WWE To Have Sports-Themed Shows & Multi-Brand World Cup?

WWE considering even more crazy ideas as they look to stop the ratings rot.

Jun 18, 2021 June 18th, 2021

In a follow-up to today’s earlier reports of WWE looking to use more themed shows in order to boost ratings and ticket sales, Fightful Select adds that several sports-based ideas are also on the table.

The initial chatter on this was that WWE is currently weighing up revisiting concepts like Raw Roulette, the King of the Ring tournament and the Cyber Sunday/Taboo Tuesday model later in the year and through to 2022.

Now, Fightful is reporting that FOX and USA/NBCU are playing big parts in the push for more themed episodes of Raw and SmackDown – including several pitches being made based around NBC Sports.

Those pitches have suggested NASCAR-driven events to tie in with major races, with drivers and cars being incorporated into WWE programming. Similarly, a pitch has been made for an NFL Night to coincide with the launch of Sunday Night Football, featuring NFL-themed matches and stories, and the use of NFL players and commentators.

That’s still not it, though, for another idea is for a Wrestling World Cup that would feature all WWE brands. Points would be attributed to each brand based on wins, signature moves and other variables. Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time a World Cup format of sorts has been utilised in professional wrestling, but it would be the first time that WWE has fully embraced such a concept - having held a World Cup in name alone at 2018's Crown Jewel special.

Whether any of these pitches come to fruition and make it to WWE TV remains to be seen, although WWE is clearly trying to think of something, anything to improve ratings and push ticket sales ahead of returning to the road next month.

Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.

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