Though WWE have broken records financially in 2018 thanks to a legitimately surprising sky-high television rights offer, there's been a number of inconvenient truths relating to one of their other key metrics.
Attendances for television tapings and house shows have plummeted, forcing WWE to rethink their model for major shows they simply can't afford to have half empty. To this end, the company continued to push all 'Big Four' events as weekend-long wrestling extravaganzas, enhanced by NXT and Raw shoulder programming in the same venues.
With energy levels up and cards stacked, Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series all delivered hugely on measured expectations. Due to sheer length, the 'Show Of Shows' was probably the worst of the bunch, but even that housed one of WWE's best ever encounters...
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
