10 Ways WWE Hasn't Learned From Its Mistakes
6. Limiting Marketing Opportunities
Lost amid the dreaded Bad Bunny Discourse - nobody in their right mind thinks this is a bad idea - is that his involvement with the company is irrelevant. Cyndi Lauper introduced pop music fans to the WWF and those pop music fans were wowed by the WWF because it was hot and good and looked amazing. People didn't just look like Hulk Hogan. A brand new type of body was created in the 1970s. People forget this. Of course it would prove fascinating, particularly when the man behind the ballooning leather was so charismatic.
Building an audience is no longer as simple as the old shortcut Vince pioneered. It might be, if the product was any good, but it isn't. It's soulless and often nonsensical pro wrestling promoted in the eeriest circumstances imaginable.
Years ago, WWE forbade CM Punk from promoting the 2012 Royal Rumble by walking Chael Sonnen to the ring. This is just one of many examples of the whole "independent contractor" deal being a crock of sh*t.
From Tout to nowt, WWE has consistently chosen bad platforms to market their talent, or even deprived them of one. They can't stream. They can't connect. They can't hold a brand product because they aren't allowed to take a drink of something in shot of a camera unless Vince can get his piece of the cut from the association.
It's a mistake, or is it? WWE is already received significantly more money from its content than the name value of one of these old-fashioned things called "stars".