AEW Redemption in Montreal: Why it might be a big gamble for the company

This column is based on a rumor that was reported by Dave Meltzer, and it might not even happen, but I wanted to write about it mostly because I live in Montreal, so I kind of know a little bit more about what’s going on in the area during the summer and can bring a bigger perspective as to why I feel it would be a big gamble for All Elite Wrestling to bring their Redemption PPV to the area at the end of July.

First, let’s talk a little bit about history. Montreal has been a WWE hotspot since the late ’80s, after Vince McMahon was able to eliminate the remaining territorial companies in the area, and that’s not going to change. One thing that has helped WWE throughout the years is that they’ve always made sure to have major local talent on the roster in order to bring in the local French community and sell tickets for shows. Having local talent who are big enough stars is also a plus because they can do promotion in both French- and English-language media, which always makes a big difference.

AEW doesn’t really have that. Sure, they have Mike Bailey, but he’s not really well known outside of the IWC, and local media might not be willing to give him a lot of time to promote an AEW show like they would for Kevin Owens or Sami Zayn.

You also have to look at how poorly they did the last time they came in December 2023. Attendance for those shows was 5,043 for Dynamite and 2,852 for Collision, for a total of 7,895 tickets sold over two nights in a building that can easily hold between 15,000 and 18,000 people, depending on how the stage is set up. So right away, they have a huge mountain to climb.

In comparison, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling did 4,500 for Slammiversary and around 2,500 for each of their TV tapings seven months later, and that was mostly thanks to PCO, who did a lot of advertising for the show. They also ran a much smaller building, which made the event feel a lot bigger.

Then you have the fact that July—especially the last two weeks of July—is a huge time for entertainment in Montreal.

You already have to compete with the Just for Laughs festival and, to some extent, the Fantasia International Film Festival, but you also have to compete for available venues, especially at the Bell Centre, as the arena is usually booked solid for a good portion of the month.

Here’s just a small sample of what’s coming to Montreal around the time AEW wants to bring in their PPV:

We’ve got:

Lionel Richie on July 5
A Women’s National Basketball Association game on July 12
Billy Talent and Alexisonfire on July 17
J. Cole on July 25
Ariana Grande on July 28, 30, and 31

So as you can see, all four weekends already have a major show booked either on a Sunday or very close to Sunday, which means it’s going to be hard to come in and set up unless they arrive early. But that also means you have to compete with all of those shows when it comes to ticket sales, and that’s without even talking about Just for Laughs, which has a lot of major names coming through the festival and doing free shows, like Weird Al Yankovic, who’s doing his latest show for free on the 25th.

So in the current cost-of-living climate, fans—and even non-fans—might decide to skip this show in order to catch something else where tickets are already on sale.

So doing a show at the Bell Centre might not be the smartest choice, especially since that building isn’t cheap to rent. That would likely mean higher ticket prices, which could also mean fewer tickets sold and a show that doesn’t look great on television because sound doesn’t travel well in the Bell Centre when the building is half empty.

2. Suggestions for AEW

If I were AEW and really wanted to make a play for the Montreal market—especially during such a packed month for live entertainment—I would seriously consider booking Place Bell instead. That’s where WWE used to run house shows, and it can hold between 9,000 and 10,000 fans depending on how much space the set takes up. It would be much less of a gamble for the company because it’s cheaper to rent, which could mean lower ticket prices.

On top of that, the arena is very close to a subway station, so fans wouldn’t have any transportation issues, which is a huge plus.

Place Bell also doesn’t have nearly as many dates booked as the Bell Centre, which means AEW could pick whatever day works best and actually have enough time to set everything up without having to rush.

My other suggestion would be to find a way to do as much advertising as possible, mostly because the AEW product doesn’t have nearly as much exposure in Montreal as it does in the United States—especially in the French market.

For that, I would take advantage of Montreal Comiccon being held at the beginning of the month to promote the show. If I were AEW, I’d send a few of my top wrestlers to Comiccon for autograph signings and photo ops, which would be a great way to promote the event, especially since the convention attracts around 70,000 people every year.

In the end, I might be writing this column for nothing, and AEW may decide to hold their Redemption PPV somewhere else. But if they do decide to come back to Montreal for this PPV, they’ll have to learn from the mistakes they made the last time they came here. Otherwise, it’s going to be very hard for them to sell out the show.

And if fans from outside Montreal don’t decide to make the trip—and they’re relying strictly on the local market—this could turn into one of the biggest disasters in AEW history.