Will All In London Be a Repeat of the Original All In?

AEW knew what it was doing when they used the "All In" name for the show at Wembley Stadium. The original All In was a statement. It showed that the wrestling world was bigger than just WWE and that a group of other wrestlers could form a viable alternative. It showed that there was an appetite for another North American wrestling company. 

It also defied expectations. No one thought a bunch of guys from ROH and NJPW could sell 10,000 tickets to a wrestling show in North America. And yet, without any matches being announced, the Elite managed to sell out the show almost immediately. 

Can they do it again? It looks like they can. All In London reportedly has more than 45,000 people preregistered for tickets. If even 30,000 of those people buy two tickets each, that's already 60,000 sold. No one knows how many tickets will be available. 60.000 could be a sell out.

Wembley can hold over 90,000, but there's staging, etc. that will take up some of that space. If they can sell 60,000 tickets in the presale, they could sell over 70,000 once the card is announced.

Make no mistake, that's a monumental accomplishment.

Yes, WWE sold more for WrestleMania and they'll likely sell more for SummerSlam in Detroit. But this isn't WWE. WWE is, like it or not, a pop culture icon. Everyone has at least heard of the company. WrestleMania is well-known as the "wrestling event." People who haven't watched in years still tune in. People who have never watched and will never watch still know what it is. WWE is on a whole different level.

However, it's been a very long time since anyone other than WWE and NJPW sold that many tickets to a wrestling show. WCW's largest attendance (if you don't count events that they ran along with NJPW) was Nitro from the Georgia Dome in 1998. And that had an attendance of 41,412. The highest attendance for any company other than WWF/E was the Antonio Inoki Retirement Show in 1998, which had 70,000 fans. This doesn't count the WCW/NJPW shows in North Korea because, to be honest, people didn't have a choice as to whether they wanted to attend. 

So All In London is a big deal. It's almost as big of a deal as the original All In in Chicago. If AEW sells 50,000 tickets or more, this will not only make a huge statement, but it could bring more attention to the company as a whole.

Again, it's not going to surpass WWE at any time in the foreseeable future. But it's definitely establishing itself as a strong alternative. All that remains to be seen now is if AEW needs CM Punk to fill Wembley Stadium.