All Elite Wrestling successfully held its ground in the competitive Chicago pro wrestling market, drawing a sellout crowd of 9,456 fans for its All Out pay-per-view event at the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, on Saturday, September 26, 2026.
The impressive turnout came despite direct head-to-head competition from a joint event hosted by WWE and AAA. Billed as Worlds Collide, the rival show took place just miles away at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. According to reports from the Wrestling Observer, WWE’s card drew 13,979 attendees, falling just 531 tickets short of a complete sellout. The event featured top-tier talent including Rey Mysterio, Oba Femi, and Chicago native CM Punk.
Industry reports indicated that WWE intentionally scheduled its event to begin at 8:00 PM Eastern Time in an effort to draw viewers and ticket buyers away from AEW. Fightful Select reported that the high ticket distribution achieved by AEW caught internal WWE officials by surprise.
During the All Out post-show press conference, AEW CEO Tony Khan addressed the backstage reports of surprise from rival executives.
“I was kind of surprised they would say that because we’ve done very, very well,” Khan said. “AEW’s having an incredible year. We were Sports Illustrated’s pro wrestling promotion of the year. Why would they be surprised that we would sell out? We’ve sold this arena out many times, and AEW is having a fantastic year.”
On the athletic side, the card delivered high-stakes championship action. In the main event, AEW World Champion Will Ospreay successfully defended his title against Jon Moxley, capping off a physical encounter that highlighted the promotion’s marquee autumn pay-per-view.
