January 30, 2023 Observer Newsletter: WWE Royal Rumble preview, Raw is XXX scores big ratings
The 36th annual January Royal Rumble, the creation of Pat Patterson based on the success of the annual San Francisco Battle Royal promoted by Roy Shire (which came from the Texas Battle Royals promoted by Ed Francis in Honolulu), will likely both determine the WrestleMania main event but also be a record-setter.
Due to the increase in Peacock subscribers, which hit 20 million at the end of 2022 (just over double the number one year ago and roughly 48 percent more than at WrestleMania), it is a virtual lock that more Americans will watch this PPV than any Royal Rumble in history. It will very likely beat either day of last year’s WrestleMania, which are the two record holders for most Americans watching a WWE PPV show in history. The record will also almost surely be broken for both days of WrestleMania.
In addition, the live gate record for the Rumble was broken some time back. As of press time, there were 42,972 tickets distributed with a live gate that has topped $7 million. It was the largest live gate for any U.S. WWE event in history that wasn’t called WrestleMania and beat most WrestleManias. There was the hope of hitting $8 million, a number that would equal or surpass Clash at the Castle ($8,020,000) for the largest non-WrestleMania live gate in pro wrestling history. The secondary market get-in price is $36. They will announce a figure in excess of 50,000 since they’ve already used that number on television.
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