Now more than ever, fans of professional wrestling have a voice. Social media has completely opened up the industry, just as the popularisation of the internet did during the late-1990's. Suddenly, as time marched towards a new millennium, grappling enthusiasts had a new way to interact with one another. On the surface, this made it easier for people to follow their favourite wrestling companies. Perhaps unfortunately, it's also made it more simple for fans to criticise. It's not uncommon for WWE to reference those pesky 'internet fans'. Everyone from Vince McMahon to Triple H occasionally references the idea, as though those who chat about the industry online are to be discredited. In truth, not everybody who reads wrestling news online is a WWE 'hater'. On the flip side, there are those casual fans that will defend to the hilt absolutely everything that the company presents. That's the intriguing focus of this article, examining the differences in opinion between those who sit on each side of the fan divide. The following 12 arguments are routinely raised by more 'hardcore' fans, and they often get on the nerves of those who simply don't see things that way. Not everything WWE does is bad, but not everything is great either. This list explores that balance.
12. The Social Media Craze
The more 'fanboy' style WWE fans will argue that the company should trumpet their success on social media. It's understandable that management would want to shout from the rooftops about the fact they have more Facebook 'likes' than other major sporting corporations. Unfortunately, WWE have also informed people over the years that they're in the entertainment industry, not the sporting one. Worse yet, talk of social media can take up an awful lot of time on WWE programming. It seems like no episode of Monday Night Raw or major Pay-Per-View can go by without Michael Cole droning on about exactly what's trending currently. Twitter has become such a major part of what WWE do, but it can be annoying to see it featured so prominently. Needless to say, the fact something is trending on Twitter is not an indication of positivity. Yes, people are talking about what's happening, which is good, but an awful lot of those comments are negative. In short, social media activity is not a substitute for fans being invested in what's being put in front of them. This is not how some fans see it, instead preferring to believe that WWE is infinitely more popular than everything else out there.
