TKO COO Mark Shapiro Drops Elimination Chamber Bombshell; WWE Nearly Set Another Record

TKO’s Mark Shapiro provided certain details about WWE during the first-quarter 2026 earnings call.

Some of the topics Shapiro focused on were WWE’s rising ticket prices, creative criticism by the fans, and the fate of events planned for Saudi Arabia, among others.

He spoke about premium live events and those being the revenue-driving factor for the quarter. Mark Shapiro revealed that WWE Elimination Chamber’s had a “meaningful” YOY increase after it’s debut on ESPN. The premium live event has emerged as the second-highest arena gate in the company’s history.

Apart from Elimination Chamber, Shapiro revealed that Royal Rumble 2026 was the event that kick-started the increase in YOY for live events and hospitality.

Mark Shapiro revealed where the company stands with fan criticism about prices and creative decisions

WWE has been criticized by fans for the way storylines are unfolding and the rate at which ticket prices are increasing. TKO’s focus on revenue over affordability has caused several fans to opt out of purchasing tickets to premium live events.

Shapiro has claimed that the company makes it its top priority to listen to criticism and act as much as possible to improve the situation. However, he also revealed that what WWE is hearing as creative criticism isn’t new, and dissatisfaction will always persist within the WWE Universe.

Coming to commercial elements and ticket prices, TKO’s COO revealed that while the company has heard the criticism with utmost priority and is working around it, when it comes to commercial elements, there is no magic formula to make things work. Trial-and-error is the way to figure out how to make the change work for both fans and the company.

Apart from that, Mark Shapiro clarified that the planned events for Saudi Arabia are not cancelled and will move ahead as previously stated.

Lately, news has surfaced that TKO was directly behind the recent wave of superstar releases and how the situation was handled. Even Kevin Nash pointed out the irony in offering lower wages to superstars while the top executives bagged in billions.