Indie News: Cody Rhodes on not expecting a quick-sellout for ALL IN
What's the story?
A 30-minute sellout was not what wrestling fans expected for the upcoming professional wrestling show, All In.
Among those doubters was one of the masterminds behind the event, Ring of Honor superstar Cody Rhodes.
In case you didn't know
The plans for All In were set into motion when Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter said that ROH wouldn't be able to host a wrestling show with 10,000 fans in attendance.
Rhodes and The Young Bucks responded to that challenge by independently funding All In and announcing a variety of superstars from ROH, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Lucha Underground and other independent promotions.
The heart of the matter
On the latest episode of the E&C Pod of Awesomeness, Rhodes said he didn't expect the venue to sell the 10,000 tickets the day they went on sale and projected less than half of the venue's seats being sold early on.
"I thought 4,000 for the first month and then after that we'd roll out matches and push our sponsors. We had a budget for advertisement and we never touched that budget. So now we can spend that on fireworks or something."
Rhodes talked about the early stages of All In and said the "Bullet Club Parties" he noticed during the ROH War of the Worlds Tour put the idea in their heads to host a bigger show.
He also said one of the reasons why The Young Bucks went along with the idea was because he ensured them that he wasn't using the event to boost his profile for WWE.
"I let them know right away I'm not going anywhere. I'm not looking for this to be my springboard back to WWE. I love WWE, but I wanna try what we're doing and I think they needed to hear that. They needed a real partner."
What's next?
All In will take place on September 1, and will emanate from the Sears Centre Area in the Chicago Suburb of Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
The only match currently booked for the show is the NWA World Heavyweight Championship match between Rhodes and the current champion Nick Aldis (formerly known as Magnus from Impact Wrestling).
Author's take
All In is four months away, but the excitement surrounding the event would lead many to believe the event was happening sooner.
The success of All In can only be beneficial to the wrestling business and add to the history of professional wrestling in the Chicagoland area.