Tony Khan has opened up about the sources of inspiration he uses when it comes to creating AEW storylines and, in particular, Toni Storm.
The AEW owner recently took part in an interview with TV Insider where he was asked about drawing inspiration for his storylines and characters.
With a look at the work he’s done with the Toni Storm and Mariah May storyline, Khan stated:
“All About Eve and Sunset Boulevard changed the course of AEW. Those are two of my favorites. If you’ve seen them, you know what I’m talking about.
“With “Timeless” Toni Storm, I took a lot of influence from those when I wanted to make her a character and lead off with her. We have a great tie-in with Turner Classic Movies.”
Khan would also reveal how the COVID-19 lockdowns helped him find new avenues of creative inspiration, going on to say:
“One influence came at the start of the lockdown. There were a few days before we had to do our show during the lockdown, which I think was March 18, 2020. I had a lot of time to watch other shows and what others did during these situations.
“I watched the late-night shows where they were using Zoom. I watched Stephen Colbert do his show and was great and had great jokes but something felt weird without an audience.
“I watched Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, he had a production team and crew and mic’d up and laughing at jokes. It sounded like a comedy club. It felt more natural than anything I’d seen on the talk shows. That inspired me during the lockdown era in AEW because I put the wrestlers around the ring so there would be an audience. People cheering and making noises like we’re used to.
“It changed the show compared to the arena show and resembled the territory shows I grew up on. There were less than a hundred people at Techwood studio for Saturday’s TBS wrestling. There was also Memphis TV and another studio show. I think we did the best shows when it came to the lockdown wrestling.”
The AEW owner would also reveal that his favorite lead-ins to episodes of AEW television have included Big Bang Theory, which he became a fan of because it led into AEW Dynamite.
As a ‘huge Star Wars fan’, he also noted that Revenge of the Sith was his all-time favorite lead-in with it serving as the program before AEW Rampage.
In October 2022, Khan revealed that he had experienced Star Wars out of order, starting with Return of the Jedi on network television.
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