AEW Tony Khan Talks The Owen Hart Cup, PWI’s Women’s 150 List

Tony Khan, AEW President, recently spoke with Z100 New York’s Josh Martinez. During the interview, the subject of the Owen Hart Cup came up.

AEW Tony Khan Talks The Owen Hart Cup

Tony Khan provides some insight during a recent interview regarding AEW’s partnership with the Owen Hart Foundation. He chats about how it was organized and expectations when it comes to the Owen Hart Cup.

Khan reveals that COVID-19 gave him the time to build relationships around the globe, during lockdowns. One major relationship is with Chris Jericho.

Tony also notes that Jericho, too, spent time building relationships. During this “at home” pandemic period, where he reached out to Martha Hart, Owen’s widow.

Chris and Martha got to know each other better. Tony states that Jericho reached out to him, and he was introduced to Mrs. Hart.

Y2J believed there was a way everyone could work together to honor Owen in some fashion. Khan came up with the concept for the Owen Hart Cup.

More Details To Come From Tony Khan On Owen Hart Cup

As Tony puts it, there are “awards” in Hollywood for film and TV (Oscars, Emmy’s, etc.) excellence. Khan thought it would be “cool” if there could be “The Owen” in wrestling.

Without saying too much, “The Owen” will be a key “trophy” in wrestling. There will be more details from Tony Khan about this, very soon.

Speaking of being honored for wrestling achievements, PWI is set to announce its first-ever top women’s 150 list. The top five have already been revealed.

PWI’s Women’s 150 List

During Renee Paquette’s Oral Sessions, the first five female wrestlers to top the PWI Women’s 150 list were announced.

Kristin Ashly from PWI notes that WWE’s Bianca Belair hit the top spot at number one. But she’s joined by four other superstars in that top five.

They include Utami Hayashishita (World Wonder Ring Stardom), Deonna Purrazzo (Impact), Britt Baker (AEW), and Thunder Rosa (AEW). A diverse selection of performers across differing promotions.

This is the first time PWI is ranking 150 female wrestlers. Since 2008 the list showcased only 50 top women’s talents.

Then, in 2018, they increased that number to 100. As of this year, it’s now at 150.

Simply put, Bianca Belair has been on point in 2021. She started the year off with a bang in January by winning the Women’s Royal Rumble.

She would move on to main event on the first night of WrestleMania 37, along with Sasha Banks. Bianca also snagged the Women’s SmackDown Championship by defeating The Boss that night.

Belair held the championship for four months. She eventually lost to Becky Lynch at SummerSlam.

With that said, she, as well as fans in the stadium and worldwide, were stunned by the surprise return of The Man. Will Bianca score a win at Crown Jewel to cap off an incredible year?

The Other “Top Five” Ladies

Meanwhile, the other four ladies on the list are just as stellar. Hayashishita, World of Stardom Champion, is only 23 years old and had an acclaimed bout against fellow Stardom colleague, Syuri, this year.

Purrazzo snagged the Knockout Championship, twice in 2021 and won the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship at TripleMania XXiX from Faby Apache.

Lastly, AEW’s Rosa and Baker had a solid Lights Out Match on Dynamite this past March. Britt’s the AEW Women’s World Champion, while Rosa continues to ride a high wave in the promotion.

Congratulations to all these amazing ladies. It’ll be interesting to see the others that top the PWI Women’s Top 150.