In 2025, All Elite Wrestling, under president Tony Khan’s leadership, achieved unprecedented recognition, capturing ten Best of 2025 Awards from Sports Illustrated. The company’s success is credited to the transformation in the Tony Khan creative process, reflecting his commitment to a hands-on approach and a shift from broad collaborative meetings to focused, personal planning.
How Tony Khan Overhauled His Approach to AEW Programming
During a candid discussion with Jon Alba of Sports Illustrated, Khan outlined the specific shifts in his management style that fueled AEW’s thriving year. Rather than relying on extensive group meetings, Khan explained that he had reverted to his early strategy of directly outlining each AEW broadcast himself. He found that while collaboration is valuable, too many voices in the creative room slowed momentum and diluted execution.
Instead, Khan now generates detailed show outlines solo while continuously seeking direct feedback from performers. This, he believes, creates a balance between a clear creative vision and adaptability, leveraging wrestler input for improvement while streamlining decision-making.
Khan’s Reflections on Past and Present Creative Choices
Reflecting on his journey, Tony Khan acknowledged lessons learned from earlier years. He noted that over-collaboration can hinder progress and that returning to a more centralized process proved crucial heading into 2025. Personal responsibility for planning became the cornerstone of AEW’s rejuvenated programming, as Khan decided to prepare each show himself and focus on actionable plans rather than repeated consensus-building.
He emphasized his belief that involving too many people in planning meetings often resulted in an overflow of good, yet sometimes competing, ideas. Khan found that his most effective periods came when he concentrated creative control while encouraging individual wrestler feedback for future outlines instead of during initial structuring. His commitment to this workflow, once dominant in 2020 and 2021, proved instrumental once again.
As Khan stated:
Since you asked about the focus and some of the stories and putting the TV shows together, yeah, I definitely felt like I had had a good approach that I’d refined in 2020, and trying to be good, trying to listen and be collaborative. I think I had gotten too collaborative, and it was kind of the same mistake I made at the beginning.It really helped in the end of 2024, going into 2025, I just said, ‘Okay, I’m gonna put the outline for everything together myself. I’m gonna eliminate the meetings between shows, and I will put everything together myself between shows. Then, I’ll come in with the outline of what I want, rather than have a lot of collaborative meetings where everybody chimes in what they think we should be doing.’” — Tony Khan, AEW President
He further shared:
I thought that helped us at the beginning, and I think it probably helped us this year, having that focus where I’m focused and not having four or five, six, seven, 10 people in a meeting contributing great ideas. They’re all good ideas in their own way. I still like to hear ideas, but instead of doing it as I put the outline together, I would rather do it looking ahead to next week, and take some ideas as I put the next outline together. But putting the outline of the show together, I’m never going to let it be a collab… putting the outline of the show together, I have a good process for it, and I’m back to the process that I used in 2020 and 2021.I don’t want to describe ever being collaborative is a bad thing, because the whole thing that makes AEW great is collaboration. But the collaboration should probably, at its best, be between me and the wrestlers, and working to find the best path, and not having a lot of people in the middle of that. — Tony Khan, AEW President
This philosophy, according to Khan, has shaped AEW into a company where the core creative direction is uncompromised, while still valuing the contributions of individual athletes. The result has been a streamlined creative flow and stronger episode outlines, supported by organic input from talent rather than committee-driven compromise.
The Shift to One-on-One Collaboration With Wrestlers
Khan’s renewed approach highlighted his belief that the most productive creative exchanges occur directly with AEW wrestlers. By focusing on wrestler feedback outside of large group sessions, he can maintain the essence of collaboration while avoiding the inefficiency of too many participants. This tailored method allows talent to present ideas confidently, knowing their suggestions are genuinely considered as Khan prepares outlines for each new program.
Khan maintained that group innovation remains important, but in his system the most effective form comes from clear communication between him and the wrestlers, supporting long-term storylines and consistent show quality.
Achievements and Outlook for AEW’s Future
The results of these adjustments to the Tony Khan creative process have been palpable. After returning to core principles of focused leadership paired with meaningful wrestler involvement, All Elite Wrestling’s programming has been recognized for its compelling storytelling and cohesive direction. The ten Best of 2025 Awards are a testament to this evolution, reinforcing AEW’s reputation for excellence in sports entertainment.
Looking ahead, Khan’s process signals a sustainable strategy for continued innovation, ensuring AEW stays at the forefront of professional wrestling. As the organization continues to blend creative discipline with inspiration from its talent, fans and industry observers can expect AEW to further define industry standards and highlight new stars, guided by a leader passionate about growth and creative integrity.
This transformation in creative management not only strengthens AEW’s current output but sets a precedent for wrestling organizations globally. With Tony Khan at the helm, balancing personal oversight with collaborative spirit, All Elite Wrestling seems poised for ongoing success and artistic distinction in the years to come.
