After branching out to three brands years ago, WWE’s run of WrestleMania weekend made for some of the hottest tickets in wrestling over a five-day stretch. Starting with NXT TakeOver, followed by the Hall of Fame ceremony, a six-hour WrestleMania sandwiched before the fan-favorite Raw after ‘Mania and Smackdown Live on Tuesday, there was no shortage of wrestling.
This year, according to Dave Meltzer from the Wrestling Observer (H/T Forbes), the, “demand for the non-Mania shows is by far the lowest since WWE started doing the multiple shows in the Mania city gimmick.”
Signs point to this not being Coronavirus-related, with ticket sales for the WrestleMania spectacle reportedly stellar. Instead, it follows a trend of struggling ticket sales at live events, and WWE is prepared for seats to go unsold leading up to WrestleMania weekend shows.
With Smackdown’s move to Friday night, the Hall of Fame has been shifted to Thursday, NXT is now on Saturday and Raw follows ‘Mania on Monday. According to the Observer, WWE will only open portions of the upper deck for the Hall of Fame ceremony and Smackdown. But perhaps the most surprising note comes from sales for Raw, with WWE only preparing to open up 35 percent of the upper deck and less than half of the 200 section. It’s a stunning drop from what has normally been one of the hottest tickets of the year.
While ticket sales could certainly spike in the following weeks, it appears interest in events outside of WrestleMania just isn’t what it’s been in year’s past.
