• Why TKO Is Planning To Raise WWE Ticket Prices Even More
WWE has broken a lot of records since being bought by TKO. The company has started holding international events frequently, which have been very profitable.
TKO President Mark Shapiro spoke at the Goldman Sachs Conference, where he said that a hike in ticket prices for WWE events is coming as the promotion is way behind UFC, another company under the TKO umbrella.
“WWE is not where the UFC is yet on ticket yields. We have our work to do there. But we’ve seen a meaningful increase as evidenced by the 59% margin 2nd quarter. Ticket yields and site fees play a big part in driving that. We know we have more room to grow. Why do we know that? Because UFC is breaking records everywhere they go.
We know we have a lot of room there because Vince McMahon was primarily pricing tickets for families and wasn’t totally focused on maxing the opportunity there. Now that we’ve seen what we can do with UFC, we’re replicating that in terms of ticket yield and holding back and advance sales when it comes to OnLocation on the WWE side and it’s working out really well.
If we have a St. Louis going up against a Des Moines, Iowa, and you want us back there and you’ve broken records and sold out both your arenas, you have to pay for us to come back or else we’ll take it to another town. And that goes for NXT, RAW and SmackDown on the WWE side.”
WWE is reportedly planning to hold WrestleMania 43 in Saudi Arabia, which could turn out to be the most profitable event in the company’s history.
• WWE’s Big Plan For Wrestlepalooza Revealed
The first ever WWE Wrestlepalooza Premium Live Event is set to take place in Indianapolis on Saturday, September 20th. It is shaping up to be one of the biggest events of the year.
While speaking about the new event at Goldman Sachs Conference, TKO President Mark Shapiro stated that they’re planning to bring it on par with major WWE shows like WrestleMania or SummerSlam.
“Next weekend we’re launching in Indianapolis with a brand new franchise, which we hope will be an annual recurring franchise in Wrestlepalooza. Hopefully, Wrestlepalooza is a winner that we can bring back annually. That could be a marketing bonanza for us if we do that right.
Triple H is spending night and day creatively around making that what we think it could be, which is another WrestleMania or another SummerSlam. Those two stand out above the rest. Royal Rumble is right beneath that. We think Wrestlepalooza can get into that quadrant.”
Below is the current match card for Wrestlepalooza:
– Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena
– AJ Lee & CM Punk vs. Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch & World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins
– Vacant Women’s World Championship Match: IYO SKY vs. Stephanie Vaquer
– The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso) vs. The Vision (Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed)
Triple H confirmed that WWE Champion Cody Rhodes is also set to appear at the event.
• Good News For AEW
WWE has used many opportunities to counterprogram AEW over the last couple of years. Recent reports stated that the company will do it more aggressively after Tony Khan changed All Out’s time to prevent the show from going head-to-head with Wrestlepalooza on September 20th.
According to a new report from WrestleVotes, a source with direct knowledge of WWE’s remaining 2025 schedule stated that the company is not planning to counterprogram any other AEW pay-per-view events this year.
While nothing is confirmed yet, it is possible that WWE starts doing it again next year.
• MVP Strongly Dislikes One Person in WWE
MVP returned to WWE at Royal Rumble 2020 and left the company in August 2024. He was not happy with the way Triple H was utilizing him and Bobby Lashley and expressed his concerns about the WWE Chief Content Officer’s booking on multiple occasions.
The current AEW star recently spoke to Chris Van Vliet, where he revealed that he immensely dislikes someone in WWE’s management.
“When it came time for our contracts, I made it very clear that I don’t want to be there anymore. There are people there in management that I dislike immensely, a person, and I wouldn’t even bother to get into that.
But I just knew that with certain people in charge, and that’s how the wrestling game is, that’s how life is. I don’t care where you work. When management changes, some people are out, other people are in, and I knew it was time to go. I wasn’t gonna re-sign.
I was in Bobby’s ear constantly like don’t re-sign. Shelton got released. Don’t re-sign. Let’s you, me, and Shelton get back together. Let’s go to AEW. I know we can go to AEW and we can pick this thing back up.”
MVP is currently managing The Hurt Syndicate in Tony Khan’s company.
• WWE Legend Set To Return Soon
Rey Mysterio has been out of action since April after he suffered a groin injury during a 6-Man Tag Team Match on the SmackDown before WrestleMania 41. The WWE Hall of Famer was scheduled to face El Grande Americano at the Show Of Shows, but his injury led to Rey Fenix replacing him in the match.
PWInsider is reporting that The Master of The 619 is close to returning to the ring and is expected to be at the WWE Performance Center in Florida next week.
