By Zach Babajanof-Rustrian | Sports Writer
Professional wrestling has seemed to be a taboo word to say in front of people for a couple of years. However, in recent months, professional wrestling, such as World Wrestling Entertainment, has regained its popularity, with people saying wrestling is cool again.
With former wrestlers-turned-actors such as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and John Cena coming back and having feuds with current wrestlers, it seems like viewership has gone up for the WWE. But everyone always says, “You know it’s fake, right?”
To them I say, I know. It’s because it’s entertaining. It’s for the storylines that people tune in for every week. Just like a TV show or a movie, people watch for the entertainment aspect.
This past weekend, WWE put on its biggest show of the year with WrestleMania 40. Even my friends and family — who have never watched wrestling — knew to tune in and see what was happening, as they heard The Rock was back in the ring. Throughout the two-day event, I constantly got text messages from them saying how good the event was and how invested they are in it now.
Everyone knows professional wrestling is fake, but because of the storylines, my family and friends were watching and excited to see what happened next. Just like a Marvel or D.C. movie, it’s for the action. It’s for what the characters are trying to achieve and trying to tell through their story.
On April 3, 2023, WWE and UFC announced they were merging to form a $21 billion global live sports and entertainment company with Endeavor. On Sept. 12, 2023, Endeavor announced it would launch the TKO Group Holdings for both WWE’s and UFC’s stock.
With the merging and creation of the TKO Group Holdings, WWE signed a deal with Netflix on Jan. 23 to become the exclusive home of one of WWE’s weekly shows, Monday Night Raw, starting January 2025.
With the kind of moves WWE has been making, it has been becoming more popular. For the last 14 consecutive weekly shows, WWE has been sold out because people want to see what The Rock has to say.
Also on Jan. 23, The Rock signed on to the TKO Group board of directors, getting more involved with WWE and UFC. It was because of this signing that The Rock came back and had a run in the WWE from January to April, with it ultimately coming to an end at WrestleMania 40.
In addition to these series of events, WWE has been going international. In the next couple of months, all of the Premium Live Events it is putting on will be in other countries such as Scotland, France, Germany and Saudi Arabia.
By going international, WWE is allowing the world aspect of its name to be used and seen in other countries. By not just staying in the United States, it gathers a wider audience. There were 64 countries represented in the live audience at WrestleMania 40. This shows how big WWE has been growing.
So if you’re looking for sports and entertainment that’s on TV yearly, I suggest tuning into WWE because the storylines are amazing and it’s entertaining to watch. The Rock said it on his Instagram — wrestling is cool again.
