10 Reasons Why WWE Live Event Attendances Are Shrinking
3. Wrestling's Frozen Place In Pop Culture
Wrestling's mainstream popularity peaked in the Attitude Era. The sport was still seen as cool and edgy back then, with television ratings through the roof, and wrestlers like Steve Austin seen as genuine pop culture icons. Wrestling hasn't quite fallen all the way back to its genesis as a niche form of entertainment, but mainstream perception has shifted greatly over the past few decades, and it may never recover.
WWE's zeitgeist expired a long time ago. Wrestling is no longer cool, fresh, or exciting. It's old hat, and its place in pop culture has frozen.
The company can take certain measures to reverse these trends, and there are definitely things they can do to boost ratings and attendances incrementally, but that's the extent of it. Enthusiasm will never spike like it did in the '90s because there's nothing novel about the sport anymore, and just like every other long-running, episodic product does over time, wrestling's popularity has plateaued.
This doesn't mean fans shouldn't expect more from the company, but it does help explain why fewer people feel compelled to part with money for their product. Every major pop culture movement has its zeitgeist, and wrestling's has long since passed.