Earlier this week, WrestleTix reported the WWE Survivor Series had sold out of every ticket available for the Premium Live Event apart from 15 combo tickets for both Survivor Series and SmackDown the night before. Ticket demand for the show has been unprecedented amidst rumors that CM Punk could return to the promotion for the first time in almost a decade at the event in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Punk himself even joked about the potential move during a recent Cage Fury Fighting Championship appearance.
The demand is so high, in fact, that Haus of Wrestling learned on Monday that WWE is not offering comps to talent or staff working the event. However, WrestleTix has since reported that the company has changed the setup of Survivor Series to accommodate an additional 2,784 seats for a total of 15,342 for the event as a whole. This configuration change also applies to WWE SmackDown the night before as the same sections have also become available on SmackDown’s Ticketmaster page.
Haus of Wrestling asked a WWE source if the change was due to the high ticket demand or because of production changes. We received a simple one-word response, “Demand.” Another source gave some more insight into the move, noting that the Allstate Arena is small enough that having a Titantron is actually a hindrance. As a result, it made more sense to not have it for SmackDown and the PLE on top of allowing for more seats to be sold to satisfy the high demand.
Additionally, we were told that not having the Titantron for either event will allow for a smaller entranceway similar to international Premium Live Events like Backlash and Money In The Bank earlier this year. Unlike those events, however, the WWE source believes that Survivor Series will have a straight ramp, giving it a “very old school MSG style”, and could feature a small tron above the entranceway. However, the setup could be modified further if the additional tickets are sold quickly which would remove the need for a tron entirely to open up the sections directly behind the entranceway.
Haus of Wrestling has partnered with Inside The Ropes to present An Afternoon With Kevin Nash And Sean Waltman on November 25 at Joe’s Live in Rosemont, IL, ten minutes from the All-State Arena. Tickets are now available at JoesLiveRosemont.com.