red Velvet, The Acclaimed, Varsity Blonds, Powerhouse Will Hobbs. All of these people are that were losing matches on Dark and I saw something in them and ended up signing these people to contracts and looked for to push and utilise these people because they all have great skills. But all of them came in and even those tag teams were working separately and I liked them and put them together and so I think it gives opportunities to young talent," said Tony Khan.
Are Dark and Dark: Elevation a developmental platform for Tony Khan?
WWE has an excellent Performance Center that trains and churns out great wrestlers regularly, which AEW doesn't currently have.
However, what Tony Khan and his team have provided with Dark and Dark: Elevation is that they have a platform to showcase and nurture younger talent. Many of the company's top stars mix it up with younger or lower-card wrestlers on Monday and Tuesday nights, while midcarders get a chance to maintain their credibility with decent matches and pick up some wins.
The likes of Red Velvet and Varsity Blonds have been heavily featured in title programs, with the former main eventing the premiere episode of AEW Rampage alongside Britt Baker.
Tony Khan has already got some valuable people on board through Dark and Dark: Elevation, and we won't be surprised to see more in the future.
Watch all the details and analysis of Tony Khan's media call on Sportskeeda Wrestling's YouTube channel:
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