The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that there has been a reduction in the number of house shows for WWE, which comes after shows starting to lose money last quarter. They have been drawing less and the lower attendance has hurt WWE’s stock price and pushed the belief that WWE’s popularity is falling.

According to the Observer, WWE is now cutting back on house shows. There are no regular house shows this weekend and only one next weekend (February 9 in Fresno), a super show. There are two super shows on February 15-16. The next solo brand show, a RAW event, is on February 23 in Brandon, Manitoba, with the next Smackdown show on February 29 in Elmira, NY. These are the only solo RAW and Smackdown shows for the entire month.

Since AEW doesn’t do house shows, it’s believed the number of major house show events in the US will drop this year. For WWE, it should cut their losses down as the TV tapings usually draw “okay to good,” so the attendance will improve for the quarter. It’s the standard house shows that are said to drop the average attendance. The best three months of the year for business are January-March, which means that the numbers for the quarter report in April/May will be up regardless. Total revenue and merchandise sales from the events are expected to be down.

The talent reportedly wasn’t aware of the reduction in house shows until they received their February booking sheets. The top performers are still earning a lot of money but everyone else may have lower income since they are working fewer dates. One source said that there was a “happy medium” between four shows a week and TV and around two shows every other week. They added it likely will hurt the big stars’ merchandise sales, so there are a lot of wrestlers that aren’t happy.

NXT, meanwhile, is doing more events than RAW and Smackdown now, but NXT talent isn’t paid based on house shows. They are paid a flat salary and make the same amount no matter how many shows they perform at. Some NXT talent believe that more dates helps everyone as the wrestlers need as much time as possible in front of a crowd.