James spoke further on the advice he’d give to AEW CEO Tony Khan and AEW Director of Business Development Jeff Jarrett, the latter of whom he shares a long history with.

“The advice I would give is, ‘What can’t I do?’ Because I’ll try everything but that,” James said. “I’d like to do everything I can do — and I’m talking about changing the top of where the videos go or the national anthem goes. It’s about making it the best possible experience for the fan who has spent their hard-earned money.” 

James believes pro wrestling is in a unique position as one of the last forms of entertainment relying on live events to maximize business opportunities, and therefore requires an abundance of talent to stay afloat and praised AEW for “having great talent” in order to sell a show of the magnitude of All In.

“I think it’s awesome to have competition. I think them doing great makes us do great, too. I think it’s a good time to be in the business.”

James believes AEW has the two ‘T’s’ covered, time and talent, to sustain a successful operation, but remains in a dicey situation with regard to the third ‘T’ in the equation.

“I think we have a great leadership team in place, the right people are in the right spots to make things happen. I don’t know if I can say the same for the other [AEW], and yet I have no idea how they are run. I want to be very clear about that. I’ve only heard from individuals. I have no idea since I haven’t experienced it.”

James revealed that AEW refused to hire him when he asked for a job. “He [Khan] wouldn’t have me. I asked.”