Jeff Jarrett recently said that the story behind The Rock's return to last year's Elimination Chamber tells you everything you need to know about WWE's current ticket pricing problem.
Speaking on My World with Jeff Jarrett with host Conrad Thompson, Jarrett recounted the behind-the-scenes reason for The Rock's surprise appearance at Elimination Chamber 2025 in Toronto.
Why did The Rock come back last year at Elimination Chamber? Why did he say Ari called?" Jarrett said. "He said, 'Hey, ticket sales were soft. We got to get something in here. They're not moving as fast.'
Despite those soft sales concerns, the event went on to become the highest-grossing WWE event ever held in Canada — surpassing every WrestleMania that has taken place north of the border. Jarrett noted the irony: a record-setting show that still needed a last-minute star power injection to get tickets moving.
That's not just the biggest Elimination Chamber. That's not just the biggest PLE," he said. "That's bigger than the WrestleManias that have been held in Canada.
The 25% Discount That Changed Nothing
The Elimination Chamber situation set up what Jarrett sees as the most damning data point: a WrestleMania ticket discount weekend that failed to move inventory even after a 25% price cut.
They did that 25% off weekend and they didn't even move tickets," Jarrett said. "Even at 25% off, those are high tickets.
His diagnosis: the base prices are simply too high to begin with, and a one-weekend discount doesn't fix a structural pricing problem. WWE leadership has pushed back on criticism of ticket prices, but the discount weekend result suggests the market is sending a clear signal.
Jarrett places the blame squarely on TKO Group Holdings' decision to benchmark WWE against UFC when setting price expectations. The two properties share a parent company but serve fundamentally different audiences — and in his view, charging WWE fans UFC prices misreads the room entirely.
TKO's going, 'Look what we can charge for UFC,'" Jarrett said. "But it's just a different audience and a different mentality.
His broader point is that WWE's major tentpole events — Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, WrestleMania — can still command premium prices. The problem is applying that same ceiling to every event on the calendar.
I'm not saying they can't for Rumble or SummerSlam or WrestleMania," Jarrett said. "But I don't think they can treat every show like a UFC super show.
Jarrett isn't alone in this criticism — multiple industry voices have raised alarms about WWE pricing fans out of live events as TKO continues to push revenue growth.
