Tony Khan Reveals What It Will Take For Women To Main Event An AEW PPV (Exclusive)

Despite Mercedes Moné and Toni Storm carrying a case to have been in the main event earlier this year, women have yet to close an AEW PPV.

Tony Khan has yet to have women in the main event of an AEW pay-per-view. | All Elite Wrestling

AEW has established a track record for producing some of the most well-received wrestling pay-per-views of the modern era. However, one disparity has remained since its pay-per-view debut in 2019.

Though they have headlined episodes of AEW Dynamite and AEW Collision, the women of AEW have yet to find themselves in a position to be in the main event of a pay-per-view. It's unlikely that will change on Saturday night, with Jamie Hayter vs. Kris Statlander for the AEW Women's World Championship expected to go on before the men's title match between Samoa Joe, "Hangman" Adam Page, Swerve Strickland, and MJF.

Many had believed there was a path to the main event for the women when Toni Storm defended the world title against Mercedes Moné at AEW All In: Texas earlier this summer, a bout that many consider to be among the best women's matches in company history.

Instead, Page and Jon Moxley took the billing at the end of the night, with Moné and Storm going on earlier in the card.

Speaking exclusively with The Takedown on SI, AEW founder Tony Khan spoke highly about the likes of Moné, Storm, Harley Cameron, and other members of the AEW women's roster, and was asked about what it would take for women to finally score a main event spot on an AEW pay-per-view. Khan does think it will happen, though he believes any main event match needs to merit being in that position.

"It's very potentially possible. It has to be the right match, the right situation, at the right time. If there were ever two that could do it, it would be the two you mentioned," Khan said of Moné and Storm, specifically. "But there's a bunch of other candidates for it as well. And, it was a fantastic match. They had it All In: Texas. That was a main-event-caliber match. And it really felt that way. And it was presented as one of the main matches on the card."

"You know, there were three key matches distributed down, and there were multiple other matches that I think could have easily been main event matches on the card. But there were six fases that we put up on GlobeLife Field, three matches, and [they were] Toni Storm, Mercedes, Omega, Okada, and Hangman and Mox. Any one of those could have been a great main event."

Why no main event now for the women of AEW?

Mercedes Moné had one of the strongest years in all of wrestling. | All Elite Wrestling

Sliding Storm and Moné into a main event spot of a pay-per-view seemed like an easy route for AEW to take at some point in 2025, but it did not come to be. As is, Moné ended up as one of the standout in-ring performers in all of wrestling this year, wrestling her most matches since 2021 and working all across the globe while holding more than a dozen championships.

Storm, meanwhile, had a brutal "Hollywood Ending" match with Mariah May that concluded a months-long program back at Revolution.

Chatting with The Takedown on SI earlier this year, Moné also asserted women were ready to be in the main event spot for AEW, praising the roster and depth of the division in the process. A few weeks later at All Out, the AEW original Statlander would win the world title for the first time, knocking off Storm, Hayter, and Thekla in the process. Page and then-TNT Championship Kyle Fletcher headlined that show.

During the interview, Khan was pressed directly about what makes a match like Fletcher and Page more deserving of a main event spot than a major women's title match (the aforementioned one, or any in general), and the 43-year-old AEW general manager again alluded to it being circumstantial.

MORE: The Takedown On SI's 2025 Pro Wrestling Awards

"Well, it just depends on the situation, the rivalry at the right time. I think it's a great point, a great question. And, you know, for what the matches are, and in that case, I thought for what they were going to do, going 38 minutes, tearing the house down on that particular night, I thought 'Hangman' and Kyle was a great choice," he said.

"And knowing what they had planned, and a lot of times that comes down to it. I think it's absolutely something we can see, and I would expect to see, in the future, on the night where it makes the most sense, and it's the biggest and most anticipated match on that card."

Moné and Athena will challenge The Babes of Wrath for the AEW Women's World Tag Team Championship on Saturday night at Worlds End.

If you use any quotes from this article, please H/T The Takedown on SI. The entire interview with Khan will be available this coming week on our YouTube page.

The Latest On WWE,AEW, & More

AEW Worlds End Predictions: Who Will Walk Away With The AEW Men's World Championship?

WWE SmackDown Results [12/26/25]: McIntyre Chooses Stipulation, Hayes Wins U.S Title

AEW Christmas Collision Results [12/25/25]: Mox, Okada & Fletcher Advance Onto C2 Semifinals

Date and Location for WWE Backlash Reportedly Set Following WrestleMania 42