10 Things You Didn't Know About WWE In 1995
5. So You Think Great Wrestling Doesn't Draw?
WWE has faced serious financial peril twice in its existence, post-1984.
The romanticised narrative of WrestleMania I suggests that Vince McMahon, grapefruits out, risked the financial health of his territory in order to expand. Shockingly, given the sheer extent to which WWE has distorted the truth in its own interests, this was no historical revision - though it did make for a better story. The mom n' pop small business lived out the American dream, etc.
It was dicey; the WWF basically drew last-minute "all publicity is good publicity" closed-circuit walk-ups driven by Hulk Hogan choking out Richard Belzer.
It was more dicey still in '95. In July, there was a massacre in the corridors of Titan Towers as several high-paid executives were fired. Several talent releases followed. This was an attempt to stop the bleeding: over the course of a few years prior, the WWF had lost millions not merely through declining PPV buys and live gates but exorbitant legal bills. Amid all this, the talk within wrestling is that the WWF was screwed, basically.
So how did the WWF survive?
Well, the fears were somewhat unfounded, but ironically - given the "when did workrate ever draw money?" discourse that crops up every now and then - business stabilised later in the year when Bret Hart regained the WWF title at Survivor Series, and despite his eventual failure, Shawn Michaels actually did very well at the box office before being canonised as the Man on TV.
The expanded PPV schedule helped too, obviously, but great wrestling has always worked, even in WWE.