AEW has overtaken WWE as the top wrestling promotion in Great Britain, as fans vote with their wallets
Since the company was founded by Tony Khan in 2019, AEW has made huge inroads in British wrestling following the death of BritWres due to a combination of NXT UK, Speaking Out, and Covid.
The pandemic stopped the company touring the world until 2023, when AEW made the shocking choice to run their debut show in Britain at Wembley Stadium.
AEW All In 2023 was a historic event that smashed any and all records as the UK made its choice for its favourite wrestling promtoion.
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AEW broke the all-time paid attendance record with their debut show in Great Britain
2023 saw history being made when AEW drew more paying customers to a wrestling show than any event in the history of the sport.
81,035 crammed into Wembley Stadium on August 27, 2023 for one of the greatest PPV’s in British wrestling history.
Headlined by MJF vs Adam Cole and featuring Englishman Will Ospreay in a marquee match against Chris Jericho, All In drew a bigger paying crowd than ever before.
Beating out WrestleMania 32’s attendance of 80,709, it broke the worldwide record, as well as Summerslam 1992’s record in the UK.
The only wrestling show with more fans in the building was the controversial Collision in Korea show in 1995, which had 165,000 (forcibly) in attendance under the orders of Kim Jong-Il.
While some have disputed the number, it clearly shows that AEW is the king in Britain, and continues to wear the crown to this day.
Forbidden Door saw AEW break another record WWE had held for years
While All In broke both the worldwide and UK record for the largest wrestling crowd in history, AEW released WWE’s stranglehold on another record with one of the biggest shows ever in London.
AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2025 saw the company ditch Wembley Stadium for the O2 Arena for the Bank Holiday weekend show in August.
A star-studded card featuring the likes of Will Opreay, Nigel McGuinness, and Zack Sabre Jr helped draw over 18,000 fans to London, completely selling out the iconic venue.
This was a record crowd for the arena, smashing the 17,617 fans who came to watch WWE’s Money in the Bank event in 2023.
Having the record overall in the UK and in the O2 Arena proves that AEW is now the biggest wrestling promotion in the UK, which will have Triple H quaking in his boots.