AEW Full Gear 2025 Star Brody King Scoffs at Tony Khan Cr...

By Fernando Quiles Jr

Contributing Sports Writer

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As he enters a big title match at "AEW Full Gear 2025," Brody King has scoffed at one criticism of Tony Khan. AEW has garnered success since its inception in 2019. The company struck a multiyear deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to keep AEW programming on TBS, along with streaming content on HBO Max.

Still, some fans have criticized the professional wrestling promotion and Khan for how bigger-sized talent on the roster are used. Speaking to Newsweek Sports, King believes that the critics may not be voicing their opinions in good faith.

"I feel like at times that's used as an escape for some people," King said. "I feel like the cream always rises to the top, not to be too cliché, but it does. If someone recognizes the work that you're putting in and the dedication that you have, at some point, that's going to pay off.

"You've got guys like me and Powerhouse Hobbs. You got guys like Big Bill, who are some of the biggest guys in the industry, and I think that we are thriving in AEW, and we'll continue to show people what big man wrestling is all about. AEW is not full of little guys or whatever. It's a weird echo chamber where you hear the same stuff everywhere."

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Life After House of Black

King is one half of the AEW World Tag Team Champions along with Bandido. The Brodido team has enjoyed a quick rise, but there was a moment where some worried King could be in limbo due to the injury of Buddy Matthews, his Hounds of Hell teammate. Ultimately, things have worked out well for the 10-year veteran.

"It had a rocky start," King said. "Buddy Matthews got injured. It kind of put me into a singles vibe for a minute, which was cool. I got to have a lot of cool singles matches that showed a skill set that I hadn't been able to show since the Continental Classic. As far as tag team wrestling, that was the main focus with Buddy for a second, and then he got injured. So, it was kind of up in the air, and then this pairing with Bandido happened, and it kind of caught fire. I think this has probably been one of my most successful years in wrestling."

The Hounds of Hell team with Matthews was the result of Malakai Black's exit from AEW. The trio was a part of the House of Black faction along with Julia Hart. Once Black returned to WWE and Matthews suffered an injury, Bandido surfaced at the right time.

"The House of Black was awesome, and I thought that we did some really incredible things in AEW," King said. "We brought a product that I don't think was in professional wrestling at the time, and we really did a lot of cool things together. Moving forward with the Hounds of Hell with Buddy Matthews, I thought that was going to be the next step of our progression from the House of Black, which it's not too late, and it always can be, but him getting injured unfortunately put a hiccup in that. Picking up with Bandido, I think was really the needed spot in that moment."

When King found himself without Black and Matthews, he was left to wonder what would be next. It wasn't exactly unfamiliar territory for King, who feels every time plans go awry he's able to thrive.

"I kind of live for those moments of throwing everything up in the air and seeing what lands," King said. "It's happened many times to me before. When Ring of Honor went under and not knowing where I was going to go, and then joining AEW and joining the House of Black. Every time that there's a big shakeup, I think, I ended up landing in a better spot than I was before."

Rise of Brodido

The pairing of King and Bandido wasn't on the bingo cards of most AEW fans, but it's been widely viewed as a pleasant surprise. King discussed his friendship with the reigning ROH World Champion and how that makes their partnership work.

"Bandido is hands down one of the best wrestlers on the planet currently," King said. "Anything that he's going to do is going to be great. Bandido and I have been opponents and friends for close to 10 years now. We have a very deep background of each other and our personalities and our movesets and what we like to do in the ring. I think that makes for a really great partnership."

Respect for FTR

At "AEW Full Gear 2025," Brodido will defend the AEW World Tag Team Championship against one of the best pairings in the wrestling business today, FTR. King has mixed it up with FTR before and knows how meaningful matches against Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler are.

"As far as a measuring stick, it is huge," King said. "FTR has been longtime rivals of mine. We've had the cage match with House of Black and Daniel Garcia, we've done stuff with CM Punk, we've had the time limit draw in England, we beat them in the three-way tag in England. The list is huge with myself and FTR, and adding Bandido to that has been awesome. FTR is hands down one of the greatest tag teams of all time."

Ultimate Goal for AEW Full Gear 2025

King has a clear goal for Saturday when he performs inside the Prudential Center in Newark. He wants fans to view his tag team title match as one of the reasons they're satisfied with their ticket or pay-per-view purchase.

"Yeah, 100 percent," King said. "I like to go into every match, no matter if it's in front of 10 people or 10,000 people, I want the people going like, 'Woah, what was that? That was awesome.'"

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