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Are WWE fans just like AEW fans when it comes to buying tickets now? I remember when AEW's ticket sales went down, and since they didn't want the TV audience to see that the building was largely empty, they'd always drop the price as it got close to the show. This taught AEW fans that they didn't need to pay full price if they were willing to wait, and when the product got cold, they just didn't bother going at all. Next thing you know, AEW is booking concert halls instead of minor league hockey arenas because if you're not going to move 2K tickets at any price, why run a building that holds over twice that? It feels like we're there with WWE now, and with the product not red hot anymore, you end up with a situation where you can't get 8K to show up in Oakland for Smackdown or get 35K butts in seats for (ostensibly) the 2nd largest show of the year. As always, WWE cares more about gates than attendance, whereas AEW is the opposite—they're giving All In: London tickets away at this point, figuratively and literally I'm sure—but half-empty stadiums aren't a good look for anybody.
No, I don't think that they are the same but to your point, smart fans will wait and get tickets at a better price for both companies now that they know that complete sellouts are unlikely. They know that they can wait and get a better price closer to the event. I think that in the case of WWE, they have raised the prices to obscene levels and that has turned people off. A lot of fans would go if the tickets were cheaper, but they can't/won't pay the ridiculous prices that WWE is charging. In AEW's case, I think fans stopped coming to live shows because they wanted AEW to make the product more worth their money. The price wasn’t the issue for most of those that stopped going.
Now that Janel Grant has dismissed her lawsuit, what are the odds of TKO welcoming Vince McMahon back into the family? They wouldn't be that foolish, would they?
They are still going to arbitration so we don’t know how that will end up. No matter what happens, they have divorced themselves from McMahon and business has carried on. I don’t see the top brass opening themselves up to criticism by bringing Vince back, at least no time soon. At this point Vince doesn’t bring much positive to the product.
When WWE is in Saudi Arabia for Mania next year (which is still crazy to wrap my head around), do you think Tony Khan would do best to fill in the void in the U.S. with a major AEW event?
Yes, I do. I hope that he takes the mantle from WWE and runs a mega-event and partners with all of the companies that usually run during Mania week and give US fans something to attend and enjoy. Mania will be over early due to the time difference so AEW will have the night or nights to themselves if they choose to run.
Now that he's back in the WWE, are you surprised that Baron Corbin never got a run in AEW? Seems to me he could have been a good heavy for about 95% of that roster. Or, if they really wanted to get meta, done the Matt Cardona "former WWE Superstar" thing. He'd have been the biggest heel in the company!
I am not. AEW is not good at booking big men for the most part. Plus, the style there, which is more dangerous than WWE, can be a big turn off to a lot of wrestlers.
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