Dave Meltzer Assesses Record-Breaking Demand For WWE Royal Rumble 2025

The 2025 WWE Royal Rumble is not only shaping up to be one of the biggest in the show's history, but it is on course to break a number of records in the wider world of wrestling, and in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer examined just how big this year's event could possibly be.

To put it simply, Meltzer stated that the 2025 Royal Rumble will be the biggest non-WrestleMania show in North American wrestling history. From a viewership standpoint, there will be more eyes on the show than ever before thanks to the company's deal with Netflix that allows international viewers to stream the show live, Peacock having the most subscribers around this time of year as usual, and the general popularity of WWE at the time of writing. The only other Royal Rumble event that could come close to the 2025 show is the inaugural 1988 event that was broadcast on basic cable via USA Network.

As far as live attendance is concerned, records have already been broken with more potentially to come. The 2025 Royal Rumble has the highest demand for tickets ever in WWE, with 63,095 out at press time, a number that has since risen in the past few days. This means that it will be the highest attended Royal Rumble, beating 1997's 60,525, and that the show will have the largest non-WrestleMania WWE crowd in North American history, surpassing an August 28, 1986 event in Toronto, Canada that drew 64,100 fans. Meltzer believes the live gate will surpass the $12 Million mark, another record for a non-WrestleMania show, leapfrogging the 2023 AEW All In: London event in the process. The only record left to break is 72,238, which is Lucas Oil Stadium's all-time attendance record set back in 2015.