A recent episode of the What Happened When with Tony Schiavone podcast featured “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Menard’s thoughts about the original of the Anarchy in the Arena match name in AEW and when AEW CEO Tony Khan came up with its name.
“I remember there was a Dynamite in the lead up to this [DoN 2022]. It was maybe a month before, and we had just confirmed that the match was going to happen, that there was going to be a multi-man” Menard would begin.
We didn’t know what we were going to call it, because it’s not going to be Stadium Stampede…since we’re in an arena, this and that. I remember Tony [Khan] just spurting [it] out. We’re waiting to go out, so we’re in gorilla, and he [Tony] just goes, ‘arena anarchy, arena anarchy.’ That was the first time I’d ever heard the phrase. He switched it to Anarchy in the Arena and that was it.”
AEW has annually held an Anarchy in the Arena match since the match’s official debut at Double or Nothing 2022 in May of 2022.
Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com

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