For fans of professional wrestling, the year 2019 has been one of renewed hope for the future. In an industry that has seen its share of ups and downs since the glory days of the late 90s, the launching of a legitimate rival company to the WWE’s dominance is cause for optimism. Backed by Tony Khan, son of Jacksonville Jaguars owner Sahd Khan, All Elite Wrestling, or AEW, began its march into the public’s consciousness earlier this year, and has been making big waves ever since. Cody Rhodes, son of the legendary Dusty Rhodes, signed on as Executive Vice President, as well as a performer for the group immediately. Following that, the signing of perennial champion and industry disruptor Chris Jericho away from the WWE added some serious credibility to the company in the eyes of the more casual fan.
Subsequently, by then signing one of the WWE’s brightest new stars in Jon Moxley, AEW immediately positioned itself as a company to watch. Prior to their television debut on the TNT Network, which last hosted wrestling in the year 2000 under the WCW banner, Tony Khan and company expressed a desire to bring back a more legitimate feel to what many believe had become a bit of a circus show. Wins and losses would be counted, tracked, and factored into title opportunities in AEW. Time limits would return, and characters would be presented more realistically, shying away from the over-the-top gimmicks found in the WWE.
It is a well established trope that competition brings out the best in everyone involved when it comes to business. Conversely, it has been suggested that a lack of competition in their industry had left the WWE mired in a state of complacency. Fans had become louder in voicing their displeasure at arenas, oftentimes chanting “This is Boring” through main events, or mercilessly booing the supposed fan favorite, Roman Reigns. Despite the festering resentment from their core fan base, business has thrived overall for Vince McMahon’s empire, becoming a publicly traded company on the way to making the 74 year-old promoter a certified billionaire.
The WWE Network, an on-demand streaming video service that offers subscribers access to all current PPV events, and decades of past wrestling history, recently surpassed two million subscribers, ensuring WWE is going nowhere anytime soon. Therefore, leading up to the launch of AEW, there had been an air of indifference coming from inside WWE offices about the new kid on the block. Besides, while AEW was preparing for their premiere episode, the WWE had just signed a multi-year, multi-billion dollar deal with FOX to air WWE Friday Night Smackdown. FOX executives had some requests, though, chief among them was a more legitimate sports based presentation style, with less of the soap opera-esque shenanigans.
Upping the ante a bit more, WWE also announced it’s developmental league, NXT, would begin airing weekly episodes of their show on Wednesday Nights on the USA Network, creating a “Wednesday Night War”, as their time slot on USA would be airing in direct competition with AEW’s new flagship, AEW Dynamite on TNT. Fans responded to this news with a renewed enthusiasm for professional wrestling, and the ratings for each Wednesday Night show started off very strong. But how would the two companies continue to draw viewers? Was this the signaling of a new boom period, or just a short term, nostalgia-driven burst of energy?
Around this time, rumors began circulating online that the WWE had begun looking into creating Fantasy Sports leagues for their fans. Plenty of questions immediately arose regarding this idea. After all, how could a Fantasy League work in a genre with openly admitted predetermined outcomes? Further complicating things, over the last 20 years, the “rules” that had once been enforced in professional wrestling had largely become an afterthought. Count-outs and disqualifications had long given way to the Jerry Springer style spectacle of steel chair shots and various other “no holds barred” chicanery.
Although the WWE provided no answers to these questions, simultaneously, it seemed AEW’s President, Tony Khan, was marinating a similar idea of his own. In October of this year, in an interview with CBS Sports, Khan revealed that not only was the idea of Fantasy Wrestling being strongly considered, the logistics were being worked out already. With AEW’s focus being on a more reality based style from the company’s inception, and not as an audible called to appease network execs, they apparently were further down the path of bringing Fantasy Sports to professional wrestling, as Khan explained in the interview. As Khan explained in the interview, in addition to his work with AEW, he also serves as the Jacksonville Jaguars Senior Vice President of Football Technology and Analytics. He also owns a company that provides data to major media outlets, placing him in a unique position to sort data for professional wrestling in a way it had never been done before. In the interview, he further hypothesized how something like this might work- tracking statistics like pinfalls, finishing maneuvers, kickouts, and a litany of other micro-stats that had thus far been ignored, let alone tracked for any further examination or use.
As a lifelong fan of professional wrestling, and a bit of a novice in Fantasy sports, the idea at first didn’t seem to be more than another gimmick that would fail in the never ending search for mainstream relevance by wrestling companies. But, as I watched another plodding episode of Monday Night Raw, rife with overused cliches, endings, and storylines, I had a change of thought. Fantasy Sports and Professional Wrestling could be exactly the marriage needed to carry this industry to the next level.
Traditionally, professional wrestling’s mainstream popularity has been one of cycles. Every ten years or so, it seemed, wrestling would find itself in the midst of a boom period, propelled by a group of new stars that resonated with the audience. From Hulk Hogan in the 80s to Stone Cold and the Rock in the 90s, these “boom periods” left their mark on culture, before a variety of reasons would see the genre fade back into the realm of ostracization by other “real sports”. But what was the cause of those upswings in popularity? Well, the answer is actually pretty simple- each period of increased visibility was directly related to a change in philosophy by those in charge, or the “bookers”. More specifically, each big upswing in business occurred when wrestling companies embraced emerging technology and social trends.
For example, in the 80s, prior to the phenomenon known as “Hulkamania”, wrestling had largely been a territorial game, with small rosters of independent companies running shows in their local areas. When Vince McMahon’s WWF took a national approach, running shows all over the country, and mixing it with the newest exciting technology of the time- music videos- wrestling became all the rage. As much as it was the athletes competing in the ring that riveted fans, it was furthered by the complete transformation of how it was being presented that led to the increase in popularity. Similarly, in the 90s, another change in presentation would be the catalyst for the next big boom in business. With the WWE competing with World Championship Wrestling, or WCW, at the time, the two companies took the realism to another level, featuring increasingly edgy characters. As the internet began to permeate our day to day activities, websites reporting on rumors and the status of performer’s contracts, for example, became a larger part of the wrestling fan’s consciousness.
So when the two companies began capitalizing on and incorporating the backstage aspect of the business into the show, dollar signs followed. Specifically, the biggest feud during this time was not between two wrestlers. Instead, it was between “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and the chairman of the WWE, Vince McMahon. This new dynamic, almost “behind-the-scenes-but-still-on-TV”, was nothing like what had preceded it. This new presentation allowed the WWE to defeat WCW in the ratings war, to the point where the WWE literally bought WCW out, and shut the rival company down. Since then, as I mentioned at the beginning of this article, despite having an incredibly talented roster and no competition to stand in their way, fans have become increasingly dissatisfied with the product.
The fact is, WWE is still largely peddling in the type of content and presentation that led to it’s last big period of popularity. It’s an easy trap to fall into; if something worked once, there’s reason to believe it will work again. But, as is always the case, the world continues to turn, and culture evolves along with it. The internet, at this point, has made it almost impossible for wrestling promoters to surprise audiences; storylines are constantly being leaked online before appearing on television. These factors present the perfect storm for change- the emergence of Fantasy Sports as a widely popular means of attracting and keeping fans tuned in to the day’s events across all major sports is not one that should be, or can be, ignored much longer.
The popularity of Fantasy Sports has added a new dimension to every league, from the NHL to the NBA. The fact is, forcing the Professional Wrestling industry to again adapt to culture at large is a very good thing. It would allow bookers to change direction with the way matches are planned and presented. It would certainly reduce the amount of “fluff” around the product, as fans would have a monetary interest in the actual matches, and what happens in those matches, as opposed to tuning in and being subjected to backstage segments that only serve as filler and time wasters to most. It would also give more power to the performers, as those with the more prolific skill sets would attract attention based on their earning potential.
For example, a certain performer may not be the featured act, or main event, but his ability to win matches, execute certain maneuvers, etc. would both excite fans and ensure they stay tuned in. Furthermore, the focus on stats over storylines would force bookers to become more creative in their work, as well. The lack of consequences over match finishes has absolutely led to apathy amongst the fan base. This is actually no different than in other sports- who cares about a football game if your team is 0-12? Who cares about the first 100 or so games of a baseball season? The answer? People with money invested in specific player’s performances. If wrestling were to introduce these statistics, and book their matches with a focus on the athlete’s performance, it would surely bring back some of their lapsed fans, and most likely attract a slew of new fans, some who are Fantasy Sports players first, and fans second. While some may have laughed at the idea of Professional Wrestling Fantasy Leagues, including myself at first, the fact is tying modern technology and culture to the genre has historically been the catalyst for it’s biggest successes. There are already a few people putting together Fantasy Wrestling Leagues, although without any official statistics being tracked, it is largely an unregulated guessing game. Once the two major companies (WWE and AEW) begin tracking and making these stats available to fans, I predict a sharp increase in fan interest, and the next period of Professional Wrestling’s mainstream popularity.
What do you think? Are Fantasy Sports and Professional Wrestling a good fit? Would you get in on the action? Add your responses in the comment section below.
