Tony Khan Shot Down Music Idea Over WWE Royalty Costs

AEW President Tony Khan cares a lot about presentation for all of his shows, especially when it comes to selecting the appropriate music for an event. With that said, it appears that Tony Khan rejected the idea of using a famous theme song simply because he didn’t want to pay royalties to WWE.

While speaking on the post AEW Dynamite show, Sean Ross Sapp talked about The Acclaimed winning the AEW Trios Titles at All in 2023. During the conversation, Sapp revealed that one of the ideas he heard at the time was about Billy Gunn possibly using his old WWE theme song “Ass Man” at the Wembley event. He noted that since Gunn had a dual WWE-like merchandising deal, there was hope that they could get permission to use the song.

“One of the ideas I had heard at the time, one of the pitches I had heard was that Billy Gunn, because he had this dual WWE-like merchandising deal, was hoping to inquire about using ‘Ass Man’ at Wembley.”

The idea was that playing Ass Man at Wembley would have created a huge reaction from the crowd. Some pitches were made for Gunn to make his return with the song, but from what Sapp understood, the inquiry was brief and never went anywhere.

In the end, fans never got to see Billy Gunn make his way out to “Ass Man” largely because Tony Khan wasn’t willing to pay WWE royalty money, which is why he rejected the idea.

“Objectively, that would have gotten an enormous reaction—an incredible reaction. There were some pitches for him to come back at Wembley with that song playing. But from what I understood, it was a pretty quick inquiry. It didn’t happen. And again, it was very much a case of Tony Khan being like, ‘I ain’t paying WWE s***.’ I don’t think it got really far.”

Billy Gunn’s win at All In 2023 was well-received, but some fans wonder if using “Ass Man” could have made the moment even bigger. AEW has paid for licensed music before, like Europe’s “The Final Countdown” for Bryan Danielson and AFI’s “Miseria Cantare” for CM Punk, but it seems Tony Khan wasn’t willing to pay WWE royalties.

Would you have liked to see Billy Gunn make his AEW All In entrance with his classic “Ass Man” theme, or was Tony Khan right to reject the idea? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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