"Great hire by Tony Khan" - 65-year-old veteran heaps praise on former WWE star

A former WWE star who recently joined AEW has received some kind words from a veteran of the wrestling business.

This past June, it was revealed that Chris Hero (fka Kassius Ohno) had signed with All Elite Wrestling. He has been operating in a backstage producer role, and veteran commentator Tony Schiavone has noted the brilliance of this signing for AEW.

Speaking on the What Happened When podcast, the 65-year-old announcer heaped a ton of praise on Hero for his knowledge and passion for the industry:

"Afterwards, me and Chris Hero hung out for a couple of hours, just sitting down and having some coffee and talking about wrestling for two hours. I just love talking to him about it. Talking to him about not only the history, about what works as far as a wrestling ring, what works in the ring, what doesn’t work, what he has seen." [H/T: Inside The Ropes]

Schiavone continued to offer compliments to the former WWE star, adding that Hero's skills in the ring have translated to his abilities as a producer:

"I’ve developed a very good relationship with Chris. Not only that, I’ve said it to him that he’s a hell of coach. He knows his wrestling, and he’s a very positive, good guy. Great hire by Tony Khan." [H/T: Inside The Ropes]

While it certainly seems like Chris Hero is a great asset for AEW behind the scenes, die-hard fans are still eagerly awaiting his in-ring debut for the promotion.

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Chris Hero worked as a producer in WWE

The vast amount of praise directed at Chris Hero for his work as a producer in AEW might not be solely because of his in-ring experience. While this is definitely a major factor, another is the fact that he has worked in this same role before.

Hero revealed that he occasionally held a similar backstage role during his time in WWE NXT:

"I feel like there’s so much [in my head] that’s just forcing it’s way out, and I have to control it. You don’t want to annoy people. You want to help and encourage. You don’t want to make them see you. So I did a bit of this when I was in NXT. I was on the headsets a couple times," Hero told POST Wrestling. (H/T WrestleTalk)

It seems as though those sporadic stints with the headset in NXT gave Hero the experience needed for his current role in AEW.