WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque is reportedly facing internal scrutiny as ongoing changes to the WrestleMania 42 card have begun drawing frustration behind the scenes.
According to Dave Meltzer, there is growing concern within WWE that frequent creative pivots are having a negative impact on ticket sales for the company’s biggest event of the year. Meltzer addressed the situation while speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio at F4WOnline.com.
Meltzer noted that ticket sales for WrestleMania 42 are currently tracking behind last year’s pace, with the advance numbers falling short of internal expectations.
“Essentially, what the way it was described to me is, and this makes no sense, but this is how I was told is that they’re very disappointed with the advance,” Meltzer said. “It’s down about 18% from last year.”
While WWE still expects WrestleMania 42 to ultimately sell out, Meltzer indicated that the slower-than-anticipated sales have led to disappointment among company officials.
Part of that frustration has reportedly been directed at Levesque, with some internally drawing comparisons between his current approach and the late-stage creative shifts often associated with Vince McMahon.
“So there’s been a lot of internal criticism of Paul Levesque, as far as, like, not keeping, you know, they keep changing the plans,” Meltzer said. “Essentially, like Vince,….they have a plan, and then they change the plan.”
The belief among some within WWE is that repeatedly altering a WrestleMania card, especially before it has been fully announced, can undercut marketing efforts and make it more difficult to drive early ticket sales.
That said, Meltzer emphasized that creative issues are not the only factors impacting the advance.
He pointed to several external challenges, including higher ticket prices and a decline in international tourism.
“The problems are number one, ticket prices are really high, higher than last year,” Meltzer stated. “Number two, a lot of foreigners won’t come to the United States right now… I mean, tourism in Vegas is down. That’s one of the reasons why WrestleMania is there again, because tourism is down, and it’s down throughout the United States, but Vegas has been hit hard.”
Despite the concerns, plans for WrestleMania 42 are beginning to come into clearer focus.
Major matches currently expected include Roman Reigns challenging CM Punk for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, as well as a likely Undisputed WWE Championship bout pitting Drew McIntyre against Cody Rhodes, with Jacob Fatu potentially factoring into the match.
WrestleMania 42 is scheduled to take place on Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19, 2026, live from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, NV.
Make sure to join us here at WrestlingHeadlines.com on 4/18 and 4/19 for live WWE WrestleMania 42 results coverage.
