This Is The Most Expensive Mistake WWE Ever Made

Camp WWE Vince Stone Cold Wife
WWE.com

Barrios' insistence on super-serving content, in addition to exhausting the consumer, saw WWE remove focus from capturing the young demographic coveted by advertisers. "Run it back, it's only B-level pay-per-view" might do for the ageing fan that was always going to watch, but the inattentive, younger TV audience was never going to tune in raptly for "Match X Part IV: our booking patterns indicate that you're probably getting a finish for this one".

The thing about WWE is that it's a very specific and niche form of entertainment that cannot, unlike its competitors in the streaming game, strike a deal with a property that will convince theoretically anybody to subscribe. There's a marked difference between the latest word-of-mouth, meme-generating real crime sensation, and Camp WWE. The story of Vince McMahon is at least equally fascinating to that of the Tiger King, but WWE isn't telling that story, and it's still wrestling: a joke to those who don't follow it, and a taboo to some that do.

The original content, germane to wrestling only in that wrestlers were in it, has vanished, and for good reason. A prank show starring your favourite wrestlers wasn't going to work because fans are primarily interested in watching wrestlers wrestle. Story Time was known, diluted shoot interview fare animated pointlessly. Ride Along was fairly entertaining, but Christ, don't these people deserve a car service?

None of this hit, and none of it stuck. The Network elsewhere was incredible value for the geekiest of consumers - your writer in particular has greatly enjoyed watching the territorial past unfold as it did without WWE's lens describing it - but, and there's a certain justice in this, because it's the first time it's happened in Christ knows how many years: it was of far more benefit to the consumer than the producer.

CONT'D...(4 of 6)

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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!