AEW on pay-per-view is making its New York City debut.
Tony Khan’s company is bringing one of its tent-pole events, Double or Nothing, to 14,000-plus-seat Louis Armstrong Stadium on May 24, The Post has learned.
This will be the fifth time AEW has run a show from the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, after hosting Dynamite: Grand Slam from Arthur Ashe Stadium from 2021-24.
The company has made it a point to run a pay-per-view regularly in the New York area at Nassau Coliseum, UBS Arena and Prudential Center, but this marks the first time one is taking place inside the five boroughs.
AEW World champion MJF, a Plainview native not shy about professing his love for Long Island, understands the importance of an NYC show, even if it is in Queens. The Big Apple is “part of Americana.”
“When people think of America, when they don’t live in America, they think of New York. Every single famous movie is based in New York,” MJF told The Post in a phone interview. “The most famous professional wrestler who ever lived, Maxwell Jacob Friedman, is from New York. … the nice part is I don’t have to schlep as far as I usually do for the pay-per-view.”
The New York shows have always felt like more of a home game for MJF, especially on Long Island, compared to other parts of the U.S. and other countries. There is still no love lost for him by the city fan base, and it comes with a different vibe than his hometown.
“The fans on Long Island are a lot more intelligent and a lot more attractive,” he said. “The second you leave Long Island, you are looking at Queens, that’s gross. Hammerstein Ballroom, we go there every now and then. That place is disgusting. The people who inhabit Manhattan are grotesque.
“All the five boroughs are gross. The difference is, I’m not a fan of them and they’re not a fan of me. It’s a different kind of New York. To me, the difference between Long Island and the five boroughs it might as well be Buffalo to me.”
AEW is coming off a strong 2025 creatively, powered by the redemption story of “Hangman” Adam Page defeating Jon Moxley and the Death Riders to reclaim the world championship at All In Texas in July.
MJF, who will turn 30 in March, returned from a three-month hiatus in December and defeated Page, Samoa Joe and Swerve Strickland at Worlds End to begin his second reign as AEW World champion.
He plans on still being champion when Double or Nothing comes around and trying to eclipse his record 406-day run as world champion and continue to fuel the energy he believes his return has injected into the company as he heads into a title defense against Page at the Revolution pay-per-view on March 15.
“It’s called MJF. Ticket sales are up, ratings are up, momentum is up,” MJF said. “More people are talking about our company than they have in a long time and it’s because daddy has the world title. I’m the greatest wrestler on God’s green earth. … I will be defeating ‘Hangman’ Adam Page at Revolution because he’s a loser and I can assure you I will be walking into Double or Nothing still the AEW world champion and I look forward to defeating whoever comes my way at that point.”
MJF, who has been with AEW since its inception in 2019, believes this is the best version of the company so far, after it got through a time a few years back where not everyone in the locker room was pulling in the same direction.
“To put it mildly, I don’t have to name names, it’s not necessary to name names, but problem children tend to have a way of finding their way out the door,” MJF said. “And some of those problem children, in my opinion, they thought they were taking a step forward when all they were doing was taking a step laterally or backwards.”
Now he feels AEW is in the blood, the hearts, the minds and the souls of all the performers fans are seeing weekly on TV. They want the company to be around for generations to come as a top-tier alternative to WWE.
“Everybody’s pushing each other to be the absolute best version of ourselves,” MJF said. “I’m pushing Swerve, Swerve’s pushing Hangman, Hangman’s pushing Kenny [Omega], Kenny’s pushing [Kyle] Fletcher, Fletcher’s pushing [Will] Ospreay and so on and so forth.
“It’s a domino effect. And that’s why our show is so incredible right now. We are all biting on each other’s heels. We all want the spot. We all want the championship. To top it off, we all care deeply about All Elite Wrestling.”
Tickets for Double or Nothing go on sale March 9 at 10 a.m., with presales beginning the week of March 2 at AEWTix.com and Ticketmaster.com