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AEW To “Begin New Era” At WrestleDream PPV

By John Canton • Published 24th September 2023
AEW WrestleDream 2023 poster

A video that aired during Collision featured Tony Khan speaking about how the upcoming WrestleDream PPV will be the beginning of a “new era” in AEW.

The next AEW pay-per-view event will be the first-ever WrestleDream show taking place on Sunday, October 1st at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.

For the first four years of AEW, CEO & GM Tony Khan had said adamantly that he didn’t want to put an AEW PPV up against the NFL Sunday night game since his family owns the Jacksonville Jaguars.

However, now that AEW Collision is on Saturdays and AEW has decided to run more PPVs, this WrestleDream event will go against NFL Sunday night football, which could certainly hurt WrestleDream’s PPV buys because the NFL is king on Sundays in North America.

AEW says that a “new era” will begin at WrestleDream

On AEW Collision from Grand Rapids, Michigan, a video aired that was narrated by Tony Khan. In the video, Tony mentioned the late, great Antonio Inoki, who passed away one year ago on October 1, 2022. Not only was a legendary wrestler, but he also created New Japan Pro Wrestling as well.

One of the reasons that AEW is running WrestleDream on October 1st is in tribute to Inoki, who died one year earlier on that date.

In the video narrated by Khan, he also said that WrestleDream will be a new era in AEW.

“Next Sunday, October 1, it’ll be one of the greatest nights in wrestling, with every match capable of stealing the show and a card befitting the legacy of a kingdom that has touched every one of us. AEW and the world of pro wrestling will converge as the greatest champions and rivalries in this sport will take center stage live on pay-per-view.”

“At AEW WrestleDream next Sunday, we will pay tribute to the dreamer that made this all possible, the late great Antonio Inoki, with an event one year in the making. You won’t want to miss AEW WrestleDream as we’ll end a chapter in wrestling history and begin a new era in AEW live on ay-per-view next Sunday night, October 1.”

What that “new era” of AEW wasn’t specified, but the company is starting monthly PPV events and they may be making PPVs available on Max in the US as well. An official announcement about that could be coming as soon as the WrestleDream event itself.