Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti declares WWE Elimination Chamber at Optus Stadium a ‘roaring success’ for WA

Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti has declared the sporting spectacle presented by World Wrestling Entertainment a “roaring success” for WA, bringing in crowds well above projected numbers. More than 50,000 people packed into Optus Stadium on Saturday to watch some of the world’s best wrestlers compete at the WWE Elimination Chamber extravaganza. Ms Saffioti, who is also Minister for Tourism, said on Sunday it had been the most successful Elimination Chamber in WWE history, eclipsing the last highest attendance record by nearly 20,000 people. “When you look at all the indicators, it has been a roaring success — 52,000 people at the stadium last night, well above our projections,” she said. “And 14,000 came from overseas and interstate and that is a major boost to our tourism sector, whether it be hotels, whether it be in retail, whether it be restaurants and cafes.” “It eclipsed what I think we thought it would do and the sense of energy from around the community has been very high.” Merchandise sales were the highest ever before similar events and although viewer numbers were not yet available, she said the spectacle had reached a billion people around the world. Ms Saffioti praised the WWE for its organisation of the event, including visits to hospitals and shopping centres “to let WWE fans get up close to stars that they only ever saw on TV”. Perth was the first Australian city to welcome the WWE in five years and Ms Saffioti said she’d like to see Perth become the WWE capital of Australia. “We’ll see whether we can make that happen, but last night’s success was a great first step in continuing what I hope to be a long relationship,” she said. “We’re very proud as a State Government to be bringing these events to WA. As the previous tourism minister — now Premier (Roger Cook) — started and I’ve echoed, we really want to be an events capital of Southeast Asia. “We want to continue our role in supporting these unique and different events that attract people from interstate and overseas.” Ms Saffioti said not only would tourists tell their family and friends about Perth, but WWE stars had millions of followers on social media. “This is all about continuing the role of exposing the Perth name to around the world,” she said. “People come, they enjoy the experience and then they go back and they tell their friends and family about coming back. And that’s one of the things that events can do.” On Sunday, crowds were still flocking to buy merchandise from the WWE superstore in Forrest Chase. Melbourne resident Kiera Whitelaw estimated she spent up to $5000 on flights, accommodation and tickets to attend the event, but she believed the experience was worth every cent. “I’ve been a fan of wrestling since I was like eight years old — I’m 32 now,” she said. “I got to see some of my favourites, so it was really good.” Patrick Husson, from Sydney, said making the trip had been worth it. “I loved every second of it.”