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AEW President Tony Khan was recently interviewed by Sporting News, where he talked about one of the things that have been worrying AEW fans a lot after last week's episode. Shaq's appearance was hinted at last week, and the AEW fans have been worrying about the sort of role he could play on a weekly basis.
Tony Khan provided some context and talked about Shaq, and even Mike Tyson's, future roles in AEW.
Tony Khan on the future roles of Shaq and Mike Tyson in AEW
Tony Khan said that the fans did not have to worry about stars like Shaq and Mike Tyson being heavily featured each week on AEW Dynamite. He mentioned that the idea was to bring in new viewers for the AEW product.
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"I don't think anybody has to worry that it's gonna be 75-80 minutes of Shaq every Wednesday night, or two hours of Mike Tyson every Wednesday night — that's not what we're going for. But I do think their appearances definitely add some mainstream interest, and hopefully bring in new viewers. And I think the wrestling fans want new viewers — the wrestling fans want it to be cool to be a wrestling fan."
Tony Khan talked about the drawing power that the likes of Mike Tyson and Shaq would bring to AEW and why they were special.
Similar to Michael Jordan, I think there's a mystique around Mike Tyson where nobody has ever replicated it, and it's been over 20 years since he was in his peak, and still nobody can touch that mystique. So I think he has that.
Similar to both of them, I don't think there's ever been another big man in my lifetime that's captured the imagination of America the way Shaq did — and he's a very different basketball player than Michael Jordan. In a similar era, and then he played really later in the next era with Shaq and Kobe. Shaq's also a friend, and he's a great person, and I am excited about the possibility of working with him, too.
I think both Shaq and Mike are one of a kind, in very different ways. But for each of them in their sport, there'll never be another like them. And that's why I think they still have a lot of interest right around them.
While currently, there's no hint as to when or if Shaq will show up on AEW Dynamite, Cody Rhodes was warned Jade Cargill. He will have to keep his eyes open in the future.
