10 Secrets Behind WWE's Stunning Current Success
WWE is in record-smashing form despite the scandals surrounding their seedy founder. How?
WWE is being analysed like a wrestling show of late.
This recent phenomenon shouldn't really be a phenomenon, but Vince McMahon's methods (if it's not too generous to call them that, and it is) over the majority of a near-20 year monopoly forced through a transformation of how the company could be critically analysed. That is to say, it became immune to it.
Storylines stopped making sense, if they ever even did. Promos came from the addled brain of an ancient detached idiot billionaire no matter which performer was tasked with delivering the lines. We all started normalising the word "performer" just like that sentence did, because that was the only accurate way to describe the parade of wrestlebots lined up every week like they were on that infamous deranged mid-Pandemic Undertaker tribute episode of SmackDown.
When McMahon resigned in disgrace, even if his return was inevitable, it at least opened the door for somebody to do something - anything - different with the mess he'd left behind, and Triple H did. Results are mixed, in truth, but recent discussion on The Bloodline has highlighted that many are so convinced the company can't do anything right creatively that they'll not even entertain the notion that something might really be clicking.
"Creatively" being the operative word. Commercially, it simply isn't up for debate. And there are some major reasons why...
10. The Power Of Peacock
WWE and Peacock were touting January's Royal Rumble as the "most-viewed Royal Rumble in company history", noting an eye-watering increase of 52% against last year's event.
The story was part of a glowing info-dump on the company's website, but the figures gained some weight when viewed against Peacock's own growth in recent months. The service boasts over 20 million paid subscribers, up fro the already-impressive 15 it had by the end of Q3. When one considers that the WWE Network typically topped out at two million subscribers, and many of those only jumped on for WrestleMania season, this represents a huge new audience for the company as well as the existing eyes.
WWE are already trousering $200million a year until 2026 from NBC to provide the service, so the maths against a decreasing $9.99 monthly subscriber base were already sound. That it can also come with a vastly inflated audience offers the organisation the chance to find new fans and advertisers alike. Viewers might stick around if they like what they see, and brands such as Mountain Dew will surely speak glowingly of the benefits a co-promotion provides.