AEW is about to make history with All In London in Wembley Stadium. They have already smashed WWE’s WrestleMania 32 record in Arlington, Texas. It turns out that WWE turned down Wembley Stadium when they played the Clash At The Castle show, but they went with Cardiff, Wales instead.
The United Kingdom is a thriving market for professional wrestling. Last year, WWE hosted Clash at the Castle in Cardiff, Wales, although it was not the initial plan. As reported by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE had initially intended to use Wembley Stadium but opted for Principality Stadium when offered a more lucrative deal.
WWE is moving toward paid shows, and they are asking big money to hold events outside the United States. They made a ton of money to play shows in Saudi Arabia for years, and Puerto Rico’s tourism board also put up six figures.
Despite moving to a somewhat smaller venue, WWE Clash at the Castle managed to draw a remarkable crowd of 62,296 fans in attendance. Triple H later revealed that the event achieved the company’s largest-ever gate in Europe. Clash at the Castle also witnessed record merchandise sales, second only to WrestleMania.
Despite Money in the Bank’s successful sellout, London’s O2 Arena has a notably smaller seating capacity compared to Principality Stadium or Wembley Stadium. WWE remains committed to hosting major international events, but future decisions regarding venue size will pose challenges.
We will have to see how AEW All In London pans out. That will be quite an event on August 27th, and we can’t wait to bring you all the updates, right here at Ringside News.
What’s your take on AEW running Wembley Stadium? Sound off in the comments to let us know what you think!