Tony Khan: AEW Grand Slam Australia ‘one of our biggest gates’ in company history

AEW’s impending debut in Australia is already a major financial success according to Tony Khan.

The AEW head spoke with a local podcaster ahead of this Saturday’s Grand Slam Australia in Brisbane, saying that the show will be “one of our biggest international events ever” and “one of our biggest gates in the history of AEW.”

He then added, “Outside of (All In from London’s Wembley Stadium), this is going to be, I believe, our biggest international live gate of all-time.” He did not reveal the current number.

AEW has run internationally several times including twice in the aforementioned Wembley Stadium, drawing over $10 million for 2023 and over $6 million for 2024. In June 2023, they broke their all-time record at the time with $1.3 million for Forbidden Door in Toronto, Canada. The company has also held international TV tapings in other Canadian cities in addition to Cardiff, Wales.

As far as why Brisbane was the destination for their first even in Australia, Khan, who has never been to the country before, said the city and the “great promoters here” wanted to bring in AEW and that it was “really important to them” to do so. It’s believed they are receiving financial incentives for the event which was originally set to take place inside Suncorp Stadium but was moved to the indoor Brisbane Entertainment Centre for undisclosed reasons.

Khan also put over their relationship with Disney as AEW airs on ESPN in the country.

Two hours of the show will be shown domestically on TNT and Max following NBA All-Star Weekend coverage with more matches expected to air on next Thursday’s Ring of Honor TV.