The truth about AEW Grand Slam revealed

Tony Khan held the 2025 iteration of AEW Grand Slam at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, on February 15. It was the company's first event in The Land Down Under. Dave Meltzer has now revealed crucial details about the show's performance.

Since it was the first AEW show in Australia, AEW President Tony Khan had high hopes for Grand Slam. Khan and the creative team presented a stacked match card for the event, and, fortunately, it turned out to be a tremendous success.

On a recent edition of the Wrestling Observer Radio, wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer commented on the success of AEW Grand Slam 2025. The official figures show AEW Grand Slam: Australia generated the third-highest gate revenue for the promotion, behind the two All In pay-per-views in London, England.

"This was the third biggest gate in the history of the company," Meltzer said. "I didn't get the final number, but they were at $1.3 million at least on Thursday, two days ahead [of the show]. I mean for AEW that's fantastic (...) in the end, the show was a big success. It was not a big enough success to be a stadium show, but that's a big ask—AEW is not a stadium product, it really isn't. Most wrestling companies aren't stadium products, very few if you think about it." [H/T: Wrestling Inc.]

There was much speculation about Grand Slam's performance in the Australian market. However, going by the abovementioned figures, it was a massive financial success.

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Why did Tony Khan face criticism for AEW Grand Slam?

AEW Grand Slam Australia was originally scheduled for Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. But Tony Khan later moved it to the smaller Brisbane Entertainment Centre. The reason behind this was reported to be disappointing ticket sales.

Fans who had purchased the tickets early were unhappy as they felt that the company overcharged them for a non-stadium event. Some were even upset that despite Grand Slam being AEW's first show in Australia, the company didn't book it as a pay-per-view but as a TV special.

According to Fightful Select, AEW avoided booking Grand Slam as a pay-per-view because the considerable time difference between the US and Australia would have presented insurmountable difficulties for a live event.