AEW to Hold WrestleDream PPV in Seattle on Oct. 1 in Honor of Antonio Inoki
August 27, 2023
All Elite Wrestling is officially expanding its pay-per-view calendar.
According to Aidan Gibbons of Cultaholic, AEW CEO Tony Khan said during Sunday's post-All In media scrum that the company will hold a WrestleDream pay-per-view in honor of the late Antonio Inoki. The event will take place at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle and is set for Sunday, Oct. 1, which is the one-year anniversary of Inoki's death.
WrestleDream will come nearly a month after All Out 2023, which is set for Sunday, Sept. 3. Khan also confirmed that Full Gear 2023 will be held on Nov. 18, so the addition of WrestleDream breaks the long gap between pay-per-views.
"I can announce here for the first time that on October 1 at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, it will be the first-ever WrestleDream," Khan said, per Ian Carey of F4WOnline.com. "WrestleDream, one-year anniversary of the passing of wrestling's greatest dreamer. I thought it would be very fitting and after All Out, you won't have to wait for Full Gear in November."
Khan added that he is hopeful that NJPW Superstars will be able to participate in WrestleDream.
"I'm hopeful, I've talked to them about it," he said. "I think they want to participate in the show and send people and they are very supportive of it and that I want to do something for him."
A legend of the wrestling business, Inoki was the first-ever IWGP Heavyweight Champion and the first Asian WWF Champion.
Khan was in positive spirits after the massive success of Sunday's All In pay-per-view at Wembley Stadium in London, as the show set a new record for attendance at a pro wrestling event with a crowd of 81,035. The event was so successful that AEW announced at the end of the show that it would be returning to Wembley Stadium next summer for All In 2024.
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