As PWMania.com previously reported, AEW President and CEO Tony Khan shared during a live interaction with fans at the AEW Dynamite taping on 34th Street that the company initially intended to hold its inaugural episode of Dynamite at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Khan revealed that after the offer was made, the original parties later contacted him and said, “We don’t want you anymore. We don’t want you to do the first episode of Dynamite here, because it would really upset somebody.” Khan is presumably referring to WWE.
Dave Meltzer noted in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter that while he was aware of AEW discussing a date at Madison Square Garden in 2019, he was never informed that it would be for the inaugural episode of Dynamite. Meltzer described the situation as “a non-starter for all the reasons you’d expect.”
Additionally, he mentioned that in recent years, he had been told the costs of running an AEW event at Madison Square Garden would be prohibitively high, making Arthur Ashe Stadium a more economically sensible option for the promotion.
AEW eventually made its debut at Arthur Ashe Stadium with the Dynamite Grand Slam in September 2021, while the inaugural episode of Dynamite was ultimately held at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
