Jim Cornette and Brian Last used a listener’s real-world experience at a recent WWE SmackDown taping in Louisville to dissect what they see as a growing problem: the live WWE experience is overpriced, underwhelming, and built entirely around television — not the paying audience.
$700 a Seat, and He Couldn’t See
Cornette said a friend of his attended the SmackDown taping in Louisville on the last Friday of February with his son. The seats were second row ringside at $700 each.
The problems started immediately. The seats were too close to see the overhead screens — “like being in the front row of a drive-in theater,” Cornette said — and too far to the side to get a clear view of the entrance screen. When fans stood during entrances, the man’s son couldn’t see at all.
Cornette put the price in historical context. “For $250 you could sit on the front row of every one of 52 yearly events at the Louisville Gardens when I was a kid, and see the — you could get blood on you, you were so close — and see the greatest, wildest-ass wrestling you’ve ever seen, all year,” he said. “Now it’s three times what it used to cost in a year just to go to one show and sit on second row and watch people talk to each other.”
A Bucket List Item, Not a Repeat Purchase
Brian Last raised the question of whether fans paying that kind of money would return. “If someone pays that amount of money for a seat in the second row, how likely are they to come back, even if it was a great night, just because of the price?” Last said. “Does that person say, ‘I have to go again?’ Or does that person say, ‘I spent a thousand bucks last time between parking and food and beer and seats — I can’t do that again?'”
Cornette confirmed this was essentially a bucket list trip. “This was almost more in the category of a bucket list thing that he wanted to do with his son because of his fond memories of days gone by,” he said. “And he didn’t exactly let his wife know how much money he spent.”
Cornette said even if the fan loved it, the math doesn’t support repeat attendance. “There’s not a lot of people that can spend that much money just every goddamn old time,” he said.
Last added that prices are only going one direction. “It’s not going to be the same amount of money. It’s going to go up. There’s been no signs of ticket prices coming down,” he said.
Cornette took it further: “They’re going to start doing shows for the 500 richest fans they’ve got in a 20,000-seat building. My God, you’d have to turn to crime if it gets any more expensive. I think potentially the company selling the tickets has turned to crime, because this is fucking highway robbery.”
“They’re Burning Out Their Fan Base”
Last acknowledged that WWE is making enormous revenue but argued the strategy has a shelf life. “I’m not saying, ‘Oh my God, poor WWE, they’re gonna go out of business.’ They’re making so much money. But they’re burning out their fan base in every conceivable way,” he said.
Cornette rejected the idea that the criticism is nitpicking. “This is not, ‘Oh, we’re just trying to find something to pick on,'” he said. “This is a major story of how they are getting these obscene grosses for basically the product that they are currently offering and the excitement level of same.”
The Live Audience Treated as TV Extras
Both Cornette and Last argued that WWE’s live events are structured entirely around the television broadcast, leaving the in-arena audience as an afterthought.
Cornette described what happens when a top star makes an entrance during a commercial break. “One of the biggest stars in the company has been standing there with his dick in his hand, whistling Dixie for five minutes, and then they get to start,” he said.
He said as a performer, that scenario would have driven him out. “I would have either gotten so goddamn mad I walked into the back and said, ‘Fuck y’all, I’m gone,’ or I would have started a riot on the microphone,” Cornette said. “That’s got to be excruciating as a performer, to go out there and then just have to stand there.”
Last pointed out that the commercial break structure made more sense on broadcast television, where networks needed to time ad breaks to retain viewers. On Netflix, that constraint no longer exists. “You can now have a guy’s music hit and he can go to the ring and you can start the thing,” Last said. “You don’t have to put the commercial there, because it’s not like you’re just changing a channel when you’re on Netflix.”
“Thank You for Paying to Do Us a Favor”
Cornette said WWE treats its live audience as set dressing for television production. “I guess they think it’s their pleasure to sit there and watch the TV show that they got to watch at home for free, just because they’re there in person,” he said. “Because they’re there in person, they’re doing a service for the WWE — they’ve got a big, large, enthusiastic audience to make everything look good. So thank you for coming and paying to do us a favor, making our show look great.”
He contrasted the current format with how Jim Crockett Promotions handled television tapings. During those tapings, matches continued through commercial breaks rather than forcing performers and audiences to wait. “You weren’t there watching Ric Flair come to the ring for an interview and then take a two-minute break while Ric Flair stood there and did the helicopter, and then come back and he starts talking,” Cornette said. “You were able to capture both what you needed on television and not make it suck for the crowd.”
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