One MIND-BLOWING Secret From Every WWE Royal Rumble

2015 - The REAL Origin Of AEW

The Rock Roman Reigns
WWE

In the pre-Triple H era, with the audience shrinking, many jaded fans had their own “I’m out” moment.

The Summer of Punk cooling off the most bold character WWE had pushed in years. The repeated, destructive use of Brock Lesnar in the late 2010s. The debacle that was Hell In A Cell 2019.

These are examples of anecdotal, impulse reactions. One wrestling analyst tracked the actual data, and the ramifications of it might well have altered the landscape of the industry.

Roman Reigns won the 2015 Royal Rumble match, throughout which he was presented as “he’s at least more popular than Kane and the Big Show”. The Attitude Era dinosaurs tossed out the internet darlings like they were bags of trash. Really, there’s no need for the simile there; this is precisely how the physical act looked. And that was the point: WWE told you that your favourites are rubbish, and you need to get behind the heroic Roman Reigns. This inspired the hysterical #CancelWWENetwork hashtag, which drew the usual response - stop being dramatic, you won’t stop watching - but according to the pattern Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics drilled into, you actually did.

Thurston determined that this was the moment that you and your friend Mark actually did stop watching: Raw’s viewership drop outpaced the wider decline of TV trends, and the flagship programme informed the worst WrestleMania season ratings drop-off since 1996.

Indirectly, this might have ultimately created the demand for an alternative, allowing AEW to enter the marketplace. AEW doesn’t exist if WWE fans are happy - and they were at their least happy in January 2015.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!