The Post’s Joseph Staszewski brings you around the world of professional wrestling every Tuesday in his weekly column, the Post Match Angle.
It feels almost poetic now that AEW’s debut UK event at Wembley Stadium will be called “All In” because that seems to be what the company is doing right now with a huge summer on tap.
Things are already off to a flying start with, according to AEW president Tony Khan, more than 60,000 tickets sold for the 90,000-plus-seat venue (when there is no stage) as of Tuesday for the Aug. 27 show, the first for wrestling at this iteration of Wembley.
It will make it the highest-attended show for the company to date and the highest-attended non-WWE show by a U.S. promotion of all time. WCW did 41,400 with around 35,500 paid at the Georgia Dome in 1998.
WWE’s attendance for SummerSlam 1992 at the original Wembley was around 78,000 and they announced 62,000 for Clash at the Castle in Cardiff last year. Paid attendance for both nights of WrestleMania 39 was around 68,000, according to WrestleTix. So this is a major number for AEW.
All In, coupled with CM Punk’s potential return, a rumored new Saturday night show, along with a potential incredible stretch of big events like All Out, Forbidden Door and AEW Grand Slam coming in a matter of about three months, will be quite the creative undertaking.
Throw in fan speculation that Bill Goldberg could arrive in the company for a retirement tour and a potential appearance by Mercedes Mone’ in some form — perhaps for Forbidden Door through her deal with New Japan — and there is plenty to hope for during this ambitious summer for AEW.
If that’s not pushing a good portion of your chips in with a new television deal being negotiated, I don’t know what is. If there is ever a chance to reignite some momentum behind the company after its ratings dip in 2023, this is it.
But let’s put this in perspective. This isn’t about trying to compete with WWE or catching them in some way. That’s nearly impossible to do when Vince McMahon’s company is hotter than ever financially and on the verge of a mega-merger with the UFC.
And while a visual of 70,000-plus fans at Wembley will feel Wrestlemania-esque and will be a huge accomplishment for AEW just four years into its existence and important to its growth, repeating that from year to year is when it becomes truly game-changing.
Don’t put it past WWE to try to do something at SummerSlam to divert the buzz from what AEW is trying to accomplish. Conor McGregor and Paul Heyman seem to be little by little trying to build something between the former two-time UFC champ and Roman Reigns. Just last week, McGregor was throwing out the idea of showing up at SummerSlam. There are few earth-shaking moves WWE can make and getting McGregor involved would be one, but for now it’s just chatter. Also, it certainly felt like more than a coincidence that WWE went out of its way to tout its recent sellouts in the UK and elsewhere overseas during Backlash and Raw
No matter what WWE does, this massive AEW summer is about leaving the company healthier than it has ever been. They could have a fat new television contract, plush with TV time and cash, and less talk of wrestlers being relegated to YouTube. It’s about seeing what happens when all your major stars are healthy and firing on all cylinders for the first time in a long time — and making sure they all get along to avoid another CM Punk-Elite fight.
After a few months of stagnation and even slight regression, we may finally find out what AEW is truly capable of.
The Firm Deletion was exactly what it needed to be for AEW’s first cinematic match at the Hardy Compound. My only small complaints might be that it felt too short on TV, we didn’t need the on-and-off play-by-play and I wish we saw more of Hook. But there was an extended digital cut. In the end, the TV version left you wanting more and that’s great if AEW plans to return to compound down the line.
Stokley Hathaway’s fun interaction with Reba Hardy and children Maxell, Wolfgang and Ever Moore stole the show. Maxwell even hit a Swanton Bomb on Hathaway in a ring then got put to bed. We get Senior Benjamin, Vanguard 1, Roman candles fired and a bunch of the Hardy Compound staples. The action itself was good enough and got better later. Taking bumps on grass can’t be fun, but this match was a fun conclusion to this story.
WWE got its tournament for the World Heavyweight championship off to quite the start on Raw. Seth Rollins – correctly – will be going to Night of Champions for the final after two dramatic wins. His main event with Finn Balor — which included a receipt for SummerSlam 2016 – was just an example of the high-quality action you get when two top guys are given time and stakes. Give me A.J. Styles or Edge as his opponent from SmackDown and let’s role.
Having a stitched-up and black-eyed Brock Lesnar interfere to literally steal a win from Cody Rhodes worked perfectly and now all their match in Saudi Arabia needs is a stipulation. Also, Damian Priest is starting to feel like he’s been elevated after his Backlash match with Bad Bunny and being included in this tourney.
Trish Stratus’ goading was a bit cheesy for my taste, but Becky Lynch still made a pretty sweet entrance and it great to have her back.
After NXT has done a good job with Gigi Dolan as a babyface, Tuesday was an important moment for Jacey Jane the heel. We don’t see blood too often in NXT and her getting a win and beating up Dolan even more in front of her brother all with a crimson mask was a step in the right direction.
Finally! Another one of the AEW originals decided to team up with Jamie Hayter and Britt Baker and give The Outcasts a taste of their own medicine as we creep closer to Double or Nothing. It was done with a pretty cool swerve from Hikaru Shida, who Saraya had dismissed in the past, first hugging her then turning on her to spray paint AEW on the Outcasts. It looks like we have our six-women tag now.
Adam Cole and Britt Baker reacted exactly as they should after what Chris Jericho put them through. Cole went right after Jericho – who was wearing the Baker black-eye shirt – on commentary. Baker even got a shot in backstage. The intensity is raised for this feud.
Did anyone else find it kind of weird that Rhea Ripley, who was drafted to Raw still defended the SmackDown women’s championship? Maybe we aren’t getting a title swap after all? It will be odd, but different.
Alba Fyre and Isla Down will have to drop the NXT tag team championship eventually, but having them show up to SmackDown with them after beating the also drafted Katana Chance and Kayden Carter this week isn’t a bad way to give them instant credibility on the main roster. Indi Hartwell got a nice moment vacating the women’s title and it might be time to put the belt on Cora Jade or Tiffany Stratton.
I think I’d match rather see Wardlow vs. Luchasaurus than Wardlow vs. Christian for the TNT championship or is it just me?
The Briscoe Farm segment was a lot of fun. AEW doesn’t do enough of these segments with wrestlers out of their element a bit. Mark and Papa Briscoe on the farm needs to become a recurring thing.
WWE running is video package with all the NXT call-ups on SmackDown is very smart. Easy way to fill in the fans who may not tune in on Tuesday and don’t have those talents appear cold. Thought Zoey Stark had a solid in-ring debut and was the best way to establish her.
Scott D’Amore has always been a superb on-screen authority figure in Impact. But he’s at his best dealing with a heel champion and we are about to see it again now that Steve Maclin has the belt.
Seth Rollins, WWE
What a week for The Visionary. Rollins helped over-deliver on his under-booked match with Omos at Backlash, then put on two excellent matches during the World Heavyweight championship tournament on Raw and punched his ticket to the final at Night of Champions.
Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega, Steel Cage, AEW Dynamite. (Wednesday, 8 p.m.)
The last time these two stepped into the ring for a singles clash was the infamous Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch in May 2021. This time it will be a steel cage, which AEW does rarely. Expect plenty of violence and something that will be a jumping-off point for The Elite vs. Blackpool Combat Club at Double or Nothing.