Tony Schiavone kicked off the AEW WrestleDream press conference by saying that Tony Khan would not be taking part.
Schiavone said that Khan was “on his way to the hospital with Bryan” and added that everyone’s thoughts were with Danielson.
This led into an almost fully storyline presser, with Schiavone flanked by Nigel McGuinness and joined by several talent.
Mariah May
May said she was bored of beating everyone and that Britt Baker got strep throat to avoid wrestling her. She said it was her time and questioned where Toni Storm was.
Swerve Strickland
Strickland mentioned that he had had a “dark few weeks” and really needed to come back to Tacoma. He said that it was likely that Shelton Benjamin would be his first order of business once he is fully cleared in a couple of weeks.
He talked about getting into the ring with his childhood heroes such as RVD and Bryan Danielson. Shelton Benjamin and MVP fitted into that, he said. He said that DEFY Wrestling was “huge” and “instrumental” for his career and added that things between him and Hangman Page were “mostly” settled.
Konosuke Takeshita
Don Callis mostly spoke for Takeshita. He was in full ‘hype man’ mode, putting Takeshita over as a world-class decathlete as well as a wrestler. Callis said he had never managed an athlete like Takeshita.
Takeshita said he was the Alpha and would make the International Title more valuable all over the world. He said wrestling was the best sport and he had always wanted to become a professional wrestler.
Television deal
At the very end of the press conference, Schiavone did address the new television deal. He said:
We are very, very excited about our renewal with Warner Brothers Discovery and Fox Sports Mexico. We are very, very excited about that.
I’m personally excited that my longtime career is going to continue for at least another four to five years or so. I’m honored to be here. I love working with this guy [Nigel McGuinness], and I just love wrestling, as all the rest of you do.
