WWE Reportedly Planning To Hold 100,000 Seat Event This Year
WWE is reportedly looking to hold one of their biggest events ever in 2018. According to Sportster, The MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) is looking to host more big events going forward, and WWE wants to capitalize on this desire. The venue has a capacity of over 100,000, and is the 10th largest stadium in the world. It has been host to events such as the 1956 Summer Olympics, 2006 Commonwealth Games, multiple FIFA World Cup qualifiers, a Guns N' Roses concert in 2017, among many others since its inception in 1853.
Whether it will be a traditional pay-per-view, non-traditional pay-per-view, or a WWE live event is still unconfirmed, but the aim is to come as close as possible to selling out the venue. Regarding past WWE pay-per-views, WrestleMania 32 in Dallas, TX, broke the 100K threshold at 101,763, although this number has varied in accuracy. Others coming close to 100K were WrestleMania III in Pontiac, Michigan at 93,173 (again, that number is disputed), WrestleMania 29 in East Rutherford, NJ, at 80,676, SummerSlam '92 in London, England at 80,355, and WrestleMania 23 in Detroit, Michigan at 80,103.
The report adds that WWE and MCG are working hard to come to an agreement for a show this year. An NXT TakeOver event was suggested, but it would be a hard sell. Right now, WWE's biggest Aussie stars are TM-61 and Melbourne's own Buddy Murphy, but the company has not built these names strong enough to sell arenas of this magnitude.
As far as the rest of the "Big 4" pay-per-views this year, SummerSlam will be held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, and Survivor Series will be at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. This means that the option to have a traditional pay-per-view there this year is virtually out, and they would have to most likely push a WWE Live or NXT event there, since the rest of the pay-per-views are already booked for locations as well.
However, with WWE going back to dual-brand pay-per-views, as well as dropping a couple from the line-up, this could set up scheduling an additional one for Melbourne if the negotiations are successful.
Source: The Sportster