Bully Ray: WWE WrestleMania 42 Ticket Sales Are Down Because Las Vegas Is Burnt Out

Initially slotted in New Orleans, Louisiana, WWE WrestleMania 42 later underwent several changes, with Las Vegas, Nevada notably being announced as its new location. Beyond that, the creative plans surrounding the premium live event faced multiple re-writes. In the eyes of WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray, it's the former move that originally set WWE up for the subpar ticket sales and hype that it is now enduring in the lead-up to this year's WrestleMania.

"Right off the bat, we said 'Ugh, going back to Vegas?' [in response to the location switch]," Ray recalled on "Busted Open Radio." "You know what we call that in pro wrestling? Burning out the town. WWE has learned over the years to not burn out a town. You know why? Because they've burned out towns before. It's typical pro wrestling stuff, but the WWE hasn't burned out a town in a long time. You go to a town, it sells out, you do monster business. What are we going to do? 'Let's come back three months later.' No, you don't go back three months later. You go back six months or a year later. You don't burn out the town. Vegas is getting burned out because TKO made the decision."

WWE WrestleMania 41, also centered in Las Vegas, boasted record-setting numbers in financial and historical fashion. With that in mind, TKO (WWE's parent company) reportedly believed it could replicate, if not surpass, the revenue generated by running WrestleMania in the same city in 2026. Furthermore, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority was said to have paid a very generous amount for site fees and tax credits last year, meaning it'd likely do the same for WrestleMania 42.

According to Bully Ray, former WWE CEO Vince McMahon would have likely turned down an offer for Las Vegas to host WrestleMania for the second consecutive year if put in the same situation. The possibility of returning to the city may have been considered for a future point in time, but considering that another deal would have already been struck, Ray believes McMahon would keep his promise to New Orleans, the original host of WrestleMania 42.

"This is where TKO and Vince McMahon differ," Ray said. "And I don't know Vince McMahon like he's my best friend in the whole world. I know the man that I worked for seven years, so I have a little bit of an idea of the guy. TKO has shown us now this is about one thing and one thing only: the almighty dollar. Vince would have made a deal with New Orleans. He would have shook on it. He would have signed on the dotted line. And if Las Vegas would have come over the top a couple of months later and said, 'Hey, Vince, we'll give you $3 million up front,' Vince would have said, 'Thank you. Maybe I'll see you the year after. I already have a deal with New Orleans.' That's the businessman that Vince was."

Looking back on TKO's decision to replace New Orleans with Las Vegas as the site for "The Show of Shows," Ray noted that the company wasn't necessarily wrong to do so from a business perspective at that point in time, especially given that "Sin City" previously succeeded in making money. With the benefit of hindsight, though, Ray, like many others, now see that it is not working out as expected due to a variety of factors.

"They're scrambling to make things work," Ray added, referencing the creative and promotional tactics now being used to potentially boost WrestleMania ticket sales.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.