Fightful Select has published a new report on the lack of security and issues surrounding WWE WrestleMania 42 weekend in Las Vegas. WWE talent were swarmed by fans, with some fans even go as far as camping out inside lobbies and near elevators in hotels talent were staying at, just to get a photo or autograph at the very least.
Some talent spoke to Fightful Select about the matter. When asked about the security issues, several wrestlers responded to Fightful with, “What security?“
A WWE source claimed to Fightful Select that certain fans crossed boundaries with talents during meet-and-greets, with attempts to hug them, which is said to have been strictly not encouraged for personal reasons and health concerns.
Another talent believes the reason things got the way they did, is due to the extremely high ticket prices and that WWE Superstars are not longer accessible to fans as WWE and TKO have essentially outpriced their fans base, thus these fans can no longer afford the meet & greet sessions. It was also said that “inaccessible prices” could be a reason why fans have been more aggressive.
A former WWE champion noted to Fightful Select, “A lot of fans use their kids to get us to sign things. “If we don’t, they put phones in our face and try to guilt trip us.” Another WWE talent stated, “It’s WrestleMania, and there are wrestling fans in town. What do people expect?“
A WWE staff member jokingly told Fightful Select, “I think we should be allowed to superkick one annoying fan a day.” The overall sentiment by WWE Superstars was that TKO and WWE should spend more money to protect their talent or at the very least, begin paying for their talent to obtain their own security.
A top talent told Fightful Select that, “It’s Vegas, we were f—d from the beginning. WWE never actually pre arranges good security . It’s like they wait until s— happens, then they do damage control or add security. We love the personal security teams, and they did as much as they could but hotel security was busy taking care of the problems you already have in Las Vegas.”
The report further adds that talents agreed WWE and TKO should provide on-site security during major events when staying at a centralized location. It was further added that WWE talent arrange for their own accommodations. However, WWE takes care of the hotels for bigger events.
Fightful Select further notes they were told that with talent choosing to stay at different hotels to avoid the massive rush of fans, it made arranging travel more difficult.
At the time of Fightful’s report and this writing, WWE has yet to comment on the security issues with fans over the weekend.
WWE Hall of Famer Sean Waltman, said on X he was assaulted, had a camera shoved in his face and was followed to the bathroom. Fellow Hall of Famer Booker T spoke on his podcast, that he experienced similar issues, with fans that were filming in the bathroom.
There were also other incidents that included a fan approaching Bayley and AJ Lee in the lobby of the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. The fan attempted to grab Lee for a hug despite being told no. This led to CM Punk swatting away the fans phone. That fan has since said he is not looking to sue Punk, he only wants an apology. Other incidents included Damian Priest taking action when fans swarmed a female talent, wanting to take photos and autographs.