Consider this a fandom origin story. I watched the first All In (2018) with my girlfriend. There was a lot of hype around it. Something new. I was excited.
I should note at this point that my girlfriend claimed to not like wrestling. Her Grandpa, like mine, was obsessed with it. She thought it was silly. This wasn't the first hobby of mine that my girlfriend found silly, and I'm sure it won't be the last. But, I'd seen this pattern before; she'd say that something wasn't to her taste, and then eventually I'd catch her enjoying it. With wrestling, she was just your typical mark. It started with her being angry when a heel cheated. Then, she'd start to develop favourites, usually a wholesome babyface like (Hugger) Bayley, and get upset when they'd lose and happy when they'd win. She was hooked, even if she wasn't ready to admit it yet.
AEW was announced, and we watched the first branded PPV, Double or Nothing. Then Fyter Fest, Fight for the Fallen, and All Out. The first episode of Dynamite, then just about every episode of Dynamite, Rampage, Collision, and all PPVs. BTE and various other wrestler VLOGs soon followed. We were All In.
Watching AEW from the beginning, and also watching the supplemental online content, really helped us to connect to the characters and personalities. It's a little bit parasocial, and I know that can come with negative connotations, but we started to care about the people behind the characters. Content like BTE gave the whole roster the chance to show a side of themselves you simply wouldn't get from TV alone. The Dark Order skits, for example, seemed to capture something genuine; it made you want to support people you might otherwise have overlooked. Unfortunately, those same connections meant the tragedies hurt a little more too.
Covid-19 hit in the middle of all this. AEW was barely a year old. Live events were suddenly off the table for most promotions, and wrestling felt unimportant in the grand scheme of things, though that wasn't entirely true. For their roster, and for a large number of independent wrestlers suddenly without work, AEW continuing to run shows mattered. For us, it became something we leaned on. Stuck at home together, it was one of the things my girlfriend and I genuinely bonded over during lockdown. Tony Khan later revealed that they'd had to cancel plans for a show in the UK in 2020, which was a shame because we'd have loved to attend in person.
We promised ourselves, once the pandemic ended, if AEW ever came to the UK, we would buy tickets.
My girlfriend and I got engaged during lockdown. We'd talked about it for a while, and we bought the ring together. Planning a wedding during that period came with a unique kind of risk. The rules were changing constantly, and we knew that whatever we planned could be delayed, cancelled, or restricted at short notice. We pushed ahead anyway, and settled on August 2023. Wrestling found its way into the day itself too. As a surprise to me, in front of our guests, my wife had arranged Cameo messages: congratulations on our marriage from Justin Roberts, Mick Foley, Ryan Nemeth, and Evil Uno. We planned a honeymoon to west-coast America: San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. The choice of location was nothing to do with wrestling, but we did keep an eye out for shows being announced, hoping that there might be a happy coincidence where we'd be able to catch something while over there.
AEW announced that All In would be held in the UK for the first time in 2023, at Wembley Stadium. In August. When we'd be in America on our honeymoon. An unhappy coincidence, the opposite of what we wanted! Technically, we'd be back in the UK just before the show, but as much as it pained us, we couldn't quite make the timings work. So, sadly, we broke our promise and watched the show from home as we always had before.
All In: London (2023) was a memorable show, to say the least. The exact attendance figures were controversial, turnstile counts and ticket sales each telling a different story; an irrelevant dispute to most fans, but perhaps reason enough to not get that figure tattooed on your arm. Regardless, I think it's safe to say that it was one of the largest, if not the largest, attended events for professional wrestling in UK history. There were some incredible matches that night. After having previously retired due to neck injury in 2018, Saraya winning the Women's World Championship in front of so many home-crowd fans was a feel-good moment. In similar fashion, Will Ospreay vs. Chris Jericho was a decent match elevated by Will's homecoming to the Wembley crowd. Unfortunately, news of a now infamous backstage incident would overshadow what was an otherwise fantastic event. The news that mattered most to us was the announcement that All In would return to Wembley Stadium on 25th August 2024.
This time, we'd be able to plan for it. With our first anniversary approaching, it felt like the perfect excuse for a celebratory holiday. A week in London: a nice hotel, good food, a few cocktails, some touristy things, and an evening of wrestling at Wembley Stadium to cap it all off.
Our only other live wrestling experience had been an NXT house show in 2015. We had missed out on front-row tickets by being indecisive about the cost. This time, we were willing to splash out, and I had a generous budget in mind.
When tickets went on sale, I had an early-access code. As soon as the queue let me in, I quickly spotted 2 seats on the front row, and added to basket. I could see other seats vanishing fast. I clicked checkout. It was not until this point that I first noticed the price. £2500 per seat. My budget did not cover that, not even close. I considered it for a minute, but I just couldn't justify dropping that much cash on tickets. No matter how much it meant to us, no matter how good I was sure it would be. Disheartened, I resumed my search, paying more attention to price, and found something about 15 rows away from the ring. £500 per seat. Still expensive, but within budget.
Once the dust settled, I had mixed feelings. Excited to finally be going, relieved to have tickets reasonably close to the ring, disappointed that they weren't closer, shocked at how expensive they were.