Report: WWE Denied ‘First Choice’ Host City For Major Event

Published: May 7, 2024 by Dave Adamson | Last Updated: May 7, 2024 by Dave Adamson

Dave has been a website writer for WrestleTalk since October 2022, having previously written for Den of Geek, among a number of wrestling, movie and television-related sites. Dave has been around the independent wrestling scene for more than a decade, including behind-the-scenes.

Report: WWE Denied ‘First Choice’ Host City For Major Event

WWE Backlash was held at the LDLC Arena in Décines-Charpieu in the Metropolis of Lyon, France, but that wasn’t the first choice.

With an attendance of 11,682, it was announced as the “largest gate of any arena show in WWE history”, as can be seen below.

According to Félix Gouty of POST Wrestling, however, the original hope was for WWE Backlash to take place in Paris, the capital of France.

Gouty spoke to WWE’s French promoter who confirmed the details, with Gouty saying:

“Paris was indeed the first choice but with the Olympic Games less than a hundred days away, not one building was willing to accommodate them for a four-day stop (counting two days for installation and disassembly).”

The Olympics runs from Friday, July 26 to Sunday, August 11, 2024 with a number of temporary and existing venues hosting events in Paris and the surrounding regions.

With WWE Backlash being the “largest gate of any arena show in WWE history”, Gouty suggests this is likely to mean venues of under 16,000 seats.

A number of arenas will be home to Olympics events in Paris , including Paris La Défense Arena and Porte de La Chapelle Arena in the Grand Paris zone and South Paris Arena and Bercy Arena in the Paris Centre zone.

The Olympics isn’t limited to arenas either, with stadiums and event-specific sites also in use through the games.

The opening ceremony is expected to attract as many as 600,000 spectators with the Olympic Games itself encompassing 329 events across 32 sports.

It was recently revealed that WWE didn’t receive a site fee from bring Backlash to Lyon, France.

LARGEST GATE OF ANY ARENA SHOW IN WWE HISTORY!

Thank you LYON, FRANCE! 🇫🇷#WWEBacklash pic.twitter.com/nsPde6DAYX

— WWE (@WWE) May 4, 2024

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