Prominent journalist says AEW All In in India would be a terrible idea
AEW is growing by leaps and bounds. And like every other wrestling faction, there's talk about wrestlers and wrestling events being held in India.
With the AEW All In on the horizon, fans are talking about different venues where AEW can hold its most prestigious event. And one country whose name popped up recently was India.
A Twitter user said that AEW had become a bigger PPV for the AEW and put up options for two countries that could host the games next, India and Australia.
Dave Meltzer, the popular sports journalist who's covered wrestling for decades, was quite dismissive about India as a venue for the program.
Read the tweet:
Dave Meltzer has earned tremendous respect across the wrestling spectrum, and his ranking of wrestling matches makes them legendary.
Very few wrestling matches have earned a 5-star rating from Uncle Dave, as he is lovingly known to his fans.
Dave Meltzer's opinion on India has great weight in the world of wrestling, but he didn't deem it necessary to describe why AEW All In in India would be a terrible idea.
And soon enough, some other Twitter users started giving out pointers on why AEW and India aren't destined to be - as yet.
One post was all about the economy.
@davemeltzerWON Most Indians are poor, and even if the audience is over 100,000, the efficiency is probably equivalent to 30,000 in the US.
Someone else had a real insight.
@davemeltzerWON 100% agreed. Neither people know much about AEW here in India nor they understand the style, I tried showing an AEW match to a few wrestling watchers here they just sat bored and looked not interested at all calling it way too choreographed.
Another wanted some extra information.
@davemeltzerWON Why’s that Dave?
And one Twitter user thought of the other country in the tweet.
@davemeltzerWON Australia is a good shout though.
Don't think they would sell out the 85k or 100k stadiums here, but there's some nice + modern 40-45k stadiums that could go pretty close
And someone else wanted to school Dave.
@davemeltzerWON Would love to know @davemeltzerWON why would it be a bad idea to hold an event in a country of a billion people whose love for wrestling is only superseded by cricket and Bollywood ?
Indians are open about their love for pro wrestling and events are usually packed
India has yet to gain a foothold in the international wrestling scene
Indian entrepreneurs have tried their hand at creating a bustling wrestling scene, with some Indian companies even trying to set up local wrestling factions with the support of TV channels.
Shows like 100% De Dana Dan and Ring Ka King tapped the Indian wrestling market in 2009 and 2012.
WWE started broadcasting its programming in India decades ago and has had its wrestlers visiting India on several occasions, beginning in 1996 and then in 2002 and 2016.
Currently, the Indian audience can access AEW programming via the Discovery+ bouquet of channels when it comes to streaming. The AEW All In program is already chasing some huge landmarks in wrestling broadcasting history.
India is home to some of the most popular and money-spinning sports enterprises. The country is home to the IPL, the Indian Premier League of Cricket, which has on its roster some of the most popular and skilled cricketers from all over the world.
India also has a big kabbadi scene with resources coming together to set up a Pro Kabaddi League, a program that's now being broadcast.
What do you think? Will AEW be a big draw in India? Tell us in the comments section.