AEW President Tony Khan reveals why he rejected the idea of having Thunderdome concept

AEW President and co-owner of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars Tony Khan recently stated that he rejected the Thunderdome concept because he wanted to hold a show for the fans every week.

Last year, the Covid-19 pandemic forced wrestling promotions to hold their show without fans in attendance. It turned out to be a difficult task for the wrestling companies. Every match felt the need for the live audience's reaction.

To counter empty arenas, WWE introduced the Thunderdome wall inside the performance centre. It enabled live virtual fans to tune into RAW and SmackDown. Meanwhile, AEW made their in-ring talents sit ringside, making it look like they have an actual live audience.

I’m not going to lie. This is overwhelming in the absolute best way possible. #DoubleOrNothing #AEW pic.twitter.com/SJnWWcdktX

— Jon Alba (@JonAlba) May 30, 2021

In an interview with UPI.com, Tony Khan discussed numerous topics, most notably why he didn't install Thunderdome inside the Daily's Place. The AEW president stated that he did like the idea of introducing virtual fans, but he felt the need to have fans in attendance:

"I didn't want to have a video wall, and I pushed back when I got pushed to do a video wall," Khan said. "It was a fine idea and WWE did it, but it wasn't what I wanted to do. I respect it, it's good and it's economical, but I wanted to continue to find a way to do the shows for the fans every week", said Tony Khan.

In August last year, AEW became the first major wrestling promotion to welcome back fans in a limited capacity with precautionary sitting measures.

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AEW President Tony Khan believes fans make the product better

Thank you to everyone who attended #AEW #DoubleOrNothing last night. Whether you've been with us for our socially distanced tapings every week or it was your first AEW event in a year. Tickets are on sale now for #AEWDynamite this Fri, 6/4 @dailysplace - https://t.co/UN1cNj1kQq pic.twitter.com/RlTpV8gf3m

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) May 31, 2021

Tony Khan further added that fans enhance the product better, and wrestling matches feel incomplete without them:

"Early in the pandemic, I was like let's create the experience of a drive-in movie. The fans make for a better product. We're finally selling ringside seats again, and we'll be doing that every week going forward", said Tony Khan.

In hindsight, the company produced the Double or Nothing event in front of 5000 fans at Daily's Place in Jacksonville. The company has steadily brought back fans and will start touring again from July 7th onwards.

Do you think Tony Khan was right to bring fans back into attendance this early? Sound off in the comment section below.