13 Most Profitable Years In WWE History
10. 2004 - $39,147,000
2004 was not a good year creatively for WWE, with the company struggling to transition from the Attitude Era to the Ruthless Aggression era. Chris Benoit was Raw's World Champion into the summer following his popular WrestleMania XX victory over Triple H and Shawn Michaels, while JBL was dominating over on SmackDown. However, it just didn't scream star power.
Wrestling profits were down from recent years to $37,778,000, with $1,369,000 then figured in after a tax break for shutting down The World Restaurant a year earlier.
On the positive side, 2004 was the year WWE really started laying the groundwork for future profits. The John Cena project was underway, alongside significant investment in Randy Orton, although it would be Batista stealing the momentum by the end of the period.