by The day that All Elite Wrestling fans in Phoenix have been waiting for has finally arrived! On February 22, AEW will make its long-awaited debut in the city, showcasing its flagship television program, AEW Dynamite, live on TBS from Footprint Center. Speaking with the Phoenix New Times Tony Khan, president and co-owner of AEW, says that the company has been eager to visit Phoenix for years and that it’s one of the best markets in the US for professional wrestling.
“We’ve wanted to come to Phoenix for years. It’s a great town for pro wrestling. It was actually in our plans a long time ago and then we got hit with the global [COVID-19] lockdown,” Khan says. “Phoenix was the first city we circled on a lot of our west coast tour dates in 2020, got pushed back by the lockdown, and we didn’t resume touring until July 2021, and [by] then, a lot of our dates were taken. So we really were very eager to get a date in Phoenix, and we wanted to come to the Footprint Center because it’s one of the best venues in sports.”
Khan says that the visit to Phoenix will help build to the company’s upcoming pay-per-view, AEW Revolution, on March 5. Matches scheduled to take place during AEW Dynamite will include Jon Moxley taking on Evil Uno, Wheeler Yuta battling Orange Cassidy, and a massive tag-team battle royal. Maxwell Jacob Freeman, AEW’s biggest villain and its current world champion, will also make an appearance.
In addition to the exciting matches, Khan has promised to make an “important announcement” during Dynamite, something that he says is “exciting for the company.” Although he wouldn’t give us a hint of what it could be, he did say that there are a lot of exciting things in the near future for AEW.
As a lifelong fan of wrestling, Khan says that he’s always enjoyed the matches and stories, and how they flow together into one show. He’s also excited about how the internet and social media have connected wrestling fans into one community. He says that he still follows along with wrestling on social media, even though he’s not on the message boards and Reddit as much as he used to be.
When asked if Phoenix will get an AEW pay-per-view event in the future, Khan says that it’s possible, based on the great support for their TV in Phoenix and the way tickets are moving. “It’s certainly possible that we’d consider bringing some of our biggest events in the future to Phoenix,” he says.
So, if you’re a fan of professional wrestling and you’re in Phoenix, make sure to grab your tickets to AEW Dynamite and AEW Rampage, taking place at 5 p.m. on February 22 at Footprint Center. You won’t want to miss the exciting matches, the big announcement, and the chance to see Maxwell Jacob Freeman, the current AEW World Champion, in action!
