AEW Always Planned To Have 18x18 Ring For Grand Slam Australia

All Elite Wrestling held their first-ever show in Australia on Saturday, February 15 with Grand Slam Australia from the Brisbane Entertainment Centre. The show was widely praised and featured a title change as Toni Storm defeated Mariah May to become a four-time AEW Women's World Champion.

A bizarre controversy emerged following Grand Slam Australia, though, as there were claims on social media that AEW used a smaller ring than usual as the promotion didn't wish to pay the cost or hadn't factored in how long it would take to transport a ring from the United States to Australia.

Those were ultimately just social media claims, however, and Fightful Select has reported that AEW always planned to use an 18 ft x 18 ft ring as opposed to the usual 20 ft x 20 ft ring the promotion uses in the United States. 18x18 rings are common in pro wrestling, including being used by TNA, and the likes of Ring of Honor, ECW, and WCW in the past.

All Elite Wrestling have even used an 18x18 ring before, including for the Steel Cage match between Britt Baker and Thunder Rosa at 2022's St Patrick's Day Slam edition of Dynamite.

AEW Vice President of Show and Creative Coordination QT Marshall noted on X/Twitter that the promotion had known for three months the ring at Grand Slam Australia would be 18x18 and ordered ring skirts and assets that would fit accordingly. The ring rented for Grand Slam Australia was from PWA (Pro Wrestling Australia).

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