Tony Khan Calls Samoa Joe a “Huge Box Office Draw” After AEW Return

Tony Khan isn’t just happy about Samoa Joe’s return to AEW—he’s making it clear that the former world champion is one of the biggest stars in the business.

Speaking to Front Office Sports, Khan addressed Joe’s comeback at AEW Dynamite: Maximum Carnage on January 15, where he reunited with HOOK and Katsuyori Shibata to go after Christian Cage and The Patriarchy. But Khan didn’t just talk about Joe’s return—he put him in rare air, calling him a huge box office draw and a Hall of Fame legend.

“We had Samoa Joe filming a project with Twisted Metal. So now to get another former world champion who’s one of the great stars and a huge box office draw and one of the great, great people in and out of the ring and a top man, Hall of Fame legend, Samoa Joe, him back too. So it’s like a real perfect time for us because we have all these top stars coming back and we’ve had all these top stars like you asked about, that have really risen to the occasion.”

Joe had been absent from AEW TV for months while filming Season 2 of Twisted Metal, but his return instantly shook things up. Now, with Khan hyping him up as one of the biggest draws in wrestling, it’ll be interesting to see just how big of a role Joe plays in AEW’s 2025 plans.