The WWE would hold its pay-per-views in the most-populated cities. At first, the pay-per-views would be held in cities as diverse from New York City to Jacksonville to Chicago to Providence and everything in between.

However, in the past several years, WWE began holding its pay-per-view events only in certain cities. It isn’t uncommon these days for the likes of the New York City area, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, Houston, Philadelphia and Toronto to host a WWE pay-per-view once (or in rare instances, twice) a year as these cities tend to average as many as 15,000 fans per show.

As a result, there are some markets that in all likelihood will never, ever host a WWE pay-per-view again in the very near future. Most of these cities listed tend to average 7,000-8,000 fans per show but there are other reasons as to why a city will never host a WWE pay-per-view as listed below.

#1 Seattle, Washington/Portland, Oregon

Let’s start the slideshow with a look at the Pacific Northwest’s two largest cities: Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon.

Despite each averaging a population of 500,000 people, these two cities are not considered hotbeds of pro wrestling as evidenced by Seattle hosting WrestleMania XIX which had a lackluster buyrate of only 560,000 buys. And to make matters even worse, the last pay-per-view that Seattle hosted was the 2011 WWE Over the Limit pay-per-view which drew only 6,500 fans.

In addition, the last pay-per-view that Portland hosted, the 2008 WWE No Mercy pay-per-view did slightly better with almost 9,600 fans attending the show but still not a sellout by any means.

Though the WWE has held its pay-per-views in new arenas in the past, don’t expect Seattle’s new arena (which is expected to open in 2021) to host one anytime soon. Instead, it will be very lucky to host an episode of Monday Night RAW much like the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin had last year.

#2 Denver, Colorado

Though WWE events at the Pepsi Center in Denver have done reasonably well, it has hosted a WWE pay-per-view event only once: the 2003 WWE Vengeance pay-per-view.

Much of the reason as to why the WWE has never held a pay-per-view event (let alone visit) in Denver is due to the friction between Vince McMahon and Denver Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke.

The story was the WWE had booked an episode of Monday Night RAW for May 25th, 2009 back in August of 2008. But there was only one big problem: the Nuggets were also scheduled to face the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 4 of the 2009 NBA Western Conference Finals that very same day.

With the WWE deciding to hold RAW at the Staples Center in Los Angeles (ironically the home of the Lakers) while allowing the Lakers vs. Nuggets to go on as scheduled that day, there has been bad blood between McMahon and Kroenke that still holds to this day.

#3 Kansas City, Missouri

Historically, Kansas City has always been a hotbed for professional wrestling for many years with legendary matches that have taken place there for many years including the Lou Thesz vs. Dick the Bruiser match back in 1964. But it seems as if the WWE prioritizes St. Louis’ Enterprise Center even more so than Kansas City’s Sprint Center.

Prior to 2012, Kansas City and St. Louis would alternate hosting WWE pay-per-views however when WWE events held in St. Louis would average as many as 18,000 fans, the last WWE pay-per-view that Kansas City hosted, the 2010 Money in the Bank pay-per-view, drew only 8,000 fans.

Since then, St. Louis has hosted the 2012 Royal Rumble, the 2013 Extreme Rules, the 2014 Survivor Series, the 2015 Battleground, the 2017 Money in the Bank as well as RAW’s 1000th show back in 2012 while Kansas City is relegated to hosting episodes of RAW and SmackDown.

#4 Charlotte, North Carolina

Numerous pro wrestlers such Rockin’ Robin and Ric Flair have lived in the Queen City at some point during their lives. However, Charlotte has hosted just three pay-per-views since 1999 with the last one being the 2006 WWE Vengeance pay-per-view which drew only 6,800 people.

Despite being the home of one of the top wrestling promotions in Jim Crockett Promotions, don’t expect Charlotte to host a WWE pay-per-view anytime soon due in large part to its lackluster attendance at WWE events held there.

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