ASK TITO: More on WWE Ticket Prices, Charlotte Flair’s Toxicity, Chris Jericho Returning to WWE?, and More
The Excellence in Column Writing is back and better than ever to answer your questions on current events via email (mostly with longtime readers), social media (private or not), and your comments below each column. I always enjoy Rumble to Wrestlemania season, as the material just comes to me and that allows for more frequency of posting. Of course to the haters, that’s more columns that they somehow click into…
To start, I want to talk about Nintendo… Through June 5th, unless tariffs cause possible delays or pricing changes, Nintendo will be making its Switch 2 console available to purchase. The pricing point seems to be $449 for the basic system without games, but $499 with Mario Kart World packed in (could be higher, we’ll see). Reportedly, however, if you were to purchase Mario Kart World separately, it costs $80 digitally from the Nintendo eShop and I’ve heard up to $90 for the physical copy of the game. The latter point about the prices for Mario Kart World as an individual game purchase has set people off.
By comparison, WWE ticket prices… Prices have seriously doubled throughout arenas for WWE events, and really have gone up for this year’s Wrestlemania. While 50,000 tickets sold is impressive and should equate to a massive gate for WWE this year, they are under the 65,000 capacity for the Las Vegas Raiders football stadium. I’ve argued in previous columns that maybe WWE went too high with ticket prices and are missing out on the bragging rights for a sellout (though they may make more by selling at a higher price).
But how can both WWE and Nintendo gets away with charging higher prices?
Because their devoted fans will pay for it.
I’ll admit, I love me some Nintendo. When it was announced that Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom would become the Switch’s first $70 game, I didn’t flinch… I gladly handed them my money. My DEMAND to play that game was extremely high and as a financial professional, I’m doing OK financially so thus I’d probably pay up to $200 for that game. And why not? That’s 50 hours of solid entertainment and memories that can last forever, along with multiple replays of the game. Getting above $200, I’d probably start thinking a little bit… Even though I love me some Legend of Zelda games, “I’ve got a price” as Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase used to say.
Many traveling WWE fans had price points, too, and hence why I don’t think the Las Vegas tickets are surging as they should be. You could argue the card, blah blah blah blah blah, but all of the top WWE stars will be there along with different fan fest events. Plus, and I know this is 100% true, wrestling fans like to BRAG to other wrestling fans about attending other events. It’s exactly like a teenage girl immediately getting the latest Apple iPhone model to show it to her friends. But asking them to pay over $4,000 for good ringside tickets and sitting in nosebleeds for $200 with bright lights pounding you all night long? Plus expensive plane tickets to Vegas and that city’s skill of nickeling and diming everybody that shows up?
There are a lot of gamers who like to own multiple systems and that runs up the costs on the hobby. Casual Nintendo gamers and an $80 probably hits their wallet harder. But for me, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, and I don’t have any other expensive habits. I just pay my bills, take care of my family, and thus, I can pour funds into my Nintendo collection. And I freakin’ LOVE Mario Kart after years upon years of seeing my boy Steve Kinser DOMINATE dirt tracks on the World of Outlaws sprint car scene. So yeah, I’m willing to pay $80 for Mario Kart World, knowing that I’ll likely pump 200 hours of online racing alone with that, along with racing with my kids.
As a wrestling fan, for example, I have ZERO interest in purchasing replica world title belts from the WWE. Many of you, however, will pony up $300 to $1,500 for one of those belts. So, thus the prices seem ridiculous to me, but not ridiculous to a fan who really wants those belts.
I almost didn’t go to Royal Rumble this year in Indianapolis… The high ticket prices plus the maddening Ticketmaster fees discouraged me… But then I shopped around, found a pair of tickets that hit my personal threshold, and I was ready to plow… They call me Mantis!
I don’t have any desire to fly out to Vegas and watch Wrestlemania in-person. It’s just above where I demand to pay for events, even if I could possibly afford it. In terms of opportunity costs, I have better alternatives than to pay for overpriced Wrestlemania tickets and price gouging from airlines for flying to Las Vegas.
But for events where you have to travel, it takes TIME… “Time is a luxury you do not have”, as Khan would say from Star Trek 2. Traveling to an arena times time, whether you are driving or flying… Even if you live close by, traffic ramps up during a sporting event night. Then, getting into a parking garage and walking to the arena where there are long lines to get in (crazy long lines in Indianapolis). Then, once the event is over, you’re going to fight traffic to get out of that parking garage. Driving late at night isn’t fun, so if you traveled 3-4 hours, you may consider a hotel. If you flew, there’s a cost to doing that, but lots of TIME walking around an airport terminal, dealing with TSA for 2 hours before your flight, possibly dealing with a layover or any delays, and then dealing with a rental card or rideshare to get there.
Thus, when you raise your prices on big destination events, all of that stuff that I just mentions comes into consideration… If prices are just too high, you don’t want to deal with that other bullcrap.
THAT SAID, I know many traveling wrestling fans who LOVE the thrill of attending a live event. They’re saving up throughout the year and attending an event is their vacation. They have a higher demand to see stuff live than I do, so thus they’ll pay the high prices that WWE is now charging on tickets.
But, at what point, will they hit their threshold? As WWE become more popular, they have more casual fans to milk for higher prices than ever. When prices keep rising, WWE risks alienating a loyal fan for a casual fan who is willing to pay higher prices as a fad to brag about. If WWE loses popularity, it will be interesting to see what happens to ticket prices and if WWE begins to shrink back down to smaller arenas. As good as WWE is right now, everything goes in cycles and their younger fans will start burning out from wrestling once they realize how much fun partying or handing out with women is. Those late high school and most of the college years.
With Nintendo, though, I think they jacked up the size and power of their system, which video gamers have been yelling at Nintendo to do for years. Then, when Nintendo presents a brand new system with more size and power, those same fans complain. Go figure. These video games take YEARS to make, each… $80 is cheap for how much the Nintendo programmers should have probably been paid to make the games.
With prices, it’s all about how much you or others are willing to pay… If someone is willing to pay the higher prices, a company will charge the higher prices.
Aside from the movement of the price itself, there are other determinants of demand that they describe in Economics course. For example:
[ ] Income
[ ] Tastes/Preferences
[ ] Expectations of the future economy
[ ] Market Size (# of consumers)
[ ] Prices of related goods (complements & substitutes)
Let’s look at me for Nintendo, first… Income is good, no debt as well. Tastes/Preferences for Nintendo products are STRONG, as I love Mario and Zelda games and literally play them all. I’m more leery on what Tariffs (taxes on United States importing producers) will do to the economy, so I’d probably keep it to the bare minimum for my Nintendo purchases (just the systems, won’t get the expensive controllers or camera). I could play Mario Kart World for months and I’ll be good… Excluding me, market size for Nintendo has grown thanks to the successful Switch, Mario movies, and growing with pop culture strongly again. Prices of related goods would discourage me, such as the expensive controllers which I don’t need when primarily playing in handheld mode. There’s no substitute for Nintendo, as my Playstation 5 collects dust (what a TURD of a system!).
Let’s look at the WWE… Again on my end, incoming is good, no debt, and lots of savings in place. Tastes/Preferences for WWE has been strong through early 2025, but not as strong following Royal Rumble 2025. Burning out on Cody and Roman Reigns just doesn’t seem as massive as he once did. Growing impatient to get Rock vs. Roman over with already. Not crazy about Jey Uso, nor do I see that many promising young talent to replace Roman/Cody at the top. With expectations, the WWE will cost you more as a hobby or habit than WWE if you attend LIVE events. You could buy multiple Nintendo Switch 2 consoles before attending Wrestlemania 41. Thus, making that big of a purchase could have more of an impact if the economy in the future crumbles. Market size, WWE has grown since 2020 some attendance numbers show some receding effect from 2024’s peak. WWE is growing internationally, but they may not want to travel here right now… As for related goods, well, AEW is much cheaper than the WWE as a substitute (but taste/preferences may be low for them) and complementary goods like merchandise will cost you an arm and a leg to purchase at events.
BUT, your EVERYTHING regarding DEMAND might be different towards Nintendo or WWE…
THAT is how you have to measure things, and what Nintendo and WWE have to use analytics and research to figure out patterns and trends of their customers. Video gamers, for example, have been very vocal about Mario Kart’s $80-$90 price point, especially as other games have been already priced at $60-70.
However, I want to make this last point… Since 2017, Nintendo has been pumping out quality games onto a quality product for the Nintendo Switch. To keep that momentum going, they have to invest more TIME and MONEY into their games. Same goes for WWE… Look at how much the PRODUCTION has improved for the WWE. On top of that, they’ve been paying wrestlers more money who have performed well. To serve larger venues, they have to purchase more trucks and hire more employees to dress an arena. Both WWE and Nintendo are pumping in more expenses into their product to keep making it better to meet your demands… So if they are spending more and you’re willing to pay more, HENCE THE HIGHER PRICES.
Sorry, but I don’t want to return to the 2010s versions of the WWE and Nintendo pre-switch. Those were some tough times for companies that I great up loving. I’m willing to pay more money to let them entertain me rather than not parting my money or paying less for a lesser quality product. That’s just me, but I think that is most of you as well.
On to your questions…
ASK TITO: Your Questions, My Answers
Thoughts on the recent Charlotte Flair and Tiffany Stratton interview segment where they went off-script?
Well, who went off script first? Charlotte Flair. Who was going off script during the previous weeks in attempts to antagonize the younger Stratton? Charlotte Flair.
Who went off-script with Nia Jax, trying to stiff her during a match and then Nia gave her immediate receipts (but Nia got in trouble)? Charlotte Flair.
Who went off-script during the whole Women’s Title swap segment between Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair? Charlotte Flair.
On top of all of that, who was trying to get out of her WWE contract when Andrade joined AEW? Charlotte Flair. She pulled all kinds of backstage antics and drama that made lives difficult back then. Suddenly, Flair shut up when Andrade began having troubles in AEW and then WWE became an OK place to work again.
She just turned 39, becoming increasingly injury prone, and takes a ton of time off to vacation and show off on Instagram. She’s NOT a draw, as her merchandise never sells and viewership/attendance aren’t spiking because of her. Terrible promo, bad and phony personality, and she lives on the reputation of being the daughter of Ric Flair. Great in-ring performer, no doubt, but many other performers were great in-ring technicians too but lacked the other intangibles to draw.
There’s a major risk of Charlotte Flair sandbagging in her match against Tiffany Stratton at Wrestlemania 41 in attempts to make the younger Tiffany look bad. Charlotte could then point to her past resume and show WWE officials “I had great matches with all of these other performers, but struggled against this head case”. And then Triple H will fold like a chair, as he helped raise Charlotte up from NXT and is indebted to her father, Ric Flair. Tiffany was also a signing of John Laurinaitis from the 2020-2021 era where Triple H was OUT as Talent Relations EVP.
When in reality, WWE doesn’t need Charlotte Flair, but Charlotte Flair badly needs WWE. They don’t need to put up with her crap and should humble her at Wrestlemania 41 with Tiffany Stratton wrestling another opponent or Tiffany just squashing her. I’d go with the former, as Charlotte should lack the TRUST for her to adequately perform at Wrestlemania 41.
Idiotic for WWE to push Charlotte to the moon upon her return, too, having her instantly win the Royal Rumble match. Every time they push her immediately upon return from line time-off stints, she’s pushed well above other females who have exceeded her and are better than her. Charlotte is overrated in terms of an overall superstar and she just doesn’t present herself well, either.
I’d consider having their match earlier on Smackdown and creating a replacement opponent at Wrestlemania 41. Depush her to see if it humbles her, as that normally works with other wrestlers who misbehave. If she doesn’t, then let her bring the toxicity to AEW’s already toxic locker room.
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What are your thoughts on Kevin Owens pulling out of Wrestlemania 41 and who may Randy Orton face instead?
My thoughts are that it’s a shame that KO is missing out on Wrestlemania. Very sad to see him missing out on the biggest WWE day of the year and its payday. That said, we’ve seen what Owens has tried in and outside of the ring. “Those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it” (George Santayana), and Owens has been able to witness the physical conditions of many wrestlers who came before him who tried high risk maneuvers.
As for who Randy Orton now faces… Think outside of the box. Make it a “mystery opponent” and hype it until the day of the show. Then, Joe Hendry comes out and they have a fun match. Simple as that. I don’t know. See if Matt Riddle is available and make him the mystery opponent?
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What do you think of AEW Dynamite’s MAX streaming viewership?
Something like 500,000? Good for them, I suppose… I just want to know why folks like Dave Meltzer pop champagne for a number like that, but dislike when WWE gets 3-4 million on Netflix.
It should be higher, obviously, but AEW still has a presentation and trust issue with wrestling fans. Until they remedy that, we’ll have to keep bragging about 500K on MAX.
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Are you excited about WWE 2K coming to the Nintendo Switch 2?
Nah… I tried to support the WWE 2K18 disaster of a game before, but I really don’t trust the micro-transaction push that 2K does on all of their games that reduces the enjoyment of them. They are essentially gambling, but somehow, they get away with blocking most of the game unless you pay.
Being honest, wrestling video games bore me. Nothing has been ever as good as Wrestlemania 2000 for the Nintendo 64 and Day of Reckoning 1 for the Game Cube. Those are the two most perfect wrestling games ever made. Hard to play anything lately with those available to play. Furthermore, I gave WWE 2K22, the NWO edition a good playthrough. It was mostly good, but felt repetitive and I was using the same strategies to win every match. Seeing Hall, Nash, Hogan, and Syxx come out to the SWEET New World Order theme was 100% worth it, though.
I’ll be even more honest… Been playing the Nintendo 64 games here and there lately, and I get bored with them quickly. Just not into them when I can race in Mario Kart, explore Hyrule, fight with 99 other souls in Tetris 99 or Fortnite, or playing soccer with cars in Rocket League. Hard to go back to those retro games…
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What are your thoughts on Mickie James’s WWE LFG?
Well, now we see why Mickie was replaced…
Speaking as an objective heterosexual male… I’m going to have to disagree with Ms. James here…
Getting serious, though, I’ve always wondered how Tiffany Stratton and Rhea Ripley have been able to wrestle in past outfits. Tiffany was mostly wearing outfits that resembled lingerie while Rhea’s butt cheeks are hanging out with a very high thong (not complaining, just wondering about their comfort). I just wonder about comfort and wardrobe malfunctions, as doing high impact moves could cause anything to pop out.
WWE has a 60-70% male audience, with the female audience mostly making up girlfriends, moms, or daughters who are convinced to attend live WWE events or watch the TV shows. Hence why the female wrestlers wrestle in the outfits that they do.
And it’s not like Mickie James is “Miss Innocent” with her outfits. While she often wore the shorts or pants, she showed cleavage up top. And all we have to do is pop in a tape of Wrestlemania 22 and see Mickie grabbing Trish Stratus’s crotch and then proceeded to lick her hand afterward… So yeah, be careful what you’re commenting on.
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Thoughts on Chris Jericho suggesting he’d be open to returning to WWE?
Why wouldn’t he? Jericho left on great terms with the WWE, insomuch that they let him do Steve Austin’s podcast. There’s no heat with Jericho and WWE because he was professional with them and was professional with his exit.
Jericho is just putting it out there that he’s open to returning, if that opportunity ever presented itself. For Jericho, he was one last thing on his “WWE Bucket List” and that is to get into their WWE Hall of Fame. Jericho 100% deserves it and would have achieved it if he retired instead of opting to perform for New Japan and then AEW.
It’s just one of those questions that are asked and then everyone overreacts to on a slow news day.
Variety reported that Jericho signed a 3-year extension with AEW during late 2022 and thus his contract will expire during December 2025. Perfect timing for next year’s Hall of Fame, but also another big Royal Rumble entrance.
Crazy thing to me is how Jericho has been in AEW for 6 years now… Time has been flying by, folks.
Enjoy your life now, as it goes by in a flash.
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