8 Times AEW Legitimately Changed The World

Not since WWF SummerSlam in 1992 had a wrestling event taken place at London's Wembley Stadium. Davey Boy Smith's win against Bret Hart remains one of the biggest moments in the history of the Intercontinental Championship, and the 80,000+ fans who cheered on their countryman all played their part in making this occasion one that would live on forever.

AEW deciding to run their first-ever PPV outside of North America at the same iconic venue (its modern update, at least) felt daring and ambitious. That they managed to sell over 71,000 tickets was yet another time AEW showed off their legitimacy. Headlined by homegrown star MJF and his tag team partner Adam Cole. Both men went to war for the biggest prize in the company, and the event is justifiably considered a triumph.

It's a tragedy that backstage shenanigans would be the day's biggest story given how much great action went down.

CM Punk and Samoa Joe put on a classic to close the curtain on their long-running rivalry, FTR and The Young Bucks continued to state their cases to be the best tag-teams of their generation in a barnstormer, and the UK crowd again brought their A-game to give the event the magnitude it deserved.

AEW had been certified as a global entity. That may not have grabbed the headlines on the day, but it is the lasting legacy of the event itself.