WWE Lost Over 50,000 Facebook Followers After Super ShowDown

It's arguable that WWE's Saudi Arabia pay-per-view events are controversial anyway without the insertion of infuriating booking decisions. But, the agreement between the wrestling powerhouse and the Saudis is here to stay for several more years despite fan and political outcry. Of course, some good has come from the WWE Saudi Arabia events such as the first ever women's match to take part in Saudi Arabia between Natalya and Lacey Evans but in general, fans have been displeased by the events.

This years first Saudi Arabian pay-per-view, Super ShowDown, proved not only to be no exception but also a standout example of poor booking decisions that continue to plague WWE. The most notable of these decisions included The Undertaker squashing AJ Styles with one move and the decision to have Goldberg dethrone "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt in a match that lasted a matter of minutes.

The outcry from fans after Goldberg was allowed to once again obtain a major WWE championship despite being in the twilight years of his career is the latest creative decision in a string of events that clearly favour old school talent over modern stars. With shades of Goldberg's victory over Kevin Owens for the WWE Universal Championship in 2017, Goldberg easily powered through "The Fiend" despite Bray Wyatt being built up as an unstoppable mystical force of nature for the past year almost.

The rage from WWE fans was reflected clearly on their social media follower count as WWE's Facebook likes went into free fall following the announcement of Goldberg's victory. According to Social Blade, WWE lost 57,469 Facebook followers within 24 hours of announcing Goldberg's victory, their biggest follower plummet since August 2018. The huge dip in support was reflected in their monthly stats, which for the first time since 2018 saw WWE's net follower count decline over the course of a whole month.

At the time of writing, WWE has still not recovered their lost followers, having gained only 30,500 followers since the huge decline. Other troubling social media stats for WWE from February also reveal that their 'talking about' stats on Facebook bombed by 105,000 over the course of just two days. One of the less extreme occurrences also saw WWE's lowest follower gain on Twitter for the week, gaining just 1,077 followers as a result of Super ShowDown, compared to most other days which gained over 2,000.

The importance of social media in the modern world in every aspect of our lives cannot be understated, especially from the perspective of a huge corporation like WWE. Considering WWE have under 40 million Facebook followers, 50,000 is retrospectively a small dent. But, it does reflect the growing frustration among fans and Facebook's algorithms are sure to pick up on WWE's follower dent.