10 Incredible Wrestling FIRSTS You Didn't Know About

2. The First AEW Match

First ladder match
AEW

The first match promoted by Tony Khan on an All Elite Wrestling show was - to some controversy - the first Casino Battle Royale at Double Or Nothing 2019.

It was weird; while MJF shined with his immaculate black comedy patter, Luchasaurus broke through with his high spot salvo, and Hangman Page's win brought about the happy ending, the sports-oriented promotion booking Glacier, Tommy Dreamer and Michael Nakazawa was as much GCW as AEW. The messaging was less than ideal.

All In II won't mark the first time that an AEW match happens on British soil, because the very first AEW-sanctioned match happened on British soil.

It all resulted amid murky circumstances; Page was meant to work PAC at DoN originally, but whether through a VISA snafu or PAC's inability or unwillingness to lose as the Dragon Gate Open The Dream Gate champion, the match was shunted, bizarrely, to Wrestle Gate Pro - an indie operating out of Nottingham, England.

This allowed AEW to protect both wrestlers in a carny manner they didn't wish to book on "their" show - PAC low-blowed the ref and storyline "injured" Page - and in parallel not short-change fans who had anticipated the promoted match.

AEW financed it and released it for free on their YouTube channel, and what's more, Page carried the storyline injury into Las Vegas.

It was and wasn't AEW's very first match - a strange start to the promotion's existence.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!