Bad News Delivered To WWE Regarding WrestleMania: “It’s Over”
It’s one week until WrestleMania 42.
WWE has built a strong card for April 18 and 19, featuring some of its popular superstars and various championships on the line.
In the main event of Night 1, Cody Rhodes will defend his Undisputed title against Randy Orton. Sports analyst Pat McAfee was added to their storyline last week, which was not necessarily received well.
On Night 2, Roman Reigns, as the winner of the 2026 Royal Rumble, will challenge CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship.
The rivalry between Reigns and Punk began soon after the Rumble event, with both superstars engaging in a war of words before throwing hands at each other a few weeks later.
This week’s WWE Raw witnessed Punk deliver another one of his pipe bombs, targeting different elements within the company, including his WrestleMania 42 opponent as well as Pat McAfee.
On April 10, Cody Rhodes confronted McAfee, but fell victim to him and a cheap attack by Randy Rhodes. Their segment ended with Orton stealing Rhodes’ title before leaving the building.
WWE WrestleMania 42 Ticket Struggles Continue
It’s no secret that WWE hugely underestimated wrestling fans’ acumen by hosting WrestleMania for a second consecutive time in Las Vegas.
To add to that, the ticket prices have been skyrocketing for the weekly shows, which has adversely reflected on the sale of WrestleMania tickets.
As a way to lure fans, the creative team made multiple changes to the event’s card and even announced limited-time discounts.
On Friday, WWE made a similar play by referring to ticket sales during Pat McAfee’s promo. During his segment, the 38-year-old crafted a narrative, stating that he had partnered up with RAM Trucks to bear a portion of the cost of the tickets.
McAfee then announced that until Monday Night’s Raw, all WrestleMania tickets will carry a 25% discount.
During the latest episode of The Coach & Bro podcast, former head writer Vince Russo called out the promotion over its poor ticket sales as well as using celebrities as a means to bring in fans.
Guys, I swear to god! When the WrestleMania ticket alarm went off, we have seen so many things…here’s the problem with WWE in a nutshell. Coach, we’re seeing bandaids. These are band-aids, guys. Pat McAfee cutting that promo is a band-aid. Cena appearing at WrestleMania is a band-aid. These are all band-aids. What’s the bigger picture here?
WrestleMania has come and gone. You’re not selling on both nights. It’s over. It’s come and gone. Here’s where my focus would be. What did we do wrong? Where did we fall short? Is it creative? Maybe the formation of creative is wrong. These are the things that I would be looking at. We gotta look at big picture. I’m just feeling like, “My god, guys, how many band-aids are you gonna try to throw on this thing? It’s over! It’s done! You miscalculated, you’re not gonna sell out both nights of WrestleMania. Now it’s time to figure out what needs to change so it doesn’t happen again. [51:25 onwards]
Also read: WWE Legend Blasts SmackDown Overusing Celebrities