AEW taped its Grand Slam: Australia special in Brisbane, Australia, on Saturday, airing just hours later on TNT.
Originally slated for the 52,000-seat Suncorp Stadium, the event was relocated to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre due to reportedly slow ticket sales. AEW CEO Tony Khan clarified that the show was always intended as a TV special.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer revealed that the event achieved AEW’s third-highest gate in company history, generating at least $1.3 million by Thursday, two days before the show.
Meltzer commented:
“This was the third-biggest gate in the history of the company. I didn’t get the final number, but, you know, they’d passed… they were… they were at 1.3 million, at least, on Thursday, two days ahead. For AEW, that’s fantastic. In the end, the show was a big success. It was not a big enough success to be a stadium show. But that’s… it’s a big ask. You know, I mean, AEW is not a stadium product. You know, it really isn’t. Most wrestling companies aren’t stadium products. Very few, really, if you think about it. And most wrestling stadium shows, historically, you know… Do 15, 20,000. I think if they’d stayed at the stadium, if they did 11,000 here, maybe they could have done 13, 14,000 at the stadium. Wouldn’t have looked as good. But that’s… that’s still, like, for a WWE stadium show historically, is fine, especially for Brisbane. You know, it’s like, I’m sure I… I’d have to look it up. But, I mean, it’s probably… I mean, it was the biggest gate ever in Brisbane, Australia, for wrestling. And it’s probably the biggest attendance in years and years and years. I think WWE… I know WWE did 11,000 many, many years ago, you know, for a show. But, I mean, you look at it, like, you know, Hogan and Flair did 2,600 in that… I think it was in that same building, actually. The show was a success. It wasn’t the success that they had hoped for it to be, obviously, but it’s still a success.”
Despite the shift in venue, Grand Slam: Australia proved to be a significant milestone for AEW, highlighting the company’s growing international appeal and setting a high benchmark for future events in the region.
