WWE has been the biggest promotion in the professional wrestling world for decades and continues to be the biggest attraction in the industry. But amid the kind of success AEW has achieved in a very short time period, it has quickly become the biggest rival for the Triple H-led promotion and grabbed a good hold on the professional wrestling audience.
Due to the way All Elite Wrestling has risen as a top competitor against the Stamford-based promotion, many believed that it would go beyond WWE. But looking at the current state of AEW, it seems that the organization is not even close to beating World Wrestling Entertainment anymore, and the difference between their ticket sales proves it.
According to the average ticket sales stats for both of these companies in the first half of 2024, there is an upsetting difference that is just too huge to ignore. As per reports, Monday Night RAW has achieved an average sale of 13,100+ tickets per show, and Friday Night SmackDown’s sale is 12,600+ tickets. But, All Elite Wrestling’s weekly shows haven’t even sold half of what WWE’s weekly shows have done in the first half of the year.
AEW Dynamite has done an average sale of 3,050+ tickets per show, and the sale for AEW Collision has been 2,750+ tickets per show in the first six months of 2024. Such a massive difference between the attendances showcases how WWE is currently doing way better than what All Elite Wrestling has been performing. Looking at this, it’s safe to say that Tony Khan’s company is not even close to beating WWE anymore.
Fans believe AEW is at fault for its downfall
As soon as these stats made their way to social media, the professional wrestling audience started sharing its reaction to this revelation. Moreover, most of the fans shared their belief that AEW is at fault for its downfall. Pointing out how these low ticket sales are a result of AEW’s tactics, someone wrote, “It’s their own fault if we are being honest.” ( Via: X)
Sharing how this shows how WWE and All Elite Wrestling are not the same in terms of performance, an audience member said, “Literally no competition.” Another member of the WWE Universe wrote, “10k difference is huge.” “God damn that’s brutal,” a pro wrestling enthusiast commented while sharing how having such a massive difference between ticket sales is a huge statement.
AEW is way behind WWE despite signing some of the biggest free agents
While fans’ responses give us an idea that they believe that AEW’s recent downfall is a result of their own tactics, it’s important to remember that Tony Khan has tried a lot of things to make the ratings and ticket sales better. From Kazhuchika Okada to Sasha Banks (Mercedez Mone), All Elite Wrestling has been able to sign some of the biggest names from the industry in recent months.
But, despite signing some of the biggest free agents from the professional wrestling industry, AEW has been left behind by WWE. Its not that the promotion hasn’t tried changing their way of booking, but the thing is that the changes they have made haven’t really received that great of a response from the audience, which is why their performance hasn’t improved that much.
Amid poor crowds and sales, many fans have even questioned Tony Khan’s abilities as a booker, wondering if he’s really worthy enough of running All Elite Wrestling. As the ticket sales statistics reveal how badly AEW is suffering, it is probably high time that the promotion makes some major changes to improve their performance. Thus, it’ll be interesting to see what the future holds for the Tony Khan-led promotion.