WWE STILL Haven't Sold This Week's Madison Square Garden Shows Out

Raw returns to WWE's spiritual home TONIGHT.

by Andy H Murray
WWE MSG Madison Square Garden
WWE/Ticketmaster

WWE are set to return their old spiritual home - New York City's Madison Square Garden - for tonight's Raw and tomorrow's SmackDown tapings, though it doesn't look like the promotion are even close to selling out the historic venue.

Here's how Ticketmaster's Raw seatmap looked at the time of writing:-

Ticketmaster Map Raw
Ticketmaster

And this is how things are for SmackDown:-

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WWE SmackDown ticketmaster
Ticketmaster

While Raw's issues are significantly less severe than SmackDown's (which looks like a disaster), neither is ideal for the company. This is one of the most important buildings in wrestling history and traditionally one of WWE's strongest markets, yet here they are, unable to sell out a building that Ring Of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling filled in under an hour over WrestleMania 35 weekend.

Though Steve Austin was booked for Raw to help WWE course to a sellout, and has helped boost ticket sales, these MSG ticket maps are still full of blue dots.

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It'll be interesting to see what tactics WWE go to to try and pack the building. Comping tickets to families is a common tactic, particularly in 2019, with WWE's live event business stuck in a seemingly chronic decline.

Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.