AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com
Taking advantage of Wrestlemania week, AEW made three major
announcements.
First, All Elite Wrestling today announced that SAP Center
in San Jose, CA will host AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door on
Sunday, June 28. The groundbreaking event will air live
around the world on pay-per-view and stream live on HBO Max
pay-per-view and feature stars from promotions around the
world including All Elite Wrestling, New Japan Pro
Wrestling, CMLL and STARDOM.
Tickets for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door will go on sale
Monday, April 27 at 10AM PT. Fans interested in early
access presale opportunities can register to become an AEW
Insider by visiting allelitewrestling.com/aew-insider.
AEW's Tony Khan stated “We are excited to bring AEW x
NJPW Forbidden Door to the SAP Center at San Jose on Sunday,
June 28,” “AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door has become one of
professional wrestling’s biggest events of the year thanks
to our incredible partnerships with New Japan Pro Wrestling,
CMLL and STARDOM, and we look forward to fans in attendance
and those watching around the world being a part of
history.”
New Japan Pro Wrestling President Hiroshi Tanahashi said;
“This year sees the fifth AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door and
whenever New Japan Pro Wrestling and All Elite Wrestling
collide, we see great chemistry between the wrestlers and
many memorable moments...This year, NJPW will be playing for
keeps to win more than ever. Our roster is fired up to show
just how exciting New Japan Pro Wrestling is, and fans can
expect a sensational event.”
It's notable that Forbidden Door is running head-to-head
with TNA's Slammiversary, which is scheduled for the Agganis
Arena in Boston, MA. However, every year (excluding last
year because of the early ALL IN Texas, Forbidden Door has
been held on the last Sunday in June. '22, '23 & '24 were
all last Sunday of June. There are also major shows for
CMLL, NJPW, STARDOM in early summer.
Then, for the first time in history, All Elite
Wrestling announced the groundbreaking launch of AEW NFL
officially licensed Lucha masks for all 32 NFL teams last
Wednesday.
The AEW NFL collection became available for purchase
beginning during AEW Dynamite Spring Breakthru at
ShopAEW.com.
Tony Khan said: “We are thrilled for the official launch
of AEW NFL officially licensed Lucha masks. The AEW NFL
collection is the perfect opportunity for fans to showcase
their passion for both All Elite Wrestling and their
favorite National Football League team at the same
time.”
Additionally on Wednesday, AEW and Adult Swim premiered a
new animated series titled "Tales From The Top Rope: AEW
Origins," on the AEW on TV YouTube Channel. The series
features animated, Adult Swim-style retellings of, and
"shocking" wrestling moments. Content: The series is
produced by former WWE writer Nic Collins, and includes
storylines focusing on the origins of various wrestling
tales, featuring wrestlers like The Young Bucks, Toni Storm,
and Darby Allin, It's described as a collaborative crossover
between AEW and Adult Swim featuring an animated, surreal,
"blood and guts to ink and paper" aesthetic.
Double or Nothing has reached the 10,000-ticket mark per
WrestleTix, as of April 14. Louis Armstrong Stadium is
currently configured for just under 11,000 seats so a
sellout in this config is a given. Louis Armstrong Stadium
has nearly 15,000 seats available so capacity could expand
if needed. As for attendance, it already beat last year’s
Double or Nothing in Glendale, AZ which had over 8,000.
Double or Nothing tickets remain available on
Ticketmaster.com starting from $49.50.
Finally, on Thursday in Las Vegas, at the main event of
WrestleCon's Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow, those
attending made their feelings more than known with loud
"Fuck TNA" chants as the result of TNA's Carlos Silva having
withdrawn of TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater from his
scheduled match against AEW's Ricochet citing "partner
conflicts" The scheduled match was replaced with Tony Khan's
help with a six-man tag featuring Ricochet and The Demand
defeating Kevin Knight, Mike Bailey, and Michael Oku. But,
crowd anger dominated, with promoter Michael Bochicchio
calling it a blindside learned online. The withdrawal of
this follows TNA blocking other crossovers like Nic Nemeth
vs. MJF, leaving fans demanding the announced matches over
booking politics amid WrestleMania weekend's indie energy.
At roughly the same time, Thursday's Collision was a pre-
taped show and the Everett, WA audience featured more "Fuck
ICE" chants. AEW and/or WBD aren't editing them out, but the
announcers aren't stopping to acknowledge them either
Until next time...
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