Top 10 best selling Pay-per-views (PPV) in WWE history

These PPV’s contain some of the biggest moments in the company’s history

WWE is known for some of the biggest pay-per-views in the wrestling industry. The pay-per-views are the pillars of the company which made them evolve as the monopoly of the wrestling business. Over the years the company has provided some of the anticipated shows, which broke the box office records, viewers records and attendance records.

Among these here we ranked the top 10 most selling pay-per-views in WWE history. Well let me break something, all the top 10 most selling PPV of WWE are WrestleMania.

10. WrestleMania 25 [Buys: 960K]

WrestleMania is one of the most successful pay-per-views of the company with 960K buys. The biggest factor that drives more buys is the match between Undertaker and Shawn Michaels “Streak vs Career” match. Apart from this, John Cena vs Edge vs Big Show in a Triple Threat Match for the World Heavyweight Championship and Triple H vs Randy Orton for the WWE Championship also pulled enough viewers.

9. WrestleMania 22 [Buys: 975K]

WWE’s exceptional storytelling is the reason behind the success of WrestleMania 22. The two top card matches including Triple H vs John Cena for the WWE Championship and Kurt Angle vs Randy Orton vs Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Championship pulled the most audience.

Not only the title matches, but also the long term storytelling between Vince McMahon & Shawn Michaels created anticipation. Even the undercard matches were on the mark making a complete package for a wrestling treat. The PPV pulled in viewers of more than 975K buys.

8. WrestleMania 20 [Buys: 1.007 Million]

WrestleMania 20 pulled a total of 1.007 Million buys with some of the interesting contests and emotional story tellings. Chris Benoit winning the World Heavyweight Championship over Triple H & Shawn Michaels and the WWE Championship Match between Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle carried the hearts of WWE fans. Moreover, The Undertaker’s return as Deadman became the highlight of the show.

7. WrestleMania 17 [Buys: 1.040 Million]

WrestleMania 17 is the best pay-per-view in the history of WWE loaded with top stars. Steve Austin vs The Rock, The Undertaker vs Triple H, Vince McMahon vs Shane McMahon, and Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit made the show a huge success. This is the perfect PPV that cannot ever be recreated ever. It broke all the previous WrestleMania records and became the best PPV in the Attitude Era, pulling a massive buy of 1.040 Million buys.

6. WrestleMania 29 [Buys: 1.048 Million]

The match between John Cena and The Rock for the second time for the WWE Championship pulled a massive crowd. It had a total of 1.048 million buys. The storytelling of how both Cena and Rock were brought into the same page made hype for the event. The match witnessed passing the torch to the next generation GOAT. Despite huge success, the PPV failed to reach the buy of previous years’ WrestleMania, when they battled for the first time.

5. WrestleMania 24 [Buys: 1.058 Million]

This is another great WrestleMania with loads of incredible contests, WWE registered a total of 75,000 visitors for the event and generated a total of $5.85 million in ticket sales. Edge vs The Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship is the main card match, where both were undefeated at WrestleMania at the time. An interesting crossover between Pro-wrestling & Boxing held, where the million dollar boxer Floyd Mayweather faced Big Show became the sensation of the year which pulled 1.058 million views.

4. WrestleMania 27 [Buys: 1.059 Million]

This is one of the unique pay-per-views, where the show earned success not for the matches but for the host. The Rock returned to WWE after a decade and hosted WrestleMania 27. He developed a tension with John Cena that made the anticipation rise among the fans.

Rock interfered in John Cena’s match with The Miz for the WWE Championship and cost Cena his opportunity and helped the A-lister mark a milestone victory at the grandest event by retaining the championship. The show marked a buy of 1.059 Million and became the second-highest all-time ticket sale.

3. WrestleMania 21 [Buys: 1.085 Million]

This is another PPV that is filled with stardoms. It marked the fastest PPV ticket sale in WWE and generated $2.6 Million in the gates. As Batista and John Cena both had a controversial end at Royal Rumble, both were given the title shots and marked their first World Championship wins. John Cena won his first WWE Championship by defeating JBL and Batista won the first World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Triple H.

Batista vs Triple H and Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels were the highlights of the show and is considered as one of the finest storytellings of the year and all-time classic match. WrestleMania 21 has the third highest buy of all time with 1.085 million buys.

2. WrestleMania 23 [Buys: 1.2 Million]

The time when WrestleMania 23 was held was when the company reached its peak. The Royal Rumble winner The Undertaker vs Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship, John Cena vs Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship,and Bobby Lashley vs Umaga with Stone Cold as referee.

Where both Donald Trump and Vince McMahon defended their hair on the line pulled major attention towards the event. This marked a record-setting audience of 80,103 count and generated $5.38 Million in gate. It made a buy of 1.2 Million and became the top-selling PPV of that time, and overall second as of 2023.

1. WrestleMania 28 [Buys: 1.217 Million]

WrestleMania 28 is where the money is. It is the highest bought PPV in the history of WWE with a buy of 1.217 Million. John Cena vs The Rock for the first time has built a huge anticipation for the event as it generated a total of $8.9 Million in gates and set the all-time company record. It was watched by more than 1.2 Million people across 120 Countries. The battle between the two generation greats grabbed the attention of many, which brought the Attitude Era fans to life after a long time.

Apart from Cena vs Rock, The Undertaker vs Triple H in a Hell in a Cell match with Shawn Michaels as Special Guest Referee was a 4-year long storytelling. Marking some of the greatest moments, this is the all time most bought PPV of WWE.

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