TKO President Mark Shapiro isn’t worried about the drop in ticket sales for WrestleMania 42.

WrestleMania was held for the second year running at the same venue, Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, but ticket sales fell by a huge margin compared to WrestleMania 41 in 2025. While speaking in the Q1 TKO investor call, Shapiro said that the company wasn’t bothered about the decline in ticket sales, asserting that the show was still one of the most successful in WWE history in terms of gate revenue.

“Let me say that we are not concerned about the ticket performance whatsoever, as it was unrealistic to expect year 2 growth in Las Vegas. Even with that, WrestleMania 42 was still one of the highest gates in WWE history and easily outperformed anywhere else we could have staged it,” said Shapiro.

The TKO executive also answered questions regarding WWE’s creative, stating categorically that they are always listening to fans, even mentioning the addition of celebrities to WWE storylines. Reports from last month had claimed that TKO CEO Ari Emanuel had a say in the celebrity involvement at this year’s event, which included the much-criticized inclusion of Jelly Roll and Pat McAfee in the Cody Rhodes-Randy Orton storyline. 

“As it relates to the creative, there will always be periodic fan dissatisfaction around creative execution, commercial load, and celebrity usage. We listen to all the feedback. We do not turn a deaf ear, but these are not new criticisms.”

Ticket sales for WrestleMania 42 fell by approximately 10,000 tickets for each night compared to last year. WWE has seemingly acknowledged that it wasn’t the wisest decision to host “The Show of Shows” at the same venue for two consecutive years, with WWE President Nick Khan admitting that they wouldn’t be doing that again.

Presumably the main event of Backlash, Roman Reigns will be defending the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against his cousin, “The Samoan Werewolf” Jacob Fatu. For years has this been a dream match, stemming from Fatu’s dominance on the independent circuit as MLW World Heavyweight Champion coinciding with the beginning of Reigns’ run as “Tribal Chief.” And that’s even more the case now that Fatu has established himself as one of the uncrowned main eventers in the company. 

Having seen off a former World Heavyweight Champion in Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 42, Fatu emerged to make the challenge to Reigns during the “WWE Raw” after ‘Mania, putting himself at odds with his family all over again. He has since drawn the ire of Reigns and the Usos, as well as Solo Sikoa and MFT on Friday nights. But that hasn’t stopped him. He has consistently got the upper hand on Reigns with the Tongan Death Grip, and smashed through Sikoa and the entirety of the group.

In fact, while in real life the decision was made to cut costs, the WWE canon will recognize that Fatu was the one to shelve Tanga Loa and JC Mateo in their final appearances. That all just lends to the fact that Fatu is a dangerous challenger for Reigns and his new run atop the company. It would be difficult to ever bet against Reigns taking the win on the night, but Fatu is someone who could, and has been booked well in that regard. 

This would be a draw because it featured Reigns. It would be a draw because it featured Fatu. Them facing one another with the title on the line just elevates that to an entirely new standing. It’s far and away the most intriguing match on the card.

Written by Max Everett

WWE’s Attitude Era, commonly agreed to have lasted from 1997 until 2002, represented a boom in popularity for the company, with stars like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson becoming household names. While the era is glorified by many fans and those within the industry, WWE star Sheamus believes at least one aspect of the period is overrated, as revealed on “The Late Run” hosted by former NFL star Ochocinco.

“I think there’s a huge thing for nostalgia,” Sheamus said. “It feels better than what it is. … Everyone talks about the Attitude Era. The Attitude Era was balls-to-the-wall, right? Anything goes? But if you go back and look at a lot of those matches, they’re just six thousand kicks, six thousand punches. … What made that era great was the crowds.”

The statement came as Sheamus was discussing the overall culture’s tendency to overrate athletes from bygone eras due to nostalgia, with the WWE star stating that it’s impossible to directly compare athletes from different generations because of their vastly different circumstances. He cited Randy Savage as his favorite pro wrestler but then said he’d find it difficult to compare Savage to any of the performers who came after him.

Sheamus acknowledged that the industry underwent a decline in popularity after the highs of the Attitude Era, but he believes the experience of attending a live wrestling event can often be enough to convince someone of wrestling’s merits.

“After [the] Attitude Era kind of cooled down a bit, people would [criticize] wrestling,” Sheamus continued. “I would say, ‘Have you ever been to a WWE show?’ … Then I’ll get them tickets, people I know, and they’ll go, ‘That was amazing.'”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “The Late Run” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.