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WWE in 2026

Tino Standard said:
Ticket sales are way down for WM. According to WrestleTix, who is pretty good at tracking these things, they’re at about 38,000 for Saturday and just under 40,000 for Sunday.

They’ll move a lot close to the show, but it’s been rough.
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I wouldn't be so sure. Jet fuel prices are causing major price gouging, if you haven't already planned on going and bought everything, you might not be able to afford it now. There was also no advertising when I was there three weeks ago.

The Thread Killer said:
Part of that is crappy WWE creative and a poor build to Wrestlemania, part of it can easily be attributed to the ridiculous WWE ticket prices, but part of it is also a larger tourism problem they are having in Vegas in general.

I was reading an article recently that was talking about how overall tourism to Las Vegas is nearing historic lows over the last year or so. Apparently things are so bad that many of the major casinos and entertainment venues are even getting rid of the comp meals and drinks that Las Vegas hospitality is famous for. Even the entertainers that have year long residencies there and ongoing shows are really suffering from terribly low ticket sales. For whatever reason, people just aren’t going to Vegas like they used to.
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You know exactly the reason. That being said, when I go there I gamble a lot so they still give me free stuff. They're still doling it out. I was just there last month and there were a lot of people there, but I feel like the working class is definitely being priced out. When you drive down the Strip on Saturday night and see the absolute horde of people going to get Taco Bell (in Vegas you get Taco Bell? Really?), it's like man, people are coming here but they're not doing so good.
 
909 said:
I wouldn't be so sure. Jet fuel prices are causing major price gouging, if you haven't already planned on going and bought everything, you might not be able to afford it now. There was also no advertising when I was there three weeks ago.
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I don’t think they’ll match last year’s attendance, but WWE shows have had a tendency to see a lot of tickets move in the last few days before shows. The MSG Raw had almost 8,000 tickets get sold in the final week before Monday. People are getting smart and waiting for ticket prices to drop.
 
Everyone with a brain and Dave Meltzer all know and verified that this decision was Ari’s call. Hunter probably isn’t too bothered to include Pat but this was absolutely Ari big dicking Hunter to push his golden goose.
 
There's also the issue of the international tourists who always go to Mania not coming this year because 1) everyone hates America now 2) they already went to Vegas last year and 3) if they're traveling to the US this year it will be for the World Cup.
 
Can they do the Wrestlemania 7 switcheroo again & move to the MGM Grand or whatever?
 
Not to derail the thread too much with non-wrestling stuff, but I watched this video a few weeks ago and it feels very relevant to the overall discussion.

 
I have Smackdown in my DVR, but I probably haven't watched in a month or so. That segment with McAfee was awful. From him just trying to keep his shades on plus the bad promo. Cody isn't even the guy a promo like that makes sense going after.

As far as the low ticket sales for Mania, I think its a combo of factors others have stated:

- Back to back years in Vegas
- High ticket prices to all events
- Cost of staying/side entertainment in Vegas
- Shows being on expensive platforms
- Playing for high views on social media.

I don't think we should be too surprised, this is the TKO play book based on how the UFC has been run the last ten years. They have big money deals on what three different networks. There is not that much incentive right now to change anything. I get it because the toothpaste is out of the tube, but I still think they should charge a price for both nights as a combo.
 
McAfee is the funniest choice. It's so stupid. The match is gonna suck by itself but the smoke and mirrors suck just as much.
 
as expected and absolutely hilariously so, the creative team and the talent are upset and angry about the executives pulling their dick out to appease ESPN as Ari is putting his entire weight into making Pat his mega star in multiple platforms.

the Cody promo at the end of the show wasn’t scheduled and according to PWI, Cody was told to stay whatever he felt like saying and thus, Cody took aim at his two most despised counterparts, Dwayne (and by association, Ari) and of course, Disco Inferno.
 
Mickey Massuco said:
Wait you can’t? Why? I can’t tell if that was a joke or not.
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I used to drive from Toronto down to Buffalo all the time to see ECW shows, plus I have family in Arkansas and Texas I had visited. But after 9/11 they made it so you had to have a Visa to cross the border from Canada into the United States, (before then you could just cross the border with no problem.) But I have a criminal record and I am ineligible for a Visa. I have been reliably informed that if I were to show up at customs, I would be turned back.

Mind you, my record is over 26 years old, I never re-offended, and I have long since completed my probation, and am more than eligible for a pardon. If I got a pardon it would make me eligible for a Visa, but I have never bothered to get my record cleared. It’s something I meant to do, but have never gotten around to it. Plus getting a lawyer to do it for you is not cheap. It has gotten in the way of me getting a couple of jobs, and it was annoying because at one point, I was planning on going down to see a Rifftrax Live show, and couldn’t, but what are you gonna do?
 
While the company will dismiss any criticism or backlash with a disgruntled shrug at best, they are absolutely aware of the issue regarding the lack of clarity for the upcoming WM schedule and will have a ESPN special tomorrow morning to announce the card and which night all matches will occur.

One of the many criticisms regarding the less than stellar sales has been fans claiming hesitation about which night to attend since so many people are priced out of doing both nights. Since the company can’t fix their creative or quality, they sure as hell can tell you when the shit you don’t wanna see will happen.
 
I’m sure TK has already asked Shad to call up Ellison and see if the saudi money transfer has gone thru so he can do a tribute show to Das Wunderkind Alex Wright and Disco Inferno.
 
Work with the indies. Get top names booked for any shows they want to spread the wealth. Help the business itself. Send a sign of goodwill as the number two promotion.
 
Valeyard said:
Work with the indies. Get top names booked for any shows they want to spread the wealth. Help the business itself. Send a sign of goodwill as the number two promotion.
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he is already doing charity work, why you think he’s working with Vince Russo now.
 
Punk dropped another pipeline on Raw. Called Pat McAfee Pat MAGAfee, complained about ticket prices, and called out Roman for being a loser nepo baby. Fun stuff.
 
Made a direct reference to old vinny making roman eat dog food in hopes of getting him over and directly insulted Ari, who previously has never been acknowledged for being a shitty agent turned big asshole boss screwing the fans.

It was a good, even at times really great promo with the usual sharp points wrapped in the safety blanket of being a clearly approved tirade even if it touched a couple sore spots for the company they will happily sacrifice in the name of the beloved “buzz” they need.

It’s never a good sign for any company that decides to make the promotion the bad guy, that was effective for about 3 years once and we’ve seen other companies including AEW not that long ago fall to the trap of doing the same routine.
 
Punk's promo was very good, but like, nah. That promo in that company from that guy in this year isn't it. Nothing about it made me want to see his match or the show it's on, just made me want to see the old days of Punk being the best in the world.
 
PWI is reporting that WWE expected a different promo from Punk last night and have already edited the social clips removing references to Ari and the ticket prices.
 
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