WWE’s business historically increases in the first quarter of each year as takes place during the road to WrestleMania. Metrics from television ratings to live event attendance rises as the company approaches the biggest event of the year.
WWE’s average attendance figures and ratings have been up since Triple H took over main roster creative last July as he has been praised for his vision of what the WWE product should be.
Heading into Friday’s episode of SmackDown, WrestleTix noted the show had sold 12,271 tickets with only 236 remaining from Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. The show likely sold out and according to Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, the show did the highest-grossing gate for any Raw or SmackDown TV event in the history of the company in the city.
The show opened with the face-to-face confrontation with Cody Rhodes and Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns ahead of their WrestleMania Goes Hollywood clash. It was headlined by Sami Zayn vs. Solo Sikoa.
Internal live events reports say tonight's show was the highest grossing SmackDown/Raw event in DC in WWE history.
We'll have a ton more internal notes, producer info, and backstage news from the show on https://t.co/jy8u4a7WDa Saturday.
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) March 4, 2023