WWE fans rejoice. Raw is headed this fall to Fresno for live event on Netflix
For the first time in 14 years, the WWE’s flagship TV show returns to Fresno.
The WWE tells The Fresno Bee that “Raw” — which now streams on Netflix — 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.
Tickets go on sale 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 “Raw” is expcted to start at 5 p.m.
WWE also announced a return to Sacramento for an Oct. 16 live “Friday Night SmackDown”
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.
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 “SmackDown” 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” from the Intuit Dome in Inglewood.
Once a monthly staple, domestic live events — industry parlance for non-televised shows — are increasingly rare. WWE has not been in town since February 2024. However, rival AEW held TV broadcasts in 2025 and 2026.
In the 1980s, during the Hulkamania era, WWF — as it was known then — 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.
“Raw” first aired in 1993. It has been to Fresno several times in the show’s 33-year history. The most famous Fresno Raw moment happened in January 1998, when boxing legend Mike Tyson confronted “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
What WWE means to arena managers
The company has held at least one show annually in Bakersfield since 1998, except for the 2020 pandemic year.
“We consider ourselves to be a fairly good market for WWE, so we’re always happy to have them here, and they always tend to draw very well,” said Nick Wynne, spokesperson for Dignity Health Arena in Bakersfield.
WrestleTix, which tracks tickets sold to wrestling events, estimated 8,800 tickets sold its last show in Bakersfield — a SmackDown broadcast June 6, 2025. Wynne is expecting a similar crowd next week.
Stockton last held a WWE show in 2022, drawing approximately 3,900 fans according to WrestleTix. For comparison, AEW performed in 2024, drawing approximately 2,300 fans (set up for 2,600) according to WrestleTix. Dignity Health Arena General Manager Jason Perry expects 5,000 fans.
Perry says there is competition among local arenas for WWE.
“Every market competes against one another for events as many touring shows have a radius clause,” Perry said. Legends Global manages the facilities in Fresno, Oakland, Stockton and Bakersfield.
That ownership synergy helps, Wynne said.
“There is strength in numbers, and that does help us with an organization like WWE and with TKO (WWE’s 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,” Wynne said.
Family shows, but at family prices?
Family shows like WWE, Disney on Ice and the Harlem Globetrotters are important to the arena’s business, Wynne said.
“Bakersfield is a market with a lot of young families, and provide what I would consider to be affordable entertainment,” Wynne said. The most affordable ticket — as of Thursday on both Ticketmaster and StubHub — are in the mid-$60s.
Wynne said WWE stretches across demographics between age, gender and race.
“As an oil and agriculture town, there’s kind of a gritty blue collar sheen to Bakersfield that I think kind of matches what you typically see in WWE,” Wynne said.
Pro wrestling also has an audience in Stockton.
“Stockton 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,” Perry said.
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.
Wynne said that WWE reached out to the arena to book the date. Perry said he stays in regular contact with WWE.
This story was originally published July 16, 2026 at 9:41 AM.
