AEW CEO, GM and head of creative Tony Khan knows exactly what his company is in the U.S. market: a “challenger brand” that is Pepsi to WWE’s Coca-Cola or Burger King to WWE’s McDonald’s. But could it be more than that in the U.K.?
That question is more relevant than ever as AEW prepares to put on All In this weekend in Wembley Stadium in London, where a crowd of more than 80,000 fans is expected. It will be one of the biggest shows in the history of pro wrestling, and seems almost certain to break the attendance record for a wrestling event in Europe — one currently held by SummerSlam 1992, put on by the then-WWF in the original incarnation of Wembley.
The prospect that AEW could establish itself as the top promotion in the U.K. is certainly not lost on Khan, and is something he discussed during an All In week interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
What’s very interesting in the U.K., which is a major media market and one of the best markets for the pro wrestling industry, AEW is carving out a legitimate claim as the industry leader now. It’s very exciting because as a challenger brand, your goal is to go into the different major markets and territories and win them over and try to turn places. If we can go into some major places and take the lead, then that’s really a huge step for us. And right now in the U.K., AEW is the industry leader in pro wrestling: we’ve set the box office records, we have by far the biggest TV audience every week thanks to our partnership with ITV, which has a great history in the wrestling business. The average person in the U.K. knows ITV is the home of pro wrestling going back many years to World of Sport. And now, AEW, thanks to the great viewership we get on ITV every week, is by far the most-watched wrestling promotion across our shows Dynamite, Rampage, and Collision.
While those are valid points, AEW might not be able to claim the lead in the U.K. yet simply based on the fact that All In is also its debut show in that market. One thing the promotion has done well is get people to turn out the first time they visit a new location, with this weekend’s show set to be the ultimate example of that trend.
Maintaining that level of interest is a different challenge, and one that might still be a little down the road for AEW. Khan hinted that he could soon have announcements for more shows in the U.K. or outside the U.S. in general, but for now, All In London is a one-off deal.
Still, AEW has already done something skeptics scoffed at by attracting this level of interest in All In, and its TV strength in the U.K. is impressive. It just might be able to “turn” the region into a place where it is indeed the industry leader, and that would make it an even stronger challenger back home as well.