Tony Khan doesn’t see the problem with WrestleDream’s long run time.
AEW’s pay-per-view continues to meet a high standard that many fans and critics have come to appreciate. It’s extremely rare that an AEW pay-per-view gets negative feedback; however, one constant criticism that the shows receive is that they're simply too long.
In fact, All In grabbed the record for longest pay-per-view from a major promotion ever. It beat WrestleMania 35, with the main show running six hours long! This problem isn’t something new with Tony Khan. For years, fans and critics have complained about AEW’s long pay-per-views, especially when they happen on a Sunday night.
However, Tony Khan simply refuses to change his format. That remains apparent following the string of complaints about the long length of WrestleDream. The AEW President doubled down on AEW’s time length as he felt that the timing made sense.
“It was 11:29 in St. Louis local time, so I thought it made sense.” Tony said on Z100 New York. “Here in the local time, we’ll definitely be out well before midnight — and even on Eastern time, it’ll be earlier. It’s just different time zones.”
Tony continued to put over how great WrestleDream is from beginning to end.
“But I absolutely loved the WrestleDream show from start to finish. I thought we had such a great night with so much great action, and I wouldn’t have changed a single thing about WrestleDream.
It’s one of my favorite AEW events ever — pound for pound — especially with some injuries and top stars away. I thought this was the absolute best show we were capable of putting on, and I’m more proud of what we did at WrestleDream than almost any show we’ve done since the pandemic.”
It’s unknown what it would take for Tony Khan to finally realize that his pay-per-views are simply too long. There’s two sides of the spectrum; there are fans who feel that since they’re paying $50 for each show then they want to get their money’s worth, so the long shows do not bother them. Then there are fans who would be satisfied with a seven/eight model pay-per-view card.
But the key thing is buyrate and despite the constant complaints online, AEW is still selling huge. Every pay-per-view has made over 100,000 worldwide. All In is the biggest in 2025 with 180,000 - 185,000. Their recent All Out pay-per-view garnered between 135,000 - 140,000 buys. There’s no word on how much WrestleDream has gotten. Since the buyrate continues to be a huge success then it’s unlikely Tony Khan will change his tune anytime soon.