Tony Khan Confirms Reason Why Chris Jericho vs. Bandido Was A Late Addition To AEW Dynasty

Tony Khan set the record straight about Bandido’s “late” acceptance of Chris Jericho’s challenge at AEW Dynasty.

Jericho issued a challenge to Bandido for a hair versus mask match two weeks ago. Despite that, the match was never made official. Khan participated in a media call ahead of the pay-per-view and said the match was not confirmed yet due to “good reasons.” He also said he considered Bandido’s availability for the match, and said he “always [tries] to look after the well-being of the wrestlers as best as possible.”

Khan’s remarks led to online speculation that Bandido might be dealing with an issue that would delay the match. However, the match was ultimately confirmed a few hours after the media call. At the Dynasty post-show presser, WrestleZone’s Bill Pritchard followed up by asking Khan if he could comment on the reason for the delay in confirming the match.

Tony Khan explains the reason for delaying the Bandido vs. Chris Jericho match announcement

“We did announce it formally on Collision. But also to your point, I did have talent’s best interest in mind. There was a lot of family lined up to come in and a lot of things happening this week. I also wanted to make sure that frankly, we were able to get the right people here for the right moment that we wanted to have. I’m really pleased we were, and it was a really great moment.

“The crowd reaction when [referee Aubrey Edwards] found the baseball bat [that Chris Jericho stashed near the ring steps] that Bandido’s family pointed out “the mistake.” That was a really nice thing to see and it was a great moment for Bandido and his family. They were over the moon and I was really glad to have that moment. But there were some challenges along the way this week. It was personal stuff, but it worked out. So that’s really [what it was]. I was trying to take care of a personal situation there, but I’m really glad we were able to make a great family moment happen on a great show.”

Tony Khan thought some of the speculation about the match was ridiculous

Khan continued, noting that he saw plenty of speculation about the match possibly not happening. However, he said those rumors were ridiculous. Khan said it came down to making sure Bandido’s family was able to be at the pay-per-view. He also wanted to make sure the personal matter was resolved first.

“I saw some people speculating for other reasons why [the match might be delayed] and frankly, I love reading wrestling speculation, I love reading wrestling discourse, I love wrestling fans. I thought some of the speculation about why we might not be doing it was kind of ridiculous. But it was just a personal thing that worked out and I’m very glad it was able to happen.”

Khan also noted the timing of Thursday’s call and the announcement that night. He said that he got final confirmation that the issue had been resolved about 60 to 90 minutes after the media call concluded.

Chris Jericho tried to cheat by hitting Bandido with his baseball bat, Floyd, and looked to have secured a win. However, Bandido’s family tipped referee Edwards off and the match was restarted, with Bandido winning the ROH World Championship.

Catch up on everything that went down at AEW Dynasty here.