Tony Khan has his eyes on more New Japan talent, and he did not dance around the names. Aaron Wolf and the Knockout Brothers are on his AEW wish list.
Khan was asked during his Q101 interview with Case whether there had been talks about Aaron Wolf coming stateside to wrestle for AEW. That came after discussion about New Japan’s big Wrestle Kingdom viewership, Hiroshi Tanahashi’s retirement match, and the attention around Wolf.
Khan said AEW wanted several names involved, but not everyone made it over. Some had visa issues, and others were not part of New Japan’s plans to send to the United States.
“Well, I actually am very interested in that. There were a number of wrestlers I really wanted to come that did not have the visas or were not in New Japan’s plans to send over. Aaron Wolf and the Knockout Brothers, I really want to get over here, and a number of those people were not sent over, but I’d like to work with them in the future.”
That is a pretty clear answer. Khan did not give some vague “we’ll see” line. He said he likes Aaron Wolf, he likes the Knockout Brothers, and he wants to work with them down the road. He also pointed back to Wrestle Kingdom and the attention around Tanahashi’s retirement match against Kazuchika Okada, saying the night helped put even more eyes on New Japan’s younger talent.
“So, I really like Aaron Wolf and I really like the Knockout Brothers. And like you said, that did great viewership with President Tanahashi’s retirement match. I think the right opponent, with Kazuchika Okada returning to New Japan Pro Wrestling to have Tanahashi versus the Rainmaker Okada in the Tokyo Dome at Wrestle Kingdom as Tanahashi’s retirement match, it was a perfect night.”
“It was an incredible match, an incredible fight by both men, and there are a lot of young wrestlers in New Japan right now that I am interested in, including Aaron Wolf.”
That does not mean Aaron Wolf or the Knockout Brothers are suddenly AEW-bound tomorrow, but Khan openly putting their names out there says plenty. AEW and New Japan are still doing business, and Khan is clearly looking at the next wave of talent. Now the question is whether New Japan sends those names over the next time AEW comes calling.
Do you want to see these talents show up on AEW someday? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.
