AEW鈥檚 big surprise
Wednesday night on Dynamite, Tony Khan announced that AEW is running a joint PPV with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW).
The show, titled AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door, will take place at the United Center in Chicago on Sunday, June 26.
The event will take place one week prior to WWE鈥檚 Money in the Bank PPV in Las Vegas at Allegiant Stadium.
鈥淎s the world continues to reopen, I鈥檓 making sure the Forbidden Door follows suit and we can finally give fans the dream event they鈥檝e always imagined,鈥� said Khan, who is AEW鈥檚 CEO, GM and Head of Creative. 鈥淭he United Center was home to one of AEW鈥檚 biggest events of all-time, The First Dance, where CM Punk made his return to wrestling after a seven-year hiatus.
鈥淭his summer, fans of AEW and NJPW can expect the unexpected during this extraordinary, first of-its-kind pay-per-view between our two incredible companies.鈥�
The show will be AEW鈥檚 second PPV in a month, and it is a safe bet that Khan is using the two PPV鈥檚 in a month approach to gauge interest of fans.
AEW presents Double of Nothing 2022 on May 29 in Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena.
If both shows draw high enough PPV buy rates, it is a safe bet that AEW could look to add more PPV events to its 2023 schedule.
After these two events, AEW has two more PPV shows in 2022: All Out on Sept. 4 and Full Gear, which is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 13.
This Week in History鈥�
In 1990 at a WWF TV taping, Roddy Piper fought Rick Martel to a double DQ in a tournament match for the vacant Intercontinental title. The funny thing is that the actual finals of the tournament was taped the night before when Mr. Perfect defeated Tito Santana.
In 1994, Ric Flair defeated Ricky Steamboat to win the vacant WCW heavyweight championship. This was a way to get the title back on Flair leading to him dropping it to the debuting Hulk Hogan three months later.
This week鈥檚 question
Is it a good thing that WWE had so many non-wrestlers on the WrestleMania card? Sean, Monessen.
It depends how it is looked at.
To purists, no, as the show is no longer on PPV and is available on Peacock.
To the wrestlers who don鈥檛 make it onto the card despite wrestling all year long for WWE, no, because they see other people take the spots they have earned.
To those who want the event to feel like a bigger deal because of public and mainstream press, yes, the show is definitely worth it.
Personally, I prefer to see WWE (and other companies) bring in celebrities for specific roles other than having them wrestle matches.
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