10 Ways WWE Could Sell More Network Subscriptions

10. An Epic, Comprehensive Documentary Series On The Territory System

WWE alienated generations of wrestling fans when it monopolised the industry in 2001, and subsequently homogenised its in-ring style and relied on turgid, lame storytelling formula. Only now is the landscape diversifying beyond the fringe, enrapturing a set of disenchanted WWE fans in the process.

Per DEFY Wrestling's Matt Farmer, legions more residual territorial fans remain disenchanted. As he explained, prior to WrestleMania I, "In 1984, there were approximately 300 events around the globe that drew in the neighbourhood of ten thousand or more fans." On the basis of this objective analysis, WWE didn't "expand" the business, per their own revisionist rhetoric; they shrunk and reimagined it through their own, all-encompassing lens. WWE is the the most popular wrestling company ever, but wrestling itself was once more popular. It was also once far more diverse, accounting for that popularity. The rabid Memphians loved bloody brawls, Floridians legit shooting tough men, Tennesseans high-flying athletes.

To lull those lapsed fans back into the fold, a comprehensively-researched, deeply analytical and expansive docu-series on those halcyon days may tap into a burning nostalgia felt by those who lived through them, and reward the historical fascination of new fans alike. To put it over as a legitimate account, WWE could draft in genuine, objective historians, potentially drawing a level of acclaim (and thus intrigue) on the level of HBO's André The Giant special. WWE possesses the footage.

The motivation?

It's an optimistic suggestion, since it betrays the very euphemism on which WWE was built. But, ultimately, it represents another means of pulling in every wrestling fan - the ultimate endgame - without doling out daft money to the Elite.