Posted on 12/08/125 by DMV Wrestling News
John Cena’s upcoming final match at Capital One Arena —
happening this Saturday and streaming live on Peacock — has
quickly become a talking point among fans across D.C.,
Maryland, and Virginia. The ticket prices alone have done
that. Many longtime WWE followers say they just can’t
justify the cost anymore. The Baltimore Banner recently
covered that reaction locally, but the same frustration has
been showing up in conversations from fans well outside the
region as WWE’s pricing continues to climb under TKO Group
Holdings.
One of the families featured by the Banner was Dawn Waters
of Dundalk and her son, Ryan Riddell (who wrestles
independently as Ryan Zukko). For years, they were regulars
at WWE shows, collecting the folding chairs that once came
with floor seats they could actually afford. Their history
with Cena goes back to a 2015 Kmart meet-and-greet, where he
signed Riddell’s hat and invited the entire family to his
match that night in Baltimore. Now, a decade later, tickets
for his final match run somewhere between $240 and $500.
It’s a steep difference from the stubs they’ve kept from
earlier years.
Plenty of other fans have been saying the same thing. In
online discussions about the event, people talked about how
quickly prices have changed. One fan looking at the Cena
match in Washington wrote, “I thought I’d be willing to pay
to go, then I saw it’s about $500 for a nosebleed. I’ll be
fine at home.” Another shared, “Before Covid I did a house
show in Saginaw, Michigan. Fourth row was $80. Now it’s
hundreds.” Others said they’ve already skipped several shows
this year because of the cost. Some parents noted that even
upper-level seating was out of reach: “The cheapest seats
were almost $300 after fees. Not happening.” A few fans put
it bluntly: “WWE isn’t for families anymore. It’s for people
with concert money.”
People inside the local scene have been seeing the shift
too. Tara Meyer, director of operations for MCW Pro
Wrestling, told the Banner she remembered paying around $20
for WWE house shows. Her sons hoped their Christmas money
might stretch far enough for Cena’s final match. Once she
made it through the Ticketmaster queue, the cheapest seats
she saw were $500. “Ultimately, they were just like, ‘I’m
not spending that,’” she said. Independent shows in the
region still offer general admission seats in the $20–$25
range, and some small-venue events in the Mid-Atlantic start
as low as $10.
National reporting has shown the same pattern.
Wrestlenomics, using Pollstar data, found that average
ticket prices for Raw and SmackDown have nearly doubled
since 2023. TKO executives have also said publicly that
they’re moving away from the family-friendly pricing
strategy Vince McMahon relied on for decades. WWE is now
being positioned closer to the UFC model. Attendance
continues to be strong, but who can afford to be inside the
building has changed.
The Banner also pointed to how personal this moment is for
some fans. Nicole Williams of Colonial Beach, Virginia grew
up watching Cena while navigating the challenges of cerebral
palsy. His “never give up” message became part of her life,
and her father always made sure she could see the ring. The
accessible seating they once purchased for a few hundred
dollars now costs thousands. Her father bought the tickets
anyway, knowing this might be the last show they attend
together after both faced health problems this year.
Taken together, these stories show a widening gap. Cena’s
farewell is happening close to home for fans in Baltimore,
Washington, and Northern Virginia, yet a large share of the
people who followed him throughout his career won’t be in
the arena on Saturday. As prices continue to rise, more fans
are turning to independent wrestling, where the cost of
admission remains low and the experience still feels
familiar. For many families, smaller shows are becoming
their only realistic way to stay connected to live
wrestling.
And none of this looks temporary. Early signs for
WrestleMania 2026 show that travel packages have climbed
significantly, with some premium bundles approaching four
figures per person before airfare or hotels. Even the lower-
tier packages have jumped. When single-event tickets become
available, they’re expected to follow the same pattern,
forcing fans to decide whether the experience is still worth
the cost.
In recent years, the only shows I’ve attended that weren’t
indie events were ROH in 2019 and, more recently, New Japan
and the NWA. Everything else has been independent wrestling.
That shift says as much about the changing economics of the
industry as any spreadsheet could: fans who once treated WWE
as the default live experience are now choosing promotions
that still let people walk through the door without worrying
about taking on a new bill.