How successful was AEW WrestleDream?
The inaugural event took place on Sunday, October 1 in Seattle, Washington as a tribute to Antonio Inoki, who passed away exactly one year prior. This would be the second of 3 new shows to be debuting for the promotion in 2023 along with All In which took place at the end of August and Worlds End being announced for the end of December.
According to a new report, WrestleDream may have been one show too many in autumn 2023. As reported by Wrestlenomics, WrestleDream sold 7,108 tickets and drew a live gate of $533,717. Compared to ticket sales for Revolution [Tickets sold: 7,958 and Gate: $737,010] and Double or Nothing [Tickets sold: 10,478 and Gate: $964,349], this is the lowest-attended pay-per-view of the year based on current data.
It should be noted that data is still not available for All Out, which could be even lower due to the increased interest in All In and the show feeling like an afterthought compared to the Wembley Stadium show. Tony Khan did state in the press conference after Full Gear that the gate was around $900,000.
What Went Wrong With AEW WrestleDream?
While on paper the show had the potential to be more successful, multiple decisions by AEW management hindered the opportunity. The first error was the date of the show itself. Despite the fact that the show was created to honour the legacy of New Japan founder Inoki, many NJPW stars were unavailable that day as the promotion was already holding an event of their own, limiting who could perform at WrestleDream.
The second issue was fan burnout. With All In, All Out and Grand Slam all taking place in a short space of time and fans not used to the barrage of big shows, some felt that a 4th big show was too much and would hold out for Full Gear instead.
There was also the issue of the card itself, which was one of the weaker cards in recent PPV history. Although the AEW debut of Adam Copeland was all but confirmed for the event, the fact that there was no World Championship match as MJF was defending the ROH Tag Titles alone in the main event and multiple matches that felt as if they could have taken place on TV, fans simply couldn’t warrant making the commitment to travel to the show based on the announced card.
Looking to the future, AEW is offering an unbelievably low price for the next pay-per-view event.