Though some of WWE’s second-quarter pay-per-views missed their loftiest of expectations, all rose significantly from their counterparts last year, suggesting that WWE’s inclusion of The Rock, Brock Lesnar and a popular John Laurinaitis storyline paid off on one of the company’s most significant metrics.
As it presently stands, WWE WrestleMania 28, headlined by The Rock vs. John Cena, garnered 1.217 million buys, which is slightly below the all-time record set by WrestleMania 23. That show’s key attraction featured a hair stipulation between Donald Trump (represented by Bobby Lashley) and Vince McMahon (represented by Umaga) with Steve Austin as the special guest referee.
The number is, however, decisively up from last year’s WrestleMania, which featured The Rock in a hosting role. That show’s buyrate sits at 1.059 million.
Brock Lesnar’s return match at WWE Extreme Rules was similarly disappointing in comparison to expectations, but in driving 263,000 buys, it marks a major increase from last year’s 209,000.
Over the Limit and No Way Out, which were both toplined by stipulations involving John Laurinaitis, were up from their respective 2011 shows (Over the Limit and Capitol Punishment). The former garnered 167,000 buys compared to 140,000 for the 2011 show, while the latter was good for a solid 194,000, up from the 170,000 for Capitol Punishment.
As far as the financial statement goes, WWE also confirmed that 56,000 late buys were added for the second quarter, compared to 20,000 for Q2 2011. That brings the all-around total for the quarter to 1.897 million.