Whether you’re a new fan or you’ve been watching since the days of the
Original Nature Boy, Buddy Rogers, this guide will answers most of your
questions about the live WWE experience!

All of my live show experience
comes from six venues in four different U.S. states. I’ve found the
WWE Live to be pretty consistent, but your mileage may vary. That said,
let’s start at the beginning…

How to Get WWE Tickets

Usually you can
get WWE tickets both online at ticketmaster and in person at the venue.
I’ve had better luck at the actual venue because most of the time the
ticket seller has the venue map in hand and you might get to make a
better choice of seats. Online ticket buying has the advantage of no
waiting in line -but you do need to register a ticketmaster account and
have a credit card for the purchase.

–Get the inside scoop: If
you’ve checked the schedule of live events at the WWE official site,
and you’re interested in going to a show in your town, it can’t hurt to
sign up for the WWE mailing list, tickmaster’s mailing list and the
venue’s mailing list. Sometimes they send out pre-sale information. A
pre-sale means tickets might officially go on sale on a Saturday, but
if you have a special code, you can login on Wednesday for tickets.

Find Your WWE Tickets

–Other
ways to get tickets: WWE tickets sell out quickly, the good seats at
least. If there are no tickets, or only the sad, nosebleed seats left
and you don’t mind paying 2-3 times face value, you might want to look
into a ticket broker, an auction site, your local newspaper classifieds
or an on online classifieds site. If you’re a lucky kinda’ person, it
never hurts to check out your local WWE television station and the
local radio stations to see if they’re doing giveaways. Finally, ask
around; you may have a friend or friend of a friend who has connections
for corporate tickets or arena suites.

Are these WWE Arena Seats Good?

This gets a
little tricky and involves some homework on your part. Most venues
offer a seating chart on their website. Some, like the Staples Center
in Los Angeles even have a cool “video” seating chart -so you can see
the actual view from your seat. You might want to research “sight
lines” for your particular venue and search for reviews of the venue
(to see if other wrestling fans had any issues with their seats)

As
a general guideline floor seats are only good if you can get rows 1-3.
Anything further back than the third row and you will have problems
seeing! The floor is flat and you’ll have to deal with people standing
and signs blocking the ring. Avoid anything on the floor, past row
three, behind the announcers. In addition to the standing and the
signs, the ring itself will block your view of all the wrestler’s
entrances. (The exception to this “row 1-3 only” rule is a rampside
floor ticket. Row 10 is fine in this case *if* you’re a seat or two
near the entrance ramp and stage.)

Do you want to be on
television? If so you want seats directly opposite the stationary cameras, no
more than 5 rows back. I’ve gotten plenty of TV face time as far back
as 10 rows, but the usual WWE camera shot will nearly always get those
first few floor rows and about 5 rows up on the concourse. Aisle seats
in the sections on either side of dead center can be pretty good for TV
too.

The Best Place to Sit at a WWE Show

Don’t want to be on TV, but want to see the show? Again, consult the seating chart. You want to be on the same side as the hard
camera, Note, the seats that are directly across from the ring, hard
camera side, are normally not seated (which is why you never see heads
bobbing in front of the camera). But the two sections on either side of
the hard cameras are nice. Next to the front row, this is, in my
opinion, the sweetest seat in the house. Now, if you end up opposite
the hard cameras (on the “be on television” side” just about every seat
in the lower concourse is good -but try to avoid the sections that
stretch back behind the announce tables.
Just happy to be at a
WWE event?? Dude, nothing wrong with those nosebleed seats. You’ll
probably be able to see the ring and you’ll get to see everything that
happens outside, around the ring, but may end up watching the titan
tron or the above ring screen more. Plus, you’ll save money on your
tickets and might not mind paying for $4.50 soda.

Obstructed
View Seats: Sometimes, day of the show, more tickets may be released
with “obstructed views” this can mean a lot of things, but know you’re
going to miss out on some of the in-ring action/or the view of the
TitanTron. One cool thing, if you do happen to get seats near or even
behind the Tron, you do get a neat view of some the backstage workings.

WWE Fan Signs

WWE
LOOOOOVES to see fan signs. Use common sense though, some signs won’t
make it past arena security (bad words, rude statements, website
promotion etc.) Be creative! The cameramen are always on the lookout
for good signs. If you notice a cameraman posted up, scanning your
section -and you have a cool sign- hold it up. They take note and might
put you on TV!

The Day of the WWE Show

The WWE day starts
early. If you get down to the venue around 10am you can catch the big
production trucks rolling in along with a trickling of Superstars and
Divas. Don’t be a goof when you see your favorite wrestler arrive! Some
of them don’t mind stopping for autographs and photos, some do. That
said, if this is your first live show, it’s kinda’ cool to see the
pre-show.

Live TV (Raw and ECW/Smackdown): You’re ticket is
probably stamped with a start time of 30 minutes before the actual show
starts. If at all possible be on time!

Dress to get through
security -no crazy metal stuffs, laser pens or video cameras. The last
show I went to, security made all the little Rey Mysterio fans take
their masks off. Back in the day you couldn’t wear t-shirts for the
competition (WCW). I’m not sure how they feel about TNA shirts. I would
err on the side of common sense and leave the Jeff Jarrett shirt at
home on show day.

A televised show usually starts off with a
cool video on the Titan-Tron then an untelevised, or “dark”, match. If
the staff at your venue are on their toes you should have time to get
in, buy stuff from the WWE merchandise table and maybe get a waaaaay
overpriced soda/beer/hotdog/pizza. (How over priced? Just went to a
show this week that charged $4.50 for a 20oz bottle of soda!! $4.75 for
a regular hotdog -not even a footlong).

If you’re running short
on time pick one or the other, merch or food. There is a good chance
there’ll be a break in the show where you can go back out for whatever
you missed.

Seat Squatters: If someone is sitting in your seat when you get into the arena, ask an usher to move them.

Showtime!
The ring announcer will let you know when the show is about to air
live. Just like at home, you’ll get to see the show intro on the huge
HD screens. You’ll also get to see all of the backstage bits on the
screen, 99% of the time, with sound.

At home, you’d see
commercials, live you may get the t-shirt shooting cannon, the Kiss
Cam, the Best Sign Contest, or more cool videos to fill the time.

Stick
around after the main event (unless you want to beat traffic out).
There may be a “dark match” main event after the TV cameras switch off.

Photos:
If you have a regular film camera you want a “fast” film, 800 or
higher, for the low light. If you’re using a digital camera, make sure
the security knows it “does not take video, only pictures”. WWE has
totally cracked down on people videotaping the show on their cameras
and cell phones.

The Different Types of WWE Live Shows

–WWE Live TV (see above)

–WWE House
Show or as they call it these days “live event”. This is a
non-televised show and is tons of fun. The wrestlers are more relaxed
and they interact more with the crowd. There’s usually an intermission
break so you can hit the merch table and not miss any wrestling action.

–WWE Pay
Per View. A lot like the Live TV show only bigger. The pyro is louder
and hotter (yes, Kane and Batista’s fireworks are Hot!).

–WWE Supershow:
These are almost as fun as the house shows because all the Superstars
are in the building and “anything” can happen! The downside is a
supershow can be a loooong night if they’re taping Raw and Smackdown
and/or ECW.