House show attendance in North America for 2014

[Red Rain]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2203700-biggest-takeaways-from-wwe-house-show-attendance

WWE house shows, on a whole, have drawn lower than the five year average from May 2008 - Dec. 2013
However, evidence suggests that the most solid draw besides John Cena in 2014 was Bray Wyatt.
Wyatt has headlined larger arenas and drawn closer to the baseline average established from May 2008 - Dec. 2013
Reigns has headlined smaller arenas and drawn fewer than the expected average from the past five years.
These numbers aren't absolute but the article shows Kane, Orton, Cena and the Wyatt family did good business.
Reigns, Rollins and Bryan have work to do.

My biggest takeaway is that Bray Wyatt drew in 2014 despite the company backing away from him post Wrestlemania.

 

[The GOAT]

Telling us who they headlined against would be a lot more reflective on who's actually "drawing." If I recall, Bray Wyatt headlined quite a few shows against John Cena (the #1 guy), whereas Bryan usually headlined against the likes of Kane. The differences in cities and arenas factor into it, too.

 

[Dolph'sZiggler]

I can't be the only one who thinks who is "headlining" a house show doesn't mean that much? WWE itself is the draw. People hear WWE is in town and buy a ticket, not "Bray Wyatt is in town"

 

[The GOAT]

The brand draws, of course, but it's silly to say that some individual wrestlers aren't still gonna draw better than others.

 

[Red Rain]

Telling us who they headlined against would be a lot more reflective on who's actually "drawing." If I recall, Bray Wyatt headlined quite a few shows against John Cena (the #1 guy), whereas Bryan usually headlined against the likes of Kane. The differences in cities and arenas factor into it, too.

Well, according to the stats, Kane draws well at house shows it's simply that he and Bryan were likely headlining larger cities.
It's indicated that Wyatt headlined large arenas. One can easily infer that much of them were, in fact, against John Cena.
However, the fact cannot be avoided. Austin and Rock drew well when they headlined together, but both men were legit when it came to attendance.
Also, Wyatt was merely one of Cena's opponents. Where are Cena's other opponents from 2014? Rollins and Ambrose didn't do as well as Wyatt but both feuded John Cena nonetheless.

Wyatt feuded with Cena a good quarter of the year and he drew well in relation to others on the list. Maybe this list further justifies why Kane is still used prominently in storylines.

I can't be the only one who thinks who is "headlining" a house show doesn't mean that much? WWE itself is the draw. People hear WWE is in town and buy a ticket, not "Bray Wyatt is in town"

If that were true then that statistics would be more uniform across the board. No superstar 'draws' the same. Clearly some more butts in the seats than others do.
This article isn't a true barometer but can at least state the case more in Bray Wyatt's favor considering both Rollins and Ambrose feuded with John Cena as well.
Roman Reigns didn't fare well in the small arenas he headlined but, again, its less about Reigns and more about the Wyatt family being a moderate success in house show touring.

'WWE itself is the draw' works during Wrestlemania season, yet Cena feuded with Wyatt two months thereafter. If WWE drew itself, house show attendance wouldn't fluctuate nearly as much as it does since the WWE brand is well established.


Both of you make good analogies. The stats here are not absolute and could be broken down even further, if need be, to justify mine and both of your claims.