3. Bringing In Fledgling Celebrities To Boost Ratings
Celebrities in wrestling can bring with them mainstream press and make the product more popular, or at least more visible, to the mainstream audience. WCW had that when they convinced Dennis Rodman to wrestle for them and be a part of the nWo for two years in a row in 1997 & 1998. But, as we got to 1999, the celebrities got worse and worse. WCW brought in rapper Master P (for huge money) for musical performances and to get involved in storylines. He was a popular artist, but nowhere near big enough to justify his payday or his position on the card. It seemed to make things worse than better. Then they put the World Title on actor David Arquette, which got mainstream press but for all the wrong reasons, exposing WCW as one of those fake wrestling companies where even an actor can win a belt. Making matters worse, it was all done to promote box-office and critical bomb Ready to Rumble. TNA decided to sign American Football player Pacman Jones in 2007, someone that nobody outside of the US was familiar with. Jones had just been involved in an incident where he assaulted an exotic dancer in Vegas, and one of his crew shot a security guard, paralyzing him. Since he was suspended from the NFL for a year, TNA signed him. Yes, this a person you want to help improve your image. Jones' NFL contract precluded him from getting physically involved, so of course he became one half of the TNA Tag Team Champions without ever taking a bump. Quite comically, a mainstream media article at the time noted that the appearances were a step DOWN for Pacman Jones. Take a moment to digest that.
Kenny is a successful podcast host with Inside The Ropes, promotes exciting Q&A events in the UK with the likes of Sting and DDP, has interviewed the big guns like Foley, Jericho, Bruno and Austin and enjoys cheese a great deal.