WWE Royal Rumble 2022 Breaks Huge Peacock Record
While not particularly well received, critically, WWE Royal Rumble 2022 was a Peacock hit.
Although WWE Royal Rumble 2022 wasn't the most well-received show, critically, a record number of people tuned in to watch it on Peacock in the United States.
Dave Meltzer writes in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the Rumble was the platform's most-viewed WWE live event, outdoing both nights of WrestleMania 37, the previous record-holder.
It was stated during yesterday's WWE 2021 earnings call that the event was up 45% in viewership compared to the previous year.
WWE announced an attendance of upwards of 44,000 on the night. In actuality, the show drew 39,417 fans in St. Louis, Missouri, with the paid number thought to be somewhere around 35,000. The level of attendance inflation is in-line with what WWE typically claims for such major stadium shows.
Yesterday's financial reports release saw the promotion announce record revenue of over $1 billion in 2021, with the promotion also breaking all previous profitability records. Increasingly, the promotion is a huge financial success, even if this doesn't align with the creative side, as previous by the broadly negative response to Royal Rumble 2022 (in particular, the two titular bouts, won by Ronda Rousey and Brock Lesnar).