Talk about throwing caution to the wind.
At the risk of looking bad if the show falls short, WWE’s senior vice president of special events John Saboor is predicting a record buyrate for WrestleMania 29.
In an interview with NJ.com, Saboor reveals that WWE is expecting 1.3 million pay-per-view purchases for this Sunday’s event, which would put it right atop the mark posted by last year’s WrestleMania 28 show.
While that show featured the first iteration of The Rock vs. John Cena, this year’s rematch adds the WWE Championship to the equation. It also features marquee matches in Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H (with Shawn Michaels at ringside) and CM Punk vs. The Undertaker.
Given that lineup–and the fact that the show is taking place in the media-friendly New York metropolitan area–most industry insiders shared in WWE’s expectations of a record-setting WrestleMania.
Critics, nonetheless, have been lukewarm on the creative effort for WWE’s top WrestleMania matches, and if it takes storyline–and not simply big Superstars, big matches and the WrestleMania name–to sell the show, that could end up slightly curbing the buyrate.