AEW Won't Overwork Wrestlers, Tony Khan Says, Distances Promotion From WWE

All Elite Wrestling (AEW) was formed at the start of 2019 by Tony Khan, son of Pakistani American billionaire Shahid Khan – the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The new pro-wrestling promotion is being thought of as a rival to WWE that has dominated the scene for the last 20 years following the demise of WCW.

The founder of the new promotion in a recent interview made it clear they will not compare themselves to any of the existing companies after comparisons to WCW and ECW were raised. Khan wants to create a separate identity for his company and give wrestling fans a genuine alternative to WWE.

The 36-year-old businessman has previously stated his intention to improve upon the production values provided by WWE, but has now stated that he wants to make AEW the second company that will offer top of the line pro-wrestling matches and events. AEW already has a deep roster which also includes a few former WWE favorites, namely, Chris Jericho, Cody and Dustin Rhodes.

"I don't want to compare us to any other wrestling company," Khan said in his recent interview with Chris Van Vliet. "We're AEW and we're doing something very different. What's great is what we will offer, which will bring people back to 20 years ago, and there will be a major alternative."

“There will be a second company with great production values and great exposure, it'll be easy to watch and give you shows with the top wrestlers and the best matches on a regular basis. That's something that hasn't been readily available to people outside of WWE in a long time, almost 20 years,” he added.

The one major concern among many top WWE wrestlers is the hectic schedule as they have no concept of an offseason. The pro-wrestlers are on the road for most of the year either competing in live events or televised shows in multiple cities across the world.

Khan is keen to ensure AEW superstars are not worked as hard as their WWE counterparts. He is keen for them to maintain a healthy work-life balance and believes a wrestler does not have to work 5 or six days a week to earn a good living.

"For us, I want to offer a quality of life and a work/life balance that is the best and is unparalleled in the business for the best quality of life. What that means is less time on the road, but still working regularly, still performing on pay-per-view and on television in the future," he said. "I believe you don't need to spend 6 days on the road to make a good living as a wrestler or 5 days on the road per week necessarily."

AEW will host its first live event – Double or Nothing – for which tickets were sold out in under five minutes, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 25.