On last week’s episode of AEW Dynamite, Tony Khan, Nigel McGuinness, and Adam Cole announced that AEW will be heading to the United Kingdom for the first time for All In 2023 on Sunday, August 27th.
AEW All In will emanate from Wembley Stadium in London, England, marking the first time a wrestling event has been held there since SummerSlam in 1992.
The announcement, particularly the choice of venue, surprised many fans due to its massive size.
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer theorized why AEW is heading to Wembley Stadium, which can seat up to 90,000 fans. He said,
“The hope is that the show will help the relationship with ITV, and hopefully WBD, since they are marketing this around the 100th anniversary of Warner Brothers and the 100th anniversary of the original Wembley Stadium. They also expect this will strengthen the visibility of the company in Europe, and just running such a big show itself will get the company more exposure.
“The brand awareness should hopefully help AEW+ subscriptions in the U.K. and the places it is available in Europe, as well as the visibility could open up business partnerships and television partnerships throughout Europe.”
While the original All In pay-per-view event was the highest attended independent wrestling show of the century, it’s a foregone conclusion that AEW All In will comfortably surpass AEW’s record crowd of 20,177 at AEW Grand Slam 2021.
Meltzer also speculated on why the event is not being held at the O2 Arena or the Craven Cottage (home stadium of Fulham FC, the football club owned by the Khans). He wrote,
“The idea of a show at Wembley itself is a big part of the draw, because by being at Wembley the idea is that it’s history. That wouldn’t be the case at the O2 Arena or at Craven Cottage, which are places that a second or third show may end up being at. Drawing a full house in those buildings wouldn’t have the benefit the hope is for this show to have.
“But costs of running are higher and the risk is greater. The partnership with Live Nation to promote it locally is also a key.”
