10 Things You Learn From Rewatching LAST Time WWE Raw Lost In Ratings War

3. The Talent Were Allowed To Be Bigger Than The Company

Steve Austin Ken Shamrock Raw 1998.jpg
WWE.com

For anyone who's followed the wrestling business over the past decade or two, it's fair to say that no modern-day grappler has been allowed to truly feel bigger than WWE.

Of course, this is all by design. For example, instead of selling WrestleMania on the stars involved in the main event, WrestleMania these days is sold on the WWE brand and the WrestleMania spectacle. Looking at 1998, WrestleMania XIV was sold on Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels and obviously the role of Mike Tyson. Skip ahead to 1999, WrestleMania XV was sold on Steve Austin vs. the Rock.

Contrast that to the last several WrestleManias, and it's clear that we're now in extremely different times. As a counterpoint, wrestlers come and go. You have your first nine WrestleManias closed out by the visage of Hulk Hogan, so what happens when Hogan leaves the company? Steve Austin headlines several WrestleManias as the hottest star the business has ever seen, but what happens when Austin has to call time on his career? You rely on the Rock to be your star attraction, but then what happens when Hollywood comes a-calling?

On that hand, you can understand why WWE now promotes the WWE brand as its major selling point rather than its talent, yet that can be viewed as a lazy approach that allows WWE to not fully invest in making their wrestlers into true game-changing, needle-driving megastars.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.