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By Cassandra Cousineau, LVSportsBiz.com Wrestling Writer
Professional entertainment wrestlers are a different breed of athletes.
They climb on ladders, hoist and smash tables and chairs over their opponents’ clavicles.
Often, in front of a crowd that is in on the scripted, high-flying show, it’s the perfect sports pairing with the Oakland Athletics ballpark subsidy tale because both have their dramas.
For the first time since 2019, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) brings a show back to Las Vegas.
AEW holds court on The Strip for not one, but two nights. AEW Dynamite-Rampage kicked things off at MGM Grand Garden Arena Wednesday followed by Double or Nothing event at T-Mobile Arena Sunday.
In between, the promotion has scheduled a Fan Fest back over at the Grand Garden Arena.
“This is one of my favorite weeks in wrestling,” AEW President Tony Khan said on his Instagram this week. “Back where we began 4 years ago,” the promoter noted. AEW became an official promotion in January 2019, leading to the Memorial Day PPV at MGM on May 25 of that year.
As of late, Las Vegas has become an annual summer stop for both WWE and AEW. It makes sense for a sports genre looking to capture international fans. AEW is a WWE competitor, with some wrestlers working for both entertainment outfits — just under different performer names.
Two-time WWE Divas Champion and inaugural NXT Women’s Champion Saraya sat down with LVSportsBiz.com as part of the AEW press tour last week.
“Las Vegas is one of those cities that has something for everyone,” she said. “You have tourists and fans who live here who are all interested in the type of wrestling entertainment AEW brings.”
Dynamite-Rampage and Double or Nothing are just about sold out, according to AEW. Calculating capacity in MGM Grand Garden and T-Mobile Arena, the Strip could deliver in the neighborhood north of 30,000 tickets purchased. Saraya, the Norwich, England born superstar, acknowledged the international reach of Las Vegas.
“It’s unique because you also have a lot of tourism. You have people from all over the world that want to come to this specific place,” she said. “So, when you have events here, a lot more people are going to want to come in to see it. A lot of buildings get sold out from people all over the world here.”
“I’m from England and even with my accent, everybody understands the power of putting on a show in Las Vegas. Fans have been great to me after the neck injury. Even after I needed two years to heal, and make my way back to professional wrestling. I really can’t think of a better place in the world to be competing again.”
The road to before Sunday’s Double Or Nothing PPV features Orange Cassidy vs. Kyle Fletcher for the AEW International Championship, The House of Black vs. Blake Christian, AR Fox & Metalik in an Open House AEW Trios Championship match, as well as Tony Khan’s AEW Collision announcement.