WWE events break revenue records so often these days that it’s hardly news when it happens. Almost every show is “the top revenue event for [x] market” or “the highest grossing edition of [most recent premium live event].”
That said, the company reported something that is unquestionably impressive when it announced today that Money in the Bank was the highest-grossing arena event in WWE history. Not just for events held at the specific arena (The O2 Arena in London, in this case) or for shows held outside the U.S., but for any arena event, full stop.
Just for good measure, the SmackDown held at the same venue the night before was the highest-grossing edition of that show of all time too.
This seems like the convergence of several factors. One is the pent-up demand for WWE in the U.K., which was also apparent by watching the insanely passionate crowd. It’s no secret that the U.S. wrestling promotions are doing best when they visit markets for the first time (AEW has certainly discovered this), or in WWE’s case, returning to cities/countries they haven’t run in a long time.
We don’t have data on ticket prices here at Wrestling Junkie, but it would be shocking indeed if the average ticket for a WWE premium live event wasn’t drifting upward over time, making new record gates slightly easier as time passes. Plus The O2 is very big for an indoor arena; with a stated capacity of 20,000, it’s larger than pretty much every arena WWE visits in the U.S.
But also WWE just seems to be firing on all cylinders at the moment, or enough of them that its occasional curious decisions (not running with Sami Zayn last year, having Cody Rhodes lose at WrestleMania, and not figuring out how to capitalize on LA Knight, to name a few) aren’t affecting it. The Bloodline saga continues to be the hottest thing in pro wrestling, which certainly doesn’t hurt.
All of which is to say that Money in the Bank was something of a perfect storm … but it also wouldn’t be shocking if WWE keeps breaking records in the months ahead.