Mar 13, 2016 By Bill Hughes for The 4 min read

Has Mania already set a record?

Thanks to injuries, the WrestleMania card will be a shell of its original self, but that hasn’t stopped fans from making a late push for tickets.

Thursday morning, it was reported that the company has sold over 84,000 tickets with three weeks to go.

According to noted wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer, the WWE has already set a record for tickets sold.

In the most recent issue of Meltzer’s well-known The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, he said the actual record holder for most tickets sold for an event was 79,127 at SummerSlam 1992 at Wembley Stadium in London.

The Newsletter also stated that the U. S. record is 78,000 tickets for WrestleMania III.

But wait, the WWE has always stated that Mania III had 93,173 fans.

So which number is right?

Officially, the WWE’s stated number cannot be challenged so it has to be given the benefit of the doubt.

But the WWE has been known to embellish ticket numbers by as many as 10,000-13,000, so who really knows?

I was informed by one of my sources that the WWE is scaling down AT&T Stadium to make it look more full, but don’t be surprised if the company announces the attendance at over 100,000.

The 2010 NBA All-Star game set the AT&T Stadium attendance record with 108,713 fans.

Raw in Pittsburgh Monday night

The WWE returns to Pittsburgh Monday night for Raw.

I will be backstage and will have my eyes and ears open.

And, to answer a question that I get a lot when I head backstage, I will not be taking any pictures before the show.

There is a professional courtesy that must be upheld at shows, sporting events, and on movie sets, and taking pictures is a no-no until after the event starts.

Anyone disrespectful enough to take pictures or bother the performers before the event has no right to be backstage.

I expect something big to have happened last night at Roadblock to change the Mania card, so look for follow-up tomorrow night on Raw.

Mania 33 in Orlando

As reported last week in this column, WrestleMania 33 will take place at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.

A major reason the WWE chose the Citrus Bowl is the renovations that it went under.

I was at the Citrus Bowl pre-renovations and was there for the Citrus Bowl game on New Year’s Day between Michigan and Florida, and the stadium looks completely different than it did for Mania 24 in 2008.

While Orlando won the bid to host Mania next year, it also bid to host it in 2018, as well.

WWE looking at brick and mortar Hall?

While on the topic of Orlando, there is word that the WWE may be looking to open a physical Hall of Fame in Orlando.

If the WWE really does open a brick-and-mortar Hall, it will be a nice novelty act, but I don’t see it being a long-term draw.

There just isn’t enough interest in the WWE to sustain success.

Much like the restaurant the WWE opened in Times Square a while back, the novelty could wear off.

This week’s question

When will Christian make it to the WWE Hall of Fame? Shelly, Perryopolis.

The easy answer is that Christian will make the Hall when Vince McMahon decides that he makes it.

Christian’s in-ring days are over, but his new show on the WWE Network with his legit best friend, Edge, is hilarious.

As Shawn from Millsboro said in an email, “it is a great show that brings many laughs.

“However, I sense that Christian is in the shadow of Edge during their bits.”

That would be no different than how it was during their respective careers as Edge always overshadowed Christian.