How WWE Might FINALLY Bring A Big Four PPV Back To The UK

by Michael Sidgwick
Tony Khan Double Or Nothing
AEW

All Elite Wrestling founder and President Tony Khan also owns an English football club that is perennially close to Premier League status: Fulham. On a recent edition of the company's Unrestricted podcast, the Young Bucks' Nick Jackson revealed Khan's ambition to hold an AEW event in Craven Cottage, the current capacity of which for football is 20,000 - adding a few thousand for wrestling. Referring to it as 'Fulham Arena', in an incredibly American way, Khan told Nick "We're gonna fill this one day with people for a wrestling show".

Less facetiously, once all of this is over - hell, it's wrestling and thus ethically awful, even if it isn't over - the UK branch of this promotional war will be harder to predict than one might expect. Neither side has a fabulous TV deal, and when Sky still held the WWE rights, the ratings were tumbling well below even domestic numbers on a percentage basis. The live events in theory should feel like a novelty, given how infrequently WWE runs over here. This hasn't been reflected in the gates for years.

There's every chance AEW replicates its early novelty of live show sell-outs across the pond, particularly if the pre-Revolution form is maintained. The race to win the UK market is going to start on a more equal footing than in the U.S.

All the more reason for a bit of oil-slick sabotage.

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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 surefire Undisputed WWE Universal 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!