AEW All In Reportedly Sells Over 35,000 Tickets (So Far) In First Day Of Pre-Sale
When AEW President Tony Khan announced a month ago that the first AEW-branded All In event would be taking place at Wembley Stadium in London, England, the move shocked the wrestling world. On Tuesday, the initial pre-sale began at Ticketmaster, and early reports indicate that AEW's first show in a stadium this size is on its way to being a huge success. Both The Wrestling Observer and PWInsider have reported that the initial presale has, so far, resulted in roughly 35,000 tickets being sold, with PWInsider couching it as "upwards of 34-35,000" while citing "multiple sources."
Tuesday's presale success makes All In 2023 easily the biggest show in AEW history, and sure to have the biggest crowd for a wrestling show promoted by anyone other than WWE or NJPW since WCW's final Georgia Dome shows in 1999. The AEW record stands at an announced 20,177 for the September 22, 2021 Grand Slam event at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City. As for the larger significance in the wrestling world, All In has easily surpassed WCW's final Georgia Dome show on July 5, 1999 (25,338 fans), and is on track to beat WCW's high water mark in the building, the July 6, 1998 "WCW Nitro" where Goldberg won the WCW World Championship from Hulk Hogan (41,412 fans).
As for NJPW, Wrestle Kingdom 2018 drew the biggest crowd in recent years at 43,500, which was more or less full; though they announced much larger figures under previous ownership, current parent company Bushiroad's more honest approach has shown the crowds of 60,000-plus fans to be grossly exaggerated. The actual wrestling record for the building most likely belongs to something like 1991's Starrcade in Tokyo Dome (billed as WCW Japan Supershow in the U.S.), which packed the audience, didn't have an entrance stage blocking off seating, and had an announced crowd of 54,500, a figure that now seems attainable for All In.