"These are red flags" - Vince Russo highlights a major issue WWE is currently facing
Having worked as the head writer of WWE, Vince Russo has garnered enough knowledge from his experience to pinpoint the major issues a wrestling promoter like Vince McMahon could face. While RAW may have seen a huge ratings spike this past week, Russo believes that WWE having to move to a smaller venue for the Money in the Bank event and the recent low attendance numbers could turn out to be a huge problem for the company.
WWE initially planned on hosting this year's Money in the Bank at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. However, due to low ticket sales, the venue was changed shortly after to the considerably smaller MGM Grand Arena, which hosts around 15,000 fans for a wrestling show compared to Allegiant Stadium, which holds 65,000 seating capacity.
Speaking with Andrew Donnelly of WrestleBuddy, the former head writer of WWE shared his thoughts on the venue change and the low attendance on RAW:
"I don't have a problem with that because if I'm WWE, I'm shooting for the stars too. If I think I could fill a 50,000 seat arena, I'm going for it. If I can't, then we gotta scale down. But again, these situations should be teaching them. I heard there were 5,000 people at RAW. There were 3,000 people the week before. These are red flags man. These are red flags. I don't know if they just believe it's gonna magically go back up. I don't know what they think bro but you need to stop the bleeding first and then you need to start rebuilding it", said Vince Russo [54:33 - 55:32]
Check out the full interview in the video below:
Vince Russo on the importance of filling seats
In the same interview, Vince Russo further explained that while selling tickets might not be an issue for WWE financially, the visual that the audience at home sees is vital for the company. WWE wants to be perceived as a major company that has all eyes on it, and if the arenas are only half full, it doesn't look good on TV.
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Russo believes empty seats can repel fans and damage the credibility of the product, and therefore, the most important thing in a televised show is making it look like there are people who are attending the show.
What do you think of Vince Russo's comments? Do you agree? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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