WWE: WWE Received Almost $3 Million for Clash at the Castle, WWE Stock Suffered Large Drop, Rob Van Dam

WWE Received Almost $3 Million from Welsh Government for Clash at the Castle Event

In a recent press release, the Welsh government revealed that they had paid WWE almost $3 million to hold their Clash at the Castle event this past September at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

It was announced that WWE’s event had generated around £21.8 million for the Welsh economy and WWE was paid based on a 10:1 investment of that amount, which would be around £2.18 million ($2.773 million).

Portion of official press release:

Wales hosted the UK’s first major WWE stadium event in 30 years in September 2022. The event, which wowed visitors to Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, had many highlights, including a specially designed set that echoed the city’s unique castle.

The event attracted a global audience of millions, taking Wales directly into the homes of WWE fans in all corners of the globe.

The independently generated Economic Impact Study sought the views of over 3,000 respondents. The study found:

* 62,296 attendees to the Principality Stadium
* 75.3% of spectators came from outside Wales
* 57% of non-locals indicated the event experience made them want to explore other parts of Wales. Of those that said they wanted to return, they said their experience of the event was the deciding factor
* the event attracted a diverse audience, with nearly a quarter of spectators being female, and many of the spectators attending as family groups.

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WWE Stock Suffered Huge Drop on Thursday Over Saudi Arabia & PFL Deal

WWE’s stock suffered a large drop in value during today’s stock market trading going from $110.05 at the start of trading to $96.55 at the close of regular trading. This represented a decline of 12.27% of WWE’s stock value.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that the reason for the large decline was due to the recent news of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund purchasing a minority stake in Professional Fighters League via their SRJ Sports Investments group. PFL is a competitor to UFC, which is owned by WWE’s soon to be new owner Endeavor.

Besides WWE, Endeavor also saw a sizeable drop in their stock value over the news during today’s market trading hours.

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Rob Van Dam Comments on WWE Might Have Pulled WrestleMania 40 Appearance Over Recent AEW Bookings

ECW legend Rob Van Dam made two appearances for AEW earlier this month. While responding to online criticisms over those who claimed he had disrespected his Legends deal with WWE by taking AEW bookings, RVD stated that he was given approval by WWE to work in AEW.

In a recent episode of the 1 Of A Kind podcast, co-host RVD stated that he is under the current belief that his scheduled booking for WWE for next year’s WrestleMania 40 week in Philadelphia might have been canceled due to his recent appearances in AEW.

“Maybe I’d show you if I was doing a WWE tour WrestleMania weekend, but I have good reason to believe that might be canceled because of a recent appearance I might have done, with permission, for a different company. Right now, I don’t feel like I can talk too much about that.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com