WWE: A Look At the Business of the McMahons.

WWE, also known as the World Wrestling Entertainment is the greatest wrestling show of all time. It has always been the dream show for the people of our generation. It was earlier known as the WWF (world wrestling federation).

We have always fantasized about the performers of the WWE and thought of their lavish lifestyles. So let us jump into the fact of how this magical aura was created and the factors which played a lead role in making WWE this big and ‘pioneer’ in the world of wrestling entertainment.

The WWE company has created many ways for its revenue share profits which can be seen below: -

1) The WWE show tickets were a major source of their income as the fans loved to feel the great adrenaline rush while watching the extensive fights in front of them rather than on the television.

2) The television network was another great source as it connected the fans worldwide. Lager the number of viewers, the larger the earnings for them.

3) WWE has always had a great fanbase and due to this, the merchandise was often the top priority for all the fans around the world. People not only buy t-shirts of their favorite players but also loved to be owning the famous belts.

4) Another way of earning was the subscription to the WWE network by which the people were aware of the day-to-day activity of these performers and their lives from time to time.

5) Sponsorships also brought a lot of money to this show. Companies that are a part of this are Ford motors, General Motors, DreamWorks, Paramount, Disney, Colgate, etc.

6) Our generation is very fond of video games and must have surely heard of the WWE video games that also were a great source, these games are known as the WWE 2k series which was launched on many platforms.

7) WWE also has a channel on YouTube that also provided the money from the ads played on their videos.

These were the major points from which they had a great income initially but the major point through which WWE has gained a lot of money is the pay-per-view method. This method has been working for WWE for decades and is still going on. In 2013 revenue from the Wrestle Mania 29 event earned them a total of $72 million which was the greatest of all time.

Since we all know every rising sun once has to set, here comes the decline of WWE in today’s time. It has always been the top show and ruled the wrestling community but now it has come to fall due to several reasons.

· Fake illusion: Earlier the show was not much scripted, and the performers used to add up more spices by having mutual consent between them but now they only follow the scripts and act it in such a way that it becomes obvious that it was scripted.

· Losing their ‘GOAT’ performers: WWE has created many great superstars but was not able to retain them with the legacy they created and lost many of them like The Undertaker who was the king of many hearts and people can never forget him. People loved to see John Cena, they loved CM Punk. HBK and Triple H were heart-throbs.

· Poaching of the players and evolution of other wrestling brands: In this competitive world everyone has a competitor and the same was for WWE, many brands like AEW (all elite wrestling), and TNT took a great place in the competition to them. These brands not only gave great fights to them but also took many of the superstars who had a great place in WWE like Daniel Brayan, CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Gold Dust, Chris Jericho, etc.

· Impact of Covid: When the times were normal fans used to purchase tickets to be watching their favorite superstars perform, but the lockdown changed everything. WWE had a great loss as their crowd vanished all of a sudden, they were left with no one to cheer and add to the tempo of the show. They introduced virtual tickets for their viewers on screen but it did not work much for them.

These were some of the major areas that affected the craze for WWE and set them for a drastic decline in every aspect. But we all know that the king remains the king and cannot be affected for a long time, no matter how many competitors stands but the madness for this show will never die from the heart of people. I hope so they will work on their lacking points and will come back harder than before to rock the platform in the same way they did earlier.

Credits: Saad Ahmad — Team E-Cell ABV-IIITM Gwalior