It’s undeniable that wrestling is as hot as it has been in decades. Coming off the Attitude and Ruthless Aggression eras, WWE struggled to find a footing. And when those young fans became adults, WWE began focusing on making a “PG” product to generate more money.
It worked, somewhat, but by the mid-2010s people expressed frustration with the product. The domino effect led to AEW’s creation and while they soared, WWE lost a lot of goodwill from fans.
The Paul Levesque Era of WWe
Vince McMahon’s ongoing sex trafficking scandal certainly didn’t help. When he was ousted, Paul “Triple H” Levesque was put in charge of the day-to-day creative. WrestleMania 40 was the first PLE of the “Paul Levesque Era” as Stephanie McMahon so passionately coined it. Now approaching a year under Levesque’s lead, the CCO believes WWE is hotter now than the Attitude Era.
“We’re sort of in this resurgence of WWE. I was obviously a huge part of the Attitude Era, but right now it’s bigger than it’s ever been,” Levesque told the Roommates Show. “I think it’s bigger than the Attitude Era was even then. It’s amazing the amount of people on a weekly basis that we get to do cool stuff with.”
This is a bold statement. Like, incredibly. And yet … he’s not entirely wrong? An advantage they have now versus then is their streaming deals. WWE’s entire library is streamable on Peacock domestically alongside their PLEs. Things will change in January when they usher in the Netflix era for WWE Raw. That deal is $5 billion over 10 years.
WWE’s Chart-Topping 2024
WWE is breaking records with attendance at every show and selling out of merch faster than they can print it. I won’t pretend TV ratings matter, as they’re an outdated metric. However, the fans are putting their money where their mouth is. WWE can afford to dump all the money in the world into advertising. Building wrestlers like Cody Rhodes, Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley, Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins, and Bayley as must-see stars is key.
Fans remember the Attitude Era mostly for its nostalgia. This WWE renaissance has the longevity they didn’t have back then. Now they are investing in young stars with the help of the NXT brand and the WWE ID program. They’ve had success in this area recently with Tiffany Stratton, Bron Breakker, Lyra Valkyria, and Ilja Dragunov.
They’ve always been pretty in tune with pop culture. Over the last few years, Grammy-winner Bad Bunny stepped into a ring. He left a crazy mark on WWE, becoming one of the best celebrities to step between the ropes. The ever-controversial Logan Paul has a WWE contract and he’s huge with podcast bros (barf). Jelly Roll, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Patrick Mahomes, and Jalen Brunson also appeared on WWE TV this year.
Levesque addresses celebrities later in the interview, noting that many want to appear at WrestleMania 41. “I have a celebrity list a mile long for people that want to do something for WrestleMania in Vegas. We just don’t have the real estate to do it with them, so we’ll pick the biggest ones.”
To a degree, I don’t believe WWE will eclipse the grasp they had on the pop culture zeitgeist in the late 90s and early 2000s. They can get pretty close, though.
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The post Triple H Thinks WWE Is Hotter Now Than in the Attitude Era. Is He Right? appeared first on VICE.
