Rikishi Criticizes New Reality Regarding WWE Tickets And Prices

One of the biggest complaints since WWE merged with UFC to create TKO has been the surging prices for everything WWE-related.

From merchandise and tickets to fan experiences and streaming services, fans haven't appreciated how much more expensive pro wrestling has become.

The deal WWE signed with ESPN for live broadcasting rights to PLEs is the most recent example of TKO's new approach to presenting pro wrestling. TKO has shareholders to keep satisfied through maximizing profits, and that's touched every part of the business.

WrestleMania 43 is set to be the first held outside of the United States, and it's being held in Saudi Arabia. Despite having a working relationship with Saudi Arabia since 2018, it took until after the merger with TKO for the WrestleMania deal to materialize. WWE Legend and cousin of Roman Reigns, Rikishi, spoke on his podcast to talk about how much more difficult it was to receive tickets from WWE in 2025.

Rikishi opens up on securing tickets

Rikishi is a former WWE Intercontinental and Tag Team champion. He's also the father of current World Tag Team champions, The Usos. Not only that, but he also has a WWE Legends contract, but even that's not enough for TKO to make it easy for him to receive tickets.

Rikishi expressed his frustration with TKO.

“I don’t know about the ticket prices with TKO because even my family members now, they will usually call me for tickets but it’s too difficult now. There’s a lot of loopholes you have to go through,"
Rikishi

Complimentary tickets don't exist anymore

Rikishi explained that family and friends used to go to him for tickets, but since the merger with TKO, providing tickets has become much more difficult than before. According to Rikishi, TKO doesn't offer complimentary tickets, and any discounts they do offer aren't significant.

"You would think that family members and friends, close friends, you’d still have those comp tickets, but there is no comp tickets. I can probably try to get them discounted, but I don’t know what’s discounted nowadays. Like a $1000 ticket for a family of five and a man working nine to five through the whole week and the family loves wrestling. It’s very difficult to be able to take a family to events.”
Rikishi on comp tickets

The discussion had Rikishi reminiscing on how things used to be with WWE. Tickets for close family and friends were considered legitimate discounts back then, with prices ranging from $25 to $75 for front-row seats.

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