Why WWE chose Dallas-Fort Worth for its Money in the Bank PPV, return to live audiences

WWE is on its way home.

No, not to the company’s headquarters in Connecticut, but to Texas – and to the thousands of fans who will attend shows in Houston, Fort Worth and Dallas over the weekend.

Although the pandemic effectively brought the live sports and entertainment landscape to a standstill last March, WWE was able to maintain its multiple weekly television programming thanks to the running of shows through its Orlando-based performance center as well as short stops at other locations in Florida such as Tropicana Field and. maintain the Yuengling Center on the University of South Florida campus.

But something was missing.

Outside of this year’s two-day WrestleMania event at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, almost every show WWE put on was fanless – unless you count those watching from home via a live feed and their faces in the hundreds of video boards in the technological marvel that WWE created called ThunderDome.

But on Friday in Houston, Sunday in Fort Worth and Monday in Dallas, WWE is officially back on the road to reunite with fans across the country.

“Reunited is, I think, the best word I’ve ever heard,” WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon told The Dallas Morning News. “We can hardly wait. Whether our fans, our superstars, our employees, our partners – we can’t wait to be together again. … We come home exactly where we all belong.

“It feels like WrestleMania. I cannot put it into words. “

Stephanie McMahon (left), WWE Chief Brand Officer, speaks to the media during a press event at Reunion Tower in downtown Dallas on Friday, April 1, 2016. (The Dallas Morning News)

The actors feel the same way.

Reigning WWE Champion Bobby Lashley, who will defend his title against Kofi Kingston at one of the key events for the Money in the Bank pay-per-view at the Dickies Arena on Sunday, recalls the low-energy crowd of around 25,000 people, which were provided to WrestleMania a few months ago but also knows for sure that the entire dressing room is ready to see a full house again.

“We had great games and great shows and everyone worked really hard during that time,” Lashley said of the company’s pandemic era. “But it’s different when you have fans. … It’s a different level of intensity.

“I don’t know who is more excited: the fans or us.”

While the American Airlines Center has served as a frequent stopover for the WWE for the past two decades, the Dickies Arena was slated to make its WWE debut late last March and host an episode of Monday Night Raw. However, due to the pandemic, the event had to be postponed. A postponed show, this time an episode of Friday Night SmackDown, was finally rescheduled for last July – only to be postponed as well.

“We’ve worked very closely with WWE and their team to see how quickly we can get back and safely get back to live events,” said Alissa Sanderson, Dickies Arena Marketing Director.

“We continued the conversation from before the pandemic to the end, so we had this open line the whole time.”

WWE officially announced its return to the streets for the Texas shows in May and has since announced many other shows across the country as well as a return to the UK in September. But with WrestleMania’s return to AT&T Stadium for 2022, a stop in Fort Worth for the company’s first ever pay-per-view event in front of fans became a logical choice.

The AT&T Stadium hosted the WWE premiere showcase for the first time on April 3, 2016 in front of a record crowd of 101,763 spectators. According to a 2016 study by Enigma Research, the event generated $ 170.4 million in economic impact for the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

“We were hoping to get back to live events last fall, but that obviously didn’t happen. The world wasn’t ready and the country wasn’t ready, ”said McMahon.

“It was really just a game of timing for everyone I think. And the time was right, and the time was right for now. “

For Lashley, who has several family members in Dallas, getting back on the streets doesn’t mean work stops, it just means more. After all, he still has to defend his championship.

“Come see the massacre,” Lashley said.

Tickets for the Dallas and Fort Worth shows are still available and can be purchased at ticketmaster.com.

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