Rafael Morffi Explains AEW & WWE’s Background With Arthur Ashe Stadium

In a recent appearance on Talk is Jericho, AEW’s Rafael Morffi shared some insider information about Arthur Ashe Stadium, a venue in Flushing, NY and the site of AEW’s most successful event to date: 2021’s inaugural AEW Dynamite Grand Slam (via Fightful). Morffi serves as Vice President of Live Events and Touring for AEW, helping the company arrange agreements with venues for their shows. Prior to joining Tony Khan’s promotion, Morffi was part of WWE’s live events division and recalled suggesting Arthur Ashe to Vince McMahon as well. You can find a highlight from Morffi and listen to the complete episode below.

On how AEW established a relationship with Arthur Ashe Stadium: “I remember telling [Vince McMahon] about Arthur Ashe Stadium, while in the gym. This is when it did not have a roof. It was a good location, centralized, where a lot of our fanbase is. I explained to him that a roof is coming there. It eventually did, and I was no longer in WWE, and we had the opportunity to do it here (in AEW). We came at the right time here in AEW where there are options in the New York market place. Not only MSG [Madison Square Garden], and MSG, we’ve had conversations with them, but they have loyalty to WWE and I don’t blame them. I was a small part of that on the other side. I appreciate their loyalty and how they feel committed to WWE. We embraced a venue that is our own, being Arthur Ashe Stadium. It was something we were going to do right in our infancy. We were going to have that pay-per-view on your birthday [AEW Full Gear 2019]. We thought about it. We were concerned about the conditions, big show in New York right in the first month of our existence. Let’s play it safe. We were right. Baltimore, where we did have the pay-per-view, it was 20 degrees. We had a conversation with Arthur Ashe Stadium, great dialogue. We nurtured that, and we were going to have a show soon after the pandemic date, it was going to be sometime in 2020. Obviously, we didn’t have it. I’m amazed we were able to keep it under wraps and surprise everyone.”