7 Uncomfortable Truths About WWE In 2026

Booking down the toilet, prices out of control and careers up in smoke. What is going on in WWE?

by WhatCulture Wrestling
WWE Raw Triple H Oba Femi Brock Lesnar
WWE

It's fair to say that 2026 has been one of the more controversial years in WWE's existence. That is a breathtaking thing to behold, as fans have been relentlessly unhappy for most of the year. WrestleMania was largely unsatisfying for the second year running, storylines are under more scrutiny than ever before, and the audience's faith in WWE to provide quality programming is as low as it's been in the post-Vince McMahon landscape.

The old adage goes "you can't make everybody happy all of the time", but this really feels like a period in which record numbers are feeling frustrated. There are an increasing number of reasons for this recent unrest. This list examines some of the more extreme reasons that WWE is making its own audience uncomfortable in the modern era.

Investigating the dirt under the fingernails of WWE, these are 7 Uncomfortable Truths About WWE In 2026 that equate to far more than just your favourite wrestler not getting a push. These are integrated problems that are turning people off WWE's product more significantly than at any point in recent years.

7. TKO Does Not Care

WWE UFC TKO
NYSE

This is probably the biggest entry on this list and the one worth getting into first. TKO is a business built for profit. They only care about your fandom if it makes them money. For his never-ending list of horrific faults and creative woes, Vince McMahon appeared to occasionally care about the lineage of the company he created. TKO does not. At all.

For fans in the United States, following WWE now requires a Netflix subscription, an ESPN subscription, a cable subscription, and they also have to pay for PLEs that are on ESPN too. A lot is made of ticket prices (which we'll get to), but even if fans want to follow the product in the manner they have for their whole lives, that requires more money than ever before.

Across the UFC and WWE, controversies do not shake this company at all. You think Brock Lesnar shouldn't be part of WWE's roster or Conor McGregor has no place in combat sports due to their misdemeanours? Tough luck. Nick Khan treats wrestling fans like dummies in every interview he gives. There is a sobering reality that things might get even worse in the future, but one thing is for certain. TKO isn't going to grow a conscience and care about your feelings any time soon.

Contributor

The internet's a fun place, and coincidentally so is WhatCulture.com. In 2006 we started publishing articles under the banner of Obsessed With Film, aiming to be a news destination and conversation hub about all things Hollywood. Since then we've grown to cover TV, Gaming, Music, History, Science, Technology, Comics, Sport, and Literature, and become the biggest unofficial Wrestling website in the world. Our monthly audience has now surpassed the 10 million mark, and we're reaching them through videos, podcasts, books and magazines. WhatCulture has grown into one of the busiest entertainment based websites of its kind for high-quality and informative content from expert contributors across all our different genres, topics and mediums. Several hundred articles are posted every single week from our contributors, some of which you will see from time to time on Sky News, Metro Radio, BBC Radio, Dublin FM and in the national newspapers. While our editors may be informed by commercial insights to understand the market, our goal is always to provide independent, objective, valuable and useful advice to our readers.