AEW President Tony Khan has explained that the company might be looking to move All Out from its Chicago home as they explore different options.
All Out was first held in the Sears Center in Chicago, Illinois in August 2019 over Labor Day weekend. That show saw Chris Jericho become the inaugural AEW World Champion when he defeated Hangman Adam Page in the night’s main event.
One year later, and with the pandemic in full swing All Out was held in Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida before returning to what is now known as the NOW Arena in Chicago for 2021’s All Out. On that occasion, Kenny Omega retained his AEW World Title against Christian Cage in the main event but that show is probably best remembered for hosting CM Punk’s return match after his seven-year wrestling hiatus.
Now with a venue yet to be confirmed for 2022’s All Out show, Tony Khan told TSN, while Chicago has been a great home for the event that the company was exploring its options:
“I think one thing for sure is that from the beginning, Chicago has been an awesome market for AEW and I’m very excited about doing lots of shows there. I think All Out is the biggest show we’ve ever done so far before on pay-per-view and it’s another one of our landmark events where we’ve reached our highest highs so far.”
“We’ve got a great history there at the NOW Arena, formerly the Sears Center, in Hoffman Estates near Schaumburg, the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I think we can continue that, potentially, but on the other hand, there’s a lot of places around the world where All Out would be a great show and we’re going to continue exploring options here.”
The significance of the NOW Arena to AEW is etched in the company’s very DNA. The arena was the home to 2018’s All In show that saw The Young Bucks and Cody Rhodes put their money where their mouth was and sell out a ten thousand seat arena for an independent wrestling show.
The United Center in Chicago will play host to AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door in June while WWE is holding their own stadium-filling spectacular over Labor Day weekend in 2022 as they bring Clash At The Castle to the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales on September 3rd.