Since its inception, AEW has operated with only four of its own pay-per-views: Revolution in February or March, Double or Nothing in May, All Out around Memorial Day and Full Gear in November. It added Forbidden Door in conjunction with NJPW last year, and that appears it may continue as a summertime tradition.
(For the time being, the jury is still out on what will be the company’s biggest show to date, All In London, as AEW hasn’t revealed its broadcast plans for the Wembley Stadium show just yet.)
For wrestling fans, especially in North America where they’ve been conditioned by an even larger promotion to expect big cards every month, AEW’s schedule of four or five PPVs a year feels cautious, maybe even quaint. Yet there’s something to be said for letting programs have time to breathe without always scrambling to set things in place for the next big card.
So what is the “correct” number of AEW pay-per-views? During a media call this week ahead of the Blood and Guts episode of AEW Dynamite in Boston, AEW CEO, GM and Head of Creative Tony Khan suggested there isn’t necessarily an obvious answer — and that he’d certainly entertain the idea that more could be better for AEW.
“Well I think it’s evolving … I believe no wrestling company that has ever expanded its pay-per-view calendar due to demand and economics has ever regretted that decision,” Khan said. “I think in general, there have been factors that have helped pro wrestling companies rise and fall over the years, but I do think that expanding your pay-per-view calendar has often been something that has been seen as revenue positive and has been overall positive for companies.”
Khan added that at a time of “more competition,” meaning the Monday Night War heyday of WWE vs. WCW, more PPVs was the standard. AEW’s strategy was more methodical by design, he said.
If All In sticks around, that would make six PPVs a year for the company. And the number could grow even past that, a topic that apparently has already been broached with AEW’s broadcast partner.
“As for expanding the calendar even further, it’s something we talked to Warner Bros. Discovery about, and it’s something everybody believes could potentially be revenue positive,” Khan said.
So the answer to the proper number of AEW PPVs appears to be whatever makes the most sense and dollars. Just don’t be surprised if it’s more than the five that fans have grown to know and love so far.