Tony Khan Says AEW PPVs Have Seen an Uptick in Buys When Pre-Show Matches Carry Over to Main Card

During today’s AEW All Out 2026 media call, AEW President and CEO Tony Khan spoke to Fightful about AEW using the pre-show to have a match carry over into the main pay-per-view card. When asked about the subject by Fightful’s Jeremy Lambert, Khan confirmed that AEW does see an uptick in pay-per-view buys if a match from the Buy In continues on the main pay-per-view.

Khan said on the topic, “Big time. We have. That’s why it’s worked. I haven’t done it that much.” The AEW executive also recalled the first time this occurred with FTR vs. JetSpeed at AEW WrestleDream last year.

He continued, “The first time I did it was FTR vs. JetSpeed, it worked fantastically well. There was clearly an uptick; people were watching that match on TV, and they were on TNT, and they said, ‘Oh, I want to keep watching that match, I’m gonna buy this pay-per-view.’ That worked really well.”

The AEW All Out 2026 Buy In is scheduled for Saturday (Sept. 26) at 7:00 pm ET. The main pay-per-view card will then begin at 8:00 pm ET. Tony Khan presents AEW All Out at the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.