The Current Success Of WWE - your overall thoughts?

This.

Wrestling is hot within wrestling. And within wrestling, WWE is the hottest it's been in a long time. The Bloodline 2022-23 brought in a ton of people, and then they managed to keep enough of that momentum going that it led to 'Mania this year.

Adding The Rock in, as much as I hate to say it, put a LOT more eyes on the product, and the way that the ish around Royal Rumble energized the fanbase was epic.

But.That's just it.

It's the FANBASE.

You don't see people walking around walmart on a daily basis wearing wrestling shirts because they're cool. Hell, outside of wrestling events, you rarely see them at all. I think the last time I saw another person out and about in my town with one was one random guy wearing a CM Punk "Best in the World" shirt right after he showed up in AEW. That should tell you how common they are in the wild these days.

Wrestling, as a fanbase, is larger than it's been in a very long time. But people who don't watch wrestling still don't care or know thing one about wrestling. It doesn't have the pervasive cultural awareness that it did in the attitude era and it certainly hasn't reached the level of Hulkamania.

So really, Wrestling IS hot right now. Within wrestling.
But saying it's the hottest it's ever been like I've seen some people say is crazy. They haven't come close to Hulkamania and they never will. Get back to me when Cody Rhodes has his own kids show that isn't only available on the WWE Network.

Sports and wrestling traditionally go hand in hand. You see videos all the time of sports stars copping wrestling taglines and mannerisms. Testosterone bros, really.

I had friends who aren't wrestling fans tuning into Mania. That was a surprise. But they're also more open to any excuse to get together now that we all have kids.

Also in 1998 at school I would still be called gay slurs if I wore a wrestling shirt. They loved doing the D-X crotch chops but didn't care it was from wrestling.

Ah yes, I was in grade 6/7 so wildly different age groups. Plus rural Nova Scotia.

Those are all good points that I'm in agreement with.

I'd definitely have Cody front and center. He can easily have a year-plus long reign with pretty much anyone on the roster. I'd elevate a lot of the mid-carders you mentioned by having main-event programs with him. Currently Styles, next I'd have him extend face challenges to Zayn and Owens who were in his corner in the WM39 build. The big program I want to see from Cody is with Orton. Cody will be amazing as a heel champion when he turns. Being better than his dad would be great heel move and I'm not sure if it's really been done before.

Priest as WHC was a huge mistake and shows you the company is not making all the best decisions. I'd have Priest and Finn feud and have Finn take it off him pretty quick. Finn is a credible champion, never lost the Universal title, can be a huge merch seller and money maker for the company. The kids love him, the adults love him, the women love him. He's money all around, great worker, is decent on the mic, has an amazing look and mystique. It's a shame his fluke injury held him back by Vince for so long, but he's probably in better shape than anyone on the roster.

I'd have Finn take the WHC off Priest, and eventually have Gunther take it off Finn.

The women's roster is so stacked right now even with Rhea and Charlotte gone. Can easily run tons of programs with Bianca, Becky, Bayley, Naomi, Tiffany, Asuka, Liv, etc.

I don't care for this "new" Bloodline. It scream desperate and will overstay it's welcome. This will be the thing the fans will turn on the quickest. The biggest draw there is Heyman.

There's lots on the horizon with Punk and McIntyre, Punk and Seth once they're both back.

They'd utilize Rey more if they were smart, instead of mixing him in with jobbers.

It's gonna be hard but I hope they maintain the success...no Rock,Reigns, Seth, Becky, Brock, Rhea, Punk is on & off, Gunther back tonight... a lot of top stars gone but at least other talent can potentially shine now.

I'm pleased with alot of what I've seen over the past couple of years but there's still some things I'd love some improvement on.

The PLEs usually deliver with great matches and overall good shows. TV wise, still kinda boring but there's more good to the TV shows. I still feel like Raw and Smackdown are just giant infomercials for WWE.

Storytelling seems sharper and with more cohesive storylines. Lots of callbacks. Better use of certain talent while others not so much.

One thing that stands out is how great it feels to hear certain words on WWE TV, like wrestling. Just goes to show how much effect Vince had on the product and fans. He deserves every ounce of backlash that he's gotten over the years. Hopefully this new regime can repair some of the damage done to fans over the years but time will tell.

Globally, WWE is bigger than ever. US wise, I don't think they're anywhere as popular or important as the attitude era was no matter what the say.

Attitude era will forever be goated.

I think the WWE is definitely doing better today than they have in a long time, maybe since the height of the ruthless aggression era. But I'm always skeptical about the records they keep mentioning. Most of the time they mention highest revenue instead of profits. Of course, they are getting higher revenue now than they did in the early 2000s or before, tickets cost a lot more. If you sold 70,000 tickets in the 80s at 20 bucks a piece (on average) and you sell 60,000 tickets now at 40 bucks a piece (on average - being generous), then of course you are bringing in more revenue, but that doesn't mean you are making more profits. The stadiums to rent cost a lot more than they did back then - among other things - which would cut into their profits, which is why they always say revenue. Same thing with 172,000+ tickets sold over the weekend (for WM40), of course they sold more tickets for an event than ever before, up until recently (covid years, correct?) they never had 2 nights of WrestleMania's. Imagine if WM3 was over 2 nights (number of tickets sold range from 78,000 to 93,000), their number of tickets sold would have been higher, too. Same with the attitude era. Not to mention, a lot of what generates some of their biggest revenue & profits currently is the TV contracts and their network library. They made 1 billion from Peacock for access to their media library - that doesn't just include the current product. I would like to know how much they are making from just today's product (house shows, PLE's, merchandise - not including legends deals, etc.) compared to previous eras, adjusted for inflation. That would be interesting to see.