John Cena and Roman Reigns t-shirts continued to sell at arenas, but the days of seeing folk in their favourite wrestling shirts had died out before WCW event did. In contrast, Bullet Club shirts went on sale at zeitgeist high street vendor Hot Topic, with some fans admitting to having never even engaged in NJPW - the original home of the stable - before buying in. When a movement's on the rise, it matters little to those at the front why exactly people are signing on beyond knowing that they are.
And anyway, the obvious narrative was the best one to set. Cody Rhodes never needed to use a branded megaphone to shout that wrestling fans had grown tired of WWE - he let the fans say that themselves en route to a Monday Night Raw 'invasion' or local show featuring one of the Being The Elite cast members. BTE becoming a storyline vehicle was actively beneficial to Ring Of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling. Both have been largely successful thus far in expanding their operations, and in 2018 alone NJPW and ROH's biggest ever US shows have been headlined by clashes established in the Bullet Club/Elite universe.
The match quality being high was a bonus, but an important one. Understanding something WWE have forgotten since the demise of the Attitude Era, Cody and The Bucks had to continue paying off before they could sell out.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 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. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, 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
