WWE’s overall business is thriving these days, thanks to guaranteed big-money media rights deals with NBCU and FOX for Raw, NXT, and SmackDown, streaming rights from Peacock for PLEs and libraries, and license fees. Their live event touring business is also thriving, having grown over the last year and a half, coinciding with Triple H’s acquisition of the book in late summer 2022.
On tonight’s RAW, The New Day’s Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods will face Imperium’s Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci in a street fight, as well as Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura. It will be the Elimination Chamber’s fallout episode.
WWE also packed Friday’s SmackDown with appearances from The Rock and Roman Reigns, Bayley and Dakota Kai vs. Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane), and a street fight between Santos Escobar and Carlito.
WrestleTix, which does an excellent job of tracking attendance figures, reported that Friday’s SmackDown episode from Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, was sold out with 11,457 tickets. WWE last performed at the venue in September, drawing 12,325 fans for a SmackDown. There are currently 718 tickets available for resale.
According to the account, with Raw expected to sell out as well, the upcoming SmackDown would be WWE’s fourth consecutive TV event to sell out. They could continue their streak with next week’s Raw, which has just over 1,000 tickets left.
