- Khan is the CEO and president of the new professional wrestling promotion.
- Thomas was selected by Jacksonville during the first round of Thursday’s draft.
- DailyMail.com provides the latest international sports news.
New Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr sent well wishes to team executive Tony Khan, who was seen wearing a neck brace in the franchise’s ‘war room’ on Thursday night.
In addition to his role with the Jaguars, Khan serves as CEO and president of professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling.
Khan was involved in a storyline where he was attacked by members of his own roster on Wednesday night’s live episode of AEW’s flagship weekly show, ‘Dynamite.’
First, Khan was hit in the ribs with a microphone by Jack Perry, son of the late actor Luke Perry, bringing AEW Young Bucks tag team champions Nicholas and Matthew Jackson, who also serve as executive vice presidents, to the ring. of the promotion.
After helping Khan to his feet firmly, Matthew Jackson lifted Khan into the air face down, with Nicholas ascending to the top turnbuckle and doing a front flip to pin Khan’s skull into the mat.
After Thomas was drafted in part by Tony Khan, the wide receiver wished his new boss the best.
Tony and Shad Khan were seen in the Jaguars draft room on Thursday night.
“I hope you’re okay, I hope you recover from your injury and recover quickly,” Thomas said after being selected by Khan and the rest of Jacksonville’s leadership team.
Thomas was the fourth wide receiver chosen during the first round of the draft at 23rd overall by the Jaguars.
Every major wrestling promotion has seen a conflict brewing between an authority figure and wrestlers who don’t want to answer to those in power.
The conflict between Perry, the Young Bucks and Khan has roots dating back several months, but has escalated over the past week with Perry’s return to AEW programming.
This was the first time a wrestler attacked Khan on television since AEW began in 2019.
The Young Bucks start giving Khan a team piledriver on Wednesday night
After Khan took the pile driver, he stood motionless in the ring with Shad Khan, with Tony’s father and Jaguars principal owner Shad Khan making his first on-screen appearance for AEW to check on his son, who was being attended to by referees and other members of the company’s roster.
By wearing a neck brace during a large-scale broadcast like the NFL Draft, Tony Khan should give publicity to his promotion.
AEW is the second-largest professional wrestling promotion in North America behind WWE and has a television deal with TNT and TBS.
Last week, Forbes valued AEW at $2 billion, the third most for a combat sports promotion behind the UFC ($11.3 billion) and WWE ($6.8 billion).