Just over a week ago, World Wrestling Entertainment hosted their biggest event of the year, WrestleMania 40. As Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson puts it, professional wrestling is “cool” again. But what does that exactly mean?
Social media has given a chance for professional wrestling to reach new audiences and capitalize on its current state. Many professional sports organizations utilized TikTok during the buildup to WrestleMania with a trend targeting WWE superstar Roman Reigns. Even Barstool Sports, Farming Simulator and Universities in England jumped in on it too.
In a changing entertainment landscape, professional wrestling has kept its audience hooked on weekly episodic programs. That said, it can easily become stale or repetitive.
Wrestling across the U.S. catered their matches towards college students in the 90s, a period in which it became mainstream, that saw them experience a surge in popularity and ratings. But as mentioned, it can become stale.
As the programming shifted over time, this drove the older fans towards alternative promotions that offered what they sought. Does pro wrestling still appeal to college students?
According to a study by Wrestlenomics, approximately 52% of households with a head of household tuning into the two largest weekly professional wrestling shows in 2023 had completed between one to four years of college education.
It’s important to note the focus on understanding and engaging with the current state of college students. There’s a unique opportunity to revitalize interest in pro wrestling among this demographic.
The WWE has started with help from their program titled Next in Line. This program came into the limelight when college athletes could profit from their name, image and likeness. Its intent is to provide a clear pathway for collegiate athletes to the WWE, by providing resources such as building their brands and acquiring media training. Signing collegiate athletes is a way they seem to go and bring more eyes onto the product. But that isn’t the only change they have started.
The product has changed in a way that has, once again, begun to bring in more viewership. Changing its approaches with matches, storylines and giving it a more sports-based presentation to the product. The company is doing numbers, with all their weekly shows breaking attendance records over WrestleMania week.
As someone who lost interest in the product over time, international crowds are the best thing that WWE has going for them in this recent success.
From the rowdy crowds in London and Puerto Rico to running a stadium show in Australia, the demand is there. The WWE is doing an incredible overseas and has no plans to stop with PLEs in France, Scotland and Germany later this year.
Over the years, many people will lose interest in a company. That is the thing about pro wrestling is it goes through periods of growth and decline. Many people disliked the direction during Vince McMahon’s final run, leading many to believe WWE was declining back in 2019.
That’s the great thing about the current state that pro wrestling is in. Some would say a boom period where the formation of All Elite Wrestling has given fans a wrestling promotion on a major tv network and been a stable competitor for the WWE since premiering in 2019.
In its small tenure, AEW signed some of this year’s most prominent free agents to work with other promotions. They also ran Wembley Stadium for a pay-per-view last August, selling the most tickets ever for a pro wrestling event.
It really isn’t the competition that is the focus. Seeing a different company besides WWE being able to draw an attendance of over 70,000 shows the passion the fans possess. Whether its stadium shows, companies working with other promotions or chaotic weekly episodic television, the landscape of pro wrestling has come a long way thanks to the fans.
What is often overlooked is the parallels between wrestling and other forms of entertainment. Take superhero movies as an example. We enjoy watching these characters with extraordinary abilities, offering viewers a temporary escape from the constraints of reality.
There are moments where we also enjoy hearing what the bad guy has to say, just as wrestling fans enjoy seeing their favorite wrestlers portray the bad guy, referenced in wrestling as a “heel.”
Fans immerse themselves in the drama unfolding in the ring. They know matches are booked, yet want to see the best potential result. This is why fans voice their frustrations with the ones producing the matches or stories.
The fan’s passion has kept wrestling alive, but we are beginning to see things take off once more for pro wrestling. WrestleMania 40 just became Peacock’s most streamed entertainment event of all time, and WWE looks into the possibilities of working with other companies.
The recent success only encourages other promotions to stay competitive and find ways to keep the pro wrestling industry in the mainstream media news cycle. Whether you watch one company or multiple, it’s one of the best times to tune in as a fan. Pro wrestling is having a resurgence period, capitalizing off media consumption and reaching different target audiences and looks to continue throughout the year.
CE – AM