AEW had an uncharacteristically quiet crowd at AEW All Out because the heat got to them. It wasn't just the fans, though.
Throughout the night, many fans in attendance contacted Fightful to complain about the humidity and temperature at the open air Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida. Fans weren't alone. At the AEW All Out post-show media scrum, World Champion Jon Moxley told Fightful he experienced it, too.
"Shit yeah, I felt that! I'm glad you asked that question. My wife went out this morning and took the trash out and was like 'it's extra humid this morning,' and that was like ten this morning! That was a great sign for today," Moxley joked. "It is HOT. All these tapings. Shout out to all the men and women in AEW out there busting their ass at Daily's Place in the summer. It's hot. Today was especially humid."
In addition to the weather conditions, Moxley expanded on the entrance making things even worse for him before the match even started.
"I had to walk up 37 million flights of steps because the wanted me to do that entrance at the top of the stadium," Moxley said. "I've been sweating all day. I sweated through four shirts today! I'm horribly dehydrated. I get to the top of the stairs, and I'm in a full sweat. I've got ice on my head, trying to stay cool and haven't went into the ring yet. It's a soul sucking humidity. Not even like you're out of breath. You're in quicksand. All the great champions and athletes in AEW suck it up and get through it. Keep that in mind when you're watching all the great men and women in AEW. We're suffering through horrible humidity right now!"
In addition, AEW founder Tony Khan said that they're actually able to pursue other venues, including indoor ones, but that Daily's Place is working best for them now. That's not keeping them from taking precautions.
"We're allowed to perform indoors, it's a choice," Khan said during his scrum "(We're) pushing hydration very hard. The doctors push it, I push it, the coaches and referees push it. We have, literally, thousands and thousands of water bottles around here. There's no shortage of water bottles. The heat and humidity in the summer is typically very high in Jacksonville, but COVID-19 has been first and foremost...to be honest with you, I think it's better to be outdoors and manage the heat and utilizing hydration. This is the same environment many football teams play in. Outdoors, the risk and spread of the virus is far, far, far lower. Everybody here has been tested, but for safety, I think the best thing to do is run outdoor shows and we've been running outdoor shows for months. It's the best environment, even though there are some drawbacks like the climate. Being outside and in the open air is a positive for what we're trying to achieve; keeping everybody safe and minimize the spread of COVID."
It's worth noting that one fan noted to Fightful that Propel water cost $6 at the concession stands, which is why many people didn't end up going that direction.
You can see the Jon Moxley post-show scrum above, and Tony Khan's below. You can also find AEW All Out coverage all across Fightful platforms, from Fightful Wrestling, to Youtube, to Fightful Select.
