Tony Khan Touts Gate For Upcoming AEW Show

What does AEW and the 81st CMLL Aniversario in 2014 have in common? They love drawing $1 million gates. AEW has done that several times throughout 2022, including AEW Double or Nothing in May and AEW All Out earlier this month, and they appear to be poised to do yet another gate over a million, which would be their first one on free TV.

On Twitter Monday afternoon, AEW owner and CEO Tony Khan revealed just how close AEW Grand Slam is to accomplishing the feat. "Surpassed 2021 AEW Grand Slam gate; now SO close to the FIRST $1 million AEW TV gate, after 3 straight PPVs hitting $1 million for the 1st time," Khan tweeted. "I promise you won't want to miss Grand Slam, super card + maybe something up my sleeve LIVE on TBS + tickets." Khan didn't specify just how close AEW Grand Slam was to crossing the $1 million gate threshold at this time. The most recent update regarding Grand Slam's attendance came on Friday, when WrestleTix reported that AEW had sold 11,936 tickets for the upcoming Wednesday event. While last year's Grand Slam taping reportedly sold over 20,000 tickets, the gate for this year's event has been higher, reportedly due to an increase in ticket prices.

AEW Grand Slam, like last year, will see episodes of "AEW Dynamite" and "AEW Rampage" taped, with a five match card for "Dynamite", featuring Jon Moxley vs. Bryan Danielson for the AEW World Championship, airing this Wednesday night on TBS. An eight match card for "AEW Rampage" will air at it's usual time this Friday on TNT, with the show extended from one hour to two hours to accommodate the card. If anything, Grand Slam's upward trending sales illustrate that AEW's fanbase isn't necessarily going to drop off without CM Punk and The Elite actively in the mix.