The Real Attendance Figure For WWE's Royal Rumble 2020 Revealed

42,715 was a bloated number...

By Jamie Kennedy /

Delaywaves [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)]/WWE

WWE announced a new attendance record for Minute Maid Park last weekend at the 2020 Royal Rumble, but Dave Meltzer wrote in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the number was inflated.

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Dave said the actual attendance in Houston was closer to 36,000.

The Observer did also report that the stadium was legit sold out for the Rumble; WWE turned some fans away from the gates on the day of the show, and the 36,000 number is still in line to be one of the bigger attendances for a pro wrestling event all year.

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Night one of New Japan's Wrestle Kingdom 14 (40,008) on 4 January was higher, but WWE can be proud of drawing such a big crowd, and the number bodes well for the Rumble going forwards. Obviously, WrestleMania 36 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa (which has a capacity of over 65,000 and is expandable to approx 75,000 for wrestling) will smash the Rumble's attendance.

WWE's shows in Saudi Arabia will do extremely well too.

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The longstanding tradition of inflating attendance numbers continues in WWE. It's almost charming at this point.