The Rise of All Elite Wrestling
In 2017, a fan asked professional wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer if Ring of Honor (ROH), an American independent wrestling company, could sell 10,000 tickets. Meltzer replied to the fan: "Not any time soon." Former WWE superstar and then ROH wrestler Cody Rhodes heard the comment by Meltzer and took it as a challenge. In 2018, the world of professional wrestling was shaken by the announcement of the independent wrestling pay-per-view "All In." This was promoted by Cody Rhodes and wrestlers Nick and Matt Jackson, known as the tag team "The Young Bucks." This event took place on September 1st, 2018. It brought together professional wrestlers from all different companies from around the world, such as Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, Major League Wrestling, Impact Wrestling, and the National Wrestling Alliance. It was held in Chicago, Illinois, at the Sears Centre Arena with an attendance of over 11,000 fans. This was the most significant independent wrestling event in history and is considered by many to be the beginning of a new era of professional wrestling.
All Elite Wrestling was created by American businessman Tony Khan and professional wrestlers Kenny Omega, Cody Rhodes, and Matt and Nick Jackson (The Young Bucks). At midnight on January 1st, 2019, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) was announced on their Youtube channel "Being the Elite." All Elite Wrestling announced its partnership with WarnerMedia to air a weekly wrestling TV show on Wednesday nights on TNT, known as AEW Dynamite. AEW held its debut show, "Double or Nothing," on May 25th, 2019, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. 11,000 fans came to see the hype behind this event, but little did they know that AEW would soon take professional wrestling by storm.
At its conception, AEW was directly competing with WWE, a monumental task considering WWE's history and financial backing. In the company's early years, AEW's weekly show "Dynamite" went head-to-head with WWE's weekly show "NXT" in a ratings battle on cable TV for Wednesday nights. AEW Dynamite far surpassed NXT nearly every Wednesday, causing WWE to move their show to Tuesdays. All Elite Wrestling has brought in exceptional, new talent over the years, many of whom jumped ship from the WWE, such as Jon Moxley (formerly known as Dean Ambrose in the WWE), Adam Cole, and Bryan Danielson (formerly known as Daniel Bryan in the WWE). AEW also signed legendary professional wrestler CM Punk, who was gone for seven years after leaving the WWE in 2014. He shocked the world with his debut on AEW's second show, Rampage, on August 20th, 2021. In addition to these massive signings, AEW has focused on building their homegrown young talents, such as Britt Baker, Darby Allin, "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry, Sammy Guevara, and MJF.
The Latest on "All In"
On April 6th, 2023, Tony Khan announced that AEW's debut in the United Kingdom would occur on August 27th, 2023, at Wembley Stadium in London, England. This event is known as "All In," the same name as the event in 2018. AEW announced that tickets would go on sale Monday, May 5th, at 9 am BST. As of June 23rd, AEW has sold over 66,500 tickets to this event and garnered about $8.35 million in sales. Fans and journalists are shocked at the incredible numbers from the start, with no matches announced, and the event is over three months away. The numbers have far exceeded expectations and are a massive accomplishment for All Elite Wrestling. AEW has hit many milestones over the last four years, and this is just the first of many for the company. They have become a more than viable entity in professional wrestling and proved that a company could exist alongside the titan, WWE.
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