Transcript (en)

So first off, I'm wearing this shirt as a tribute to Ben. If you know, you know. And people have been talking about how great a performer he was, which he was, and how great of a person he was, which he was even more. But Ben always made me smile, always made me laugh. Great sense of humor. As a matter of fact, the first time I was ever around him was on a tour bus in Europe. I was sitting a couple seats behind him as we were on the road, and he was precipitously debating his favorite comic book character, Billy Wiz. and it kind of became a private joke between us, Billy Wiz. And the first time I ever worked with him was in Tokyo and we tore the house down. I remember calling the office after and saying, this guy is a star. You got to do something with this guy. And we worked a few other times after that, a bunch of other times, including Madison Square Garden, where it didn't go the way we wanted it to. There was a few mistakes, probably caused by me because Ben didn't make mistakes in the ring, although he would claim he made nothing but mistakes in the ring. If you know, you also know. And so we had a match again, the very next night in Glens Falls, New York, where we tore the house down. I remember saying, man, I wish we could have had the match tonight, last night in MSG. He said, yeah, but then the people of Glens Falls wouldn't have gotten this classic match. And they'll never forget this classic match. When we first started putting AEW together, Ben was one of the first guys that I called to recruit him to come to AEW and tell him how great of a company this was. And when he finally came and joined us, he was nothing but the best of the best. I love you, man. I'm going to miss you. And we had so many great times together. Some scary ones, too, but I wish there was so much more. I'm going to miss you, Billy Wiz. And to the fine people of Glenis Falls, New York, I hope you still remember that match. God bless you, buddy.