Backstage Update On The All In 2023 Attendance – Did AEW Inflate The #’s?

Did All Elite Wrestling inflate their attendance numbers for the All In 2023 pay-per-view event, which took place on August 27th from Wembley Stadium?

Brandon Thurston of WrestleNomics recently reported on a public records request about the attendance for AEW All In 2023. Earlier today, the Freedom of Information office for the Brent Civic Centre responded to the original request with the following statement:

“The actual numbers registered entering [Wembley] Stadium through the turnstiles was 72,265 – this is reflective of what attended on the night and not the total number of tickets sold or no-shows etc.”

It’s worth noting that AEW has said all along that the paid attendance for the event was 81,035. If that is true, it would have been a new worldwide record for pro wrestling.

WrestleTix previously announced that the number of tickets distributed for All In 2023 was 83,131.

The WrestleNomics report states that a “typical AEW event has a drop count (also known as a “turnstile count”) that is about 80% to 90% of the paid attendance or tickets distributed.” In this case, 72,265 is 89% of 83,131.

So while it remains to be seen whether 81,035 tickets were actually sold, it is known that 72,265 people did walk through the turnstiles. With that being said, over 10,000 no-shows seems a bit high. Of course, there are also scalpers out there who may not have been able to sell the tickets they purchased.

Source: eWn

Jack Perry & CM Punk Are Suspended From AEW

CM Punk and Jack Perry have been suspended from All Elite Wrestling, Sports Illustrated has confirmed.

Punk and Perry had a physical altercation at last weekend’s AEW All In event and neither man attended the post-All In afterparty.

Perry made a reference to using real glass during his Zero Hour with Hook, in a nod to Punk taking issue with him wanting to use real glass for a segment on AEW Collision.

The two men reportedly pushed each other backstage before Punk used a chokehold, while Punk’s All In opponent Samoa Joe tried to mediate the situation.

Following All In, it was reported that there was a belief among talent that both men had been suspended, pending an investigation into the matter.

Sports Illustrated has since confirmed this report, stating,

CM Punk and Jack Perry have both been suspended for an altercation before the start of the All In pay-per-view, Sports Illustrated has confirmed.

Bryan Alvarez has also reported that both men have been suspended and will face an investigation into what transpired in Wembley.

Source: eWn

Major Backstage Update On The CM Punk-Jack Perry Fight

As you all know by now, CM Punk and Jack Perry were involved in a physical confrontation at Sunday’s AEW All In 2023 pay-per-view event.

According to a report from PW Torch, CM Punk was threatening to quit All Elite Wrestling in the “heat of the moment.” Punk was said to have been incredibly frustrated backstage after the incident and was fiercely defending himself.

Multiple sources say CM Punk has made it crystal clear that he wants a drama-free locker room environment, which is something he has largely achieved on AEW Collision due to the fact that there’s a lot of people he likes working on the brand. Of course, there have been a few exceptions. It’s become abundantly clear that Punk controls the Collision locker-room and is able to put restrictions on who is and isn’t allowed to be in it.

The report notes that several people on the AEW production team were notified at the last minute that they may have to change the match order of All In 2023 because of the incident. Of course, CM Punk and Samoa Joe kicked off the show and the incident came just minutes beforehand. There was brief concern that there’d have to be a delay in the start of the show as they scrambled to get the graphics ready for a different match. It was said that Punk was quickly able to regroup and the match went on as scheduled.

As far as the altercation itself is concerned, it is said that CM Punk was watching the Jack Perry vs. HOOK “Zero Hour” kickoff match on a monitor backstage. So clearly, he heard Perry’s comments about the limo windshield being “real glass.” Punk reportedly asked Perry if there was a problem when he came through the curtain. Perry told Punk that he started something online a few weeks ago and if he had a problem with what he said on camera, he should “do something about it.” This led to a shoving match between both men and an eventual choke by CM Punk. There are conflicting reports as to whether a punch was thrown.

The belief is that the online incident Perry was referring to has to do with Punk’s camp purposely leaking the glass incident story to make Perry look bad. As we previously reported here on eWn, the two men got into a verbal altercation after Punk told Perry that’s not something they do on the Collision brand and if he had a problem with it, he could go back and work Wednesdays. Sources from CM Punk’s side say he was simply providing “veteran wisdom” to steer him away from that type of violence.

Perry reportedly believes that the story being leaked was done by CM Punk and his camp to “show him up or embarrass him.” This is the reason why he used the “Zero Hour” pre-show to “fire back” with some unscripted and unapproved comments.

One veteran wrestler stated that AEW President Tony Khan has no control and has fostered an environment where younger wrestlers feel that they are free to “go into business for themselves.” Another veteran wrestler says Punk overreacted here and should have let it go.

At this point, most of the blame for this latest incident is being placed on Jack Perry, although there are others who feel otherwise because they’re close to CM Punk. But overall, it was said that Jack Perry knew exactly what he was going to get himself into with his unscripted comments.

Many people in AEW are upset over the incident and believe everyone should have been talking about what they accomplished with All In 2023.

Finally, there is an internal investigation underway and both men are reportedly suspended from All Elite Wrestling for the time being. Most believe Perry will face more ramifications than Punk.

Source: eWn

CM Punk Reportedly Escorted To His Locker Room By Security Following AEW All In Match, Jack Perry Was Ordered To Leave

Before CM Punk’s match against Samoa Joe at the All In pay-per-view, Punk and Jack Perry got into an altercation. According to the latest reports, there was allegedly shoving between the two, and Punk had either punched or tried to choke out Perry. The newest episode of the “Wrestling Observer Radio” podcast has given more insight into what happened to Punk after he defeated Joe and went backstage.

“He [CM Punk] goes to the backstage area and immediately there is security there and security escorts CM Punk back to his dressing room,” said Bryan Alvarez. “Jack Perry was then told to leave and he was removed from the building [Wembley Stadium]. CM Punk stayed in his dressing room with security, for I’m not sure how long, but eventually security came and removed him from the building.”

According to a report from Pwinsider, Jack Perry was told to leave the AEW All In 2023 pay-per-view event following his backstage altercation with CM Punk.

CM Punk has remained backstage at the show. Perry was escorted out of Wembley Stadium by security.

Additionally, it is believed that Perry struck first in the altercation and instigated things. Multiple sources have now confirmed that Perry was “caught in a choke.”

During the post-media scrum, AEW CEO Tony Khan acknowledged the altercation and stated there was an ongoing investigation. However, Khan said he would not comment further on the matter.

Punk faced Samoa Joe in the opening match of the All In show, defeating the ROH World Television Champion, while Perry lost the FTW Championship to Hook.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

CM Punk/Jack Perry Altercation At AEW All In 2023

There was a backstage altercation between CM Punk and Jack Perry at the AEW All In 2023 pay-per-view event in London, England.

According to a report from Fightful Select, the altercation took place just before CM Punk made his way to the ring for his match with Samoa Joe in the opening match on the main show. Just prior to that match, Jack Perry faced off against HOOK on the “Zero Hour” pre-show. During that match, Perry made a very clear reference to his previous backstage altercation with Punk at a recent AEW Collision TV taping. Jack Perry looked directly in the camera while doing a spot involving a car window, saying, “It’s real glass! Cry me a river!” It has been well-documented that Perry wasn’t happy with the situation that took place on AEW Collision where he wanted to use real glass for a spot. CM Punk told him that wasn’t happening and if he had a problem with it, he could go back and work Wednesdays.

One story making the rounds at the AEW All In 2023 pay-per-view event is that Perry approached Punk backstage just before his match and “stepped in his face,” where he then reportedly “bumped” Punk. Following the bump, CM Punk pushed Perry. This led to Perry charging back at Punk and it was said that he “got choked.” As of this writing, there is no word on what kind of choke it was or who broke up the fight. Multiple sources confirm that things did get physical between the two men.

It’s worth noting that this is just one side of the story. Additionally, there was a misconception regarding Perry and Punk’s previous argument earlier in the summer, as reports said Perry was allegedly told he should try “to not come back to work the next week.” This was due to a pre-planned and pre-approved vacation.

Source: eWn

AEW All In 8/27/2023 (Results)

Tony Schiavone got on the ring to thank the fans for welcoming AEW to London but he was swiftly interrupted by Jeff Jarrett and his crew. Jarrett got on the mic and started running down the crowd saying that the United States paved the way for this event, not England. This led to Paul Wight and Anthony Ogogo interrupting and bringing with them Grado. Paul Wight knocked out Satnam Singh and the threesome decimated Jarrett’s crew ending with a guitar shot on Jarrett by Grado. 

ZERO HOUR — TAG TEAM MATCH FOR THE ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP:
Better Than You Bay-Bay (MJF and Adam Cole) def. Aussie Open (Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher) (c) to become new ROH World Tag Team Champions

ZERO HOUR — FTW CHAMPIONSHIP:
Hook def. Jack Perry (c) to become new FTW Champion

ALL In

“REALWORLD CHAMPIONSHIP:
CMP (c) def. Samoa Joe

Bullet Club Gold (Juice Robinson and Jay White) and Konosuke Takeshita (with Don Callis) def. The Golden Elite (Kota Ibushi, Kenny Omega, and “Hangman” Adam Page)

AEW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP:
FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) (c) def. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson)

The champs offer a handshake to the Bucks after the match, but the challengers refuse to show such sportsmanship as they leave the ring, allowing the champs to celebrate.

STADIUM STAMPEDE MATCH:
Eddie Kingston, Penta El Zero Miedo, and Best Friends (Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor, and Trent Beretta) def. Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta), Santana and Ortiz

FOUR-WAY MATCH FOR THE AEW WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP:
Saraya def. Tony Storm, Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. and Hikaru Shida (c) to become the new AEW Women’s World Champion

Saraya hits Storm with the Knight Cap! Baker is still focused on Shida as Saraya covers Storm…and gets the pin and the win to become the new champion.

Saraya gets her chance to celebrate the big win in front of an approving crowd at Wembley!

Sting and Darby Allin entered the stadium to Metallica’s Seek & Destroy,

TAG TEAM COFFIN MATCH:
Darby Allin and Sting def. Swerve Strickland and Christian Cage

Chris Jericho performs “Judas” with Fozzy

Will Ospreay def. Chris Jericho

Ospreay celebrates his win as we see Sammy trying to check in on Jericho…only for the Ocho to push Sammy away, leaving the ring with Guevara left alone to wonder what’s next.

AEW WORLD TRIOS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens and Max Caster) and “Bad Ass” Billy Gun def. House of Black (Malakai Black, Buddy Matthews, and Brody King) (c) to become new AEW World Trios Champions

AEW World Champion MJF was carried down the ramp as an orchestral version of his music played

AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP:
MJF (c) def. Adam Cole

Standing count begins in the ring as both men slowly get back to their feet…shouting for a DOUBLE CLOTHESLINE that ends up connecting! They…they cover each other!? The ref counts it, and calls for the bell as this is being ruled as a draw!

Just as soon as Roberts make the announcement, however, Cole grabs the mic demanding five more minutes from the champ just like at their World Title Eliminator match months ago. Max says no…because five minutes isn’t enough! We’re going till there’s a winner in f–king Wembley!

The bell rings and we go right back into this match….but the ref gets knocked out! This drives MJF to grab a chair from ringside…only to toss it into the hands of Adam Cole! They play hot potato with the chair, waiting to see who gets “caught” by the ref as Cole drops to the canvas…and MJF wraps the chair around his neck before hitting the canvas himself!

The ref is finally up and finds himself arguing with Cole before MJF takes the chair off, rolling Cole up for a nearfall! This is followed by the Heatseeker for another nearfall! The match ends up on the apron now…with Cole catching the champ with a straightjacket German suplex onto the apron! Count begins as Cole debates his next move, deciding to hit the champ with a Panama Sunrise onto the floor!

Ref has the count going as Cole brings MJF into the ring…and STILL only gets a nearfall when he makes the cover! Ref checks on MJF as Cole gets to the corner, but he drags the champ back toward the corner as he sets up for another Panama Sunrise…but MJF pulls the ref in, and HE takes a Panama Sunrise instead!

MJF reaches down deep, pulling out the Dynamite Diamond Ring as he gets to his feet. Max seems uneasy about what he wants to do as Cole tries to wake the ref up. Max decides better of it, putting the ring back as Roderick Strong runs in, giving the champ a low blow before leaving! Strong tells Cole to go for the Panama Sunrise, and Cole obliges…but the ref is still out as Cole drops the Boom on the champ!

Cole with the cover, but the ref is STILL out before finally stirring…a slow, slow count leads to the champ narrowly kicking out! Strong throws the title into the ring toward Cole, telling his best friend to do what he needs to…as Cole removes his team t-shirt, focusing on his own intentions as he picks the belt up!

MJF is on his knees as Cole sizes him up…but he throws the title out of the ring! Strong is angry as he leaves the ringside area. Cole yells at Strong as he turns his attention to MJF…who catches him with a small package as the ref makes the count! MJF gets the pin and the win in our main event to retain the AEW World Championship!

Post match:

Cole is beside himself, crawling to the corner to process what just happened as Max tries to cheer Cole up saying these people still love him. Crowd chanting to hug it out as Max tells Cole to “watch this,” grabbing the ROH World Tag Team Championship belts from ringside as he reminds Cole we still have those…but Cole shoves the titles out of the ring!

Max is livid about this, running Cole down before throwing the AEW World Champinoship at Cole and telling him to do what he wants to with it as Strong returns to rile Cole up into doing the dirty deed…but Cole cannot bring himself to do it! Cole drops the title much to the chagrin of Strong…and the ROH World Tag Team Champions hug it out!

Confetti pours out as friendship prevails at the end, The Kingdom holding back a furious Roderick Strong as we get a huge display of pyro to celebrate one hell of a wrestling event for everyone involved. The commentary thanks fans for watching before revealing that we will be BACK in Wembley next year!

AEW All In 8/27/2023 (Card)

AEW presents All In from Webley Stadium in London England, billed as The Biggest Event in Wrestling History.

The main card will begin at 6 pm BST which is 1 pm EST on Sunday, August 27, 2023. There will also be a Zero Hour show starting at 5 pm BST/12 noon EST. 

CARD

AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP:
MJF (c) vs. Adam Cole

TAG TEAM COFFIN MATCH:
Darby Allin and Sting vs. Swerve Strickland and Christian Cage

FOUR-WAY MATCH FOR THE AEW WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP:
Hikaru Shida (c) vs. Toni Storm vs. Saraya vs. Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.

AEW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP:
FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) (c) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson)

The Golden Elite (Kota Ibushi, Kenny Omega, and “Hangman” Adam Page) vs. Bullet Club Gold (Juice Robinson and Jay White) and Konosuke Takeshita (with Don Callis)

STADIUM STAMPEDE MATCH:
Eddie Kingston, Penta El Zero Miedo, and Best Friends (Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor, and Trent Beretta) vs. Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta), Santana and Ortiz

“REALWORLD CHAMPIONSHIP:
CMP (c) vs. Samoa Joe

Will Ospreay vs. Chris Jericho

AEW WORLD TRIOS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
House of Black (Malakai Black, Buddy Matthews, and Brody King) (c) vs. The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens and Max Caster) and “Bad Ass” Billy Gun

ZERO HOUR — TAG TEAM MATCH FOR THE ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP:
Aussie Open (Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher) (c) vs. Better Than You Bay-Bay (MJF and Adam Cole)

ZERO HOUR — FTW CHAMPIONSHIP:
Jack Perry (c) vs. Hook

Paul Wight Gives Health Update, Teases AEW All In 2023 Appearance

In a recent interview with DAZN Wrestling, Paul Wight (formerly The Big Show) provided an update on his fitness status following the knee surgery he underwent last year.

Wight described the intense recovery process and teased an appearance at AEW All In 2023 at Wembley Stadium.

You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:

On bouncing back from his knee surgery in 2022: “It’s amazing how difficult the knee is versus the hip. I think when I had my hips done, they came along a lot stronger, a lot faster. The knees are a lot more difficult. The rehab’s a lot more intensive. The pain afterward is a lot more intensive. They told me that going into it, but I didn’t believe them. But yeah, it’s been pretty intense. I’ve got full range of motion. I have more range of motion with my fixed knee than I did with my knee before. I’ve got 136-degree flexion and I’ve got zero [degree] straightening, so I’m above average. My knee hasn’t moved that good in 14 years.”

On when audiences can expect to see him back in the ring: “I would have to say if I was a betting person because I’m not allowed to stooge, I’d say the odds are pretty good that I’ll be here at Wembley… If I’m a gambling man, which I’m not, I would bet very strongly that there’s a high, high probability that Captain Insano will probably make it to Wembley.”

Source: eWn

Report – Rey Fenix Pulled From AEW All In 2023 Match

Rey Fenix will no longer be appearing in the Stadium Stampede match at Sunday’s All In 2023 pay-per-view event.

Fightful Select is reporting that Fenix, who was originally set to team with Eddie Kingston, Penta and Best Friends against the Blackpool Combat Club and several mystery partners, has been removed from the bout.

The reason for Fenix’s removal is related to either travel or visa issues. He is reportedly not injured. The company is planning to explain Fenix’s removal from the match on this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite.

As of this writing, there is no word on who will be replacing Rey or whether the match will be adjusted with less competitors taking part in it.

On Tuesday’s media conference call to promote AEW All In 2023, AEW President Tony Khan stated that there would “probably be some other changes to the card necessitated by things happening in the real world. Stuff, in some cases, stuff that is nobody’s fault, but stuff that is not related to the world of professional wrestling.”

Source: eWn

AEW ALL IN 2023 Passes WrestleMania 32 Paid Attendance Record

AEW ALL IN 2023 is breaking records left-and-right.

Wrestle Tix is reporting that the highly-anticipated premium live event has sold 80,846 tickets for the show scheduled for Wembley Stadium in London, England on August 27, 2023.

The mark passes WWE’s record that was established at WrestleMania 32 in Texas for paid attendance.

AEW is currently set up for 85,000 seats for their ALL IN 2023 premium live event, however it is expected that they will continue to open up as many additional seats as they can.

Source: Rajah.com