Tony Khan Says Being Transparent About Jon Moxley’s Addiction Treatment Was Moxley’s Decision

In an interview with the Dan Lebatard Show with Stugotz (via Wrestling Inc), AEW President Tony Khan said that the decision to reveal the news that Jon Moxley was seeking alcohol treatment was Moxley and Renee Paquette’s. Khan was the one who made the announcement on social media a couple of weeks ago. Here are highlights:

On Moxley’s inpatient alcohol treatment and breaking the news to fans: “It was a plan with him and Renee. He was gonna be in the main event of the show last week. It’s funny because, I have to say, the wrestling media is one of the harshest places for media. You got to trust me on this one, Dan. Jon is so important to our show, and people questioned the rating of the show when he was off the show this past week because we did this massive rating on our first Wednesday back, and I had loaded up the card. CM Punk was wrestling. Jon Moxley was wrestling. Even MJF wrestled, which is rare, and so we had this really, really stacked card. We did a big number, and the next week, Jon Moxley vs. Orange Cassidy’s a huge match for us. When I got the call and Jon was checking in to inpatient alcohol treatment, I knew that was, first and foremost, what I cared about. I didn’t care about the rating. We did a great number. It was still one of the top shows on cable. You do a 0.33, it’s still one of the top shows on all of cable and satellite TV. But when I saw people talking about the rating, I was like, look at what we had on the show last week and then look at what was planned for this week. And we also had Eddie [Kingston], Eddie was sick that night, too. Thankfully he didn’t have COVID, or it would have really screwed plans up, but going back to this whole situation, I wasn’t thinking about ratings. When it came to being transparent about it, that was not my call. That was up to Jon and Renee, and I told them, ‘I thought it might make sense to tell the fans. What do you think?’ And Renee totally agreed, and I think it’s always served AEW well being honest with the fans, and Jon has always had that great rapport with the fans.”

On Moxley’s book: “Jon’s book that he had just written and it had just come out, he put so much time into this, and it is my favorite book because I really love Jon, and I love Jon as a friend and as a person But also, I’m a fan of Jon. When it comes to talking as a wrestler, he has it. He has that charisma, and he also has a unique way of speaking a stream of consciousness way of talking, but I never knew he could actually write it on paper like that and that it would translate, and it totally does. The audio book’s gonna be the same thing because it’ll be him stream of consciousness talking.”

On how Moxley is doing: “I talked to Renee today. We’ve been checking in, and she just had moved from Las Vegas to Cincinnati and she’s doing really well. It’s a great update that Jon is doing better every day. I’ve been asking her constantly, checking in, and I’m glad to hear that because I love him so much, and we miss them a lot.”