December 30, 2019 Observer Newsletter: 2019 in review, more
The year 2019 opened, literally at the stroke of midnight, with the announcement by The Young Bucks, Cody and Adam Page of All Elite Wrestling.
One year later, there have been more industry changes than in any year in decades.
That announcement was made with all four standing outside the Tokyo Dome Hotel, with the Dome itself looming in the background. The hope at the time was that AEW and New Japan would work together and they would continue to work the big shows in Japan, and when they started on television, they would have access to New Japan stars, similar to the product mix that made the original All In such a big success.
That didn’t happen, and things have not gotten better, even though Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley are working the Tokyo Dome this coming week.
If you said one year later that AEW would average 5,701 tickets paid per event, and average roughly 100,000 buys on three PPV shows, two of which would take place before television, one would be hard pressed to believe that.
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Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.