The success of AEW All In has been a hotly debated topic within the wrestling community.
As soon as it was announced by Tony Khan that the debut show in the UK would be held inside Wembley Stadium, debates would rage daily as to whether or not this was a good idea due to the sheer number of tickets that would need to be sold to make the show a success.
Hours after tickets went on sale, the promotion had already set a new record as the Wembley show quickly eclipsed the previous personal best set by the Grand Slam show at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Going on to overtake SummerSlam 1992, which was also held at Wembley Stadium, AEW All In would go on to break the all-time record for most tickets sold for a wrestling event.
While some are still disputing the attendance figure and the number of tickets sold as multiple sources have provided different answers, how did the show perform in overall buys?
Recapping the Full Gear media call in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that the event had 200,000 pay-per-view buys, second only to All Out 2021. It is also noted that while this is not the most bought event in AEW history, it is still an impressive buy rate considering it was hosted overseas:
Khan also announced that All In ended up at 200,000 buys on PPV, which would make it the second largest in history, behind the 205,000 for All Out 2021 with the in-ring plus Kenny Omega vs. Christian for the AEW title, Chris Jericho put up his career against MJF and Young Bucks vs. Penta & Fenix in a cage match.
The 200,000 is actually far more impressive since it was an early afternoon start rather than prime time, and a morning start on the West Coast. Khan said that the increase in PPV shows over the last few months has worked out well, that every show has been very profitable and more shows have led to it being great for the company’s overall bottom line
Along with the aforementioned matches, All Out 2021 is also notable for the multiple debuts and surprise appearances throughout the night, with Ruby Soho, Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson all being announced as All Elite at the event. This was also the show that saw CM Punk have his first wrestling match for the company and his first match since the shock WWE departure in 2014.
AEW Executive Expresses Doubts Over PPV Expansions
All In was presented for the first time in 2023 and has been announced to make a return in 2024. With the promotion still using the traditional pay-per-view model and presenting more shows each year, one AEW executive has revealed how they are not entirely convinced that increasing their content is a good idea.