Chris Jericho Believes AEW Could Sell More Tickets For Wembley Stadium Show Than People Expect
The talk of AEW potentially selling out the 90,000-seater Wembley Stadium has dominated wrestling circles over the past week or so. While some pundits reckon AEW has overestimated its popularity with its decision to stage All In at the iconic stadium in London, others have lauded the upstart promotion for being ambitious with an event of such magnitude.
Chris Jericho, AEW's inaugural World Champion, is obviously a part of the latter group and believes AEW is going to surprise a lot of people with its ticket sales for the August 27 event.
"From a personal standpoint, obviously, Wembley is one of the most famous stadiums in the world," Jericho told "Battleground" podcast. "One of my favorite gigs of all time took place there — the Queen Live Aid [in 1985]. Another of my favorite shows, the Freddy Mercury Tribute in 1992, also took place there. So, to just be there would be cool."
"From a business standpoint, I think it was a great move by Tony Khan," Jericho continued. "I actually feel when AEW went to Toronto and Los Angeles [last year], he should have booked stadiums [instead of arenas]. Our first time in the U.K. should be in a stadium, and I'm glad it will be. I hear people saying, 'You're crazy. A stadium is too big.'"
'Oh yeah? Hold my beer'
At this point, Jericho admitted that AEW could have settled for O2 Arena, the venue of this year's WWE Money in the Bank, or Craven Cottage instead of Wembley Stadium, before praising Khan for swinging for the fences.
"I think going to Wembley is like, 'Oh yeah? Hold my beer. Check this s–t out.' I think it's going to be massive, it has the potential to sell even more tickets than the pundits are expecting," Jericho said. "It's going to be more than just a wrestling event. It's going to be a cultural event. The fact is, when something becomes cool, that's when people want to go. I think we're gonna get that reaction."
Jericho then gave his early estimate of the number of fans that could pack Wembley Stadium on August 27, while pointing out that AEW has "a huge television presence and fanbase" in the United Kingdom.
"I'm not guaranteeing or predicting it, but it wouldn't surprise me if we ended up with 60 to 70,000 people in that joint," Jericho asserted.
AEW has announced that a ticket presale for All In will get underway on Tuesday, May 2. Tickets for the general public will go on sale on Friday, May 5. According to Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer, AEW has received a ton of pre-sale sign-ups for the show, with as many as 25,000 fans requesting tickets. The last pro wrestling event at Wembley Stadium, the 1992 WWE SummerSlam, was attended by over 80,000 fans.