WrestleMania 39 was a major success for WWE. The event featured a packed audience at the SoFi Stadium of a total of 1, 61,892 live fans spread across two nights. Night 1 had an attendance of 80, 497 fans, while Night 2 saw a slight increase at 81,395. However, it turns out that these numbers are far from the actual figures. The WWE is known for inflating figures to present itself in a more flattering light, and it was apparently no different this time as well.
How far off are the actual figures? Well, quite a bit off from what The Miz and Snoop Dogg told the WWE Universe. Dave Meltzer revealed the actual number range on the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Radio.
Real Attendance Figures for WrestleMania 39 revealed
It is still unknown what the metrics are when it comes to calculating the audience attendance, but on this particular occasion the promotion counted everyone in the stadium, even those outside of fans who had paid to be there. In fact, the promotion gave away around 7-8 thousand freebies, lowering the final count significantly.
“It could be 68; if we look at from last year and other years, usually it’s about 7,000 freebies. So the paid is probably going to wind up for both nights, 60-61, in that range. So that’s as far as what the real numbers are.” Meltzer said.
If Meltzer is true in his assessment, the WWE may have fetched a total attendance in the range of 120 thousand, which is no scoffing matter but quite far from the 1, 61,892 they quoted.
WWE criticized for RAW after WrestleMania 39
Night 1 of WrestleMania 39 was praised universally for featuring high quality matches and an emotional main event to close it off. Night 2 had its moments, but the main event deflated the entire stadium. It was a brilliant match but most people argued that the wrong person won.
The event was also criticized for lack of surprises and returns. The only returns this year were Pat McAfee and Shane McMahon, one of whom ended up injuring himself.
Fans hoped that the RAW after WrestleMania would right some wrongs from the night prior. However, it only got worse as the episode went on.
There were no call-ups or debuts. The only return was Matt Riddle, and the only surprise was Brock Lesnar turning heel on Cody Rhodes for some inexplicable reason.
A lot of fans have lost faith in Triple H as a booker. Some even believe that Vince McMahon may have finally returned to creative in the WWE. All of this, however, is merely speculation. What we do know for certain is that the last two days have not been very kind to WWE fans.
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