<\/p>\n
WWE \u201cRaw\u201d returns to the Save Mart Center in Fresno on Oct. 26, 2026.<\/p>\n
WWE<\/p>\n
For the first time in 14 years, the WWE\u2019s flagship TV show returns to Fresno.<\/p>\n
The WWE tells The Fresno Bee that \u201cRaw\u201d \u2014 which now streams on Netflix \u2014 heads back to the Save Mart Center on Oct. 26. It is the first time the live Monday night show has been in Fresno since 2012.<\/p>\n
Tickets go on sale<\/a> July 23 at 10 a.m. Pacific. Doors open on Oct. 26 at 3 p.m., with preliminary matches at 4:30 p.m. The live \u201cRaw\u201d is expcted to start at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n WWE also announced a return to Sacramento for an Oct. 16 live \u201cFriday Night SmackDown\u201d<\/p>\n No card has been announced, as advanced knowledge of who is wrestling is no longer an industry practice. By October, the WWE will be gearing up for the Nov. 28 Survivor Series card in Houston.<\/p>\n Preceding the October show, WWE heads to California next week with a live event tour. Starting July 24, the WWE is in Oakland for a \u201cSmackDown\u201d TV broadcast; July 25 at the Adventist Health Arena in Stockton; July 26 at the Dignity Health Arena in Bakersfield; and concluding July 27 with a live episode of “Raw\u201d from the Intuit Dome in Inglewood.<\/p>\n Once a monthly staple, domestic live events \u2014 industry parlance for non-televised shows \u2014 are increasingly rare. WWE has not been in town since February 2024. However, rival AEW held TV broadcasts in 2025 and 2026.<\/p>\n In the 1980s, during the Hulkamania era, WWF \u2014 as it was known then \u2014 made monthly stops at Selland Arena. Frequency dwindled through the years, but fans could count on at least one WWE show a year. This is the longest drought since Feb. 15, 2000, when the WWF went 17 months between shows. The WWF held its first local show in 1984.<\/p>\n \u201cRaw\u201d first aired in 1993. It has been to Fresno several times in the show\u2019s 33-year history. The most famous Fresno Raw moment happened in January 1998, when boxing legend Mike Tyson confronted \u201cStone Cold\u201d Steve Austin.<\/p>\n What WWE means to arena managers<\/p>\n The company has held at least one show annually in Bakersfield since 1998, except for the 2020 pandemic year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe consider ourselves to be a fairly good market for WWE, so we\u2019re always happy to have them here, and they always tend to draw very well,\u201d said Nick Wynne, spokesperson for Dignity Health Arena in Bakersfield.<\/p>\n WrestleTix, which tracks tickets sold to wrestling events, estimated 8,800 tickets sold its last show in Bakersfield<\/a> \u2014 a SmackDown broadcast June 6, 2025. Wynne is expecting a similar crowd next week.<\/p>\n Stockton last held a WWE show in 2022, drawing approximately 3,900 fans according to WrestleTix<\/a>. For comparison, AEW performed in 2024, drawing approximately 2,300 fans (set up for 2,600) according to WrestleTix<\/a>. Dignity Health Arena General Manager Jason Perry expects 5,000 fans.<\/p>\n Perry says there is competition among local arenas for WWE.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery market competes against one another for events as many touring shows have a radius clause,\u201d Perry said. Legends Global manages the facilities in Fresno, Oakland, Stockton and Bakersfield.<\/p>\n That ownership synergy helps, Wynne said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is strength in numbers, and that does help us with an organization like WWE and with TKO (WWE\u2019s parent company) in terms of being able to know that if they partner with Legends Global that we have access to many different venues throughout the country and really throughout the world,\u201d Wynne said.<\/p>\n Family shows, but at family prices?<\/p>\n Family shows like WWE, Disney on Ice and the Harlem Globetrotters are important to the arena\u2019s business, Wynne said.<\/p>\n \u201cBakersfield is a market with a lot of young families, and provide what I would consider to be affordable entertainment,\u201d Wynne said. The most affordable ticket \u2014 as of Thursday on both Ticketmaster<\/a> and StubHub<\/a> \u2014 are in the mid-$60s.<\/p>\n Wynne said WWE stretches across demographics between age, gender and race.<\/p>\n \u201cAs an oil and agriculture town, there\u2019s kind of a gritty blue collar sheen to Bakersfield that I think kind of matches what you typically see in WWE,\u201d Wynne said.<\/p>\n Pro wrestling also has an audience in Stockton.<\/p>\n \u201cStockton is a community that is rich with amateur and professional boxing and wrestling and one that enjoys family entertainment which is a great draw for WWE,\u201d Perry said.<\/p>\n Neither arena representatives in Bakersfield and Stockton would detail the exact business arrangement with WWE, citing proprietary information. Perry said for concerts, there is a rental rate plus share of ticket revenue.<\/p>\n Wynne said that WWE reached out to the arena to book the date. Perry said he stays in regular contact with WWE.<\/p>\n This story was originally published July 16, 2026 at 9:41 AM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n