WWE talent enjoys the return of live events: "They're much more special now"

WWE closed its European tour Road to Clash in Paris on Thursday. In total, the company held five non-televised live events in the United Kingdom, featuring superstars from SmackDown and Raw, as well as the special appearance of Joe Hendry, talent from TNA Wrestling.

The result has been very satisfactory for both the fans and WWE talent themselves, who have already become accustomed to the new, much lighter schedule of house shows, allowing them to enjoy tours that now take place at specific times of the year. This was explained in the most recent report by Fightful.

"Fightful contacted several wrestlers from the tour to find out how they felt about returning to working live events regularly for the first time in quite a while. WWE is touring Europe, and the company continues to promote the house shows that are still profitable there, while in the United States they have been reduced to very infrequent live events," the media outlet wrote.

"One of the talents we spoke with said they much prefer the current schedule, with occasional free weekends, more days at home, and time to stay in shape and recover. "I don't miss the house shows at all. They are fun to wrestle, but the current method is much better", said the veteran wrestler. "It makes sense that they are still done occasionally, and that makes them much more special".

"Another talent commented that working live events was always different from television, but the fact that they have been reduced by two-thirds makes them even more special and enjoyable to work," Fightful wrote.

"We are told that WWE still plans to do its Christmas live event tour in December, after Christmas. WWE higher-ups told us that there are currently no discussions to accelerate the schedule of house shows outside of international tours. Upon further inquiry, they pointed out that these events still generate good revenue for WWE and help cultivate a fan base in those areas. The decision to reduce the live event schedule was multifactorial, related to costs, scheduling, maintaining talent health, and evaluating pros and cons. They also told us that this has helped in contract negotiations, as the number of dates has been significantly reduced or used for other projects," the media outlet wrote.

"WWE has only held 15 house shows for the main roster until August of this year. In 2023, that number was nearly 50 until August. Another WWE source indicated to Fightful that, since the number of house shows was reduced, they have actually received more attention on social media when something of interest happens," the report concluded.

WWE will conclude its stay in Europe with three shows in France. Last night, the first of them took place - an episode of SmackDown - in the city of Lyon. On Sunday, the second event, Clash in Paris, will take place in the capital of the country. The day after, an episode of Raw will be held in the same venue as the PLE (Paris La Défense Arena), marking WWE's farewell from European lands, for now.