AEW called out for potential malpractice after Grand Slam 2024's ticket sales witnesses sudden surge - Reports
AEW aired Dynamite: Grand Slam and taped Collision: Grand Slam 2024 from Arthur Ashe Stadium last night. However, according to recent reports, there has been some suspicion about the show's ticket sales.
Dynamite: Grand Slam had some great matchups like Jon Moxley vs. Darby Allin, Nigel McGuinness vs. Bryan Danielson, and also a shocking debut of former WWE Superstar MVP. The show's attendance has been an emerging topic, as according to WrestleTix, the company sold 2,669 tickets earlier this week, and the final attendance was revealed to be 8,191 in a total setup of 8,477.
In a recent edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted how AEW sold 2,000 tickets in a few days, which raised questions about the company potentially using paid attendees. He also spoke about how the promotion might have given away some complimentary tickets to fill the seats.
“I don’t know how much paid was. When you get three thousand in the last couple of days, you know what I mean? That’s a lot. It was over eight thousand in the building though,” he said. [H/T: Ringside News]
Konnan says Tony Khan could be looking to protect his image after AEW WBD rumors
The Warner Bros. Discovery and AEW deal is reportedly in the final stages. Meanwhile, according to WCW veteran Konnan, Tony Khan would do everything in his power to make himself look good after the actual announcement.
Tony Khan has hinted before that the WBD deal could make the company the second most profitable wrestling promotion of all time, and the four-year deal was expected to be worth 170 million dollars annually. In a recent edition of his Keepin' It 100 OFFICIAL podcast, Konnan accused Tony Khan of inflating numbers to save his company's reputation.
"They got a little bit more, right? I'm sure that's not what they were looking for, and on top of that, I still stand by my statement, and I could be absolutely wrong, and this is not being a hater. I wouldn't doubt if they gave him 120 million; Khan didn't put in some of his own money so he wouldn't look bad," he said. [From 02:58 to 03:20]
Warner Bros. Discovery has been AEW's media rights partner since the inception of the promotion in 2019. It will be interesting to see if the two parties announce a new deal in the coming weeks.