Party on, Tony Khan!
Speaking with News 12, All Elite Wrestling’s Tony Khan spoke about how big AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam was for his company. Khan hopes to surpass last year’s Grand Slam event and said it’s a show fans won’t want to miss.
“I hope we can have at least as good or better of a show as last year’s Grand Slam Dynamite, which is one of the biggest events in AEW’s history. I really believe this is gonna be one of the best live wrestling events you’ll see this year. It’s gonna be hard to get more great wrestling in one night. So for all the fans around New York, this is one you will definitely want to catch.
“Last year was a great show, but this is its own show. You have to look at where you’re at now in AEW, and we’re on one of our best runs of shows we’ve ever had. This has been the biggest ratings we’ve had in 51 weeks, so last week was the biggest rating we’ve had since Grand Slam last year, which was a really good sign. It’s the first time we’ve had four straight weeks like this since Grand Slam last year. So all things adding to this being our hottest time of the year, and this is a huge event.”
Khan promoted this year’s card, which is highlighted by an AEW World Championship match between Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley.
“It’s as big of a main event as AEW can offer. It’s the Blackpool Combat Club going one on one. It’s huge to have the Tournament of Champions final at Grand Slam. We’ve had this great tournament with some amazing matches, and it’s been a huge success for us. Our ratings have grown, and right now it’s the highest they’ve been since this time last year, and really the hottest they’ve been. So to have the Grand Slam tournament of champions final be a match this big, we’re on Wednesday night, live in New York City, Jon Moxley versus Bryan Danielson for the undisputed AEW World Championship, that’s pretty amazing, and I’m very excited for that. I don’t think we could have possibly put a bigger match on in New York City.”
While touting the Northeast area as a wrestling hotbed, Khan said it’s truly the “crown jewel” of wrestling markets, taking a subtle dig at WWE’s annual October pay-per-view.
“We’re running a lot of great shows around the Northeast, it’s so many great wrestling markets in one geographic region. And the — hey, I’ll say it, the crown jewel of wrestling markets — the real crown jewel of wrestling markets, not some BS overseas in Saudi Arabia. The real crown jewel of wrestling markets, New York City, is where you want to be, and I love, love, love, New York.”
Khan then compared Grand Slam to the “Waynestock” event in 1993’s Wayne’s World 2. While the concert in the film faced several problems, Khan said fans should expect plenty of highlights from AEW this week.
“If there’s still an opportunity to come on Wednesday night and you’re a wrestling fan in New York, you do not want to miss this. It is going to be, I believe — have you guys seen Wayne’s World 2? This is going to be like my Waynestock. I’ve been through a lot lately and gone through a lot, I’m telling you, it’s going to come together and it’s going to be like Waynestock. It’s going to be that one perfect night in New York City this Wednesday night. Expect a lot and you shall not be disappointed, I promise.”
Fans will have to wait one more night to see what Khan has in store, but the 2022 event is already a major success at the box office. On Tuesday, Khan shared that Grand Slam 2022 is now the highest-grossing televised AEW event in the company’s history.
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