OFF AIR NOTES FROM SMACKDOWN LIVE IN LOUISVILLE

[Big Red Machine]

Source: www.F4WOnline.com


By Shaun Corbett on 2019-05-07 20:32:00

Heavy Machinery defeated Jinder Mahal and Shelton Benjamin before WWE went on the air with Smackdown Live.

More than half of the lower bowl is tarped off, with the entire hard camera side and club level closed off, and the ENTIRE upper bowl closed off.

[Big Red Machine]

Source: www.F4WOnline.com


More than half of the lower bowl is tarped off, with the entire hard camera side and club level closed off, and the ENTIRE upper bowl closed off.

WOW.

[Bob-O]

Source: www.F4WOnline.com


More than half of the lower bowl is tarped off, with the entire hard camera side and club level closed off, and the ENTIRE upper bowl closed off.

WOW.

It's crazy to see fan pics of how WWE structures the crowds for the cameras... I wish attendance numbers got the attention that ratings do. I'd be interested to see how WWE is doing at the gates these days compared to the falling ratings...

[cero2k]

Observer does usually bring up the numbers a lot. There's a lot of talk that that smackdown is down, that next takeovers we're beating raw, that the rum le wasn't a sell out while double or nothing was, that half a year ago Vince said he knew how to fix the house show problem and hasn't fixed shit

[Big Red Machine]

To be fair, they put the Rumble in a baseball stadium. Also, the important thing with attendance numbers isn't the raw number but the paid one.

[cero2k]

To be fair, they put the Rumble in a baseball stadium. Also, the important thing with attendance numbers isn't the raw number but the paid one.

it's still the rumble

[Bob-O]

To be fair, they put the Rumble in a baseball stadium. Also, the important thing with attendance numbers isn't the raw number but the paid one.

it's still the rumble

Wikipedia is saying Rumble paid attendance was over 40,000 people in a stadium that was set up for 43k. Phoenix is a soft market for wrestling, I'd call 40k a solid turnout, that's A LOT of people! TakeOver Phoenix didn't sell out either, which I think is more alarming, but not surprising due to the market. There's a reason those Elite Boys chose Chicago... there's no way they'd have pulled those numbers on the West Coast outside of California... just look at PWG's crowds, it's really sad for what they offer...

[cero2k]

Wikipedia is saying Rumble paid attendance was over 40,000 people in a stadium that was set up for 43k. Phoenix is a soft market for wrestling, I'd call 40k a solid turnout, that's A LOT of people! TakeOver Phoenix didn't sell out either, which I think is more alarming, but not surprising due to the market. There's a reason those Elite Boys chose Chicago... there's no way they'd have pulled those numbers on the West Coast outside of California... just look at PWG's crowds, it's really sad for what they offer...

Again, it's THE rumble, the second biggest show of WWE of the year, it's a fly in show, especially with Takeover next to it. The Elite boys sold out Double or Nothing with only a hinted card in Las Vegas, which is a far smaller wrestling market, hence why WWE rarely does big shows there

[Big Red Machine]

To be fair, they put the Rumble in a baseball stadium. Also, the important thing with attendance numbers isn't the raw number but the paid one.

it's still the rumble

Wikipedia is saying Rumble paid attendance was over 40,000 people in a stadium that was set up for 43k. Phoenix is a soft market for wrestling, I'd call 40k a solid turnout, that's A LOT of people! TakeOver Phoenix didn't sell out either, which I think is more alarming, but not surprising due to the market. There's a reason those Elite Boys chose Chicago... there's no way they'd have pulled those numbers on the West Coast outside of California... just look at PWG's crowds, it's really sad for what they offer...

It also says WrestleMania III drew 93,173, which has been thoroughly debunked by this point, with even Zane Bresloff admitting that the figure was worked.

All In would have drawn that well wherever it went because it they made it a thing and it became a fly-in show. And yes the more of these shows they do, the less likely they'll be to sell out (see: New Japan). But I think they'd have no trouble drawing a damn good crowd in any smarky market (Philly people will drive to NYC to be at the show and visa-versa). If people were willing to drive over six hours to see ROH in 2003-2006 because they made themselves feel must-see, then I have no doubt AEW can do it as well.

[Bob-O]

It also says WrestleMania III drew 93,173, which has been thoroughly debunked by this point,

WWE claimed 48k attended The Rumble (which would have been a sell out + 5,000), 40k is what was reported by the venue itself, and the number Meltzer went with. I think WWE counts stadium employees, their employees, and the general population within a half mile of their shows...

Again, it's THE rumble, the second biggest show of WWE of the year, it's a fly in show, especially with Takeover next to it.

I'm open to being wrong, and I do love The Rumble, but I feel like it's a distant 3rd to SummerSlam. A fly-in for the dedicated maybe, but I've never heard of it being a big revenue driver for the host city like 'Mania and SammerSlam.

Don't get me wrong, not trying to take anything away from what The Elite have accomplished, but it's also a different target audience. People forget, because it's really inconvenient for us, that WWE is after families while those guys are trying to turn the indie scene mainstream.

Unrelated, but it's going to be really interesting after AEW gets rolling to see how WWE reacts. It's a unique situation... WWE's PG now, they can't win this one with tiddies and beer... McMahon is showing age, but would go down with his ship before he'd hand the wheel over in a competition... everybody is burnt out on just about anything he could dig up from the past (I'm thinking about the time he "wasn't worried about TNA moving to Monday Nights", but just so happened to have Shawn and Bret against them on the first night)... like I said, it's going to be interesting.

[Serujuunin]

I'm open to being wrong, and I do love The Rumble, but I feel like it's a distant 3rd to SummerSlam. A fly-in for the dedicated maybe, but I've never heard of it being a big revenue driver for the host city like 'Mania and SammerSlam.

My mom and I are flying to Houston next year for the Royal Rumble...

[NWK2000]

It also says WrestleMania III drew 93,173, which has been thoroughly debunked by this point,

WWE claimed 48k attended The Rumble (which would have been a sell out + 5,000), 40k is what was reported by the venue itself, and the number Meltzer went with. I think WWE counts stadium employees, their employees, and the general population within a half mile of their shows...

Again, it's THE rumble, the second biggest show of WWE of the year, it's a fly in show, especially with Takeover next to it.

I'm open to being wrong, and I do love The Rumble, but I feel like it's a distant 3rd to SummerSlam. A fly-in for the dedicated maybe, but I've never heard of it being a big revenue driver for the host city like 'Mania and SammerSlam.

Don't get me wrong, not trying to take anything away from what The Elite have accomplished, but it's also a different target audience. People forget, because it's really inconvenient for us, that WWE is after families while those guys are trying to turn the indie scene mainstream.

Unrelated, but it's going to be really interesting after AEW gets rolling to see how WWE reacts. It's a unique situation... WWE's PG now, they can't win this one with tiddies and beer... McMahon is showing age, but would go down with his ship before he'd hand the wheel over in a competition... everybody is burnt out on just about anything he could dig up from the past (I'm thinking about the time he "wasn't worried about TNA moving to Monday Nights", but just so happened to have Shawn and Bret against them on the first night)... like I said, it's going to be interesting.

Wtf? The Rumble is absolutely the secondmost fly in WWE Show behind Mania. Sounds like you're falling for the yearly Summerslam propoganda Bob.