AEW Set To Make Columbus, Ohio Debut In Arena With Large Capacity
AEW has had a presence in Ohio over the past year, running "AEW Dynamite" in Cincinnati, Ohio following AEW All Out in September of 2021 before returning to the state in January for "AEW Dynamite: Beach Break" in Cleveland. Now the promotion will be returning to Ohio later this summer, with a new city in mind.
As announced via Twitter on Tuesday morning, AEW will be bringing "Dynamite" to the Schottenstein Arena in Columbus, Ohio, their first show in the home of the Ohio State Buckeyes basketball team.
"COLUMBUS OHIO DEBUT!" the tweet read. "AEW is coming to Arch City for the first time ever, with AEW Dynamite LIVE at The Schott on Wednesday, August 3! Tickets (starting at $29+fees) go on sale NEXT FRIDAY, June 17 at 10 am ET!"
🚨COLUMBUS OHIO DEBUT! #AEW is coming to Arch City for the first time ever, with #AEWDynamite LIVE at @TheSchott on Wednesday August 3! Tickets (starting at $29+fees) go on sale NEXT FRIDAY June 17 at 10am ET! 🎟 https://t.co/UN1cNj1kQq / https://t.co/Y4EcTO5v4i pic.twitter.com/x9sGtmkJGE
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) June 7, 2022
Fans will note that Ohio native Jon Moxley is front and center on the poster. Moxley, who will compete against the winner of a Battle Royal this Wednesday on "Dynamite" for a shot at the AEW Interim World Championship later this month at Forbidden Door, played a key role in AEW's past Ohio tapings, defeating Minoru Suzuki in his hometown of Cincinnati back in 2021, and later defeating Anthony Bowens on "AEW Rampage" in Cleveland.
As noted, this will be AEW's first-ever show out of Columbus, Ohio. The Schottenstein Arena is no stranger to wrestling, however, most recently hosting last week's episode of "WWE Friday SmackDown." The show saw Natalya win a six-pack challenge match to become the #1 contender for Ronda Rousey's WWE SmackDown Women's Championship, while the Usos defeated Riddle and Nakamura to retain the WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championships.
It should be noted that the Schottenstein Arena, also known as the Value City Arena, can fit over 19,000 fans in attendance; if AEW attempted to run the entire arena, it would be among the largest attendances an AEW event has produced to date. As WWE ran "SmackDown" with a much lower capacity, however, AEW will likely aim for a smaller crowd as well.