Tony Khan Claims AEW Was Originally Set to Debut at Madison Square Garden Until It Got Pulled

Tony Khan didn’t hold back in New York.

While addressing the crowd at AEW Dynamite on 34th Street inside Hammerstein Ballroom on December 20, Khan revealed that Madison Square Garden was originally supposed to host the very first episode of AEW Dynamite back in 2019—until the iconic venue abruptly changed its mind.

Khan explained that MSG officials contacted him over six years ago and offered the date for AEW’s TV debut. He agreed immediately. But a few months later, the same people called him back and pulled the offer. In Tony’s own words:

“You know, the first episode of Dynamite was actually originally going to be there. And they called me, they offered me the date, and they said, would you like to do the first episode of Dynamite here? And I said, yeah, I really would. It would be great. And then they called me a couple months later and they said, we don’t want you anymore… because it would really upset somebody.”

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Khan didn’t name names, but the live crowd knew exactly who he was referring to and broke into a loud “F*** the Fed” chant—calling out WWE’s long-running influence over the Garden. Tony kept going, describing how the sudden reversal left him feeling like he’d been played:

“You really made me feel like Charlie Brown and Lucy with the football.”

AEW would eventually debut Dynamite at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., but the MSG reveal confirms there were much bigger plans in place—and politics behind the scenes may have derailed them.

Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.