Wrestling Shows That Happened In Mostly Empty Stadiums

If a wrestler is performing in a vastly empty arena, it’s most likely that one of two things is happening: either business is doing terribly, or there’s a global pandemic going on. This list has a mix of shows that suffered from each circumstance.

While the empty arena shows during COVID-19 lockdowns were a bit jarring to watch, it was understandable as to why the arena had to be empty. The shows that didn’t take place during the COVID-19 pandemic, though, can’t be cut the same slack. The attendance rate of those shows indicate all-time low levels of fan investment in the product, whether that was due to a lack of star power or terrible booking.

10 Ring Of Honor: Manhattan Mayhem 2019

Ring of Honor is a trendsetter of a company; they helped popularize Strong Style matches on the American independent scene, and gave rise to some of wrestling’s biggest stars. They also ran empty-arena shows before they became a thing.

Manhattan Mayhem took place in the Hammerstein Ballroom on July 20, 2019. A few things are to blame for this show’s attendance rate; first, the departure of The Elite from ROH turned a lot of fans away from the product. Second, ticket prices were allegedly too expensive to sway fans into going.

9 Taboo Tuesday 2004

The Taboo Tuesday PPV premise was one of the most ambitious ideas of the Ruthless Aggression Era; it allowed fans to vote on match stipulations and participants, making it a highly customizable show. With an idea as intriguing as this one, you would imagine fans would undoubtedly turn up to the show. Unfortunately, as the name implies, this PPV took place on a Tuesday. This seems to have had a terrible effect on attendance, as WWE sold 3,500 seats in an arena with a capacity of 18,800.

8 Taboo Tuesday 2005

Yes, WWE tried to run a Tuesday night PPV again. Fans loved the premise of Taboo Tuesday, and the show gave fans some incredible moments. However, logistically speaking, attending a PPV on a Tuesday night was just unappealing. Ticket sales were a bit more successful this time; 6,000 seats were sold out of a 14,600 capacity. However, Tuesday night PPVs were soon switched to the traditional Sunday night.

7 December To Dismember 2006

December to Dismember in 2006 is widely regarded as one of the worst PPVs in WWE history. Though the event was branded as an ECW show, it took place after ECW was purchased by WWE and featured many Raw and SmackDown stars. The show took place in the James Brown Arena in Augusta, Georgia. It sold 4,800 seats out of a 9,200 capacity.

6 Wrestle Kingdom 15

NJPW post-match Tetsuya Naito vs Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and IWGP Intercontinental Championship WrestleKingdom 15 Night One

Japan has generally had stricter COVID-19 protocols than the US, so NJPW has had quite a few limited-capacity shows. For some of these shows, though, the emptiness of the arena was much more noticeable. Wrestle Kingdom 15 was one example of this.

The Tokyo Dome is a massive arena, with a capacity of 55,000. The first night of Wrestle Kingdom 15 had only 12,698 fans in attendance, and the second night had only 7,801.

5 NJPW's Wrestle Grand Slam

Shingo Takagi vs Hiroshi Tanahashi Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome

Running two shows out of the Tokyo Dome in the same year was already very ambitious on the part of NJPW. The COVID-19 pandemic, though, effectively precluded any chance of a capacity crowd. Wrestle Grand Slam had only 5,389 fans, about one-tenth of the Tokyo Dome’s capacity. Plus, the event took place in the daytime, making the emptiness of the arena incredibly obvious.

4 AEW Double Or Nothing 2020

2020’s Double or Nothing was AEW’s first empty-arena PPV. It had zero fans in attendance since the show took place just two-months into the pandemic. AEW made the most of it, though, by getting a bit creative. Their first-ever Stadium Stampede took full advantage of the empty football stadium adjacent to Daily’s Place.

3 Armageddon 2004

Eddie Guerrero in shock after seeing The Undertaker rise up following a beatdown.

This show sold 5,000 seats in the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Georgia, a building with a capacity of 13,100. The problem with this show is that it was incredibly bland, and didn’t promise fans anything especially interesting or worth buying a ticket to see. The main event saw JBL retain the WWE Championship in a four-way match between him, Eddie Guerrero, Booker T, and The Undertaker.

2 WrestleMania 37

Roman-Reigns-v-Daniel-Bryan-v-Edge-WrestleMania-37-Cropped-2

WrestleMania 37 was the first WWE event to have fans in attendance since the COVID-19 pandemic sent the world into lockdown. Due to government regulations, the event still had a limited capacity, however. About 26,000 seats were sold each night in the Raymond James stadium in Tampa, Florida. The building typically has a capacity of 66,000.

1 Stomping Grounds 2019

Seth-Rollins-v-Baron-Corbin-Stomping-Grounds-2019-Cropped-1

2019’s Stomping Grounds PPV took place at Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington. It sold 6,000 tickets out of a 23,000 capacity, There was no global pandemic to explain this lack of ticket sales, only terrible booking that left fans incredibly uninterested in the show. In the main event, Seth Rollins retained the WWE Universal Championship against Baron Corbin.