On Sunday (May 24), AEW put more than 15,000 butts in the seats of Louis Armstrong Stadium in New York City with Double or Nothing, a show that reportedly did $1.5 million at the gate — the promotion’s second highest ever in the United States. With that momentum, it’s not terribly surprising the company’s filling one of the few open months remaining on the company’s event calendar with a new pay-per-view.
July 26’s Redemption will take place in Montreal. It will also mean AEW has 10 PPVs scheduled for 2026, its most-ever in one-year.
AEW’s president and head of creative Tony Khan was interviewed by the Toronto Sun about Redemption, and he said:
“Montreal’s one of the greatest wrestling cities in the world. There’s such a rich history of professional wrestling. This will be a special event. It’s the first-ever AEW Redemption and it’s also the first-ever AEW pay-per-view in Montreal.”
New AEW tag champs Adam Copeland and Christian Cage were singled out by TK, and a Quebec native on the roster is very excited that AEW is bringing a new event to the island city in the St. Lawrence River. Speedball Mike Bailey reposted the above, adding:
This means so much to me. I have worked my whole life to be ready for moments like these. When @AEW comes to my home, I will do everything in my power to make sure every single person who buys a tickets gets the best show of their life. #AEWREDEMPTION
And he’s not Canadian, but while announcing the PPV news today (May 26) TK was also asked about the big signing AEW announced at Double or Nothing, Mick Foley:
“There’s a good chance Mick could come. He’s doing a lot of the AEW events, and I’m sure he’s going to want to be there. I can’t say 100% for certain, but I think there’s a very high likelihood that Mick will be attending and hosting the event in Montreal.”
In other AEW business, Khan continues to insist he’s thrilled that Paramount Skydance won the bidding for AEW’s current media rights partner Warner Bros Discovery, even as WWE and others say that merger means the end of AEW’s primary television and streaming deal… and AEW itself.
And while he isn’t saying it, we imagine the MyAEW subscription service his promotion recently launched when is an element of TK’s plan to protect his wrestling business from changes in the media market (like the declining number of available partners). It provides fans outside the United States aother way to easily access PPVs — a necessity after AEW’s deal with TrillerTV fell apart. But it also has a FAST (free, ad-supported television) channel that’s available globally.
On that FAST channel, MyAEW will stream its first non-AEW show tonight. It’s an affiliated property, as the promotion, 1FW, is owned and run by AEW talent and vice-president Q.T. Marshall. Still, it will available to watch every Tuesday on MyAEW around the world going forward.
That will include their own big July event with AEW and Ring of Honor names like Paul Wight, Billy Gunn, Harley Cameron, The Frat House, The Infantry, and Jay Lethal.
They’re also bringing in the now three-timeWorld champ for tonight’s show…
Adding indies to the WWE Network didn’t seem to move the needle for that service, regardless of what platform it was on. But the AEW audience contains more diehards (aka sickos) who can’t get enough wrestling in their lives, as evidenced by their PPV model and their confidence in adding a tenth show to this year’s schedule.
Let us know what you think of these moves for AEW down in the comments, Cagesiders.
