Tony Khan has confirmed the future of the Unified Title.
Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada managed to beat International Champion Kenny Omega at All In Texas to become the Unified Champion. Don Callis and members of his faction were at the ringside for this bout and he helped Okada by pulling the referee out of the ring at one point during the match.
The AEW President addressed the outcome of the bout during the post-All In press conference. He mentioned that the bout tonight was contested under standard AEW match rules instead of the rules that apply to the Continental title:
“We did it under AEW rules. In this case, for AEW rules, the referee’s decision is final. We’ve gotten through this amazing run, Kazuchika Okada has been the Continental Champion, and there has never been any outsider interference.
If anybody ever interfered in a Continental Title match, they would be fired. Tonight, we fought a match under the unified rules of AEW, where the referee’s decision is final.”
Tony Khan mentioned how Don Callis would have been fired from the company immediately had the bout been contested under Continental Rules. He also explained that since Okada won the bout, all future matches for the Unified title will be contested under Continental rules:
“In this case, the referee had no way of knowing who pulled him out of the ring or who did anything after you [Callis] incapacitated them. If we had been under Continental rules, I would have fired you for that.
Going forward, as the Unified Champion, the prevailing rules will be the Continental rules, so there will never be outside interference ever again in a Unified Championship match, now that the Continental rules apply, with the Continental Champion winning.”