Cody Rhodes, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson wanted to see if they could draw 10,000 people to an independent wrestling show with their All In event on Sept. 1. They broke that number with ease.
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The event’s official Twitter page announced on Tuesday that the event drew an attendance of 11,263 people to the Sears Centre Arena outside of Chicago, Illinois on Saturday night.
Thank You pic.twitter.com/zNNUZ4EPoV
— All In (@ALL_IN_2018) September 4, 2018
The show initially sold out in just under 30 minutes when tickets went on sale in May, even though only one match had been announced on the card.
The event, featuring talent from New Japan Pro Wrestling, Ring of Honor, Impact Wrestling, Lucha Underground and a slew of other independent wrestling companies, was deemed an overwhelming success by those in attendance and fans watching along at home. Some of the biggest moments included Rhodes winning the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (a title his father Dusty Rhodes held three times throughout his historic career), Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada both standing tall in their respective matches with Pentagon Jr. and Marty Scrull, Joey Ryan being “resurrected” as part of a Being The Elite storyline with Adam Page and Chris Jericho making a surprise appearance to promote his upcoming “Rock ‘n Wrestling Rager at Sea” wrestling cruise.
The show ended with a six-man tag match with the Young Bucks and Kota Ibushi taking on Rey Mysterio (who is on his way back to the WWE) and lucha libre stars Fenix and Bandido.
Pro Wrestling Tees, which helped sponsor the event alongside companies like Cracker Barrel and TGI Fridays, reportedly sold nearly $500,000 in merchandise throughout the weekend.
“I was really excited Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks were bringing All In to Chicago,” store owner Ryan Barkan said in an interview with Sports Illustrated. “This was a huge event and I knew how big it could be for us, so I wanted some of the biggest events of the weekend to be at the store.”
In the days since the event, both Cody and the Bucks have thanked fans for all of their support in making the show such a success.
“24 hours removed and I can’t stop smiling,” Rhodes tweeted on Sunday. “One passion led to a new one. I hope it wasn’t my only night as an executive producer. Thanks Matt & Nick for producing it with me. You’re fearless and it was a fearless show.”
He also teased a possible sequel event once the attendance was announced, writing “What do we do next?”
