Tony Kahn is a puppet owner. Vince and Hunter both saw value in presenting an older form of the product, that's what NXT was. It didn't work, mainly because the WWE brand was forever attached to it no matter how different the product was. Vince came up with the brilliant idea of opening a second company, not only to present this type of product but to also bring about another "war". This is why there are so many "former" WWE and NXT talents on AEW.