Fans Priced Out of John Cena’s Final Match in D.C.
WWE’s premium pricing leaves loyal Cena fans on the outside looking in.
John Cena’s upcoming final match at Capitol One Arena — happening this Saturday and streaming live on Peacock — has quickly become a talking point among fans across D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. The ticket prices alone have done that. Many longtime WWE followers say they just can’t justify the cost anymore. The Baltimore Banner recently covered that reaction locally, but the same frustration has been showing up in conversations from fans well outside the region as WWE’s pricing continues to climb under TKO Group Holdings.
One of the families featured by the Banner was Dawn Waters of Dundalk and her son, Ryan Riddell (who wrestles independently as Ryan Zukko). For years, they were regulars at WWE shows, collecting the folding chairs that once came with floor seats they could actually afford. Their history with Cena goes back to a 2015 Kmart meet-and-greet, where he signed Riddell’s hat and invited the entire family to his match that night in Baltimore. Now, a decade later, tickets for his final match run somewhere between $240 and $500. It’s a steep difference from the stubs they’ve kept from earlier years.
Plenty of other fans have been saying the same thing. In online discussions about the event, people talked about how quickly prices have changed. One fan looking at the Cena match in Washington wrote, “I thought I’d be willing to pay to go, then I saw it’s about $500 for a nosebleed. I’ll be fine at home.” Another shared, “Before Covid I did a house show in Saginaw, Michigan. Fourth row was $80. Now it’s hundreds.” Others said they’ve already skipped several shows this year because of the cost. Some parents noted that even upper-level seating was out of reach: “The cheapest seats were almost $300 after fees. Not happening.” A few fans put it bluntly: “WWE isn’t for families anymore. It’s for people with concert money.”
People inside the local scene have been seeing the shift too. Tara Meyer, director of operations for MCW Pro Wrestling, told the Banner she remembered paying around $20 for WWE house shows. Her sons hoped their Christmas money might stretch far enough for Cena’s final match. Once she made it through the Ticketmaster queue, the cheapest seats she saw were $500. “Ultimately, they were just like, ‘I’m not spending that,’” she said. Independent shows in the region still offer general admission seats in the $20–$25 range, and some small-venue events in the Mid-Atlantic start as low as $10.
National reporting has shown the same pattern. Wrestlenomics, using Pollstar data, found that average ticket prices for Raw and SmackDown have nearly doubled since 2023. TKO executives have also said publicly that they’re moving away from the family-friendly pricing strategy Vince McMahon relied on for decades. WWE is now being positioned closer to the UFC model. Attendance continues to be strong, but who can afford to be inside the building has changed.
The Banner also pointed to how personal this moment is for some fans. Nicole Williams of Colonial Beach, Virginia grew up watching Cena while navigating the challenges of cerebral palsy. His “never give up” message became part of her life, and her father always made sure she could see the ring. The accessible seating they once purchased for a few hundred dollars now costs thousands. Her father bought the tickets anyway, knowing this might be the last show they attend together after both faced health problems this year.
Taken together, these stories show a widening gap. Cena’s farewell is happening close to home for fans in Baltimore, Washington, and Northern Virginia, yet a large share of the people who followed him throughout his career won’t be in the arena on Saturday. As prices continue to rise, more fans are turning to independent wrestling, where the cost of admission remains low and the experience still feels familiar. For many families, smaller shows are becoming their only realistic way to stay connected to live wrestling.
And none of this looks temporary. Early signs for WrestleMania 2026 show that travel packages have climbed significantly, with some premium bundles approaching four figures per person before airfare or hotels. Even the lower-tier packages have jumped. When single-event tickets become available, they’re expected to follow the same pattern, forcing fans to decide whether the experience is still worth the cost.
In recent years, the only shows I’ve attended that weren’t indie events were ROH in 2019 and, more recently, New Japan and the NWA. Everything else has been independent wrestling. That shift says as much about the changing economics of the industry as any spreadsheet could: fans who once treated WWE as the default live experience are now choosing promotions that still let people walk through the door without worrying about taking on a new bill.
Sources