AEW heading back to UBS Arena on Long Island would probably be a date wrestling fans would circle on their calendars. In addition to being a shiny, new arena in the greater New York metropolitan area and one of the larger venues to host a Dynamite broadcast & Rampage taping, they’ve also established it as Maxwell Jacob Friedman’s home turf. With MJF on the cusp of big things, it would be reasonable to expect a big story beat when AEW returns to Belmont Park in May.
But that’s not all. Their announcement today (Feb. 14) with tickets info for their return to Long Island also includes the detail that opening round matches in the men’s and women’s Owen Hart Tournament will take place at UBS on May 11.
♥️#HappyValentinesDay♥️ #AEW returns to Long Island & the @UBSArena Wed, May 11 for a LIVE #AEWDynamite & #AEWRampage Taping featuring opening round matches of the #OwenHart Foundation Men’s & Women’s Tournament! On-sale THIS FRIDAY, Feb 18 at 10am ET
️https://t.co/rFcIFUPD6k pic.twitter.com/DhH84PtCJz— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) February 14, 2022
AEW’s been doling out information about “The Owen” since Tony Khan and Dr. Martha Hart announced AEW’s partnership with the foundation bearing the late WWE star’s name last fall. We’ve learned there will be men’s and women’s tournaments, and seen a beautiful tribute to the man being honored. Khan also confirmed the finals would take place at Double or Nothing, their annual Memorial Day weekend PPV.
So if first round matches will begin on May 11, and the finals will take place in Las Vegas on Sat., May 28 or Sun., May 29, that mean we’re looking at three week tournaments playing out across seven shows. That probably means smaller fields for each, especially when you factor in time to build to big matches in the semi-final and final rounds.
Our big remaining question is: what does the winner get, besides a trophy from Dr. Hart?