While it may not have started out that way, wrestling has become a big part of my life. Over the last six-plus years, I’ve been a huge fan of All Elite Wrestling. I’ve gone to numerous Dynamites, Rampages, Collisions, and several Pay-Per-Views. I’ve even already got my ticket to WrestleDream this year! In recent months, I’ve found a new AEW community to interact with, and it’s a lot of fun. So, one day, I thought, “What would be something really fun AEW could do to truly bring its loyal fanbase together?” The answer: AEW Con.
What do I mean by that? Well, if you don’t know, I’m a comic/novel writer, and I do a bunch of Comic Cons every year. I have plenty of experience seeing how those shows go and what is offered to those who attend. All Elite Wrestling has done certain fan events in the past, but I feel they could do more, and something that would be great for not just the fans…but the wrestlers themselves. If nothing else, it feels like the wrestling community needs something truly pure and fun to rally around, and I think, if done right, AEW Con could be that. So, allow me to make my pitch for what it could be like and how it would differ from other events that have been done before.
Part 1 – Doing Things Bigger Than Ever Before
For those who have been around All Elite Wrestling since the beginning, or even joined recently, you know that there have been events in the past that the company has done or been associated with that have been mostly focused on the community. The biggest ones are “AEW Fan Fest” and Starcast. In fact, Starcast just had its most recent event at AEW All In Texas last month.
I attended the 2021 AEW Fan Fest in Chicago, and I know multiple people who have attended past and more recent Starcast events. While we all admit they were fun…they could’ve been bigger and offered even more for fans to get behind. Typically, based on my experience and the word of others, the shows are typically about meet-and-greets, photo ops, and rather basic panels mixed with a few other things to “spice things up.”
Yet, with how big the AEW community is, and how diverse the All Elite Wrestling roster is with its tastes and talents, why not do a full-on show in a MUCH bigger space to really let fans revel in it and be amongst their kin?
I would want AEW to be a true two-day show that has lots of events, panels, and experiences for fans to enjoy alongside traditional meet-and-greets and photo ops. In my mind, the true point is to let fans have an experience that they truly can’t get anywhere else, and to let the wrestlers express themselves in ways that most fan events or shows don’t let them do.
Part 2 – Let The Wrestlers Have As Much Fun As The Fans
Regardless of whether it’s a wrestling event or a Comic Con, there’s almost always a celebrity you want to meet, and we all line up to meet them in a photo op or an autograph signing and attempt to get into panels they’re in. It’s all fun in its own way, but the more I’ve done them, the more I’ve felt almost a little…unfulfilled. After all, for some of them, you have basically a minute to chat with them or mere seconds to get a picture with them before hearing “NEXT!” and it’s time for the next picture to be taken.
Now imagine it from the perspective of the wrestlers or celebrities who have to do this all day, or all weekend! Sure, they’re almost always up for meeting their fans, but wouldn’t it be cool to do something that lets them express who they are BEYOND just being “that epic wrestler you like?”
All Elite Wrestling has some of the coolest people in the wrestling world simply because they’re not afraid to showcase who they are outside of wrestling, and I would want that to be a key function of AEW Con. Let’s have events that let the wrestlers ENJOY THEMSELVES alongside the fans and show off their other talents.
Let’s start off with the obvious one: gaming. AEW has plenty of known gamers in its ranks, and even has an online show called All Elite Arcade and Bronami Code. Why not have a few panels/sessions where various AEW wrestlers get together and just game their hearts out while being cheered on by the fans?
Upping the ante a bit, I’d think it’d be awesome to have an event called “Can You Beat Kenny Omega In Street Fighter?” Kenny isn’t just a fighting game fanatic; he’s REALLY GOOD at Street Fighter and has been featured in multiple official Capcom trailers for the games, including being used to show off the latest DLC characters, as the picture above shows.
So, why not have a little competition where fans try to prove they’re “worthy” of facing off against Kenny Omega, and then see if they can beat him in front of their peers? It’d be a fun mini-tournament that would allow fans to interact with Omega (if they’re worthy enough…) and let Kenny show off his love of gaming.
It goes beyond gaming, of course. Art is another huge thing that the AEW roster loves to do. Lee Moriarty and Thekla are both accomplished artists in their own right, and I think an art panel featuring them would be a lot of fun. They could paint something throughout the weekend that could be auctioned off (more on that later…) or talk with fans about what art means to them and why they love doing it alongside wrestling.
Something a fellow fan on Blue Sky suggested was having the one and only Harley Cameron do a puppet show! Mini-Mone, you’re up!
One I came up with is having wrestlers like Will Ospreay, “Speedball” Mike Bailey, Mercedes Mone, Ricochet, and more come together to talk about their love of anime, gaming, and other fandoms and how they love bringing that into not only their movesets, but their ring gear!
My sister even suggested “AEW Family Feud,” and I absolutely love that idea. We could even do Jeopardy and make every category wrestling-related! Plus, we know Nigel McGuinness loves to do magic!!!
Do you see the vision now? While it’s obviously important for the All Elite Wrestling fanbase to have fun at these shows, the wrestlers should have a blast, too! That way, we’re ALL making great memories.
Oh, and don’t worry, I didn’t forget about the “big one” featuring the wrestlers that many of you are thinking about. I’ll get there later…
Part 3 – Appeal To Multiple Groups Within The AEW Community
Another thing that I feel AEW Con should have, if it were to become a reality, is not only to offer fans unique experiences but also to allow them to meet others like themselves.
What do I mean by that? Well, AEW has done well by appealing to various wrestling fans by showing off different types of wrestling over the years (high-flying, technical, Lucha Libre, etc.), but it’s also appealed to specific groups of people who sometimes don’t have a lot of people to talk to about the wrestling they love. AEW Heel is one such group, and it’s headed up by the amazing Ref Aubrey Edwards. Seriously, she’s great. Obviously, AEW Con could use its two-day structure to allow the AEW Heels group to meet up and have fun with one another across the whole show…but why stop there?
One person I talked to suggested that there should be events about meeting other black wrestling fans, as there have been stigmas against that group in the sport (in more ways than one!). Another (who happens to be a parent) thought it’d be good for parents to talk with one another about how to potentially introduce their kids to the world of wrestling.
Or how about those who want to do long-distance trips for PPVs…but aren’t sure how to pull that off on a budget? There could be a great group session about that!
And let’s not forget the LGBTQIA+ community. All Elite Wrestling has numerous wrestlers across that entire spectrum, and they undoubtedly have plenty of fans who are similar. Give them a place to hang out, talk, and make some great new connections.
AEW Con would be about ALL walks of the wrestling community, as AEW is for EVERYONE.
Part 4 – Ways For Fans To Bond Beyond Just Being There
Following up on the last section, when you’re doing a Comic Con or similar event, you sometimes have to “kill time” as you wait for your next panel, autograph/photo op session, or something in between. AEW Con will have plenty to do, but sometimes, you’ll want to go to a place or thing to chill, relax, and enjoy doing something while you’re killing time.
For me, this was one of the most important things about AEW Con when I was first coming up with it. Again, I want this to be about the community and the wrestlers being able to enjoy themselves, even if it’s just relaxing. So, I think it would be great if the show had some all-around great “chill areas” to do things in when people just want to get off their feet, or panels/events where they get to “be involved” and interact with others in a fun way.
For example, a panel that can happen multiple times during the show is “Quiz Time With RJ City,” where he’ll bring up AEW fans and quiz them on how well they know the company. Or, how about a “Fan Promo Battle,” where lucky fans can cut a promo on their favorite AEW wrestler and then the crowd weighs in on who did the best?
I’ve mentioned gaming a lot in this piece, so naturally, we’d need a dedicated gaming area for people to have fun in! And yes, we’d have AEW Fight Forever there, but we’d have a lot of other games to try, too.
My sister also recommended a special “map” at the entrance and other areas where fans can put a pin where they’re from so AEW’s staff can know how many people came to the show from all over the place.
However, my personal favorite idea is that AEW Con will have a massive theater that’ll run non-stop throughout the two days and will have an event called “AEW Rewind.” If you recall, right before AEW All In Texas, I made a list of the best free matches uploaded to YouTube that fans could watch right now. Obviously, they’ve expanded that library since then, and so, imagine what it’ll be like by the time AEW Con is made?
Now, picture a theater full of fans just sitting back, relaxing, and enjoying these matches with fresh faces around them to interact with! Wouldn’t that be great? Plus, the wrestlers could come in and provide their own commentary for the matches, adding to the wonder of it all.
Add in a few (low-priced) food areas to get snacks and drinks at, maybe a lounge or two to hang out with friends and companions, and you’ll find that AEW Con is more than just “a cool thing to go to,” it’s an adventure to see who you might connect with next!
Part 5- Showing Of EVERYONE In All Elite Wrestling
One of the things that makes All Elite Wrestling great is that it has a large cast of “characters” that make it all work, and so, part of the fun of AEW Con would be to bring all of them to bear for all to see, including those you don’t immediately think of unless you’re “in the know.
For example, above is Mel Coleman, who is a key artist for AEW. Mel is SO GIFTED and has had her work put on shirts, on special illustrations, and full-on murals that have been debuted on AEW. In fact, one JUST got unveiled for Dynamite this past week!
Rob Schamberger has also done incredible art pieces for AEW, and so I think it’d be great if they had their own art panel to highlight what they do and how they come up with great art pieces of the wrestlers and beyond. Plus, why not have a special art contest where Mel, Rob, and others pick the best fan submissions to be official AEW shirts?
Another person who deserves some love is Mikey Rukus! He’s the man behind MANY of the AEW themes, and he’s done some cool stuff with that music, like the two versions of the Hayter Rave! So…why not have him be at AEW Con to talk about making music and then…maybe a live Hayter Rave???
There’s also Aubrey Edwards and Will Washington, who do a lot of great things for All Elite Wrestling behind the scenes and on camera. They deserve a spotlight, too.
The company has a lot of great people, and AEW Con can let all of them shine and help fans get to know just what makes AEW work.
Part 6 – Charity Events
One thing I’m very happy about regarding All Elite Wrestling is that they have been big supporters of charity since basically day one. One of their first events was Fight For The Fallen, where they made big donations to charity, and earlier this year, when the hurricanes on the East Coast wiped out certain areas that the AEW roster was attached to, they had those wrestlers hand city officials a check to help rebuild.
So, why not add to all of that by having some epic charity events at AEW Con? All proceeds can go to charitable organizations in the city that’s hosting the event.
…what’s that? What KIND of charity events can we do at AEW Con? I’m so glad you asked…
First, how about some dunk tank action? As in, you get to make the wrestler (more than likely the heels of the brand) suffer by knocking them into the cold water below? MJF, Don Callis and his “Family,” the Young Bucks, Mercedes Mone, and so on. You could get a MASSIVE line for that, and you could do it for, say, $5 a dunk. That’ll rack up money quickly!
One I’m personally proud of is “Beg Christian Cage To Be Your Father.” As the Patriarch of AEW, Christian Cage is always up for “Helping His Children,” when they deserve it, that is. So, why not have a thing where people pay to try and have Christian accept them as his children? The clips of people “making their pitch” would definitely go viral, and again, there would be a lot of people who would be up for this.
However, the BIG ONE that I came up with has to do with All Elite Wrestling owner…Tony Khan. Yep, he’d have to be at AEW Con for more than one reason, but the biggest one would be an event called “Let Tony Khan Know How You Feel.”
…oh yeah, we’re doing this. All Elite Wrestling has some very passionate fans, and there are PLENTY who would love to “voice their thoughts” to Tony Khan. What we’d do is put him in a glass box (to ensure his protection), and people would pay to say whatever they want to him. They get around 3 minutes and will pay $50 to do so. Guaranteed, we’d raise thousands JUST on this event alone. Right, TK?
So, yeah, have a few events around the show like that, and fans will get to have fun, interact with the wrestlers (and Tony Khan) in special ways, and they can say they helped support charity! Win-win-win right there!
Part 7 – All Elite Wrestling KARAOKE!!!!
Last, but certainly not least…we have AEW Karaoke. A simple thing? Perhaps, but you don’t realize how this thing has taken on a life of its own the last few times they’ve done it. Not only is it the fans doing karaoke, they’re also able to do it with the AEW wrestlers, and then…you get performances from the wrestlers like this one featuring Will Ospreay and Bryan Danielson:
Pure poetry.
So, how would we handle All Elite Wrestling Karaoke at AEW Con? Simple: We go bigger, we put it on a MUCH bigger stage so everyone can have fun, and we do it across both days of the show! When they did it at Starcast, it was just one night. An epic night, obviously, but one that had restrictions.
Now, imagine it across two days, going All Out (pun intended) to make it the biggest and best karaoke thing ever, and then, if fans and the wrestlers wanted, we could even do an “After Hours” karaoke event to continue the fun even further.
I personally call dibs on “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” by Joan Jett and “Lean On Me” by Bill Withers. Yes, I do have great taste, thank you.
In conclusion…
All Elite Wrestling is having an incredible year. All In Texas in July was a perfect symbol of that, as it was a truly magnificent show full of great wrestling and moments.
Why not keep that momentum going, not just by continuing to be the best wrestling promotion out there, but by doing a fun thing for the fans that will grow alongside these PPV events? Plus, it’d be a great way to welcome more casual fans to the mix to show them just how great the promotion is.
I personally see AEW Con happening each year in June or July when there’s a “gap” between Double or Nothing in May and All In or Forbidden Door. That way, there’s no PPV to conflict with, the event can be the “full focus,” and you can go full-tilt to make it the coolest thing around. The All Elite Wrestling fans I shared this idea with before writing this piece all thought it was a great idea and had a blast coming up with suggestions that I put in this piece.
So, your move, Tony Khan. …and just you know…I’m more than happy to help make this a reality if you say “yes!”
