Dutch Mantell reacts to WWE announcing a big change to Money in the Bank 2022 (Exclusive)
Money in the Bank 2022 is no longer set to happen at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. WWE recently made a huge change to the premium live event and moved it to the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Reports state that the company couldn't sell out a stadium for the aforementioned show and was forced to shift to a smaller venue. Dutch Mantell agreed with the reported reason while reacting to the promotion's announcement on this week's Smack Talk.
The legendary manager was confident that WWE would be unable to fill a 60,000-seater arena. The MGM Grand Arena can accommodate nearly 17,000 fans, and Mantell was still unsure if the promotion would have a fully packed show:
"Well, anybody's reaction is that they are not even coming close to selling it out," said Dutch Mantell. "So, you might as well go to a (smaller venue). How much does the [MGM Grand] arena seat? 20,000? Maybe? 17,000, okay. They are not going to fill 60,000 seats in Vegas. So they said, well, sure, we can fill 17,000. If nothing else, we can paper it; at least we'll get it full." [39:15 – 40:10]
Dutch Mantell also drew attention to the lack of quality of SmackDown shows. The veteran said fans might want their tickets refunded as the build towards major events isn't as convincing as before.
"Well, after the people watched a few SmackDowns, they may have been asking for refunds before the show was even there," stated the legendary manager. "They said, 'Wait a minute, we've had 1000 people who want their money back." [From 40:10 onwwards]
Tony Khan takes a shot at WWE's Money in the Bank update
Amongst all the reactions to WWE's latest move, Tony Khan's tweet on the matter has unsurprisingly received the most attention.
The Stamford-based promotion will be competing against Dana White's UFC during International Fight Week. Khan revealed that he recently had dinner with the UFC President and was surprised that AEW's rivals had picked Las Vegas as the venue for Money in the Bank.
Here's what Khan tweeted out:
Genius move trying to take on Dana and the UFC in Vegas during International Fight Week.
See you tonight on Friday Night #AEWRampage on @tntdrama at a special time tonight
6:30pm ET/5:30pm CT/4:30pm MT/3:30pm PT!
UFC 276 is incidentally slated to happen on the same day as Money in the Bank. Dana White will present two massive championship fights at the event, which will also include nine other bouts.
WWE has certainly taken a bold step of relocating Money in the Bank to the fight capital of the world.
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