Some WWE Employees Believe Tony Khan Is Buying AEW Tickets To Artificially Inflate Sales Numbers

An interesting theory has emerged regarding the Long Island ticket war between WWE and AEW. Fans have kept close eye on sales for last night’s Raw as well as the upcoming AEW Dynamite and Rampage tapings taking place on December 8 at the same venue. Both companies will have run the UBS Arena on Long Island within days. It’s drawn interest because it’s one of the few direct metrics fans can look at to see which company is doing better.

Last night’s WWE Raw from the UBS Arena drew 5,887 fans with setup of 6,706, according to WrestleTix. For AEW’s December 8^th show at the venue, 8,658 tickets were sold with a venue capacity of 2,983. Had WWE sold more tickets, they likely would’ve opened more sections, so the larger capacity is more of an indication that AEW sold more advance tickets. Today, in a post by Bryan Alvarez to the F4WOnline message boards, a surprising revelation was made.

“You will be surely stunned to learn that there are a few people in WWE who believe Tony must be buying up tickets for the AEW show.”

Alvarez is known to be well-sourced, so there is no reason to believe this information is false. That said, more than one WWE employees believes Tony Khan is artificially inflating his own ticket sales. It seems preposterous on the surface, but apparently there are those within WWE who truly believe it’s happening.

There are plenty of factors that come in to play when comparing the two, so straight numbers don’t always tell the whole story. We do know that WWE offered major discounts for the show, including half-off and buy-one-get-one-free tickets. They also loaded the show, bringing over Roman Reigns from SmackDown. AEW does usually offer a lower entry-level ticket price, so that could play a factor as well.

Tony Khan obviously wants to make New York City market an AEW town. WWE has considered it their home base for decades. Now that there is some competition, it seems paranoia might be creeping in at WWE HQ.

Do you think Tony Khan is buying tickets to his own shows to inflate the numbers? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!