Tony Khan always wanted to have a live atmosphere for AEW events during the pandemic.
While WWE ran shows in an empty Performance Center and then created the ThunderDome that allowed fans to watch and react digitally, AEW had talent sit ringside for shows at Daily's Place before slowly allowing fans into the venue.
Speaking to UPI, Khan explained why didn't want to go the route of the video wall.
"Early in the pandemic, I was like let's create the experience of a drive-in movie," Khan said. "The fans make for a better product. We're finally selling ringside seats again, and we'll be doing that every week going forward. I didn't want to have a video wall, and I pushed back when I got pushed to do a video wall. It was a fine idea and WWE did it, but it wasn't what I wanted to do. I respect it, it's good and it's economical, but I wanted to continue to find a way to do the shows for the fans every week. And the fans at Daily's Place supported us. We built like a wrestling territory having a weekly audience. I'm really proud of that."
When the pandemic first started, Khan explained that he took inspiration from The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon in having wrestlers as the ringside fans. You can find his full comments on early inspirations during the pandemic era by clicking here.
AEW will begin touring again on July 7 with the first show being held in Miami.
