WWE rolled into Guadalajara with CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, Gunther, Charlotte Flair, Kevin Owens, Rey Fénix and a pile of other major names — and still had a whole lot of empty seats staring back at them.
William Beltrán of Superluchas.com sent word to Ringside News about the turnout at WWE’s September 9 stop of the WWE México Live Tour 2026 at Arena Guadalajara, and the crowd became one of the biggest stories of the night for all the wrong reasons.
Photos from inside the building showed entire sections sitting wide open, including noticeable empty space around ringside, the luxury boxes and several aisle areas. The cheaper upper-level seats looked like they had the strongest turnout, but the rest of the arena was nowhere close to packed.
There was no official attendance number announced, but the building appeared to be well under half full based on photos from the show. That is a rough visual for a card stacked with some of WWE’s biggest stars.
And it’s not like WWE mailed this one in. CM Punk defended the Undisputed WWE Championship against Gunther and Kevin Owens in the main event. Cody Rhodes battled Randy Orton in a Street Fight. Charlotte Flair was on the card. Rey Fénix defended the AAA World Cruiserweight Championship. Even with all of that, there were still plenty of empty seats.
One problem may have been WWE giving Mexican fans too many options in the same week. SmackDown is running live in Mexico on Friday, with RAW following on Monday, meaning fans had multiple chances to spend money on WWE instead of treating Guadalajara like a must-see stop.
The merchandise table didn’t exactly help matters either. Fans inside the arena were looking at roughly $38 for T-shirts, close to $77 for masks and more than $665 for replica championship belts. Social media reaction quickly turned into people joking that they could barely afford the program, while others said they would rather buy nothing or go with bootleg merch.
WWE still pushed forward with the show and gave the crowd plenty to watch. Rey Fénix retained against Psycho Clown, Kevin Owens beat Kit Wilson, Tama Tonga and Talla Tonga kept the WWE Tag Team Titles, Cody Rhodes beat Randy Orton, Charlotte Flair’s team picked up a win, and CM Punk walked out still champion.
The problem is, when you bring Punk, Cody, Orton, Gunther, Owens, Charlotte and Fénix to one building and half the place still looks empty, people are going to notice.
WWE has more major Mexico dates coming immediately after this one, so Guadalajara may end up being chalked up to fans saving their cash for SmackDown and RAW. But for one night, the empty seats were almost as noticeable as the wrestlers in the ring.
What do you think hurt WWE’s attendance in Guadalajara — the prices, too many shows in one week, or something else? Let us know what you think and leave your feedback in the comments.
