This past Wednesday on "AEW Dynamite," it was a "burn, baby, burn" ending leading to All Out this Saturday, as "Hangman" Adam Page set fire to Swerve Strickland's childhood home. Now, the fuse has been lit under viewers' excitement to see the Strickland/Page rivalry taken to new heights in their "Unsanctioned Lights Out Steel Cage" main event match. During a media call before the show, AEW President Tony Khan, was delighted by the positive reception from spectators to the concluding moments of this week's show.
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"The response ... has been overwhelmingly positive," Khan said. "I think we have had a fantastic response from the fans who thought this was a great ending to the show. If we were in another line of work, people would be shocked by this. But in wrestling, I think people saw it coming in some way, and still were blown away by it. It was something that made a lot of sense, and it was one of those great wrestling ideas and one of those great wrestling moments. I think that it has helped build more interest in a pay-per-view that has been really coming together fantastic since we got back from Wembley Stadium."
Five years after AEW's initial debut, Khan is impressed with the number of consumers who not only watch his weekly programming but also go out of their way to consume everything that happens in the ring and behind the scenes. He has noticed that the audience profile has changed drastically, going from a niche interest to potentially returning to mainstream success.
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"It's a boom time in wrestling," he said. "This is a golden age for the sport. This is a great time to be in wrestling, and AEW is a huge part of the wrestling conversation happening today ... When you look at that, historically, I think the affinity of fans is at an all-time high."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit AEW with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
