They did it, they really did it.
Despite doubts from some in the wrestling world, AEW put on the biggest show in history. August 27th 2023 will be known as the day when over 81,000 descended on Wembley Stadium to watch All In, proving that the promotion is just as popular in the UK as WWE. But now the dust has settled and the gravitas has sunk in, what about the show itself? AEW certainly delivered in terms of attendance, but what happened when the bell rang?
From watching the event at home the overall impressions were that it was a good show. There was not a bad match on the show, the crowd were vocal and nothing seemed to go wrong. The stream caught all the action, there were no notable complaints of obstructive views and thankfully no one appeared to have been injured at the event.
AEW delivered on what they set out to achieve and put on a show that gave fans their value for money and highlighted what they were all about. But it felt like something was missing.
Ironically, it was Wembley Stadium itself that caused one of the problems for the event. AEW likes to give the fans value for their money, putting on a substantial list of matches on their pay-per-views and giving them all the time. The result of this is that the main card usually runs over 5 hours, a topic that has divided AEW fans since this became the norm. Most venues have no issue with this in North America, but Wembley is different.
Being located in the heart of London, the stadium’s policy is that events have a 10 p.m. curfew, meaning that AEW had exactly 4 hours for the show. With entrances, 9 matches and any post-match angles, this was a very tight schedule that meant there was little room to breathe throughout, making the show an intense watch and quite tiring in spaces as the fans needed time to recover. Yes, this is the hard work of all of the roster to get to this point, but sadly like all big events, not everyone should be on the card.
Also with the number of matches it meant that some would be short to make sure that the big matches got the time they needed. Once again, it was the women’s division that got their time cut, being the shortest match on the show.
As mentioned previously, the show was good but was not great. Yes everyone could see the ring due to it being well-lit, but the stadium itself looked rather stripped back for a show of this magnitude. Fans expecting a WrestleMania-style set were sadly disappointed as there was an LED screen in front of some tarped seats on the stage used for the wrestlers to make their entrances. There also seemed to be multiple points where fans at home would expect a replay of a big spot, but the action would just continue. Maybe as well this was due to the fast-paced matches.
The matches themselves all delivered, showcasing what AEW is all about, but there was not that killer angle or match that made it the show of the year. There was no debut, return or moment that gave All In that defining moment that would make fans want to rewatch apart from the location and the spectacle.
This will be remembered as the day that AEW proved they could more than hold their own in the UK market and that wrestling is white hot once again. The promotion proved that there is no monopoly in wrestling and proved the naysayers wrong in a massive way. With AEW also returning next year, it will be interesting to see if they can sell this many tickets for Wembley once again or if the unbelievable ticket sales were simply to be a part of history.
AEW wanted to make an impact on their first overseas show, and they did just that.
