“All In” Sold Out Very Quickly

Cody Rhodes wanted to prove that he and the Young Bucks could sell out a 10,000-seat arena. Well, over the weekend they sold out an 11,800-seat arena – and they did it in under 30 minutes.

“All In”

The seeds for “All In” were planted last May, when Cody Rhodes bet Dave Meltzer that he and the Young Bucks could sell out a 10,000-seat arena for Ring of Honor.

Six months later, “All In” was born – without the help of Ring of Honor. Rhodes and the Bucks started generating buzz for the self-financed event soon after the New Year when wrestler after wrestler started tweeting that they were “All In.” Most recently, Nick Jackson cryptically revealed mere hours before tickets went on sale that Rey Mysterio is “All In.”

So far, 18 male and female wrestlers have been confirmed for the event, including Kenny Omega, Pentagon Jr., Kazuchika Okada, Jay Lethal, Chelsea Green, Tessa Blanchard, and Deonna Purrazzo.

However, while the participants are no secret, Rhodes and the Bucks have not revealed what the card will be, save for one match: Nick Aldis will defend his NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Cody Rhodes in what will likely be the main event. Indeed, the mystery surrounding the card makes it all the more impressive that “All In” sold out as fast as it did.

Then again… there’s more than just a wrestling show going on in Chicago that weekend.

Clever Marketing Moves

“All In” will take place at the Sears Center in Chicago on September 1st, which is Labor Day weekend. In other words, many people likely already have that Monday off and therefore are more willing to travel for the event.

Furthermore, Rhodes and the Bucks announced that a wrestling podcast convention, called Starrcast 2018, will take place the same weekend at the nearby Hyatt Regency Schaumburg hotel. The convention website promises “pictures, autographs, one of a kind experiences, live podcasts and more,” and will feature many of the wrestlers who will perform at the show on Saturday, along with several other legendary names, including Bruce Prichard, Eric Bischoff, Colt Cabana, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall.

And if that isn’t bait enough for hardcore wrestling fans, none other than CM Punk has scheduled a very interesting signing at the nearby One Hour Tees store in Chicago on August 31st, the night before “All In.” Of course, everyone expects Punk to show up at the event itself. Seriously – even Forbes wrote about it.

But none of this is to take away from the fact that Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks are putting on a seriously compelling event. But they also made some very slick marketing choices that certainly helped them sell out the Sears Center. Nevertheless, the eyes of the wrestling world are sure to be on Chicago September 1st.

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