Tony Khan is bringing the world of professional wrestling together, and Canada has been an important part of that coalition.

Khan was in Toronto last week for the Collision tech conference to speak about how his All Elite Wrestling promotion has been disrupting an industry dominated by World Wrestling Entertainment for the past 20 years. His strategy has been to focus on international markets, starting with his first show outside the United States at Toronto鈥檚 Coca-Cola Coliseum in 2022.

鈥淐anada is such a great market for us and I take a lot of pride in some of our biggest live events, being there鈥� said Khan, noting that AEW hosted the biggest-ever wrestling event at England鈥檚 Wembley Stadium last summer when over 81,000 fans attended All In.

鈥淰ancouver, we debuted in that market this year and we鈥檝e had great shows in so many places across Canada.鈥�

AEW will continue its global marketing strategy this weekend at Forbidden Door, when stars from New Japan Wrestling, its sister promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom and Mexico鈥檚 Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre will face each other at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y.

The card will feature several Canadians as Winnipeg鈥檚 Chris Jericho and tag team partner Big Bill join Jeff Cobb in a trios match against Samoa Joe, Hook and Katsuyori Shibata. Luther, from Calgary, will accompany 鈥淭imeless鈥� Tony Storm as she defends her AEW Women鈥檚 World Championship against Mina Shirakawa.

Toronto鈥檚 Renee Paquette and RJ City of Richmond Hill, Ont., will be two of the pre-show hosts.

Last year鈥檚 Forbidden Door in front of a sold-out crowd at Toronto鈥檚 Scotiabank Arena was critically acclaimed and Khan said he was excited to continue to bring together different wrestling promotions from around the world.

鈥淲e鈥檝e had a great partnership with New Japan. Pro Wrestling and this year we鈥檒l introduce wrestlers from CMLL,鈥� said Khan. 鈥淭hey鈥檒l be starring in Forbidden Door, in important parts of the show, and have more championships and wrestlers participating from all over the world.鈥�

One name that Khan won鈥檛 be adding to his coalition any time soon is Scott D鈥橝more of Windsor, Ont.

D鈥橝more had been the president of TNA Wrestling, a rival promotion owned by the Toronto-based Anthem Entertainment and Sports, until his contract was terminated on Feb. 7. Online speculation had D鈥橝more joining Khan鈥檚 creative team in some capacity, but the AEW owner said he hadn鈥檛 heard those rumours.

鈥淚 liked Scott a lot and rarely ever talked to him about anything like that,鈥� said Khan. 鈥淏ut I always had good experiences with him. I think he鈥檚 a great guy.鈥�

D鈥橝more did not respond to an interview request made through Border City Wrestling, his Windsor-based promotion. TNA Wrestling as well as Anthem Entertainment and Sports also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press