All Elite Wrestling

All Elite Wrestling, LLC (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion founded in 2019. Its inception was announced by entrepreneurs Shahid Khan and his son Tony, with the former acting as the promotion's lead investor, while the latter serves as president and CEO of the company. Professional wrestlers Cody as well as Matt and Nick Jackson, collectively known as The Elite, are the promotion's inaugural contracted talents, serving as both in-ring performers and executive vice presidents alongside fellow professional wrestler and co-founder of The Elite Kenny Omega, whose signing was announced in February 2019.

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All Elite Wrestling, LLC
All Elite Wrestling
Private
Industry
FoundedJanuary 1, 2019; 52 days ago (2019-01-01)
Headquarters1 TIAA Bank Field Dr,
Jacksonville, Florida
,
United States[1]
Key people
Products
ServicesLicensing
OwnerShahid Khan
Websitewww.allelitewrestling.com

All Elite Wrestling, LLC (AEW)[2] is an American professional wrestling promotion founded in 2019. Its inception was announced by entrepreneurs Shahid Khan and his son Tony, with the former acting as the promotion's lead investor, while the latter serves as president and CEO of the company. Professional wrestlers Cody as well as Matt and Nick Jackson, collectively known as The Elite, are the promotion's inaugural contracted talents, serving as both in-ring performers and executive vice presidents alongside fellow professional wrestler and co-founder of The Elite Kenny Omega, whose signing was announced in February 2019.

History

Background

In May 2017, professional wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer made a comment that the American professional wrestling promotion Ring of Honor (ROH) could not sell 10,000 tickets for a wrestling event.[3] The comment was responded to by professional wrestlers Cody and The Young Bucks (the tag team of Matt and Nick Jackson), who were top stars signed to ROH and good friends both inside and outside of professional wrestling as part of the group Bullet Club (and, later, The Elite).[4] They promoted and held an independent professional wrestling event called All In in September 2018, featuring wrestlers from ROH as well as other promotions. The event sold out in 30 minutes and had the largest audience in attendance for a professional wrestling show in America held and organized by promoters not affiliated with WWE or World Championship Wrestling since 1993. It was also the largest crowd for a non-WWE wrestling event in America since World Championship Wrestling was acquired by WWE. The event was attended by 11,263 people.[5][6][7][8] The event was acclaimed, and it led to much online speculation that Cody and The Young Bucks would expand their ambitions and create their own professional wrestling promotion or do a second All In event and even certain people in the television industry were very impressed with the show.[9][10]

Formation

Nick (left) and Matt Jackson (right) teamed with Cody Rhodes to help start the promotion

On November 5, 2018, several trademarks were filed in Jacksonville, Florida that indicated the launch of All Elite Wrestling. Names filed for trademark included: All Elite Wrestling, AEW All Out, All Out, AEW, Double or Nothing, Tuesday Night Dynamite, AEW Double or Nothing, and several logos.[11][12][13] In December 2018, Cody, The Young Bucks, and several other wrestlers left ROH.[14][15] The official announcement of AEW's creation came at midnight Pacific Time on January 1, 2019 in an episode of Being the Elite, a YouTube web series created by and featuring The Elite. Also announced in the episode was Double or Nothing, AEW's inaugural event and sequel to All In.[16][17][18] On January 2, 2019, Cody and The Young Bucks officially signed with the promotion as competitors as well as serving as AEW's co-Executive Vice Presidents, while entrepreneur, football executive, and longtime wrestling fan Tony Khan was announced as the president of the company.[19][20] Tony and his father, Shahid, were reportedly backing the promotion.[21][22] The Khans are billionaires and part of the ownership group of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham F.C.[23]

Cody's wife Brandi Rhodes was announced as the company's Chief brand officer on January 3, 2019.[24][25] On January 8, 2019, the company held its inaugural press conference on the forecourt of the TIAA Bank Field, where they announced talents that were going to perform as part of the promotion, including the team of SoCal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels, Scorpio Sky, and Frankie Kazarian), Dr. Britt Baker, Joey Janela, "Hangman" Adam Page, Pac, and Chris Jericho.[26] They also announced a working relationship with Chinese professional wrestling promotion Oriental Wrestling Entertainment (OWE) founded by the Japanese wrestler Cima.[27][28] On February 7, 2019, the group held a press conference where tickets were released for Double or Nothing. Other big announcements included Kenny Omega joining as a competitor and the company's fourth co-Executive Vice President, as well as the signings of Penta El Zero M, Rey Fénix, Trent Beretta, and Chuck Taylor, and a partnership with Mexican promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide[29]

Events

Event Date Location Venue Main event
Double or Nothing[30] May 25, 2019 Las Vegas, Nevada MGM Grand Garden Arena TBA
TBA TBA Jacksonville, Florida[31] TBA TBA

Personnel

Male wrestlers

Cody
Ring name Real name Notes
"Hangman" Adam Page[30][32] Stevie Woltz
Brandon Cutler[33] Brandon Bogle
Chris Jericho[30][31] Christopher Irvine
Christopher Daniels[30][34] Daniel Covell Head of Talent Relations[35]
Chuck Taylor[36] Dustin Howard
Cima[37] Nobuhiko Oshima President of Oriental Wrestling Entertainment
Cody[27][30] Cody Runnels Rhodes Executive Vice President
Frankie Kazarian[30][34] Frank Gerdelman
Jimmy Havoc[35] James Mcahren
Joey Janela[28][30] Joseph Janela
Jungle Boy[38] Jack Perry
Kenny Omega[39] Tyson Smith Executive Vice President[40]
Kip Sabian[33] Simon Kippen
Matt Jackson[30][32] Matthew Massie Executive Vice President
Maxwell Jacob Friedman[28][30] Max Friedman
Nick Jackson[30][32] Nicholas Massie Executive Vice President
Pac[28][30] Benjamin Satterly
Penta El Zero M[41] Undisclosed[Note 1]
Rey Fénix[41] Undisclosed[Note 1] AAA Mega Champion
Sammy Guevara[36] Sammy Guevara
Scorpio Sky[30][34] Schuyler Andrews
Sonny Kiss[36] Unknown
Trent Beretta[36] Greg Marasciulo

Female wrestlers

Brandi Rhodes
Ring name Real name Notes
Aja Kong[36] Erika Shishido
Brandi Rhodes[32] Brandi Runnels Chief Brand Officer
Dr. Britt Baker[42][43] Brittany Baker
Kylie Rae[36] Brianna Sparrey
Nyla Rose[36] Nyla Rose
Penelope Ford[28] Olivia Hasler
Yuka Sakazaki[36] Yuka Sakazaki

Broadcast team

Ring name Real name Notes
Alex Marvez Alex Marvez Announcer[44]

Backstage personnel

Ring name Real name Notes
Billy Gunn[45] Monty Sopp Producer[44]
B.J. Whitmer[46] Benjamin Whitmer Producer[44]
Jeff Jones[47] Jeffrey Jones
Michael Cuellari[35] Michael Cuellari Coordinator[38]

Corporate staff

Shahid Khan
Name Notes
Chris Harrington[48] Vice President of Business Strategy
Dana Massie[42] Chief Merchandise Officer
Shahid Khan[49] Owner
Tony Khan[27] President
Chief Executive Officer

Notes

  1. 1 2 In lucha libre the true identity, birth name etc. of masked wrestlers is kept secret to the general public. News does not report nor speculate on real names even if they may be able to find out out of respect for the Lucha Libre traditions.

References

  1. ↑ "Trademark/Service Mark Application, Principal Register, Serial Number: 88182049". United States Patent and Trademark Office. November 5, 2018. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  2. ↑ Satin, Ryan (November 21, 2018). "Elite Related Trademark Filings Seemingly Connect Group to Rumored New Promotion". Pro Wrestling Sheet. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  3. ↑ Currier, Joseph (November 28, 2017). "Cody & The Young Bucks planning to self-finance 10,000 seat show". F4wonline. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  4. ↑ "The Young Bucks and Cody Rhodes on the Biggest Independent Wrestling Show". Rolling Stone. March 6, 2018. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  5. ↑ Howard, Brandon (May 12, 2018). "7 things to know about 'All In' – the huge indie wrestling show coming to the Chicago area". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on May 14, 2018. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  6. ↑ Johnson, Mike (May 13, 2018). "ALL IN.....SOLD OUT?". PWInsider. Archived from the original on May 15, 2018. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  7. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (May 13, 2018). "All In tickets sell out almost immediately after going on sale". F4wonline. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Archived from the original on May 14, 2018. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  8. ↑ Tim, Firovanti (May 23, 2018). "All In sellout a genuine surprise to Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks". ESPN. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  9. ↑ Alvarez, Bryan (January 1, 2019). "WOR: All Elite Wrestling announced, Jon Jones, RIZIN, more!". F4wonline. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  10. ↑ Doyle, Dave (September 14, 2018). "The Battle of Los Angeles: Professional wrestling's answer to Sundance". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  11. ↑ Nason, John (November 21, 2018). "Trademarks filed in Florida for All Elite Wrestling, All Out, and more". F4wonline. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  12. ↑ Fernandes, Steven (November 11, 2018). "NEW TRADEMARKS POINT TO ELITE PROMOTION, NEXT STEP FOR BUCKS AND CODY". PWInsider. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  13. ↑ Radican, Sean (November 21, 2018). "All Elite Wrestling trademarks filed, startup promotion linked to Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes, Omega, and cast of Being the Elite (w/Radican's Analysis)". PWTorch. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  14. ↑ Knipper, Justin (December 14, 2018). "ROH Final Battle live results: Jay Lethal vs. Cody". F4wonline. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  15. ↑ Martin, Adam (December 15, 2018). "ROH Final Battle Results – 12/14/18 (ROH Title, Triple Threat Ladder War, The Elite says goodbye)". Wrestleview. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  16. ↑ Currier, Joesph (January 1, 2019). "All Elite Wrestling and Double or Nothing officially announced". F4wonline. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  17. ↑ Pratt, Emily (January 1, 2019). "The Young Bucks And Cody Officially Announced All Elite Wrestling And Released Some Details". UPROXX. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  18. ↑ Ghosh, Pratyay (January 2, 2019). "All Elite Wrestling officially announced, Cody Rhodes confirms his role". FOX Sports Asia. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  19. ↑ Satin, Ryan (January 1, 2019). "Cody Rhodes Comments On All Elite Wrestling Announcement". Pro Wrestling Sheet. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  20. ↑ "Shad and Tony Khan comment on launch of All Elite Wrestling". Yahoo! Sports. January 8, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  21. ↑ Joyner, KC (January 8, 2019). "Jaguars owners backing new wrestling venture". ESPN. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  22. ↑ Nason, Josh (January 8, 2019). "Shad Khan confirmed as lead investor in All Elite Wrestling". F4wonline. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  23. ↑ Joyner, KC (November 26, 2018). "Jaguars owners backing new All Elite Wrestling". ESPN. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  24. ↑ Currier, Joseph (January 3, 2019). "AEW notes: Brandi Rhodes, Double or Nothing rally". F4wonline. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  25. ↑ Martinez, Phillip (January 8, 2019). "Everything Announced at the AEW Press Conference". MSN. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  26. ↑ Gartland, Dan (January 10, 2019). "Everyone signed to All Elite Wrestling so far". SI.com. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  27. 1 2 3 Crosby, Jack (January 1, 2019). "New promotion All Elite Wrestling announced along with AEW Double or Nothing event". CBS Sports. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  28. 1 2 3 4 5 Satin, Ryan (January 8, 2019). "WATCH: All Elite Wrestling Rally Outside of TIAA Bank Field". Pro Wrestling Sheet. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  29. ↑ Currier, Joseph (February 7, 2019). "All Elite Wrestling partnering with Lucha Libre AAA". F4wonline. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  30. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Martinez, Philip (January 8, 2019). "All Elite Wrestling Press Conference: Everything Announced". Newsweek. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  31. 1 2 Campbell, Brian (January 8, 2019). "Chris Jericho shocks by signing with All Elite Wrestling as AEW rally hits a home run". CBS Sports. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  32. 1 2 3 4 Martin, Adam (January 2, 2019). "AEW talent contracts are officially signed, Goldust congratulates Cody Rhodes". WrestleView. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  33. 1 2 Currier, Joseph. "OVER BUDGET BATTLE ROYALE RETURNING FOR AEW DOUBLE OR NOTHING". Wrestling Observer. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  34. 1 2 3 Satin, Ryan (January 7, 2019). "SoCal Uncensored Sign All Elite Wrestling Contracts". Pro Wrestling Sheet. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  35. 1 2 3 Quarrinton, Norm (February 6, 2019). "WATCH: Jimmy Havoc Joins All Elite Wrestling Via Cool Hype Video". Pro Wrestling Sheet. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  36. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rose, Bryan (February 7, 2019). "AEW ANNOUNCES NEW TALENT FOR DOUBLE OR NOTHING". F4wonline. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  37. ↑ Dan Gartland (January 10, 2019). "All Elite Wrestling Roster: Everyone Signed to AEW So Far". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  38. 1 2 "Road To Double Or Nothing - Episode 01". YouTube. Nightmare Family. January 24, 2019. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
  39. ↑ Currier, Joseph (February 7, 2019). "KENNY OMEGA SIGNS WITH ALL ELITE WRESTLING". F4wonline. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  40. ↑ Lambert, Jeremy (February 7, 2019). "Kenny Omega Officially Joins AEW; Named Executive Vice President". Fightful. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  41. 1 2 Rose, Bryan (February 2, 2019). "Young Bucks invite Pentagon Jr. & Fenix to AEW". F4wonline. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  42. 1 2 Rose, Bryan (January 2, 2019). "Britt Baker signs with All Elite Wrestling". F4wonline. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  43. ↑ "The Road to Double or Nothing Episode #3". YouTube. Nightmare Family. February 12, 2019. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  44. 1 2 3 Johnson, Mike (January 11, 2019). "DID VINCE KNOW ABOUT JERICHO SIGNING?, KHAN ON GOLDBERG, THE REACTION WITHIN WWE TO AEW FORMING AND MORE NOTES". PWInsider. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  45. ↑ Ferrnandes, Steven (January 8, 2019). "JERICHO SIGNS AEW DEAL, BILLY GUNN ON BOARD AS PRODUCER, STARRCAST 2 AND MORE". PWInsider. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  46. ↑ Martin, Adam (January 2, 2019). "AEW News: Cody Rhodes and Matt Jackson on launch, Merchandise, Behind the scenes name". WrestleView. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  47. ↑ Radican, Sean (January 8, 2019). "AEW News: Shad Khan's role in AEW officially announced, what is known about the AEW power structure so far". PWTorch. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  48. ↑ "Wrestlenomics Radio: Mookie gets hired by AEW, adventures in Japan; "Buffalo Brothers" car accident". Audioboom. Wrestlenomics Radio. January 13, 2019. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  49. ↑ Scherer, Dave (January 8, 2019). "THE KHANS RELEASE STATEMENT ON WHAT WE CAN EXPECT FROM ALL ELITE WRESTLING". PWInsider. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
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