**Most nights of the winter, the action at Wells Fargo Center unfolds on the court or rink. This weekend, tussles in a ring are delivering the drama.The downtown Philadelphia arena is hosting four nights of WWE matchups, which will be highlighted by the Royal Rumble at 7 p.m. Sunday, one of the marquee gatherings on the wrestling calendar. The spectacle will fill the 21,000-seat complex and attract viewers from around the world.
“Our heritage with WWE fans and events in Philadelphia is long-storied,” said John Saboor, WWE’s executive vice president of special events. “We’re so much looking forward to the presentation of four consecutive nights at the Wells Fargo Center. Royal Rumble offers a wonderfully unique format and serves as an incredibly important milestone on the road to Wrestlemania.”
The event will feature a 30-man Royal Rumble match and the inaugural 30-woman Royal Rumble match. The winners of both matches will receive championship shots at WrestleMania 34, which is set for April 8 at the Superdome in New Orleans.“I always look at Royal Rumble as the kickoff of a new season and somewhat of a predictor of what might happen and who may be involved later on at Wrestlemania,” Josh Shuart, an associate professor in Sacred Heart University’s sports management program, said in an email. “Royal Rumble helps to set the stage for many of these later events, which happen on a predictable schedule but always with very unpredictable results.”Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series comprise the top WWE events. The sequencing and billing of those events are comparable to those for the major tournaments in professional golf and tennis.
“Building a major for every season is one of our overarching goals,” Saboor said. “The goal is to continue to build the experience and make it an unprecedented year.”Other Royal Rumble matches this weekend include Brock Lesnar defending his WWE Universal Championship in a Triple Threat match against Braun Strowman and Kane, WWE Champion AJ Styles in a two-on-one handicap match against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn and Raw Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan against Sheamus and Cesaro.Each Royal Rumble brings tens of thousands of visitors to its host city. The Alamodome in San Antonio, the site of the 2017 Rumble, announced an attendance of 52,000 for the event.Royal Rumble will again be live-streamed on the WWE Network, which counted 1.51 million paid subscribers at the end of the third quarter of 2017.The popularity of Royal Rumble, which was first held in 1988, contributes to WWE’s overall growth. In 2010, WWE fans consumed about 20 million hours of content; that total rose to 900 million hours in 2016.WWE officials are already planning future Rumbles. They announced this week Phoenix as the location of the 2019 edition. It will be held at Chase Field, the home of Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks — the first time a baseball stadium has hosted the spectacle. NXT TakeOver, Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live events will take place the same week at the neighboring Talking Stick Resort Arena.“WWE fans have said in resounding fashion that they embrace the placement of major events in destination cities, and Phoenix is no exception,” Saboor said. “Beyond the four consecutive nights of Royal Rumble entertainment, they love to consume the experience in the city around the WWE experience.” **