Report: WWE Didn't Expect AEW All Out 2026 To Sell Out

Weeks prior to the show being even on the air, AEW’s trip to the NOW Arena in Chicago, Illinois saw the All Out 2026 achieve a sell out. This came in the face of WWE’s counter-programming attempts, with WWE Worlds Collide being held just a short drive away in the same area and at the exact same time. This didn’t impact ticket sales in the slightest, with AEW filling the arena to the brim. This came as a shock to those in WWE. 

Fightful Select spoke to sources within WWE who admitted that they didn’t expect AEW’s ticket sales to be as good as they were, meaning that a sell out was beyond WWE’s beliefs. It is also noted by Fightful Select that WWE’s decision to not air Worlds Collide live was to encourage those in the area to attend the show in order to see it, which was a decision taken to impact AEW All Out 2026’s ticket sales. 

There were conflicting reports on the broadcast plans for Worlds Collide in the lead-up to the show, but this report notes that the decision to not go live with the event was made around early August time.