The opening SummerSlam Kickoff Show match last night (Jason Jordan and the Hardy Boyz vs. The Miz, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel) went on at about 5:20 PM and the seats were still very visibly about 90% empty, as seen in the photo below via Reddit.
The doors to the Barclays Center did not actually open until 5 PM ET, which is when the Kickoff Show started. Reports were that security was filing people in very slowly, so the vast majority of the crowd wasn’t able to get in on time for the opening match.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio, there was word that The Miz and others involved were “furious,” which is understandable.
Matt Hardy joked about it on Twitter:
Greatly appreciate the passion of you WONDERFUL wrestling fans tonight. We wrestled so early that I felt as if I DELETED part of the crowd. https://t.co/jR7ZoKfzPZ
— REBORN by FATE (@MATTHARDYBRAND) August 21, 2017