AEW President Tony Khan addresses 2023 bid to purchase WWE

Coachman: “Were you ever given a chance? Because we’ve seen a lot of the stories, and who knows what to believe, but we were told and found out that it wasn’t really a bidding process—it was more of a ‘we’re going to go over here’ process. Is that how it played out for you? Were you given a chance to outbid the others?”

Khan: “While respecting the confidentiality of that, I would say I don’t have any complaints about the process from my side that I’d want to talk about right now. I do think there was some truth to that, but again, I want to respect the confidentiality of the whole thing. I would also say that at the time, it seemed to me—and I’ll reiterate—that if it had gone for any less, I would have really beaten myself up, like, ‘Why wouldn’t you put in a bid?’ I thought it was a very reasonable number that I put in.”

Coachman: “Well, it was, because it was in the $6–7 billion range. You bid market value.”

Khan: “That’s what’s been written. And again, that’s not really for me to say. But based on the information that’s out there, I’ve gone out of my way to be respectful. Going back to taking the high road, that’s not something I’ve really talked about or tried to act big-league about. I’ve really tried to focus on the wrestling show, and that was several years ago. Thankfully, those have been really good years for AEW.”