Tony Khan says he expects that Grand Slam will make its return to Queens later this year.
News 12 recently spoke with All Elite Wrestling owner Tony Khan, who was promoting AEW’s May 11 Dynamite taping in Long Island. Khan was asked about the potential for AEW Grand Slam to return for a second year, and he said that he believed the event would return to Queens again.
“Yes, I expect we’ll be back to have AEW Grand Slam, Dynamite and Rampage, back in Queens at Arthur Ashe Stadium again. It was a huge success for everyone involved and it’s all thanks to this great partnership with the USTA. They were so kind and I think it resulted in a big partnership, it was almost the first million-dollar gate in AEW history, we just came shy of that but it was real close. We set that record for AEW Double Or Nothing in Las Vegas, that became our first million gate for the live tickets and now just hit it again with our partnership with New Japan for the Forbidden Door show at the United Center.”
Khan later emphasized that the event would return and hoped it would be another huge success when the show takes place later in the year.
“So, we will be back. It will hopefully be another huge success going back to Queens for AEW Grand Slam Dynamite and Rampage later this year in 2022 again.”
Khan did not share any other details about plans for the 2022 edition of AEW Grand Slam, but praised how important the New York area is for professional wrestling and noted how accessible the UBS Arena, site of Wednesday’s taping, was for fans.
The inaugural event took place on September 22, 2021, at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York. Khan told Sports Illustrated in June 2021 that Grand Slam was an event two years in the making, crediting Rafael Morffi, AEW Vice President of Live Events/Touring, for making it come to fruition.
“We’ve wanted to come into the New York area for a long time,” Tony Khan said. “This venue is one we identified over two years ago as a place we wanted AEW to go. It’s such an iconic venue, and it sets up perfectly for wrestling. We’ve been working on this idea for two years, and Raf has put so much of this together,” Khan says. “He used to work for WWE in live events for years, and he worked for the Kraft family in New England. He’s negotiated and managed this every step of the way.”
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