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00:00What a great time to be with all of you,
00:03because there are so many great things happening in AEW.
00:06Again, it was a hard-hitting night of pro wrestling,
00:09but we have a lot to celebrate.
00:11It's a great time in the company.
00:13It's great to see all of you.
00:14This is the one-year anniversary of the first ever HBO Max pay-per-view.
00:20Last year on All Out, we started the HBO Max pay-per-view era.
00:25I can definitely tell you that All Out 2026 is way up year-over-year
00:30over the original All Out,
00:32and that is very representative of AEW in 2026.
00:36Our pay-per-views have been doing fantastic numbers.
00:39This was a sold-out live show on HBO Max.
00:43Again, way up year-over-year over last year's All Out.
00:48Now I'll stay, and I want to make sure all of you get to ask a question.
00:52I really appreciate you all being here.
00:54And then I'm going to catch a plane back to Jacksonville
00:57for the Jaguars-Patriots game tomorrow.
00:59All right.
00:59Go Jags.
01:00Go Jags.
01:03Raise your hand if you have a question.
01:05Start.
01:08How are you doing, Tony?
01:09How are you doing, Renee?
01:09Hi.
01:10Gerard Brown with Nefarious Media Network through Post Wrestling.
01:13My question to you is, I noticed that you acquired the New Day,
01:17the new level, the new level recently.
01:20And so with that, they have had a very big online presence,
01:24whether it's in the video game space,
01:26whether it's through their YouTube channels and whatnot.
01:28I know that recently their YouTube channel for the last few months
01:31has been kind of defunct or kind of cold at that point.
01:34Is there any chance that you all are going to be reaching out
01:37to try to acquire that channel back?
01:39Or if not, are you all looking to have a new channel
01:43where they can have awesome, awesome Creed and Kofi
01:46have that same video game nerd presence for your roster?
01:50Well, I definitely want them to have a big digital presence for us.
01:53As far as that YouTube channel, I can't speak to that.
01:56I don't really know about the ownership of their YouTube.
01:58I definitely want them to have a big presence.
02:00And as you can see, they've been a big fixture on AEW since they arrived.
02:05Just last month, they've been on the show every week.
02:08They've been defending the championship.
02:09And I thought tonight was their best match yet here in AEW.
02:13What a great trios title match.
02:16There's so much history in AEW and even here in this building
02:19and at all out between Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland.
02:22So very cool to come back here to Chicago
02:24and see Hangman and Brodito, the former champs,
02:27have an incredible match versus Swerve and the new level.
02:31And the new level are going to be a huge part of AEW every week.
02:35And as far as their digital presence,
02:37they are going to be a big part of the AEW digital team.
02:40You know, this all came together very quickly.
02:43I really did all the things above board.
02:46I waited for the 90 days to expire before I started talking to them.
02:51And it's been amazing.
02:53They've fit into AEW so quickly,
02:55but this all came together very quickly.
02:58and their arrival at All In was a fantastic way to start the show.
03:02and now their first defense on pay-per-view as world champions
03:06was an incredible success.
03:09So I'm really glad to have the new level here.
03:11And for sure, they're a big part of the AEW team
03:14and that is TV, pay-per-view, live events, digital.
03:18And we're just getting going.
03:20Those guys certainly find a way to create some content.
03:23They, there's no shortage of that.
03:25So hopefully we'll get to see some of that here.
03:27And we'll do it all legally.
03:29Yeah, that's right.
03:30That's right.
03:33Hey, Tony and Renee.
03:34Happy belated, by the way, Renee.
03:35Thank you.
03:36Adrian Hernandez with Unlikely.
03:38Tony Willen mentioned it that tonight
03:40you guys weren't the only option in town
03:42when it comes to wrestling and counter-programming
03:44isn't anything new that you guys have dealt with.
03:46This was a little bit different in the same city
03:49and then going to air against Dynamite later this week.
03:52These recent attempts from the competition,
03:55do you have any reaction to those?
03:57Is there anybody from Fightful here?
04:00So did WWE actually go on the record to Fightful today
04:04and say they were surprised that we did so well?
04:07They said WWE sources?
04:09I was just curious about that.
04:10We had our own show to do.
04:12Somebody call Sean Ross Sapp.
04:12I will get Sean on the phone.
04:13None of the Fightful people.
04:14I was kind of surprised they would say that
04:17because we've done very, very well.
04:18AEW's having an incredible year.
04:20We were Sports Illustrated's Pro Wrestling Promotion of the Year.
04:22Why would they be surprised that we would sell out?
04:24We've sold this arena out many times
04:27and AEW's having a fantastic year.
04:29I think anybody underestimating AEW would be making a mistake
04:34and AEW continues to defy the odds and succeed.
04:37And if AEW's ever been on the mat every single time,
04:40we've gotten up and fought.
04:41And I agree with what Will Ospreay said here.
04:44He went out, had a great main event with Jon Moxley,
04:46and from start to finish, All Out was an amazing event.
04:49So I was surprised when I read that WWE sources commented
04:53they were surprised themselves that AEW All Out performed very well.
05:00The pay-per-view did great, and the show sold very well.
05:03And so I don't know why anybody would underestimate AEW.
05:07We're having a great year in 2026.
05:08And we had a great 2025, and I think this year has been even better.
05:14Hey, Tony, everybody. How's it going?
05:17Great. Really good.
05:18What a great head of hair you got.
05:19Thank you. I appreciate it.
05:20Yeah, look at that thing.
05:21It's good.
05:22But, Tony, this is a question for you.
05:24I'm just curious.
05:25When it comes to scouting young up-and-coming talent,
05:28what do you particularly look for?
05:31There's not any one attribute that makes a great professional wrestler.
05:37There are so many skills that come together to make a great wrestler.
05:42Certainly you want to see a wrestler that has presence,
05:45that can have great matches, that can connect with a crowd,
05:49that fit with AEW, and everyone in AEW can wrestle.
05:55And I think that's a huge part of it,
05:57because sooner or later, if you're going to be here in AEW,
06:00you will be called upon to wrestle.
06:02And I think that is first and foremost.
06:08When you join a company like AEW where the best wrestle,
06:12you have to be able to deliver on the wrestling.
06:15I also think being able to connect with fans
06:17and having a presence is important,
06:21but there are so many different ways to connect with fans.
06:23And that's what's awesome about AEW.
06:25You see all different examples of different ways
06:28that people engage with the TV audience, with the live crowd.
06:32There's lots of different ways to do it.
06:34There's no one way to slice this pie.
06:37There's a lot of different ways to cut it up.
06:39And I do think, in the case of AEW,
06:44wrestling is very important,
06:45but there are a lot of different aspects to become a great wrestler,
06:48in addition to the in-ring grappling, high-flying,
06:52and power, and all the different things
06:54that go into the in-ring part of it.
06:57Thank you.
07:01Tony, Ram, you're actually a part of this question as well.
07:04So AEW's done a phenomenal job
07:06on doing mini-takeovers in the cities
07:08that you guys have been going to.
07:09This weekend, we saw a lot of talent at House of Glory.
07:12We had Leo Rush here.
07:13We had Hook.
07:13And then earlier today,
07:15we had a little block party that you guys did.
07:18I know at Double or Nothing,
07:19we talked about at last year's All In,
07:21we had the karaoke night,
07:22which I believe Renee said that she had put that together,
07:25had some hands in that.
07:26I wish I got to do more of that,
07:28because I missed out.
07:29Well, this is exactly what I want to get into.
07:31Is there any chance maybe we throw Renee
07:33into some more conversations
07:34where we can do some more of these fun events?
07:37Because one of the biggest takeaways that we have
07:39from all the things, especially at All In,
07:42the little fan experience we had,
07:43is just being in the same room as this talent
07:45and other fans that love the same thing,
07:48it makes you more inclined to keep showing up.
07:50Can we do more of these takeovers,
07:52have these events where fans are in the same room as wrestlers?
07:55There's more of a personality-based aspect.
07:58I definitely think that's a great part of what we do.
08:00Now, we have a deep team of people.
08:02Renee's already doing a lot of jobs every show day.
08:05I'll sing for you, though.
08:06That's good.
08:06We can get Renee out there.
08:09We have a deep team.
08:10So I do think we've been trying to do a lot of those connections.
08:13Something that's worked really well that was a Warner Brothers project
08:17that they continue to develop and has worked very well is AEW Advance.
08:22And the AEW Advance shows on TikTok have performed really, really well.
08:27And we've seen some really good numbers from the events that not only the live engagement
08:34on TikTok, but also those shows.
08:36So I think there's a lot of different ways to connect with fans.
08:40First of all, obviously, yes, having live events, like you said,
08:45having more in-person events with the wrestlers.
08:48The network also has been coming up with some fun ways for the fans to stay in touch on the
08:55digital side.
08:55But I think you're right.
08:56Like having live events and more things like the FanFest are awesome.
09:01And it's been a part of our recent pay-per-views, these FanFests.
09:04And at Wembley Stadium, there were a lot of great events in London for the fans there.
09:08So I think absolutely, especially with the pay-per-view events,
09:11expect to see more FanFests and more of these kinds of live event experiences outside of the wrestling show.
09:20I actually got to talk to Colt Cabana earlier today about that,
09:24just like talking about what happened out there.
09:26And really the takeaway of the conversation was just how much fun our people had being able to go out
09:30to do that too.
09:31So I know on our side of it, it's fun for us to get out there and hang out with
09:36everybody too.
09:36So hopefully more.
09:37Jungle Jack Perry serving hot dogs out of the bus.
09:41That was good.
09:41I would not eat a hot dog from that man.
09:45I would definitely not eat one from that man.
09:48That's a good point.
09:52Kyle Sparks, Bodyslam.net.
09:55Will Ospreay mentioned earlier wanting to sort of take things worldwide
10:00and continue expanding internationally and so on and so forth.
10:06And a couple of days ago, we also heard Yoda Tsuji from New Japan Pro Wrestling
10:10talk about wanting to have a more equal relationship with AEW.
10:14With Will Ospreay also being a third of the Never Six Man Champions
10:18and presumably having some Japanese dates in his future.
10:23We've also seen in the past the Ring of Honor World title defended in New Japan Pro Wrestling.
10:28Is there a possibility that we could see the AEW World title defended in Japan,
10:32in New Japan, in a situation like that because of Ospreay's history with the company?
10:37I absolutely think that it's possible and it's a great point.
10:40In addition to Will Ospreay's history, we have a great relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling.
10:45It has been something we've done in the past.
10:49We collaborated, obviously, many times on Forbidden Door, but also on Wrestle Dynasty.
10:55And a number of times, top AEW stars have gone over, including Okada this year,
11:01to the Tokyo Dome for Tanahashi's retirement match, which was a huge success for everyone involved.
11:07And I'm really glad that New Japan Pro Wrestling and President Tanahashi had such a successful night.
11:13And I absolutely think that's something that is very interesting.
11:21Now, frankly, if it were to go the other way, I think Okada going back as the champion
11:27after he had such a great showing could be very interesting, too.
11:31So whoever comes out of Grand Slam France as the champion,
11:35they will have a lot of opportunities to make defenses.
11:39And I do think either one of them would be a great person to go back
11:42and defend the title at some point in New Japan, potentially.
11:46I can't speak for either of them.
11:48They're not here right now.
11:48But I do think that's a very interesting situation.
11:52And again, after what transpired here, it's certainly, first and foremost,
11:58I'm very excited now about Kazuchika Okada versus Will Ospreay at Grand Slam France for the world title.
12:04And I think whoever came out of that match would certainly be a great person
12:08to take the title anywhere in the world and defend it, including New Japan or CMLL
12:13or any of our great partner promotions.
12:16Thank you for asking.
12:17And with Suji, I'm still waiting for him to play that round of golf he challenged me to.
12:22We'll put that on TV.
12:25Thank you.
12:27That could be a fair way to have him next year.
12:29I was just going to say we better turn that into a little something.
12:32This is Sean Whipp of the Whipp Show podcast.
12:35Tony, first of all, always a pleasure.
12:37We love you.
12:37Pleasure's mine.
12:38Thank you.
12:38I love you.
12:39Thank you.
12:39I know you get this question all the time, so I will be wrong not to ask this.
12:45So we know there's going to be a gap in April for professional wrestling in America.
12:51Are you ready to announce anything yet?
12:55Well, I think there's a lot of great pay-per-views between now and then.
12:58And we're going to have a great 2027 calendar, just like we're having a great 2026 calendar.
13:06And 2026, I think, has been even better than 2025, which was in so many ways the most successful year
13:13for AEW.
13:13And now I think we've leveled up or hit a new level and so many great things happening in AEW
13:19in 2026.
13:20I think we can make it even better in 2027.
13:23So we have a lot of exciting ideas for 2027, and stay tuned.
13:28But I'm also very excited about the weeks ahead.
13:30We have Grand Slam France making our debut in Paris.
13:34It's going to be awesome.
13:35Renee, you speak French?
13:36Un petit peu, seulement.
13:38Renee's already a huge part of the team, and now Renee, she's going to be carrying us over there.
13:43So it's good.
13:45And that being said, I'm also very excited about going to our next pay-per-view, WrestleDream.
13:53It'll be great.
13:54Going back to Orlando, we had a great revolution in Orlando.
13:59We've had a great World's End in Orlando.
14:02Very interesting.
14:03It was in Orlando where we had those Continental Classic finals.
14:09Actually, that's where Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada met in the Continental Classic final.
14:16So either one of them could potentially be walking back into that arena at WrestleDream as the champion.
14:22Very excited about that and going back to Orlando.
14:25Next year, the Jaguars will be playing our home games in Orlando.
14:31Also, speaking of Jacksonville, we'll be going back to Jacksonville, making our debut at ViStar this year for Blood and
14:38Guts.
14:38Very excited about that.
14:40It's a great arena, and we've never had AEW there before.
14:43In fact, the last time I was there, John and I went to UFC together.
14:48Oh, yeah.
14:49Yeah, it was cool.
14:50Oh, that's great.
14:50Yeah.
14:51It's a great venue.
14:56Hello, Tony.
14:57Jorge Cervera with Fox Sports Mexico.
15:00Well, I'm from Mexico.
15:01We are very happy with Grand Slam and the partnership with the CMLL, but right now we got Andrade, which
15:08can possibly be the AEW World Champion.
15:12He got a great opportunity.
15:13So maybe next year it's possible to get a pay-per-view over there more than the Grand Slam, something
15:20bigger.
15:21At some point, MJF talk about the Aztec Stadium, which is giant, almost 100,000 people.
15:29But it's possible to have something else than the Grand Slam Mexico that maybe we can get a Mexican champion
15:35like Andrade.
15:36It's a great venue.
15:37It's absolutely been tremendous for the NFL, and I think that it could be a great venue for wrestling someday.
15:45We also have a great partnership with CMLL, and we've had a lot of success with Grand Slam Mexico.
15:51It's now, two years in a row, one of the biggest episodes of Dynamite, and that's huge for us.
15:57So having big Grand Slam events like Grand Slam Mexico and now Grand Slam France coming up,
16:03it's a huge part of AEW because the TV is a huge part of what powers us.
16:08It's TV and pay-per-view, so having a mix, it's very important.
16:12But yes, absolutely, I also think that Mexico could be a great home for a pay-per-view.
16:16There's a number of great venues, whether it's the Stadium or Arena Mexico.
16:19I think they would both be great in a number of great venues that I'm looking forward to seeing in
16:25Mexico in our future,
16:28whether it's TV or pay-per-view or maybe both.
16:31Thank you.
16:35Hi, Tony and Renee.
16:36Hi.
16:37My name is Serge.
16:38I'm with the Normies.
16:39And before I ask my question, I just wanted to thank you for making AEW very accessible to new fans
16:45and old fans alike.
16:46Every pay-per-view match has a promo package that builds the story and the fight, and I really appreciate
16:52that.
16:52And you don't price out families for shareholders, so thank you.
16:56Well, thank you.
16:57I really appreciate you saying that.
16:58And I think it's a lot of fun, and the show's a lot of wrestling, but you also do get
17:05those videos, you get the story, you get the recap in case you missed anything on TV.
17:09But I also really am proud that when you come to the show and watch it live or on pay
17:13-per-view that it's a lot of wrestling, and there's stories in there, too.
17:18So thank you for saying that.
17:20The Normies jumped on the buy-in with us earlier today.
17:23Thank you for doing that.
17:24They killed it.
17:24Of course.
17:25We do what we can.
17:26Yeah, it's awesome.
17:26I wanted to nerd out a little bit and talk about Will's entrance with the Assassin's Creed narration from the
17:33voice actor of the game.
17:35And then we also had Kenny's My Hero Academia intro from the other match and from All In.
17:42And I wanted to ask, what goes into making these special entrances?
17:46How much collaboration is there back and forth between the wrestler and the brand?
17:50Maybe you?
17:51I love it.
17:52I know a lot of people love it, and it's something unique you guys do.
17:55Hope to see more of it.
17:56But, yeah, I guess if you could speak on that for a little bit.
17:58Well, thank you.
17:59I'm really glad that you enjoyed those.
18:01And those are very personal to the wrestlers, and it's always great when we can collaborate with outside partners,
18:10especially when it's something really meaningful to the wrestlers in question.
18:13So for Kenny at All In and for Will here tonight at All Out, those were very meaningful to them,
18:22and we were able to work with them and our team and everybody in Nashville in the post-production team
18:28at AEW did a great job working on this with Will for tonight and with Kenny for All In to
18:34make those possible.
18:35So it's definitely a team effort.
18:36And in both cases, with Kenny last month and with Will tonight, those were very personal to them.
18:43And I'm glad that we're able to do things that mean a lot to the wrestlers, especially because in both
18:49those cases, those guys really put their bodies on the line for AEW.
18:52Thank you.
18:56Isaiah Jackson, Crawford Broadcasting.
18:59Last year at AEW World's End, you discussed the end of the year awards and talked about the great journey
19:04that AEW is going to go on to going into 2026.
19:08Of course, now being in September, can you describe what the journey has been like in terms of staying consistent
19:13with the product as well as even dealing with, as you said before,
19:16as you said earlier, dealing with injuries as well as, you know, counter broadcasting as well.
19:20Can you describe what that journey has been like?
19:21Yeah, I think it's been tremendous.
19:23You know, the cool thing about wrestling is with the sport being 52 weeks a year, there's all different kinds
19:29of shows and all different kinds of TV.
19:35You know, there can be a TV show with lots of great matches or maybe one really marquee match and
19:43a lot of great story.
19:44But I do think that we've been putting on great episodes of TV, different kinds of shows,
19:50and especially some of the TVs, especially these Grand Slam events, sometimes can almost feel like a pay-per-view.
19:55And then when we get to our pay-per-views, I think they've just delivered at an incredibly high percentage.
20:00I thought it was an excellent show tonight in my own personal opinion.
20:03And that's how I felt about all the pay-per-views.
20:06And they've been different, different matches and even different kinds of venues, not only different cities and locations,
20:16but really whether it was this crowd tonight and all the history we have in this building and the Chicago
20:21fans always being so electric.
20:23And the now arena, very important to the history of AEW.
20:28And then, of course, Wembley Stadium was so electric for our last show.
20:32Double or Nothing at Louis Armstrong in New York was so great.
20:35We've had some really tremendous shows and have a great connection with the fans at Revolution at the Crypto.com
20:44Arena earlier this year.
20:45Those were great shows, all different environments, different match-ups.
20:50And I think that whether it's our really strong record of delivering great pay-per-view events
20:57or having a lot of great TV shows this year, different kinds of TV shows that have been delivering
21:05and have the viewership of AEW be significantly up for Dynamite and Collision this year,
21:10where both shows are doing more viewers than they were at this time last year.
21:15And it's been that way all year.
21:16It feels like AEW's grown very significantly.
21:19We've hit a bunch of viewership highs that we haven't seen in years.
21:23And years ago, when we did see those highs, that was before we had streaming viewers on HBO Max.
21:29And then on pay-per-view, as I was saying, tonight was the one-year anniversary of AEW on HBO
21:36Max pay-per-view.
21:37We grew, absolutely.
21:40A huge house here tonight for the live fans and on pay-per-view, significantly up year over year.
21:47So I think it's been a great year, and I'm really proud of what the wrestlers are doing.
21:52Throughout the year, there's been different faces, different main events, different big matches.
21:58But something that's been consistent throughout the year is the shows have been really strong, in my opinion.
22:04And I think 2026 will go down, and the books is a great year for AEW.
22:08Thank you.
22:09Has anyone not asked Tony a question that wants to get something in?
22:13Did we do it?
22:14There's a few that have not asked anything, but the question is, do they want to get anything in?
22:18Maybe we already answered it.
22:19Oh, okay.
22:20One more.
22:20We got one more.
22:21Hi, Tony.
22:22Phil from Bleacher Report.
22:23Hey.
22:25AEW started as a company with four pay-per-views.
22:28It's up to 10 with the addition of Redemption.
22:32Talk to us about the challenges of adding more and more pay-per-views every year.
22:37Well, I think that as we expanded, when we started, we did two hours of television every week.
22:44And as we grew the TV, now we have four strong hours.
22:49And I also think in 2026, Collision has delivered so much.
22:54There have been so many excellent episodes of Collision.
22:56And whether it's the wrestlers who come, the fans that watch it on Saturdays, the Colliders, have really come together
23:04this year.
23:05And I think Dynamite has had a tremendous year, and Collision has had a really strong year as well.
23:11When you double the amount of TV you're producing and our roster size, we've really grown the amount of excellent
23:20women and men in AEW.
23:22And I think that our pay-per-view length is very similar to the pay-per-views of what we
23:29did years ago.
23:30But by having so many great wrestlers throughout the year, we can feature more of what you see on Dynamite
23:36and Collision across multiple pay-per-views.
23:38And I also think we've really maintained the consistency.
23:41I thought this was an excellent show tonight.
23:43And overall, I would grade AEW pay-per-views very high this year.
23:48And last year was a big year for us.
23:51We got a lot of accolades from the wrestling media and also the mainstream sports media.
23:58And it feels like the shows have been, to me at least, even better this year.
24:02They've been delivering for the fans, I believe.
24:05And also they've been more commercially successful.
24:09Higher numbers of buys.
24:12Higher live event sales for the pay-per-views.
24:15It's been a really great year of the pay-per-views.
24:17So as we've grown our TV and grown our media rights deal, it has made sense to also expand the
24:25pay-per-view calendar.
24:26And I think it's been very additive for AEW.
24:29It's also every big wrestling TV company in history has gravitated towards having more pay-per-views as they expand
24:40their TV.
24:41As you find you expand your TV product, typically the pay-per-view calendar expands as well.
24:47And it has happened through the boom periods.
24:51And I really think for AEW, it's been very additive.
24:56It's certainly helped our business.
24:58It's certainly helped our bottom line.
24:59And I think we've been able to keep a lot of goodwill with our fans by delivering great pay-per
25:04-views consistently and making it worth the money and making it a good value to the fans when AEW is
25:13on pay-per-view.
25:13And I think that's why we get such a strong return rate from the incredible AEW fans.
25:19And we appreciate you all very much for that.
25:21Thanks for asking about it, Phil.
25:23It's nice to see you.
25:25I think we did it.
25:26I think we did it.
25:27We're good?
25:27Yeah, I think we're going to see you guys.
25:30You guys, thank you for being here.
25:31Thanks for staying late.
25:32I really appreciate you all being here.
25:34As always, I want to make sure that everybody who comes to these scrums gets to ask something.
25:39So thanks for coming.
25:40And a lot of you have been covering AEW since the very beginning.
25:44A lot of familiar faces in the crowd.
25:46Good to see you.
25:47We really appreciate you.
25:48And whether you've been covering AEW since we first started or since the very first All Out, which is incredible.
25:56going back here over seven years.
26:00I really appreciate you.
26:02And it's your coverage and all of you giving us the opportunity to spread the word about AEW that makes
26:09it possible for us to do this.
26:10Thanks for being here.
26:12And to everybody watching, if you got to see the pay-per-view tonight, thank you very much.
26:16I hope you enjoyed it.
26:17We'll see you in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night, live on TBS and HBO Max this Wednesday for Dynamite.
26:23Thank you.
26:24And go Jags.
26:25Go Jags.
26:25Thank you, Renee.
26:26Way to go.
26:27She's the best.
26:27Thank you, everyone.
26:28Thanks, guys.