AEW Going Global Will Allow Them to Compete With WWE

At All In 2024, AEW made two major announcements that could change the landscape of the company. They announced that they would be returning to London for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2025, and will be also hosting a newly turned PPV, AEW Grand Slam, at Brisbane, Australia in February 2025. These are also not the only times that the company will be heading out of the United States in 2025, as they have already scheduled other events. 

These two events will be some of the biggest in company history, and will also play a huge factor in AEW trying to compete with WWE. Even though they have had outside events in the past, these are the most they will hold in a calendar year. As they continue to host shows internationally, more people will be tuning into the product and it will continue to grow. 

Wrestle Dynasty

Since AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door has become very successful in the United States, AEW and New Japan have devised a plan to make an alternative PPV that will be held annually in Japan. This PPV, called Wrestle Dynasty, will feature talents from AEW, NJPW, CMLL, Stardom, and ROH, and will be held in the world-famous Tokyo Dome. 

With AEW having many former NJPW talents on their roster such as Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay, and Jay White, as well as some of the biggest names in the sport such as Bryan Danielson and Adam Copeland, this event will sell very well in Japan. It could even pass the numbers that Wrestle Kingdom does considering that AEW currently has more star power than NJPW. 

This is the first time that AEW themselves are going to have an event in Japan, though many talents have previously worked in the country on New Japan shows. The show will take place the night after Wrestle Kingdom 19, on January 5th, 2025. This means that it will likely be presented as a ‘two-night’ event, and some matches that will take place the night before will have implementations on Wrestle Dynasty. 

AEW Heads to Australia 

The month following Wrestle Dynasty, AEW will be making its debut in another continent as it will head to Brisbane, Australia for AEW Grand Slam. Grand Slam is currently a special Dynamite episode held exclusively at Arthur Ashe Stadium, but with those attendance numbers continuing to decline, it was a good call to move the event elsewhere and turn it into a PPV.

The event will take place on February 15th, 2025, and will take place at the Suncorp Stadium. It will most likely feature talents such as Aussie Open and Toni Storm, as they have yet to wrestle in a stadium in their home country. AEW’s numbers in Australia have not been publicly disclosed, although, with multiple wrestlers from the country on the roster, it’s likely that there is some popularity there. 

AEW Will Once Again Be Competition to WWE