The WrestleMania Paradox
'The Showcase of the Immortals' is Big. Or Is It Too Big?
As I write this, I’m two days removed from the quote unquote, “biggest WrestleMania of all time” that emanated from Las Vegas this past Easter Weekend. WWE pulled in money hand over fist between ticketed events, merchandise, advertising, activations, and more. The whole shebang was massive. And while this article COULD be about the results and storylines of the weekend (TLDR: It’s polarizing), it’s the WrestleMania brand itself that is on my mind. As WWE gets more notoriety by setting up shop in exotic locales across the globe and handling the influx of celebrity involvement, how can WrestleMania stay on top as WWE’s tentpole event?
Nearly 300 wrestlers on the WWE roster crisscrossed the city (and some national outlets) in order to promote the ‘Grandest Stage of them All.’ And rightfully so, WrestleMania is the largest show on the professional wrestling calendar. Wherever WrestleMania goes, dozens of smaller wrestling promotions set up shop in satellite venues to scoop up some of the foot traffic. The weekend typically gets compared to the Super Bowl, but ‘Mania is the Super Bowl mixed with San Diego Comic-Con fanaticism sprinkled with Formula 1’s skill in making the host city a character of the proceedings. It’s also becoming prohibitively expensive, but I had mentioned that already.
Back in the days when wrestling was a traveling circus of matches operating out of civic centers and basketball arenas, it was very clear what you got from WrestleMania from a presentation level. Also, if you were into the storylines of wrestling, Mania was your “season finale.” Wrasslin’ had no offseason, but if you bought a ticket to the Early April Classic, you knew you would see long-term storylines reach their respective conclusions. It was part of the deal.
Well, the deal just got changed. If you have been checking out the business side of the WWE, you’d be floored with how its evolved from 25 years ago. Cities are now soliciting site fees (i.e. paying for WWE to come to their towns) for big shows. First, it was Saudi Arabia, which had originally paid for 10 wrestling events for a cool half-BILLION in 2018. Then it was the moving some of the lesser Premium Live Events, their special attraction shows, out of North America. Over the years we’ve seen crowds and shows in Germany, Australia, Wales, and France. And the crowds were just as excited to be at a “Backlash: France” as WrestleMania. Don’t believe me? Check out this clip:
The scale of WrestleMania used to be something that set that brand apart. Now, there are shows that rival the scale without coming at the premium that the WrestleMania template typically asks for. Don’t believe me, here’s a picture I took at WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles from the cheap seats:
And here’s a photo from the year after at the “less marquee” event, Elimination Chamber in Perth, Australia.
The WrestleMania ticket set me back $550 for the nosebleeds. Elimination Chamber in Perth? $50 for the same vantage point. Crikey.
And so, since more tickets are being sold and more locales are being visited, there’s a pressure to bring peak story climaxes and resolutions to some of these other events as well. The sense of finality of WrestleMania is evaporating, as the very nature of stories has changed in professional wrestling. It was always ongoing, but now? Stories are branching and layering instead of layering. Or to use an analogy, it’s less soap opera and more anime.
So I ask, would this end up being a problem for WWE? The Super Bowl is a big deal because it’s a Football Championship Game mixed with a Beyonce concert if you’re lucky. But if 12-15 Super Bowls were happening a year and Bad Bunny is going to be playing for a team on one of them, would that become the top event of the year?
What’s going to be Mania’s “secret sauce?” Is it all the side events like after parties, Hall of Fame inductions, and “The Roast of WrestleMania?” History can only get you so far. Can you get any bigger? Can there be wrasslin’ in outer space? What about underwater in downtown Atlantis? I need to know!
Professional wrestling being this popular is so odd to me. Nowadays I feel a bit sheepish when I walk into a show. It used to feel like you were hanging out with a secret society when you went to a WWE show, (especially during unpopular times). Now it feels like when you gather people around to tell an amazing story but everyone cuts you off because they’ve heard the story already. Not to seem like a gatekeeper, but there was a bit of “fun” in trying to find out if somebody you just met was a wrestling fan. You’d drop hints like a spy hoping the other person would pick up what you’re putting down.
I wouldn’t change my fandom for the world, but I do like some of the more intimate venues that wrestling would use. Not only you have a chance to get close to some of the talent, but when a big thing like WrestleMania came around it felt a bit “earned.” A visual treat, if you will.
But congrats to WrestleMania. The name itself sells tickets, I had a great time with this year’s edition, and I would return (budget permitting). I hope the biggest show in sports entertainment doesn’t become “too” big in an effort to be a more unique option. We saw that with the Australian NRL Vegas this year as well.
But all that aside, can the buildings get any bigger? Can there be more surfaces that can be sold as ad space? Do you think Beyoncé would do the halftime show?