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Tony Khan recently booked Jon Moxley to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship from Tetsuya Naito. And now a WWE connection behind this title change has reportedly come to light.
Moxley has been a top AEW star ever since he joined the promotion several years ago. He has been booked strongly on television and has won several World Titles. If that wasn't enough, Moxley recently won the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship from Tetsuya Naito at NJPW Windy City Riot in Chicago.
Moxley held the title for a while before dropping it back to Naito at AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door in New York recently. Wrestling Observer Newsletter is now reporting that the IWGP title change was a deal between Tony Khan and NJPW to have two title changes in the United States. This would also allow Moxley to become the first man in history to hold the AEW, WWE, and IWGP World Championships.
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You can check WON's report in this tweet.
Eric Bischoff can't believe Tony Khan is paying Mercedes Mone $5 million a year
Ever since AEW was launched in 2019, Tony Khan has gone on a hiring spree. He has since acquired the services of several former WWE and NJPW stars.
Some of the names to join the roster include Will Ospreay, Mercedes Mone, and Adam Cole, among others. Recently, reports surfaced that Khan was spending $100 million a year on his talent alone, which has raised a lot of eyebrows.
During a recent appearance on the Keepin' It 100 podcast, Eric Bischoff spoke about AEW's talent budget. He even seemed surprised that Mercedes Mone was getting paid $5 million annually.
“According to Dave Meltzer, and you’ve got to be careful, but I’m using it as a reference because I just saw it the other day, Tony Khan has a talent budget that’s over $100 million. Guys are making $100,000 a year, and 75% of the people on that roster feel like they’re in the witness protection program. Half of them, you see them only once every six months. If you look at his talent budget and his expenses, I mean, look at Mercedes Mone, $5 million a year. Are you kidding me? And giving her creative control?" said Russo. [H/T: Ringside News]
Check out the video below for his comments:
It will be interesting to see what's next in store for Jon Moxley after losing the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Forbidden Door on June 30 last month.
