All Elite Wrestling is gearing up for its highly anticipated debut show in Australia next week with AEW Grand Slam: Australia. While the event is being promoted as a televised special rather than a pay-per-view, a recent social media post mistakenly labeled it as a PPV, causing confusion and backlash from fans.
AEW’s official Twitter account initially posted, “We are just 7 Days out from #AEWGrandslam Australia on PPV at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre!” The tweet was later edited to remove any mention of a pay-per-view, but fans quickly noticed the change. Screenshots of the original post began circulating, with comments like “We see those edits” and “When you forget to go in and edit a scheduled tweet!” Some even accused AEW of misleading fans about the event’s status.
A particularly critical fan wrote, “Lmao they said it was never supposed to be a PPV. Tony is such a lying sack of sh*t. One of the worst to ever do it.” Another user speculated that the tweet had been scheduled weeks in advance, suggesting AEW had originally planned for the show to be a PPV but later changed course.
AEW President Tony Khan addressed the situation in an interview with Scott Fishman of TV Insider, maintaining that the event was always meant to be a televised show and that the decision was influenced by Warner Bros. Discovery.
“Yes. Having this be a TV event has always been the plan. That’s something that the network wanted. It’s something the network brought to us recently as an opportunity to follow NBA All-Star Saturday. We saw it as a huge opportunity. It was a great vote of confidence for our partners at Warner Brothers Discovery. It will be one of the biggest nights of the year on TNT. It’s a great opportunity given the lead-in.”
Despite Khan’s explanation, some fans remain skeptical about AEW’s handling of the situation.
The issue about the show not being a PPV began when a fan in Australia, who will attend the show, felt scammed and wrote the following:
“Feeling Scammed by AEW Grand Slam Australia. The PPV is now a Collision TV Taping.
I’ll start off by saying this will be my first live event of any kind, for any sport, music or festival. I was so excited and lucky me I LIVE in Brisbane. Not just a house show, not just a TV episode/taping…. BUT A F**KING PAY PER VIEW. (YES it was reported to be a PPV event on announcement, not a special episode of Dynamite). I convinced a bunch of non wrestling friends to come with me and some to FLY here from across the country.
You’ve probably heard it, ‘Brisbane + a stadium is a terrible choice’ and it IS but that’s whatever, they’ve near sold out the new arena and I for one see it as a huge upgrade. Nearly all seats are now closer, it will be louder, more atmospheric and thankfully now aircon for this insane Aussie heat. That’s when the frustration began and finished with a total slap in the face…..
I was a little annoyed that there have been next to O feuds going into this, I was excited to finally get to see story resolutions LIVE. But hey, we know AEW isn’t quite known for their fantastic story telling but hey it is what it is. We truly are happy to get what we can…. until the recent announcement that the SHOW HAS BEEN DOWNGRADED TO A TV TAPING. From a 4 hour PPV to a 2 hour Collision. That is absolutely such a kick in the balls.
I wondered why and found out its because they are going to get a lead on from the NBA All star show, so they decided to SPIT on us all to snag an opportunity to squish this event into their TV slot to try grab as many new fans/ad revenue they possibly can.
Do we get any reimbursement? A partial refund? I feel totally ripped off and scammed. What went from a 4 hour event with finales to feuds and insane matches has just become a weekly TV taping? This is absolutely shameful and disgusting and I cannot believe this isn’t being spoken about more?
Ergh anyways thank you guys for letting me vent, I truly wanted my live event first time to be special and I’m sure it will still be fun I can’t help but feel a great disappointment. AEW should be getting dragged through the mud for this and I am shocked this isn’t being rioted over.”
AEW has officially announced the following matches for Grand Slam: Australia:
– AEW Women’s World Championship Match: Mariah May (c) vs. Toni Storm
– Brisbane Brawl: Cope (Edge aka Adam Copeland) & Jay White vs. Death Riders (AEW World Champion Jon Moxley & AEW Trios Champion Claudio Castagnoli)
– Kenny Omega & Will Ospreay vs. Don Callis Family (AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher)
– AEW Continental Championship Match: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Buddy Matthews
– TBS Women’s Championship Match: Mercedes Mone (c) vs. Harley Cameron
ROH World Champion Chris Jericho is also expected to have a match, but it hasn’t been announced yet.
