Does WWE Even Like Wrestling?
Back in 2021, I wrote an article titled “Triple H will NOT save WWE”. The article argued that despite having a fresh face behind creative in the form of Triple H, the business tactics that WWE historically relied on would still make on the screen product suffer. These business tactics included an ongoing relationship with Saudi Arabia, “The Saudi Arabia deals…despite plaguing the dub’s reputation in the mainstream…made WWE $250 million from 2018-2020.”, an arduous ad-filled third hour of Raw, “The third hour of RAW, despite being the lowest viewed hour most nights, still brings in more money for WWE than if USA were to put on an episode of Chrisley Knows Best at 10pm.”, and an increased reliance on part timers “Part timers are an evil necessity that are able to pop a rating when needed in order to appease USA and FOX.”
Given that in the big 2026, ring mats are being plastered with “Dude Wipes”, WrestleMania is being held in Saudi Arabia, and the missing puzzle piece of WrestleMania 42 was 54-year-old the Rock; that article has more than earned an evergreen status.
However, can you blame WWE for these decisions? There is simply no monetary incentive for the decision makers to reject these deals. Across all three quarters of 2026, WWE is up in overall revenue as it posted $399.3 million in total Q3 revenue. That number is only expected to increase in Q4 with the Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia netting WWE an extra $55 million according to Dave Meltzer. On top of that, their stars are echoing WWE’s name throughout Hollywood as Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns have featured roles in the new Street Fighter movie. Even Danhausen broke through the mainstream and made sure WWE’s name was heard when the Knicks won the NBA Championship. Looking ahead, the next generation of talent has never been clearer cut with the likes of Oba Femi, Sol Ruca, Je’von Evans and personal favorite Jacy Jayne.
Despite this, the week-to-week television cannot help but feel soulless. Typically, Monday Night RAW runs about 2.5 hours with only a little over an hour of actual in ring time. Backstage segments, promos, and entrances are all hallmarks of wrestling television that pad out that extra runtime, however advertisements have become increasingly more apparent on screen. It is not uncommon for a Chad Gable entrance to be followed by a commercial break, a WWE shop advertisement, an unrelated backstage segment, another advertisement for their next town, only to finally get back to the IC title picture. This issue is compounded on PLEs where the American viewer is paying a premium just to be served a product that advertises Slim Jim on the obligatory table spot. Unfortunately, this structure to a wrestling show has seemingly conditioned the fanbase to react a certain way. Over the course of the past two years, the in person American crowds have only come alive during promo segments and entrances. They sing along to the entrance themes, echo the catchphrases, and come alive for the final sequence in a match, but are sitting on their hands otherwise. Penta and Chad Gable have been lighting up the IC title scene for what seems like years at this point, but the viewer could not tell by the crowd reactions alone. The average viewer only knew Penta Pre-Roman because of the unique pyro in his entrance and that is a shame as he carried Lucha Underground and LAX in his prime. Midcard and young talent are left to die a silent death when they try telling stories through their matches.
Roman Reigns is undeniably a massive star, however in line with how the top brass at TKO views him, he carries himself as being bigger than any on screen storyline. Listening to Roman in interviews where he speaks of the relationship with “The General Insurance” as “a great idea and a perfect collaboration”, it highlights how much WWE has centered around maximizing profit. WWE has always been money driven as any business is, however so much of the product is being stripped away to its bare bones that wrestling has no longer become the product of interest.
The product being sold has officially become the fans themselves.
Pre-TKO WWE had numerous flaws that made the product unwatchable at times and the backstage atmosphere was undoubtedly more toxic, however on screen it still felt like something was being done to grab the attention of the audience. Whether it was naming a PPV “Great Balls of Fire”, advertising a match as “Eye for an Eye”, or even taking a punt with a fresh character in “The Fiend”, WWE craved our watch time. In the age of streaming deals and short form TikToks, the emphasis is on singular moments and advertisements instead of keeping the fan watching. This has led to awkward moments such as Je’von Evans taking centuries to set up a contrived ambulance spot in the middle of the MITB ladder match or Pat McAfee infuriatingly inserting himself into WrestleMania with involvement in the storyline prior. These moments are simply done to gain social media clicks in the moments following but have zero following up for the engaged viewer who bears the brunt of all two and half hours of weekly television.
Following the path of money over matter, the release of talent who have a love of the game such as the New Day, Ilja Dragunov, and Sheamus have severely hurt the cohesion of the WWE roster. The way a wrestler carries themselves down the ramp, in between spots, and in backstage segments goes a long way in how they come across to the viewer at home. The golden rule as a wrestler is to play to the nosebleeds not the front row. This is something that would be taught by veteran talent such as the New Day and Sheamus in the normal midcard storylines as part of the natural process of soaking up knowledge. However, WWE’s increased reliance on the ID program, which is favorable to their bottom line as veteran talent require higher salaries year over year, has led to cracks in this flow of knowledge. While there are still veterans giving advice backstage like AJ Styles, CM Punk, and Bayley, there are only so many of them to go around. Talent like Oba Femi, Jacy Jayne, and Lyra Valkyria have undoubtedly been coached to perfection as they know exactly who the hell they are on the mic and during those small quiet moments, but others like Je’von Evans, Sol Ruca, and Jade Cargill still have ways to go. As long as WWE emphasizes their 30sec max social media moments, there is no incentive for the talent to fully flesh out their characters to truly engage the audience.
One of the more infuriating side effects of this profit driven motive, is the lack of willingness for creative risks. The lack of hype behind stars like Jacob Fatu, LA Knight, Jordynne Grace, and Iyo Sky is mind boggling when looking at the fan support, they had behind them. However, it is simply too safe of an option to choose a single star like Oba Femi or Liv Morgan and ride their storyline to WrestleMania where they are crowned, and the cycle can start again from there. There’s a chance we will never see a shock win like Paige winning the Divas championship on the Raw after Mania or Sheamus winning the WWE Championship from John Cena 6 months into his WWE tenure because it risks disrupting the status quo. Roman Reigns is incredibly safe as a figurehead for the company therefore, he will have a championship around his waist nine times out of ten.
There is an argument for protecting your top stars, but the clock is ticking on their professional careers and there are only a handful of talents that feel on the level of Roman, Cody and Punk. With AJ Styles and Bobby Roode shaking up the backstage scene, there is hope that the action in between the ropes can be freshened up and quality controlled. However, the lack of big creative swings and the increased presence of advertisements on screen will be here to stay for at the very least another half decade.
