Just days after AEW celebrated drawing 25,000 fans for All In: Texas, the company’s subsequent booking decision has drawn pointed questions from Bully Ray. The WWE Hall of Famer highlighted the stark contrast in attendance for the July 17 episode of Dynamite, which took place in a venue with only 1,200 fans.
Speaking on Busted Open After Dark, Bully Ray addressed the optics of running the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, a city he described as one of America’s greatest wrestling hubs and a traditional hotbed for AEW.
“Hangman comes out and he’s got a great pop. Monster ovation. People happy to see him—all 1,200 of them. I’m not gonna harp, but this is for you to decide whether tonight is a victory or not—perception-wise or reality-wise for the company. 25,000 people at All In in Texas. Biggest house in the United States for AEW ever. The follow-up show in Chicago—which nine out of ten people, unbiased people, will tell you is the greatest wrestling city in America, that AEW has run over and over again—it’s been a hotbed for AEW… In Chicago, they did 1,200 people. 25,000 to 1,200.”
To emphasize the perceived drop in scale, Bully Ray compared the situation to a hypothetical move by WWE that he considers unthinkable for the industry leader.
“Could you imagine the WWE coming out of WrestleMania and doing the Manhattan Center? The Manhattan Center’s gonna look good. It’s gonna sound good. But it’s a serious dip in the amount of people interested in going to see this product live.”
While admitting the Chicago crowd was passionate and the venue provided a unique atmosphere for the show, Bully Ray remained firm on his core point. The massive decrease in live attendance, especially following a record-setting event, creates a conflicting message about the company’s momentum. The discussion now centers on whether this choice was a strategic creative decision or an indicator of a larger issue for AEW moving forward.