March 9, 20187 yr comment_5834987 I will qualify that they need to establish its more than a normal ROH house show to do that, whether its Omega or some big NJPW names or hot indy and European names. But if they establish this as indy Mania, or more specifically - anti-WWE Mania, I'm not betting against 10k, 2018 has blown my mind too many times already for me to bet against it. There are so many more hardcore fans than ever due to technology who will pay big money for things they perceive as big. The Rumble this year had the highest secondary market prices in WWE history and the lineup was nothing special. NJPW instantly sold 4,500 tickets for their LA show with nothing announced. ROH just sold out the Hammerstein immediately for a show with nothing big on it. I'm not betting against Progress drawing 8k for their big show this year. I was looking at Money in the Bank tickets for also here in Chicago - $80 for mediocre upper deck seats! Crazy times now.
March 9, 20187 yr comment_5834990 2018 is so insane that I'll make my prediction here that they sell at least 6,000 tickets the first day. This is going to be indy fan Mania, they'll come from around the world. Unless it comes out that the lineup is going to be really weak, no Omega, etc. I think there are a lot of people who self-identity very heavily with pro wrestling, who want to feel like they are part of something, and who have a decent amount of disposable income without strong responsibility-driven drains upon their time and money. I don't think this is a crazy notion. I certainly wouldn't bet against you. Agreed wholly on that first part of your response, Matt. Pro wrestling, like roller derby before it, is a new punk rock.
March 9, 20187 yr comment_5834991 It's not an entirely new notion either. I was a teenager during ECW's heyday and I got to go to a show right around my 18th birthday in 1999 in Boston. It felt like a big deal that I got to see ECW, even then. Likewise, it felt like a big deal when ROH came to Boston for the first time, like I got to be part of this wave that was happening. So I get the notion, especially for someone who is 16-25. it's just expanded due to the rise of social media. The fact that Bullet Club shirts have made it into Hot Topic and are probably scraping up against the idea of being socially acceptable (while still being hip and elitist in some way) plays into it too. It's not like walking around with a Randy Orton shirt on. "No, this is different." Again, this is them tapping into something as tangible as Watts using JYD to tap into something in 1981 or whatever.
March 10, 20187 yr comment_5835079 Considering that it’s driving range for me, I’ll be there for sure.
March 13, 20187 yr comment_5835604 The more I see people talking about traveling in for this show, hotel packages selling out quickly - this should be an easy sellout. Things are that crazy right now. Then they have to deliver if they want to be able to do it again.
March 13, 20187 yr comment_5835612 Seeing the conventions, meet and greets, podcasts, etc. they are lining up around this event, I can see them drawing 10,000 fans.
March 13, 20187 yr Author comment_5835615 What sucks is that if this ends up drawing say 8-9,000 instead of 10 it will be seen as a failure despite that being a ridiculous crowd for a non WWE wrestling show. Plus with the way Bullet Club fans buy up merch this will likely make tons of money for them off those sales alone no matter what the crowd size ends up being. Props for Cody and the Bucks setting lofty goals, but framing it as an all or nothing concept seems to run the risk of them not getting their just due for what is probably going to be a record setting indy crowd regardless of the final count.
March 13, 20187 yr comment_5835619 What sucks is that if this ends up drawing say 8-9,000 instead of 10 it will be seen as a failure despite that being a ridiculous crowd for a non WWE wrestling show. Yeah, but will Meltz try and debate these numbers if they draw less than 10K and they claim they did ala WM 3...?
March 13, 20187 yr Author comment_5835620 If I learned nothing else from all my years of reading Dave, it's that he's a stickler for accuracy when it comes to numbers to the point it sometimes comes off as an OCD tic. I have no doubt he will have the exact attendance down to the nearest butt cheek within a few days of the show no matter what it ends up being.
March 13, 20187 yr comment_5835660 if a Matchbox 20/Counting Crows show can sell 10,000 tickets in LA in 2017 (with higher prices), I don't think they'll have a problem lol
March 14, 20187 yr comment_5835703 If they are at 8-9 they will get those last few even if they have to drag homeless people in.
March 14, 20187 yr comment_5835704 At this point I think they won't have much trouble getting 10,000 people but IF they "only" get 8-9k they'll work the number so it's a sellout anyway. Even if Dave reports that the real number is lower, I don't think his report would gather enough strength to overcome the praise and celebration the "sellout" would get. Hell, it would probably end up with people fighting Dave over the real number and calling him a WWE stooge or something.
March 14, 20187 yr comment_5835705 Dave is a stickler for accuracy on attendance numbers when it comes to certain promotions but people have been mocking him on twitter for years about just reporting whatever numbers RoH tells him for attendance in the Observer. It was fairly obvious he was getting inflated numbers in like 2014-2016 before RoH attendance did genuinely pick back up.
March 15, 20187 yr comment_5835858 I think they'll somehow make it anyway, even with a bit of papering.
March 15, 20187 yr comment_5835859 I still think that hitting 9000 could be more profitable for them in the long term because then they can come back in 2019 with a chip on their shoulder and really mobilize a fanbase that came close and want to be part of that first grasp of "glory."
March 15, 20187 yr comment_5835864 I'm guessing day 1 sales will be almost 8,000. No basis on that other than New Japan did 5,000 in a few minutes.
March 15, 20187 yr comment_5835878 all in seams as big as LLPW was at the time of the Joshi Boom so all in could draw 10k with ease as as LLPE drew 15 k a few time
March 15, 20187 yr comment_5835929 After this show, I hope the narrative becomes "can we keep running 10k shows every month?" Cody and the Young Bucks are my favorite acts in wrestling right now and everyone involved deserves the success.
March 16, 20187 yr comment_5835966 Chicago is only a 3-4 hour drive from me. Provided all my other responsibilities are in order, I can see myself attending this. At this point, I am pretty locked in without a card announced. I really don't see this doing less than the 10k they are shooting for. At the very least, I wouldn't bet against it.
March 16, 20187 yr comment_5835979 also look at FMW drew over 5ok with no tv back in the day so this should with ease draw then
March 16, 20187 yr comment_5835980 Present company excluded, this is going to be the most annoying, entitled crowd in the history of wrestling. And that's saying something.
March 16, 20187 yr comment_5835996 Present company excluded, this is going to be the most annoying, entitled crowd in the history of wrestling. And that's saying something. This is 20 minutes from where I live and yeah I'll probably go, but I'm going to feel like an outsider.
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