One Moment WWE Wants You To Forget From Every Year (1985 to 2026)

11. 2016 - The Big(gest) Lie

WrestleMania 32 Attendance
WWE Network

There's nothing new about an attendance figure (or for that matter, any positive figure) being exposed as an enormous lie, but the particular manner in which the real number came out, the gap between the fact and fiction, and the reputational damage this did to WWE's attendance information going forward made this 'Show Of Shows' fib something of a legacy-scale bust.

It's easy to tell the truth about box office triumphs and gates when things are good, but by 2016, too much was deemed very bad indeed. Not so bad that the market leader couldn't draw around 80,000 people to Arlington's cavernous AT&T Stadium, but 

 exposed as such as soon as Vince McMahon was forced to admit it. The desperation to legitimately top their disputed WrestleMania 32 figure resulted in The Chairman counting every fan, wrestler and toilet attendant to get to the 101,763 announced later in the night.

Dallas' cavernous AT&T Stadium was still pretty f*cking full too, but why celebrate the truth if there's a lie to be luxuriated in? It was a frustrating theme that ran throughout the show...

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for nearly 10 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 65,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live.