10 Most Important Days In The Creation Of AEW
9. Cody & Meltzer Place Their Bets (16 May 2017)
If Cody Rhodes doesn't leave WWE, it's highly unlikely that he ever goes to New Japan Pro Wrestling, meets Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks, joins The Elite, and helps form AEW.
If Dave Meltzer doesn't tweet this on 16 May 2017, the "what if?" is similarly huge:-
The idea of a non-WWE group accomplishing such a thing was inconceivable at the time. While Ring Of Honor were doing tremendous business, New Japan Pro Wrestling's US expansion was taking shape, and The Elite were one of the sport's most buzz-worthy groups, true competition had been dead for close to two decades. It was a crazy idea.
That didn't stop Cody from responding:-
Thus, the seeds for All In were sown.
It took a while for the show to come to fruition. The potential event went from an ROH pay-per-view to a self-promoted affair during this time, with Cody, The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, Brandi Rhodes, and Stephen Amell all confirmed. December 2017 brought the announcement that they were looking for venues. In January 2018, a 1 September date was confirmed, with Chicago's Sears Center named as the venue two months later, setting the game-changing event's wheels in motion.