WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray (Bubba Ray Dudley) appeared on Busted Open Radio to discuss various topics, including his thoughts on WWE hosting their biggest show of the year in Saudi Arabia.
Ray said, “I’m not shocked at all. Not that I expected it, I’m just not shocked because of what the WWE is doing with their ticket prices. People are now getting to the point where they’re b*****n,’ moaning, complaining about the ticket prices. It seems like little by little, the average family, the average joe, is struggling to afford tickets to a WWE show despite the fact that they’re sold out. But, it’s getting more difficult. Eventually, you’re gonna cap out, and people aren’t gonna be able to afford your show, and you’re gonna start seeing empty seats. Where is money not an issue? Money is not an issue there [Saudi]. Saudi, it’s gonna be the first time WrestleMania is on that side of the planet. The Saudi government is gonna pay out the wazoo, and they won’t blink an eye.”
On how Vince McMahon would have never allowed WWE to price fans out of attending events while he was in charge:
“This might blow your mind if you already don’t know already: Vince McMahon would never do this. As big as it was [WWE], and even a publicly traded company, it was nothing more than a glorified mom and pop fruit stand. It was run by Vince, Linda, Stephanie, Shane, and obviously, Hunter, you know, marrying into the family. Once Vince understood the old school way of promoting pro wrestling, of how to put asses in seats and how important the house shows were, as you know, on par with even the bigger events. That mentality, does Hunter understand and know that mentality? Absolutely. However, now that TKO is involved, I don’t believe that TKO is family-friendly, because of what you just said, you know, people popping all at the same time. And then one night, for some reason, only 19,999 pop. And that’s the night you got to worry about. Eventually, they’re going to go, ‘Whoops, we charged 100 last time, and we sold out. We charged 150 this time, and we’re only at 95 percent full. Why? Is it the strength of the creative? Is it who’s on top? Or can people no longer afford this ticket?’.”
You can check out the complete podcast below.
