Tony Khan Shares Live Gate For AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door 2024

With AEW now well into their fifth year of operations, the promotion's business prospects are being looked at closer than ever before, with concerns ranging from AEW's negotiations for a new TV deal with Warner Brothers Discovery, to declines in TV ratings and attendance figures. But at least concerning last night's Forbidden Door PPV, held in conjunction with New Japan Pro Wrestling and featuring talents from STARDOM and CMLL for the first time in the show's three year history, AEW owner Tony Khan has a lot to feel good about.

Speaking at the post-Forbidden Door media scrum, Khan, sporting his usual cheery form following an AEW PPV, declared that the event had been a tremendous success, especially from a ticket sales and live gate perspective.

"Tonight was not only a great PPV, [but] also a great live event here," Khan said. "Like we said, [there were] over 11,000 fans here at UBS Arena [in] paid [attendance]. And [we drew] over a million dollars [for the] live gate. [It's] really, really special. [This is the] third straight year with over 11,000 fans and over a million dollar live gate, which is pretty cool too."

While the exact attendance figures for Forbidden Door aren't yet known, the event was confirmed to have crossed over the 10K threshold early Sunday afternoon, while Khan had suggested days earlier that Forbidden was on track to top $1 million at the gate. Khan also stated at the scrum that PPV buys were also trending in a positive direction, though the exact numbers won't be known for at least a few weeks.