PAC’s death hit AEW hard, and Tony Khan says some wrestlers simply weren’t in any condition to perform the next day.
During an interview with WPRK 91.5 FM, Khan opened up about the Ring of Honor taping that took place shortly after Benjamin Satterley’s death. Instead of forcing the show to go on like nothing happened, Khan made the taping optional for talent. He said some wrestlers were just too shaken up to work.
“Well, it was voluntary and there were some people that definitely were not feeling well and understandably could not wrestle that day. So, I changed my plans around and I do think there were some great matches and moments on that taping and the shows coming out of the Ring of Honor taping I think have been strong, but it was a hard show to put on.”
Khan also admitted he had to completely rework parts of the card because several people couldn’t make it.
“I did have an outline for the card and I had to make a lot of changes to the outline because there were a handful of people who couldn’t make it. And I understood that because it’s very challenging and I think I expected there would be some people where the emotional toll was just too much to wrestle the next day.”
That doesn’t mean everybody stayed home. Khan said a number of wrestlers still wanted to go out there and perform, and Bandido ended up delivering one of the most emotional moments of the night. After defending the ROH World Championship against AR Fox, Bandido placed a PAC armband on the title.
“Having said that, there were a lot of people that did want to go out and wrestle. And we saw Bandido put the PAC armband on the Ring of Honor World Championship after he defended it against AR Fox in Jacksonville at the taping.”
Khan said the entire situation was brutal, especially with PAC’s death coming so close to the show and AEW also dealing with the loss of Andy Williams.
“It was a great tribute in the main event for Bandido to put the PAC wristband on the world championship and very emotional day of tapings. So, thank you for saying that. And with Andy Williams and now with Ben, it’s been very hard. And I had a lot of respect for both of them. And with Ben, it happened so suddenly, so close to the taping.”
AEW still held the taping, but this was clearly not a normal day at work. Khan gave talent the option to stay home, changed the card on the fly, and let those who did wrestle honor PAC in their own way.
What do you think about Tony Khan making the ROH taping optional after PAC’s death? Do you think AEW handled the situation the right way? Let us know in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
