1. Anything Not Wrestling-Related
No matter how much they try to deny it or change it, WWE is first and foremost an entertainment company with a primary focus on wrestling. That has been the core of their company when it was first started by Jess McMahon, when it was run by Vince McMahon Sr., and despite changing names and promotional strategies, when Vincent Kennedy McMahon took over from his father. Despite attempts to diversify into other markets, the WWE has managed to fail on many accounts. First, there was the World Bodybuilding Federation, which lasted from 1990 until 1992. Vince has always had a fascination with muscular physiques, but the WBF was in no way capable of competing with the International Federation of BodyBuilders (IFBB). It received a low buyrate, despite the precense of Lou Ferrigno and Lex Luger, but soon closed. WWE New York, a.k.a. The World, was a restaurant/nightclub in New York City that featured WWF events. It was also involved in some WWF storylines, such as when Chris Kanyon took over the building as part of the Invasion storyline. Unfortunately, it too closed after four years. The XFL was arguably WWFs biggest bomb. Vince wanted to create
an entire league that would compete with the National Football League, but after only one season it closed, with both the WWF and NBC losing $35 million each. It only featured eight teams scattered across various states, and the athletes were paid far less than NFL athletes, and had to pay their own insurance. The negative attitudes towards the XFL were made worse by those who distrusted pro wrestling, arguing that any kind of come-from-behind win would be scripted, in the same sense as wrestling matches are. It was also suffering from terrible 1.5 viewership ratings, stemming from extremely stiff competition from other sports. But arguably the biggest money hole in recent years has been WWE Studios. What started off on a positive note with the Rocks films
The Scorpion King, The Rundown, and
Walking Tall soon went downhill. Their next releases,
See No Evil and
The Marine, did poorly, and so too did most of their subsequent films, including
Knucklehead, 12 Rounds, and
Dead Man Down. Some of their films barely grossed $10,000 at the box office (
Thats What I Am), and many subsequent films have gone straight to DVD format. From these examples, it is clear that WWEs attempt to diversify in what is does, rarely works out for the best. It seems that their best choice would be to stick to wrestling. No matter how much they change their name, abbreviation, or logo, people around the world know that WWE means pro wrestling, no matter how they choose to hide it. It is clear that WWE is currently in a turbulent state of affairs in many respects. Hopefully in 2015 they will be able to fix some of these problems, and maybe fans will have fewer gripes with what we see on WWE programming each week. Thanks for reading. Be sure to check out WhatCultures WWE section for other interesting articles.