By Jim Biringer
There were some tough times for All Elite Wrestling following Brawl Out aka ALL Out 2022. AEW had lost a ton of momentum they had with the return of CM Punk, Forbidden Door, and with WWE in transition, this was the last thing the company needed.
AEW had allowed Triple H and WWE to take back the momentum they had built. Give credit to the wrestlers in the company at that time to continue to put on good matches. But there was a stench that needed to go before fans could trust the company again. AEW needed to get back to its roots.
It took some time, but AEW got back to the level they were at prior to Brawl Out in September of 2022 as the world on Sunday, August 27th witnessed the biggest event in wrestling history with All In at Wembley Stadium. As Tony Khan stated after the event, the company has never been in better shape. And he is right.
Khan said in the post-event media scrum, “Tonight’s All In PPV will be one of the most purchased AEW shows of all time. AEW was in a hot place at one point and then was in a challenging position because of injuries and MJF walking out. However, tonight AEW was better than it’s ever been. I wanted one more and tonight was the chance to get as hot as they’ve ever been.”
Who would have thought AEW would have a paid attendance of 81,035 people at Wembley Stadium for a pro wrestling event? That is a new record for a professional wrestling event. If you include the comps, ushers, and everything else AEW put 90,000 people inside Wembley Stadium. This breaks any attendance record WWE had.
Khan continued in his post-event media availability by saying “When WCW went away there were things that got lost… Something missing from the world of pro wrestling for the last 22 years. Today we created real competition. The numbers are real, I can verify them.:
But again this isn’t about comparing both companies. As previously mentioned before pro wrestling is in a good state when all companies are thriving. The more companies there are, the better the product is. Which means the fans win.
However, this is the first time in the history of AEW they have mentioned the competition word. AEW always worried about themselves and never carried about what the other company did. But now the company is in a position where they can say they are truly competition.
Remember AEW dominated NXT on Wednesday for years despite WWE calling that show developmental. The way WWE uses NXT these days it is not developmental anymore. But they want to stay inside their little bubble. But with Triple H in charge that’s changed some but they snub their noses at other companies. However, they do have real competition now.
There was a massive anticipation for AEW ALL In at Wembley Stadium in London, England. Nobody knew how big this event was going to be when it was announced by Tony Khan before Forbidden Door 2. This event lived up to the hype and even more as most knew it would.
AEW is truly back. It took about a year, but the momentum is back. There was not a bad match on the card. Some people do not like the company and that is fine, but you have to admit what AEW did is impressive.
There was something for everyone. Some hardcore wrestling with Stadium Stampede and the Coffin match. Great wrestling matches with CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe, FTR vs. Young Bucks III and Will Ospreay vs. Chris Jericho. Then if you like story telling the women’s world title match and the main event MJF vs. Adam Cole told great stories.
The card was perfectly paced as the action was non-stop. There were tributes to Terry Funk and Windham Rotunda aka Bray Wyatt at this event. Fans were not disappointed. There was not a cooler on the card. Tony Khan had to slow down the pace some, but the crowd was electric all night long.
It was truly a feel-good event for the fans. From start to finish the AEW faithful in London did not leave disappointed. That is what AEW was all about when the company first started.
From Forbidden Door 2 through All In, AEW is back in the place most people expected it to be a year ago. Some thought this company might be out of business and couldn’t sell out Wembley Stadium. Again all AEW does is prove people wrong.
Expect even bigger things from Tony Khan and AEW down the road. But for now, cherish what we got at AEW All In.