AEW President Tony Khan has signed numerous iconic professional wrestlers over the years, but he’s not revealed the one wrestler he’d sign if he had no restrictions.
In a new interview with The Superstar Crossover, Tony Khan revealed that if he could sign any wrestler in history with no limits on time or availability, his pick would be “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in the 1990s.
Khan praised Austin as “the greatest wrestling star of all time,” stating how his career evolved from Stunning Steve to Superstar Steve to The Ringmaster before becoming Stone Cold Steve Austin. He said having Austin for the entire decade of the 1990s would have been a dream, calling him both an incredible performer and a great person.
Khan recalled meeting Austin after AEW’s first Double or Nothing in 2019, when Austin invited him onto his podcast and gave solid feedback about the show. Khan said he feels “very fortunate” to have even had that conversation, and that working with Austin during his peak years would have been a privilege.
“Steve Austin. If you could get Steve Austin in the 90s and just have Steve Austin for the decade of the 90s, he’s the greatest ever. He’s a great human. I love Steve Austin. He was very nice to me, haven’t seen him in a long time. He was very kind to have me on his show after the original Double or Nothing and I am one of the biggest fans of his, and I think Steve Austin’s the biggest wrestling star of all time. If you could pick any era of person and just if you had Steve Austin with you throughout the 90s, even though his persona evolved from Stunning Steve to Superstar Steve to the Ringmaster to Stone Cold Steve Austin, he’s one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.
If I had ever been fortunate enough to work with any iteration of Steve Austin, particularly in the 90s or early 2000s, I would count myself very fortunate. I’m very fortunate and consider myself very lucky for many reasons, but also lucky just to have met Steve Austin and had a nice chat with him. He actually was very positive about the original Double or Nothing. I did his show after the first Double or Nothing in 2019, over six years ago, and he was incredibly positive about the show and I think he’s the greatest wrestling star of all time.”
Tony Khan’s comments show how much “Stone Cold” Steve Austin meant, not only to WWE fans in the 1990s but to all of wrestling. No matter what, we’ll never get another Austin, and that’s unlikely to ever change.
If you could sign any wrestler from any era to a current wrestling promotion, who would it be and why? Sound off in the comments.
