AEW’s dominance with fast selling pay-per-views continues as AEW Revolution sold out in an hour on Friday. The pay-per-view is the promotion’s fourth one since their inception, and is scheduled for February 29th.
It’s also the second one held in the Chicago area, which invokes memories of the old territory system that was in place before the WWE went global. Back then, promotions divided the map up and worked in areas called territories. They were the kings in their territories, often working together to “loan out” wrestlers to each other if there was a good relationship.
There’s always an asterisk
To be fair, there was a reported pre-sale for tickets that started on Thursday for the affiliates of Chicago’s Pro Wrestling Tees. While this puts a damper on the “sold out in one hour” claim, the fact is that most of the tickets sold after the presale sold in the first fifteen minutes or so of Friday’s public sale. The rest were limited view but were bought after being available for forty-five minutes.
It should be noted that the event is two months away, so no matches have been announced yet. That points to the fans’ love of the product to want to go no matter who is performing, and that gives a boost in general to the promotion. This is reminiscent of WWE events where tickets are sold based on the company name and promise of a good show instead of individual wrestlers. Another different from the past.
The C2E2 entertaining and gaming convention is happening the same weekend, and AEW has announced that the two events will be partnering, so that should add another layer to AEW’s fandom and attraction, especially given the blowback the WWE has suffered with the dysfunction of their recent WWE 2k20 release.
Building a legacy
While there’s virtually no chance for the territory system to return beyond a shadow of its former glory, AEW is definitely carving out it’s own niche in the market. Revolution follows Double of Nothing (Las Vegas where they were the first professional wrestling promotion to sell out there), AEW ALL Out in August, and AEW Full Gear in November.
Ever since AEW announced their first pay-per-view, they’ve been compared and labeled as the promotion to dethrone Vince McMahon and the WWE. This was mainly because as fans, we have fond memories of the Monday Night Wars and wanted an alternative we could tune into, and one that would force the WWE into tightening their product and making it less predictable.
So far, AEW has done more for professional wrestling fans than can be explained through graphs, ratings, or even ticket sales. They’ve proven there is room in the wrestling community for a legitimately sized show to exist alongside the WWE, and it’s helped turn the spotlight from the WWE to other, lesser known promotions. In large part to them, more fans have found or rediscovered the NWA (National Wrestling Alliance), Impact (Formerly NWA-TNA), ROH (Ring of Honor), and NJPW (New Japan Pro Wrestling), among others.
They’ve opened the door for wrestlers and fans alike to indulge our appetites and find a love that may have been tarnished or buried over the years since WCW folded.
