Tony Khan Reveals When AEW Will Debut New Look
On Wednesday, a new interview with AEW President and CEO Tony Khan, conducted by Scott Fishman, dropped at TVInsider.com. Stemming from last week's report that AEW programming would be getting a new look soon to coincide with the arrival of former WWE and ONE producer Michael Mansury, one of the obvious questions on the table was what exactly those changes would entail and when they would come into effect. Sure enough, Fishman brought it up during the interview.
"I don't want to let the cat out of the bag necessarily, especially so close to the big day," Khan answered. "But at the start of 2023, we're going to open the year on Wednesday, January 4 with the first Dynamite in Seattle, marking a full year of Dynamite on TBS. We'll definitely have a new look, to say the least. I'm excited about it. I think it's a nice thing to present to the fans, but frankly, I've found more so than ever, the more you talk about these things. When you build them up, you don't want to create expectations that are impossible. I will say the set will be beautiful though. The look of Rampage will also be different. This will affect the way people view AEW on Wednesdays and Fridays in terms of presentation with the set and the show with the same great action."
New Hire Michael Mansury is 'still evaluating things'
When asked in a follow-up about what Mansury has brought to AEW, Khan was similarly cryptic. "Mike just started with us and is a huge acquisition for AEW," he replied. "He has so much knowledge in TV production. To have him join us as a co-executive producer and senior production executive is really great for us. It's so important to have someone with his experience. Right now he is evaluating things in terms of presentation. I'm excited about what he will add to AEW."
The new look and Mansury's official start come a year after the retirement of Keith Mitchell, the veteran wrestling producer who helped lead the AEW team for its first three calendar years after previous stints with World Class Championship Wrestling, WCW, and Impact Wrestling. With four decades in wrestling and his wife retiring from her own job five years earlier, he told Chris Jericho last year that it was the right time, and he elected to end his career on the same night that Jim Ross returned to TV from skin cancer treatment.