10 Secrets Nobody Has Told You About WWE Yet

7. The B-Show Locations Were Nick Khan/Triple H Specials

Rhea Ripley Dominik Mysterio
WWE.com

After years of Vince McMahon's antagnostic booking making memes out of wrestlers working in their hometowns, Triple H appeared to be borrowing from Tony Khan's playbook (itself borrowing from common sense) when he started doing right by wrestlers working in their own locales.

It went beyond nice gestures on TV too - 'The Game' supercharged several B-Show Premium Live Events with talents having their big nights in front of the loudest devotees. Drew McIntyre had all of the UK behind him when he took on Roman Reigns at Clash At The Castle in 2022, circumventing the fact that a Scottish star was working in Wales. Sami Zayn's emotional return to Montreal for Elimination Chamber had people believing he could top Roman Reigns a month before WrestleMania 39, and supplied the perfect destination for Kevin Owens to make a key intervention in the story. Then there was Backlash 2023, arguably WWE's best show of the year, presenting Zelina Vega, Bad Bunny and Damian Priest as three megastars basking in the glory thrust upon them by an electrifying crowd.

Yet, this is more than just well-timed booking from the chief content officer. Nick Khan has used these spectacles to meet and negotiated with local executives around television, licensing and other key deals. The machine has seemingly never been as well-oiled.

That's not the only business being done as well...

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett