>>19255443 During Diesel's title reign WWF operated with split crews on the road e.g. Razor/Taker worked "B" shows in smaller venues while Bret/HBK/Diesel worked "A" shows in larger venues. At tail end of Diesel's title reign WWF made a business decision to cut back to 18 shows per month by ditching the money-losing "B" shows. Less shows featuring more star power resulted in an increase in attendance in 1996 & prior to his jump to WCW, the shows were usually headlined by Diesel facing the WWF Champ in a cage main event.
Diesel/HBK vs. Bret/Taker headlined MSG on Mar 17, 1996 drew 17,000 (14,824 paying $299,596) - first sellout at MSG for a non-PPV since the mid-80's & set an all-time record house show gate. Diesel's final show at MSG, a cage main event against HBK on May 19, 1996 drew 18,800 (16,564 paying $319,411) - first time in 11 years that WWF had two straight MSG sellouts & first indoor non-PPV house in WWF history to top $300,000. HBK/Taker vs. Mankind/Goldust headlined MSG on Sep 29, 1996 drew 6,747 (3,917 paying $146,437) - lowest paid & total fans for an MSG card dating back 40 years.
WWF/E Champ Domestic House Show Attendance Average (shows performed): 4,434 (67) - Diesel 4,378 (77) - Yoko 2nd 4,186 (13) - Mysterio 1st* 4,134 (23) - ADR 2nd* 3,887 (41) - Sheamus* 3,703 (62) - Bret 1st 3,677 (11) - Goldberg* 3,666 (16) - Edge 2nd 3,625 (38) - AJ Styles 3,240 (26) - Lesnar 3rd 3,043 (50) - JBL 3,017 (41) - Benoit* 2,710 (20) - HHH 4th* 2,630 (13) - Booker T* 2,591 (23) - Guerrero 2361 (33) - Owens** *WHC **Universal
WWF Champ International House Show Attendance Average (shows performed): 6,340 (10) - Diesel 4,859 (14) - HBK 1st 3,641 (10) - Sid 1st + 2nd
RAW set an all-time record on Apr 24, 1995 for Diesel vs. Bigelow title match doing a 3.9 rating & 2.28 million homes; the largest audience to watch pro wrestling in the U.S. since Hogan vs. Flair title match at COTC on Aug 24, 1994.
