Matt Hardy on Why WrestleMania 42 Ticket Sales Are Heavily Lagging Behind

WrestleMania 42 is struggling to move tickets with not much time left for the event. Matt Hardy has offered insight into why it's happening.

Matt Hardy on Why WrestleMania 42 Ticket Sales Are Heavily Lagging Behind

WrestleMania 42 logo (via- WWE)

WrestleMania is just under 8 weeks away, and there is a lot of fuss around the lagging ticket sales for the biggest wrestling spectacle of the year. Recent estimates show that the sales are down by almost 20% as compared to last year at this time. The pricing is astronomical, and someone who’s a veteran of this industry, viz., Matt Hardy, believes spending this much on sports entertainment isn’t justified.

Speaking on his Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, the ‘Sensei of Mattitude’ gave his understanding of why WrestleMania in Vegas isn’t a hot ticket this year. First and foremost, one-half of The Hardy Boyz pointed out the repeat business in Sin City is tough to crack, especially with how insanely priced the tickets are.

Hardy then talked about the US economy, which is in its rebuilding phase since the hit it took during the Covid-19 pandemic. ‘The Angelic Diablo’ said it’s hard to justify spending that much on a form of entertainment that isn’t a daily life necessity. Hardy noted that WWE does look confident in emulating last year’s metrics.

According to a new report from WrestleNomics, WrestleMania 41 clocked over $66 million in ticket sales, which has made it the most profitable pro wrestling event in history. It goes without saying that TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of WWE, would be looking to shatter those figures in 2026, which pretty much explains the exorbitant ticket prices too.

In a bid to fill more seats for WrestleMania, the Stamford-based promotion has resorted to blocking watch parties in the nearby areas. Local businesses have conveyed dissatisfaction with the strategic move due to it affecting tourism in the city that paid hefty site fees to WWE for securing WrestleMania for a second consecutive year.

Flimsy WrestleMania 42 plans also adding to WWE woes apart from price-gouging

No one can deny that WWE is constantly pricing out fans from attending the shows with what the company is charging since after its merger under TKO. An event like WrestleMania used to be an annual vacation for thousands of local and international fans. The stagnant ticket sales for the so-called Super Bowl of WWE are, to a great extent, the by-product of unjustified money that they want out of fans.

Official poster for WrestleMania 42
Official poster for WrestleMania 42 (via WWE)

However, it also can’t be overlooked that almost the entire match card for the show seems to be in a flux. Outside of Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk, which is still subject to the outcome of Punk’s world title defense against Finn Balor at the Elimination Chamber, no other matches have been made official. There was also talk of Bad Bunny potentially returning to WWE for WrestleMania.

The company was reportedly gauging his interest and availability for The Grandest Stage of Them All. WWE is said to be in contact with Bunny’s representatives since before his Super Bowl LX halftime show performance. Some fans have predicted that the ongoing ‘Masked Man’ storyline troubling the Vision on Raw would lead to the singer-rapper being the one behind it.

However, that’s pure speculation at this point. There’s also intrigue in what Brock Lesnar will be doing in Vegas. He’s slated to appear on tonight’s Raw in Atlanta, where he will likely scout his Mania opponent, who, as of late January, was believed to be LA Knight. The world title picture on SmackDown is totally cluttered at this point with Drew McIntyre going after almost everyone.

‘The Scottish Psychopath’ is expected to defend his Undisputed WWE title at WrestleMania in a likely three-way match against Cody Rhodes and Jacob Fatu. On the women’s side of things, Liv Morgan is expected to pick Stephanie Vaquer to challenge for the women’s world title, while Jade Cargill would face the winner of the women’s Elimination Chamber match.

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