November 20, 2006 Observer Newsletter: WWE WrestleMania 23, Ultimate Fighter
Even though the show is five months away, Wrestlemania 23 on 4/1 at Ford Field in Detroit is now the all-time record holder for the largest gate in North American and WWE pro wrestling history.
The company sold out its first allotment of nearly 50,000 tickets on 11/11, when they were put on sale to the general public, even with no matches announced, hinted or even planned out. There had also been a two week pre-sale. The current advance is $4,350,000, which breaks the all-time record set of $3,846,033 set on March 17, 2002, for Wrestlemania X-8 at Sky Dome in Toronto, headlined by Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock.
There will be about 28,000 more tickets put on sale at different intervals over the next several months, and are also likely to be sold quickly upon release. Ford Field is being set up for 78,000 fans, so this will end up being one of the three biggest crowds in company history and five biggest crowds in what is at least verifiable pro wrestling history.
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Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.