– As noted, some of the audience drop this week for AEW Dynamite is being attributed to the show airing live coast-to-coast last night on TBS, so there was no delay on the west coast feed as there normally is. PWInsider reports that AEW officials internally expected the drop this week due to the broadcast change.
– PWInsider also reports that AEW VP of Talent Development Pat Buck was not backstage at Dynamite this week. It’s unknown as to why he was absent.
– AEW is under scrutiny for using seat fillers for its recent shows that went viral on social media. Also, Action News Jax issued a report on from the City of Jacksonville to the Military Affairs and Veterans Department looking for about 50 people per night to work as seat fillers for AEW TV events at Daily’s Place in the city. AEW held Dynamite at the venue earlier this week and will also hold Rampage and Collision there tomorrow (April 27). Daily’s place has a capacity of about 5,500 people, but Dynamite this week was only set up to hold about 2,459 people, with about 325 tickets still available.
PWInsider notes that it’s not unusual for wrestling companies to use seat fillers, and WWE and AEW, along with the now defunct WCW, have all used seat fillers before. Additionally, PWInsider reports that WWE had about 100 seat fillers for WrestleMania 40 on Nights 1 and 2. The seat fillers were reportedly required to wear Philadelphia Eagles gear. It’s said to be a common occurrence to use seat fillers on shows to fill in gaps on major camera angles.
Also, the seat filler tickets at the Daily’s Place shows for AEW this week were made available to members of the military, as mentioned in the Action News Jax story. X user Travis Akers also shared the following account as one being one of the veterans who received the email to attend the show as a seat filler:
I see some posts mocking @AEW for using seat fillers on Wednesday night’s #AEWDynamite at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville. I was one of the veterans who received the email from the City requesting fillers. It was a request for only 50 and to simply fill seats ringside if the ticket…
— Travis Akers (@travisakers) April 25, 2024
