Jim Ross discusses AEW All In at Wembley Stadium.
During the April 5 episode of AEW Dynamite, AEW announced that their United Kingdom debut will be held at Wembley Stadium; the company will hold the All In event at the famous venue, which seats roughly 90,000 fans, on August 27.
Speaking on his Grilling JR podcast with Conrad Thompson, the AEW commentator shared his thoughts on the news. Thompson noted that it was "big-time stuff," and JR agreed, as he stated that it's a great move. He also praised Tony Khan for being brave in his willingness to invest money into promoting the show.
"Yes, it is. I really admire Tony Khan for being brave enough to be willing to invest serious money in promoting this massive venue. I hope the tickets go well. I like how they’re doing the ticket sales, people are registering, and they’re trying to make it fair for everybody to get a ticket. I don’t think that’ll be a problem. I don’t have any idea what to predict, how many people are gonna be there, I don’t know what the capacity’s gonna be for wrestling. But it’s a great move. It moves our brand from Jacksonville, where the headquarters was, and still is, to London. We’re growing," Ross said.
JR continued by stating that he thinks Khan will book a great card. Looking ahead, he previewed the event by noting that, in the "old days," companies booking supershows would bring in new people in order to make them as special as possible.
"I think [Tony] will put together a hell of card. I think, now this is me with my old-school booking hat on, you gotta bring in some new people, like the old days. You’d bring Dusty in, he’d work with so-and-so, Superstar Graham, they’d have a bloodbath. That’s how that worked. You gotta bring some new faces in to these big cards, I think, and we’ll see how it works out. I hope I get booked. I’m excited, I’m ready to roll. That territory’s been really good to me, from World of Sport, ITV. I’ve got a lot of friends there," he said.
Ross expressed his belief that AEW will make money with the show, and he wants to see the company put on an outstanding card. He noted that he wonders how many new names will be a part of it, as he believes that it's important to bring in fresh names for such a major show. Ross also stated that the United Kingdom is his favorite territory.
"I think it’s gonna be great for the company. I hope we make money on it. I think we will, and it’ll give these talents a chance to see going from Daily’s Place to Wembley Stadium. That’s a hell of a journey. So I’m pulling for everybody to have their best preparation, the card to be outstanding. When you gotta book one card and you got this list of names, you gotta wonder how many names are gonna be added to that list that weren’t previously there. I think that’s important, that you can have some new [talent], even if it’s a one-off. So be it. I’m excited about this. It’s my favorite territory outside of the United States," Ross said.
Ross again emphasized that he's excited about the show, and he believes that it will be great for AEW and wrestling as a whole. The WWE Hall of Famer cited the saying that a rising tide raises all ships, and he believes All In at Wembley Stadium will raise AEW's proverbial tide. He stated that the show will be special, and it hopes it will be spectacular.
“I’m excited about it. I think it’s great, great for us. It’s great for the wrestling business. You said a very wise thing. ‘High tides raise all ships.’ So I remember back in the day, when McMahon was carving out WrestleMania as this amazing event, the business in Mid South, because of the heightened awareness of pro wrestling, and that was the wrestling that they had available to consume on a live basis, was absolutely unbelievable. So I think if a high tide raises all ships, and we’re one of those ships, our tide’s gonna be raised, and we’re gonna be ready for the increase in how deep the water is. Let’s go, let’s get it on. Let’s put our roster out there to have a spectacular show, where people are not just going, ‘Well, this is another night of TV.’ It ain’t another night of TV. It’s not. It’s special, and it’s only going to happen the first time once, so don’t screw it up," he said.
Dax Harwood has suggested that a match between The Elite and the team of CM Punk and FTR could sell 50,000 tickets for the Wembley show. Check out his comments here.
Will Ospreay recently expressed his interest in competing at AEW All In at Wembley Stadium. Click here to see what he had to say.
Check out the card for the April 12 episode of AEW Dynamite here. Fightful will have live coverage of the show as it airs.
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