Paul Levesque (Triple H) is reportedly facing internal criticism within WWE due to frequent changes to the WrestleMania 42 card. According to Dave Meltzer, some people in the company are frustrated with the constant shifts in creative direction, which some believe are negatively impacting ticket sales for the event.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer revealed that the advance for WrestleMania 42 is down approximately 18% compared to last year. While he expects the event to eventually sell out, the current numbers have caused disappointment among officials.
“Essentially, what the way it was described to me is, and this makes no sense, but this is how I was told is that they’re very disappointed with the advance. It’s down about 18% from last year,” Meltzer said.
‘Like Vince’
Meltzer noted that the criticism stems from the perception that Levesque is operating similarly to Vince McMahon regarding last-minute changes. The frustration is compounded by the belief that altering plans for a card that has not yet been fully announced is counterproductive.
“So there’s been a lot of internal criticism of Paul Levesque, as far as, like, not keeping, you know, they keep changing the plans, essentially, like Vince,….they have a plan, and then they change the plan,” Meltzer stated.
Tourism Issues
Beyond the creative indecision, Meltzer highlighted external factors contributing to the sluggish ticket sales. He pointed to high ticket prices and a decline in tourism to Las Vegas as significant hurdles.
“The problems are number one, ticket prices are really high, higher than last year. Number two, a lot of foreigners won’t come to the United States right now… I mean, tourism in Vegas is down,” he explained. “That’s one of the reasons why WrestleMania is there again, because tourism is down, and it’s down throughout the United States, but Vegas has been hit hard.”
Despite the current concerns, the card is beginning to take shape with major matches like Roman Reigns vs. World Champion CM Punk and the likely addition of WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Cody Rhodes.
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