Steve Carrier on February 5, 2025
AEW’s Grand Slam: Australia is just days away, but many fans feel scammed by how the event has been handled. Originally promoted as a stadium show at Suncorp Stadium, the event was quietly downsized to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre due to low ticket sales. Now, it turns out the show isn’t even a pay-per-view, but instead a regularly televised episode of Collision—something that wasn’t made clear when tickets first went on sale.
According to Fightful Select, AEW always planned for Grand Slam: Australia to be a TV event, despite the backlash from fans who believed they were purchasing tickets for a major PPV in a stadium.
“There were a lot of people doubting him in the replies to Tony Khan claiming that the Grand Slam Australia show was always supposed to just be a TV event, but that’s what we’ve heard since it was announced.”
That may be true from an internal standpoint, but many fans were led to believe otherwise. One angry fan reached out to Ringside News to share their experience trying to get a refund after realizing how much the show had changed.
“So I bought tickets back in September. Moment they changed the venue from Suncorp to the entertainment venue, I was pissed and in November I tried to get a refund. Canceled everything—bookings, hotels, flights, etc. And they tried to charge me higher for the tickets I bought to a smaller venue.”
“Fast forward to the start of February, Ticketek was like, ‘We ain’t refunding you, bad luck.’ It took them nearly three months to contact me after me sending about ten emails regarding this. So we had no choice but to rebook flights and hotels so we didn’t waste money for this event. Then to know it’s just an episode of Collision and not a PPV?”
“This is the last time I give money to AEW or believe in the product. Tony Khan is a st booker and organizer, and we have to suffer. Now don’t forget, for the people like myself who paid full price, now tickets are being sold like 2-for-1 or 3-for-1 just to fill a 10K+ arena. Just shows his product stinks.”**
Fans on Reddit’s r/SquaredCircle have also been vocal about their frustrations. One user vented about how they felt ripped off, saying:
“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.”
Another user explained how they convinced their friends to come to the event, only for AEW to downgrade it to a TV show:
“I convinced a bunch of non-wrestling friends to come with me and some to FLY here from across the country… 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.”
One fan was so disheartened that they admitted they wouldn’t be too upset if the show was outright canceled:
“Honestly if they cancelled the show I’d be so bummed out but also would sort of be happy to get my $750 back. Obviously don’t want that to happen but it’s been such a drag that if they did it I’ve already been beat down enough where I’d not care that much.”
Others are swearing off AEW altogether, saying that this event has ruined their trust in the company:
“I hate travelling, money’s tight right now but I figured at least I’d get to see AEW put on a huge show… I’d never go see an AEW show again but honestly I doubt they’ll come back anyway after how this debacle went.”
One fan who invested thousands of dollars into the event is completely done with AEW:
“I honestly wouldn’t go to another AEW show, the amount of money spent on this one show wouldn’t even be worth it with a PPV, let alone what we’re being dished up.”
Adding to the frustration, the venue change to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre means higher travel costs for some attendees:
“Between tickets, flights & accommodation I spent over $1,000 and now I still have to pay for a 30-minute Uber because the Brisbane Entertainment Centre is nowhere near Suncorp Stadium and PT isn’t running out to the Entertainment Centre that weekend.”
One would assume that moving to a smaller venue would at least mean better seats, but that hasn’t been the case for everyone:
“They picked the worst location, did practically zero marketing for it, f* over fans with the relocation and now cut the show into half of what it’s supposed to be. Unless this event ends up making all this s* worthwhile, I will not bother attending an AEW event in the future if this is how poorly they handle things.”**
On top of everything else, AEW has changed the broadcast time for Grand Slam: Australia. Originally set for 8 p.m. ET, the show was moved after NBA All-Star Saturday to avoid clashing with TNT’s biggest night of the year
Tony Khan spoke with Scott Fishman of TVInsider, claiming this was always the plan:
“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.”
That explanation isn’t sitting well with frustrated ticket holders, who feel like they were never given a clear answer about what kind of event they were paying for.
With Grand Slam: Australia just over a week away, AEW is facing serious backlash. Between venue changes, refund issues, last-minute discount ticket deals, and confusion over what fans were actually buying, AEW’s Australian debut is shaping up to be one of its most controversial events ever.
Was this poor communication, or did AEW mislead fans into thinking they were getting something bigger? Drop your thoughts in the comments!
Was this poor communication, or did AEW mislead this many fans into thinking they were getting something bigger? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.
February 5, 2025 1:04 pm
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