AEW: Stu Grayson Signs Again with AEW, Revolution 2023 PPV Buys Update, Chris Jericho

Mar 17, 2023

Stu Grayson Signs New Contract with AEW, Sets Record in Process

This past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show in Winnipeg, Canada featured a Trios match of the Dark Order (Stu Grayson & Evil Uno) & Hangman Page and Blackpool Combat Club (Wheeler Yuta, Claudio Castagnoli, & Jon Moxley). This match was notable for being Grayson’s first appearance in AEW since this past October following the expiration of his contract this past May.

AEW CEO Tony Khan announced on Twitter on Thursday that Grayson recently signed a new contract with AEW.

Welcome back to AEW, @stu_dos!

After a great match last night on #AEWDynamite in his return, he's more motivated than ever, and now it's official:
Stu Grayson is All Elite, again! pic.twitter.com/7HpPbs2M9g
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) March 17, 2023

As a result, Grayson became the first wrestler in AEW history to be given the “Is #AllElite” graphic treatment twice on social media.

AEW Revolution 2023 PPV Buys Update

As noted before, AEW’s Revolution 2023 earlier this month in San Francisco, California is currently estimated to have generated around 130,000 pay-per-view buys.

Dave Meltzer reported in a recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio that AEW’s Revolution 2023 event is currently estimated to have generated between 130,000 to 135,000 PPV buys based on updated numbers and estimates. Meltzer reported that the reason for the increase is due to late buys for the event were very strong.

Meltzer reported that while international streaming and cable PPV buys for the event were both down compared to this past November’s Full Gear 2022 event, the final number for domestic streaming buys is currently not known.

Revolution 2023’s PPV buys are currently on track to be down compared to Revolution 2022, which generated around 175,000 buys, but around the same or close to it compared to Revolution 2021, which generated around 135,000 buys.

Chris Jericho Comments on AEW’s Winnipeg Debut, Growth Since 2019, & Recent Executive Producer Hiring

ET Canada held a recent interview with Chris Jericho. One of the topics discussed included Jericho’s thoughts on AEW’s debut Dynamite show in Winnipeg, Canada. This interview was held prior to the start of this past Wednesday’s show in the city.

“There’s something about Winnipeggers, like when the Jets play in the playoffs it’s the loudest building in the entire league. Louder than Chicago, louder than New York. I think the pro wrestling world is in for a treat when they see our first show in Winnipeg. Plus showcasing Kenny Omega and showcasing Chris Jericho in our first AEW appearances in our hometown. It’s going to be one of those magical nights in pro wrestling that happens only when all the stars line up. And on Wednesday, the stars have lined up for sure.”

Jericho also gave his thoughts about AEW’s growth as a company since its launch in 2019.

“We’ve gotten so big in three and a half years. So there are a lot of growing pains as we expected there would be. I don’t think anyone thought that we’d be doing the numbers that we’re doing, both in the arenas and ratings wise…
So obviously we’re working on our infrastructure, working on all that sort of thing behind the scenes on building the corporate side of AEW. Everybody’s learning how to be on live TV still. It really is just everyone was thrown into the deep end and had to react accordingly. I’ve been very proud of everybody that’s been able to do that. We’ve had some bumps on the road, but that’s expected as pro wrestling. We’ve become a major television entity in a very short period of time.”

Jericho also gave his thoughts about the improvements in AEW’s production since their hiring of former WWE Executive Producer Mike Mansury.

“I think we just do AEW and continue to improve upon that. I think our production has gotten so much better over the last month or so. We got a new Director named Mike Mansury who’s just really made a big difference as far as replays and the way things are shot. All the things that make you appear more gigantic and all those little things and those subtle things matter in the ring and outside the ring.”