The Corporate Hierarchy Of AEW, Explained
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All Elite Wrestling (AEW) emerged in 2019 as a genuine alternative to WWE for both fans and performers. The Jacksonville, Florida-based promotion became a major threat to the industry leader WWE by poaching away its talent and beating it in ratings. It is considered to be the second biggest pro-wrestling organization in the United States, now with a large and diverse roster rivaling WWE. AEW was the dream child of Antony “Tony” Khan, son of Pakistani-American billionaire sports tycoon Shahid Khan. It’s Shahid’s money that has helped AEW exchange blows with a giant monopoly like WWE, and he serves as the co-founder of the company.
In the beginning, Tony Khan was assisted by Cody Rhodes, Kenny Omega, and the famous Ring of Honor tag team, The Young Bucks ,while starting the organization. They all also served as the Executive Vice Presidents of the company. Even Rhodes’s wife Brandi and Young Bucks’ Matt Jackson’s wife Dana were given corporate roles. However, Rhodes and his wife quit AEW in 2022, and they went back to WWE, relinquishing their corporate jobs. Even though the promotion has been successful in gaining a dedicated fan base since its inception, not much is known about its corporate structure yet.
AEW’s Corporate Hierarchy Explained
While the explicit details of AEW’s corporate structure are not exactly out there, here is what we have been able to dig up.
The key people in the organization are:
- Tony Khan (President, CEO, General Manager and Head of Creative)
- Megha Parekh (Chief Legal Counsel)
- Kenny Omega (Executive Vice President)
- Nick Jackson (Executive Vice President)
- Matt Jackson (Executive Vice President)
- Michael Mansury (Senior Vice President and Co-Executive Producer)
- Jeff Jarrett (Director of Business Development)
Sitting above all of them is Shahid Khan, who is also the co-founder and lead investor in the promotion. However, Khan doesn’t get involved in the creative decisions or daily operations of the company. That would be the duties of his son, Tony Khan. According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Tony Khan is to AEW what Vince McMahon was to WWE. He is the chief decision-maker in the company.
Apart from these key roles, the AEW corporate contains a number of backstage corporate executives as well. That includes legendary names such as:
- Chris Jericho (Producer and Creative advisor)
- Jim Ross (Senior Advisor)
- Mark Henry (Talent Scout)
- Christopher Daniels (Vice President of Talent Relations)
- Sonjay Dutt (Vice President of Production and Creative Coordination)
- Dean Malenko (Senior Producer)
- Q. T. Marshall (Vice President of Show and Creative Coordination, Producer)
- Brandon Cutler (Executive Content producer)
- Shawn Dean (Extras Coordinator)
- Leva Bates (Brand Coordinator)
- Aubrey Edwards (Project coordinator)
- Bryce Remsburg (Travel Coordinator)
- Excalibur (Marketing Manager)
- Tony Schiavone (Commentator, Senior Producer, and Special Advisor)
- Amanda Huber (Community outreach officer)
- Chad Glenn (Director of finance)
- Dana Massie (Chief marketing officer and Chief merchandising officer)
- Margaret Stalvey (Legal coordinator)
- Mark Caplan (Head of licensing and merchandising)
- Shane Emerson (Head of global programming and partnerships).
Many of these corporate personalities have on-air roles as well (commentators and managers) while others even perform as wrestlers (full-time and part-time), and there are some who act as coaches for the development of stars.
The Television Programming Produced By All Elite Wrestling
The whole corporate machinery goes into producing AEW’s weekly TV shows, AEW: Dynamite, which airs every Wednesday from 8-10 p.m. ET on TBS, and AEW: Rampage, which airs every Friday from 10-11 p.m. ET on TNT. They also produce weekly wrestling shows on YouTube called Dark, AEW Dark: Elevation, and Being the Elite (for behind-the-scenes content).
The company broadcasts AEW Unrestricted, a weekly podcast series as well. Moreover, PPV events happen multiple times in a year. The Jacksonville-based promotion has a number of partner promotions as well. They’ve partnered with LuchaLibre AAA Worldwide (AAA), Oriental Wrestling Entertainment, Impact Wrestling (now ended), New Japan Pro-Wrestling, DDT Pro-Wrestling, Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Noah, World Wonder Ring Stardom and Pro Wrestling Wave for cross-promotions. In March 2022, Tony Khan even acquired Ring Of Honor from the Sinclair Broadcast Group, and it’s a part of AEW now.
With so many partnerships, acquisitions, and locking horns with the industry leader on a weekly basis, it’s clear that the AEW corporate is doing its job well as it has become one of the top leaders in the wrestling business all over the world.
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