attendance

Wrestlemania III Attendance, also Randy Orton

10th April 2015 by Scott Keith
Hi Scott,

I e-mailed you a few weeks ago with an article claiming that the 93,000 for Wrestlemania 3 was actually a legitimate number and was just wondering what your take on it was. It was during the week before Wrestlemania, so I understand if you were too busy to answer (or if you didn't want to dignify an uproxx article with a response, which is also understandable).

I have a question regarding Randy Orton that's been bugging me for awhile, though. In every shoot interview that Bayless has posted where the wrestlers are asked about him, everyone has praised Orton to high heaven, either as a joy to see him wrestle or by those who have faced him as the perfect person to wrestle against. I know he's not shitting in *everybody's* bag, but why the universal praise? Is it because he's never hurt anyone in the ring?

Thanks,

Vince
​Zane Breslov, the actual promoter of the show, has gone on record saying that there were only 78,000 people in the building.  I have no idea why this 93,000 thing persists even though we know they've literally lied about the Wrestlemania attendance every year for the past two decades.  Is it because ​people think that one year was when they were telling the truth?  
As for Orton, wrestlers have different standards as far as what they like than fans do, obviously.  
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Show attendance

14th December 2014 by Scott Keith
Hi Scott,

Is it known what the lowest attended WWE PPV is compared to how many seats were available?

I notice a lot if talk about TV ratings and how important that data is to some but I'm more interested in knowing how well or not so well the shows are drawing.

Was 1995 a bad era for attendance for example or is that just a shitty year in regards to in ring product and WWF still drew decently regardless? Is this information even available?
​Yeah, Dave still regularly publishes attendance info in the Observer and has for a long time.  1995 was a disaster for house shows but PPVs were typically well attended if nothing else.  I think that 96/97, before Austin caught fire, were among the worst as far as PPVs go.  ​
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Attitude Era Attendance

21st April 2013 by Scott Keith
Hey Scott,

Really enjoy the blog.

I always find myself watching things from the Attitude Era, which I love, but has been overrated based on nostalgia. I was wondering–for all that gets made of the popularity of wrestling at the time, why didn't the WWF/WWE take advantage by booking a huge stadium show ala current Wrestlemanias? Was the company still trying to get its confidence back after a rough patch? Or does this shed some light on the era as being more about television ratings?

Thought a wrestling guru like yourself might have an answer.

Thanks

Well they did do huge stadium shows for Wrestlemania 17-19   If you're talking for the 99 and 2000 versions, I think they thought they couldn't pull off those kind of ticket sales because, as you say, they were still a bit gunshy from the downturn.  And given that it's better to sell out than have tons of empty seats, it's fine that they didn't run a stadium show.   Plus at that point Wrestlemania wasn't the huge established juggernaut that it is now, and they hadn't run a stadium for WM since 1992.  Look what happened in 97 with the Alamodome and how embarrassing that was, sales-wise.  LIke in 2000 can you imagine trying to sell 60,000 tickets for that shitty four-way main event?  
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