WrestleMania 42 Attendance | Missy Hyatt | All In hits 40,000 | Pollock & Thurston
Pollock and Thurston discuss WrestleMania 42 attendance figures showing a significant decline from the previous year, analyze shareholder data revealing Gregory Fenelon as TKO's largest individual shareholder, and examine wrestling booking patterns across WWE, AEW, and New Japan through data visualization comparing wrestler ages to win percentages.
Summary
The episode opens with discussion of WrestleMania 42 attendance in Las Vegas, comparing figures from WWE's announcement (106,071), WrestleTix estimates, and official Las Vegas Stadium Authority data (97,126 total across two nights). Attendance was down approximately 13-18% depending on the source, representing a significant drop from the previous year's 124,693. The hosts explain the different methodologies for measuring attendance (tickets distributed, sold, turnstile count) and note that WWE has been more transparent under current leadership than during the Vince McMahon era. The earnings report revealed a $33.7 million decrease in the live events and hospitality segment compared to the same quarter the previous year, suggesting the gate revenue was substantially lower despite high ticket prices. Las Vegas Stadium Authority data shows 81% of attendees were from out of town, with 96% citing WrestleMania as their primary reason for travel, demonstrating the event's tourism value to the city.
The hosts discuss WrestleMania coming to Saudi Arabia in 2025 without yet announced dates, questioning whether WWE will receive the same financial incentives as previous Saudi events and expressing skepticism about obtaining attendance information from the Saudi Arabia stadium authority. They note that Saudi Arabia WrestleMania promotion should target American tourists to boost local economy perception.
Janelle Grant's recent hospitalization and social media post are covered, detailing a serious fall resulting in a concussion, broken ribs, and lung hemorrhage with significant memory loss. Her legal case against WWE and other defendants has moved to arbitration and is no longer public. She is scheduled to receive an advocacy award on September 11th.
SummerSlam attendance data is presented showing a 34% decline in WrestleTix estimates comparing 2025 (69,196) to 2024 (104,581), attributed partly to the venue change from MetLife Stadium in New York to Minneapolis.
The discussion moves to recent wrestling programming, including Missy Hyatt's Dark Side of the Ring episode which aired on Vice TV, recounting her WWF tryout in 1987 with Eddie Gilbert and alleging an unwanted advance by Vince McMahon in a Las Vegas hotel room. The episode also covered her 1994 WCW lawsuit where she received $175,000 with lawyers taking 40%, though the legal documents and full details of the multi-count lawsuit remain difficult to access.
Brandon Thurston presents extensive data analysis comparing wrestler ages to winning percentages across New Japan, AEW, and WWE over the past 365 days. New Japan shows a positive slope indicating older wrestlers win more frequently, with Taiji Ishimori exemplifying the old-and-winning quadrant while younger wrestlers like Cal Newman (24, 75% win rate) and Kinosuke Takeshita (31, 75% win rate) are in the young-and-winning category. AEW shows a slightly less positive slope with similar patterns. WWE Raw/SmackDown data shows the steepest positive slope, indicating WWE relies more heavily on older wrestlers winning, with CM Punk (40, 90% wins), Cody Rhodes (41), and Chad Gable (40) dominating while younger main roster talent like Obafemi Opreeh stands out at nearly 95% wins despite being very young. The analysis notes that NXT was excluded as WWE's developmental territory.
The New Japan G1 Climax final between Rio Heyoiwa and Yuya Uemura at Sumo Hall is discussed, with the match featuring extended headlocks and mat wrestling rather than high-flying moves. The match received a 9.7 cage match rating. The overall G1 attendance was 50,400 across 19 events, up 17% from the previous year, with the Sumo Hall shows drawing 7,777 (Tenzan retirement) and 7,260 (final), though there's debate about whether these represent true capacity versus tarped-off sections.
All In London has reached 40,036 in WrestleTix estimates for their Wembley Stadium event, continuing on pace to hit the 40,000 mark.
SEC filings reveal Gregory Fenelon as the largest individual shareholder in TKO Group with 9.463 million shares (5% of class A stock), surpassing Vince McMahon's 6.4 million shares (3%). Fenelon is described as a Harvard Business School graduate and JP Morgan veteran who has accumulated approximately $14 billion in shareholdings across 20 U.S. companies, including stakes in Hyatt Hotels, Take-Two Interactive (2K Games), Celsius energy drinks, and TKO/UFC.
Nick Kahn stock liquidations are catalogued, showing he has sold $58.2 million in TKO stock since 2024, with particularly significant sales in the past year. These are explained as Rule 10b5-1 automated trading plan sales, not reactive insider moves based on material non-public information.
Peacock announced price increases: Premium with ads rising $2 to $12.99/month, Premium ad-free rising $3 to $19.99/month, and Peacock Select rising $1 to $8.99/month. YouTube TV subscribers will gain Peacock inclusion in 2025.
About this episode
<p><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/iamjohnpollock.bsky.social" rel="nofollow"><strong>John Pollock</strong></a><span> and </span><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/brandonthurston.bsky.social" rel="nofollow"><strong>Brandon Thurston</strong></a><span> chat about the WrestleMania 42 attendance, Missy Hyatt repeats an allegation about Vince McMahon, and All In hits 40k. </span></p><p><strong>Video version: </strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/PzjDjvcp-L4" rel="nofollow"><strong>https://www.youtube.com/live/PzjDjvcp-L4</strong></a></p><p><span>Topics this week include:</span></p><ul><li><span>Janel Grant describes a recent hospital stay </span></li><li><span>Missy Hyatt repeats allegation against Vince McMahon on Dark Side </span></li><li><span>WrestleMania 42 attendance from Las Vegas Stadium Authority </span></li><li><span>G1 Climax wraps, final attendance stats with comparisons to past years</span></li><li><span>AEW All In London approaching 40,000 tickets out </span></li><li><span>Gregory Fenelon acquires 9.4 million shares of TKO stock </span></li><li><span>Nick Khan’s stock sales</span></li><li><span>Peacock raises its prices </span></li></ul><p><br /></p><p><em>Music courtesy: </em><a href="https://soundcloud.com/IAmBenTramer" rel="nofollow"><em>“Panic Beat” by Ben Tramer</em></a></p><p><strong>POST Wrestling</strong></p><p><strong>Subscribe: </strong><a href="https://postwrestling.com/subscribe" rel="nofollow"><strong>https://postwrestling.com/subscribe</strong></a></p><p><strong>Patreon: </strong><a href="http://postwrestlingcafe.com" rel="nofollow"><strong>http://postwrestlingcafe.com</strong></a></p><p><strong>Forum: </strong><a href="https://forum.postwrestling.com/" rel="nofollow"><strong>https://forum.postwrestling.com</strong></a></p><p><strong>Discord: </strong><a href="https://discord.com/invite/Q795HhR" rel="nofollow"><strong>https://discord.com/invite/Q795HhR</strong></a></p><p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/POSTwrestling" rel="nofollow"><strong>Twitter</strong></a><span>/</span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/POSTwrestling" rel="nofollow"><strong>Facebook</strong></a><span>/</span><a href="http://www.instagram.com/POSTwrestling" rel="nofollow"><strong>Instagram</strong></a><span>/</span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/POSTwrestling" rel="nofollow"><strong>YouTube</strong></a><strong>: @POSTwrestling</strong></p><p><strong>Bluesky: </strong><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/postwrestling.com" rel="nofollow"><strong>https://bsky.app/profile/postwrestling.com</strong></a></p><p><br /></p><p><strong>Wrestlenomics</strong></p><p><strong>Subscribe: </strong><a href="https://wrestlenomics.com/podcast/" rel="nofollow"><strong>https://wrestlenomics.com/podcast/</strong></a></p><p><strong>Patreon: </strong><a href="https://patreon.com/wrestlenomics" rel="nofollow"><strong>https://patreon.com/wrestlenomics</strong></a></p><p><strong>Substack: </strong><a href="https://wrestlenomics.substack.com/" rel="nofollow"><strong>https://wrestlenomics.substack.com/</strong></a></p><p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/wrestlenomics" rel="nofollow"><strong>Twitter</strong></a><span>/</span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/wrestlenomics" rel="nofollow"><strong>Facebook</strong></a><span>/</span><a href="http://www.instagram.com/wrestlenomics" rel="nofollow"><strong>Instagram</strong></a><span>/</span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/wrestlenomics" rel="nofollow"><strong>YouTube</strong></a><strong>: @Wrestlenomics</strong></p><p><strong>Bluesky: </strong><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/wrestlenomics.com" rel="nofollow"><strong>https://bsky.app/profile/wrestlenomics.com</strong></a></p><p><br /></p><br /><br />Advertising Inquiries: <a href="https://redcircle.com/brands">https://redcircle.com/brands</a><br /><br />Privacy & Opt-Out: <a href="https://redcircle.com/privacy">https://redcircle.com/privacy</a>
Key Insights
- WWE's announced attendance of 106,071 for WrestleMania 42 was only slightly higher than the Las Vegas Stadium Authority's figure of 97,126, suggesting WWE has become more transparent about attendance methodology compared to the Vince McMahon era when inflated figures were common.
- The $33.7 million decline in TKO's live events and hospitality segment represents approximately half of the prior year's $66 million WrestleMania gate, indicating gate revenue was substantially down despite extremely high ticket prices.
- WrestleMania's positioning in Las Vegas for two consecutive years may have contributed to the attendance decline, as WWE leadership acknowledged this strategy had a negative effect on demand.
- Missy Hyatt's allegation of an unwanted advance from Vince McMahon in a Las Vegas hotel room during 1987 WWF tryouts occurred near the same timeframe as Rita Chatterton's allegations, though it was disclosed many years later.
- New Japan's data shows a positive correlation between wrestler age and winning percentage, with older wrestlers like Taiji Ishimori winning significantly more than younger wrestlers, though the promotion is actively developing younger talent.
- WWE shows the steepest positive slope between wrestler age and wins compared to AEW and New Japan, indicating WWE relies most heavily on older wrestlers winning matches while maintaining younger wrestlers in lower-profile roles.
- WWE main roster talent in their 20s is limited in availability, with most young talent concentrated in NXT developmental, suggesting WWE's approach of building around 40+ year-old stars creates a talent pipeline bottleneck.
- The New Japan G1 Climax showed strong viewer engagement with the Sumo Hall final match receiving a 9.7 cage match rating, with the tournament overall performing well compared to the prior two years.
- Gregory Fenelon's 9.463 million shares in TKO (5% of class A stock) now exceed Vince McMahon's 6.4 million shares (3%), making Fenelon the largest individual shareholder despite his low public profile.
- Nick Kahn has liquidated $58.2 million in TKO stock since 2024 through automated Rule 10b5-1 trading plans, representing a significant diversification of his compensation-based stock holdings.
- The Las Vegas Stadium Authority data shows 81% of WrestleMania attendees traveled from out of town with 96% citing the event as their primary travel reason, demonstrating WWE's role in generating tourism revenue for the city.
- Peacock's multiple price increases in consecutive years, including a $3 increase for ad-free Premium to $19.99/month, suggest NBC is prioritizing profitability over subscriber growth for the streaming service.
Topics
Transcript
The most effective people at work aren't working harder than everyone else. They're working smarter, inside better systems. Superhuman Go, from the makers of Grammarly, is the AI chat that works inside every tool you already use. Always ready and already aware of what you're working on. It's a teammate whose only job is to help you be better at yours. With Go working with you, you can show off what you do best. See what Superhuman Go can do at superhuman.com. That's superhuman.com. Brandon Thurston from WrestleNomics is up next, and we're going to follow Brandon with John Pollock from Post Wrestling. Delivering on the returns, increasing our margins. Ladies, go down the toilet if I'm not here. All…
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