8 Big Lessons WWE Must Learn From 2018
7. Some Of The Audience Has Gone Elsewhere For Good
As of writing, Wrestle Kingdom is just days away, and conversation amongst some of the Great Men™of Whatculture.com hasn't just focussed on the outstanding card set to light up the Tokyo Dome on January 4th, but the ramifications for several of its most Elite key players.
Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, Cody and other members of the rumoured All Elite Wrestling start-up all presently have rather unclear futures, but these next steps are vague by design. These are performers that have thought incredibly big during 2018 in particular, but gathered years of experience, confidence and ardent self-belief in the process to take a leap few have bothered with this decade - offering actual company-sized competition for Vince McMahon.
They're already doing it. New Japan World subscriber numbers keep going up, NJPW's co-branded Madison Square Garden show with Ring Of Honor over WrestleMania weekend sold out just as ALL IN did the prior September, whilst Being The Elite continues to galvanise audiences into investing in just about anything with any of the gang's faces/names/logos/catchphrases/dogs stuck on it.
WWE don't have to give much of a toss at the moment, but bums in seats and eyes on the telly are both way down in spite of vast riches elsewhere. The new wrestlers are making a success of wrestling in the old fashioned way - WWE can only look on at those that have abandoned the Bad Ship McMahon for these luxurious lifeboats.