AEW London 2023

[Loki]

When TNA toured over here they leant heavily on known WWE names like Kurt Angle, or legend appearances like Hulk Hogan (whose last match ever was in the UK).

Do we really think that AEW is going to go with someone like Okada in their main event?? Are there even 30,000 people in Europe who’ve heard of him?  

Surely they will get the title onto  their biggest homegrown star and find a big British name to go against him.  WWF Summerslam went with an IC title match and Bulldog.  WWE went with Reigns and MacIntyre.  AEW are more likely to go with Moxley v Kendo Nagasaki than some of the names mentioned here.

[Statto]

They really ought to get a mainstream name if they are serious about selling it out. Like a former Premier League striker who has stepped into the ring before.

Omega vs Grant Holt on top.

[Guest]

Is UK Undertaker still taking bookings?

[FUM]

I imagine they’ll try get Goldberg in some form as he’s a name who will likely bring some people in regardless what you think of him. Whether that’s a match or him just turning up who knows.

They’ll be expecting WWE cuts coming soon as well try scoop a bit of name value there.

I imagine it will be a case of selling someone like Bryan Danielson as the crowds guy seeing he loved his time in the UK so much as opposed to using anybody from the UK that they actually have available to them.

[d-d-d-dAz]

If this is their next big, big show I expect them to make a point by having the babyface win the title. That’s the big open goal from a wrestling community perspective.

MJF/Hangman makes a bunch of sense, Omega/Punk if he’s back, some sort of multi man madness with the BCC, Goldberg makes sense vs some hoss or other.

But, boy, it sounds like an uphill struggle.

With stadiums you’re weirdly better off, from a strictly visual perspective, selling say a third of the ground than you are half or 2/3’s. Like when Bellew fought at Everton, amongst other examples, you just hoik the ring up to the far end of the stadium, run half the venue as full and block off the rest. You’ll take a bath financially but it’ll look okay.

To sell a stadium you need at least one attraction who has notional ubiquity. I.e, in theory if they say something everyone and their dog is going to cover it; not just trade sites or digital outlets, but mainstream news, radio, lifestyle outlets, local press etc etc etc

That gives you half a chance, as it means outside of your paid promotional activity (which you’re not going to want to do too much of as you’re already on a big expensive hook) you basically have free media activation at your beck and call.

For me, AEW’s route to success (not necessarily a sell out but a good swing) is they need to run a main event that wrestling people will travel from across Europe to watch (Punk/Omega), they need to run an absolutely wild, maximalist PR machine with lesser talent constantly being pumped to whoever will take the fuckers and they need to attach at least one name to the show (however tangentially) that people listen to on a national scale.

Which isn’t anything new particularly, but that last piece feels hard to achieve. Tyson’s probably out because of the WWE association, Rock definitely is, McGregor works for WWE now in some weird way.
 

I’m struggling with how they can achieve scale beyond wrestling, and that’s when you’re in a tricky spot. Anthony Joshua or Fury don’t sell out at stadiums with boxing fans.

ITV4 and Ogogo are niche. You need BBC1 and Anthony Joshua level names And associations.

 

Edited April 6, 2023 by d-d-d-dAz

[Infinity Land]

30 minutes ago, Loki said:

When TNA toured over here they leant heavily on known WWE names like Kurt Angle, or legend appearances like Hulk Hogan (whose last match ever was in the UK).

Do we really think that AEW is going to go with someone like Okada in their main event?? Are there even 30,000 people in Europe who’ve heard of him? 

Ex-WWE names ✔️Danielson, Sting, Mox, Jericho, Claudio, Saraya, PAC, and I guess Cole counts

There's some others on the books. Mercedes Mone out there. Who knows who might become available between now & then. They have the names. Although that's not really the draw.

It's a one-off. Not a tour. Not TV. It's a blink & you'll miss it event that might never be replicated. All the people that would have been in two minds about going to the O2, because they know AEW will back. They're going to be first in line for this and have the months that follow to figure out how to make it work. That'll be 20k cleared first day.

Could they stick Okada in the main event. Yes. They might even go for Ibushi. As the core of that audience would know the importance of seeing a Omega/Okada or Omega/Ibushi match live.  The rest of the card and the promotion in the run up will have bread & butter for the "casuals".

 

 

[d-d-d-dAz]

I think we all need to revisit what is and what isn’t niche.

99.9% of things you like are niche when you’re talking about selling a stadium.

[Loki]

2 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

To sell a stadium you need at least one attraction who has notional ubiquity. I.e, in theory if they say something is everyone and their dog going to cover it; not just trade sites or digital outlets, but mainstream news, radio, lifestyle outlets, local press etc etc etc

Totally agree! Even WWE tends to go for a Goldberg or a Rock size star.  The only person AEW has close to that is Sting.

Perhaps a non-title main event like Sting v Goldberg and then Omega and Okada or whoever can drop each other on their heads for the delectation of dem wans.

I still think they need a British star to do tv but maybe Saraya can fulfill that role.

[gmoney]

2 minutes ago, Loki said:

I still think they need a British star

[BomberPat]

They'll sell absolutely fine just off the AEW name, and it being the first AEW show in Europe, and I'm sure they'll be able to blitz the media about it being the first show at Wembley in so long. 

A lot of the top names of AEW haven't worked the UK since becoming top names - Adam Page, MJF, Orange Cassidy and the Lucha Bros all worked here in 2019, but not since having been proper TV stars and champions. 

On top of that, Bryan Danielson hasn't wrestled in the UK since WWE house shows in 2019, Jericho hasn't wrestled here since 2016, if there's any chance CM Punk's coming back by then, it will be his first UK show since 2013. 2018 for the Young Bucks, 2017 for Riho, 2013 for Sting. And so on. There's a lot that it can be sold on.

In terms of UK talent - Jamie Hayter, PAC and Anthony Ogogo can all pad out the card well, and I wouldn't rule out Nigel McGuinness coming out of retirement. Will Ospreay could easily be part of the show. I'm no fan of Saraya, but her first UK match since 2016 could be a major selling point. That's before imagining who else they might be able to bring in from outside, any departures from WWE - Drew McIntyre's contract is apparently expiring - celebrity crossovers and endorsements, and big stories they have a few months to heat up.

[Hannibal Scorch]

Wembley does huge numbers for NFL, a niche sport in the UK because it’s an event. People fly in from the US and Europe to be a part of it. I think they know what they are doing.

[d-d-d-dAz]

NFL is one of the biggest brands in the world, and as it's a league has the added weight of the individual teams. It's absolutely not the same.

For what its worth, I'm also certain they know what they're doing. I have no idea how they're going to get there, and they're going to have to pull amazingly big rabbits out of amazingly big hats, but i'll be buying a ticket for sure. I have absolutely no doubt they know they need something special to pull it off.

But, arguing that Danielson, Adam Page, Pac or whoever else alone will get the job done is actually mental. If that was even half true, the WWE - with bigger names - would be running it all the time. There's a reason they don't. It's really hard. I'm absolutely buzzing to see what they've got planned to get there.

[Infinity Land]

Takes the Goldberg budget and spends it on Madonna's 'Like A Prayer' for Grado's Goldberg inspired entrance.

[Hannibal Scorch]

3 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

NFL is one of the biggest brands in the world, and as it's a league has the added weight of the individual teams. It's absolutely not the same.

 

The NFL is a global brand for sure. But outside of the US they’re ain’t many people who could name 10 teams let alone players. They could put two shit teams on at Wembley and it will be near capacity for the reasons I mentioned above. I’m not saying the AEW brand is anywhere near as well known as the NFL. But they have 90,000 seats to sell to people from all over the world.

[d-d-d-dAz]

6 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

The NFL is a global brand for sure. But outside of the US they’re ain’t many people who could name 10 teams let alone players. They could put two shit teams on at Wembley and it will be near capacity for the reasons I mentioned above. I’m not saying the AEW brand is anywhere near as well known as the NFL. But they have 90,000 seats to sell to people from all over the world.

Again, I don't think this is true... plus, the NFL put literal YEARS into brand building in the UK prior to launching the international series. They did off season games with limited capacity, they did press tours, they built community hubs.

The NFL in the UK is a pretty big deal now. Just thinking of my office alone, I think probably every other guy has an NFL team now.

In terms of brand awareness in the UK they're leagues and leagues ahead of AEW. They are the WWE of what they do.