WWE is the leading wrestling promotion in the world. In the past few decades, it has grown into a billion-dollar company, all thanks to the love and support of its audience. That said, a few years ago, the company saw its darkest days when the Covid outbreak spread across the globe in 2020.
It forced people all over the world to stay inside their homes. The world was on lockdown. This resulted in the profits dwindling, as WWE couldn’t sell tickets for its shows. The majority of its revenue is generated by its weekly and monthly events. Despite all the difficulties, the company garnered tremendous success, John Cena reveals how.
John Cena states WWE provided fans an escape from the troublesome reality
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Imagine someone snatching away your freedom from you. That’s what the pandemic did to people around the world. During those tough times, indulging in entertainment through electronic devices was one of the very few solutions to avoid getting depressed, disheartened, and disappointed.
WWE capitalized on this and gave the WWE Universe a medium to escape from the cruel reality, thought for only a few hours a day. “We never went off the air. When people needed programming when people needed an escape, WWE is a fantastic escape, ” Cena said in the 200th episode of WWE After the Bell, hosted by Corey Graves.
He added, “When they needed some sort of whimsy in their life when they needed a storyline something… yell or maybe throw or shoe at the TV or something, we were there and we always are there.” People needed something to distract themselves with and WWE gave them that, despite all the challenges. It was an arduous task but WWE pulled it off brilliantly.
How did WWE capitalize during COVID-19?
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Because of COVID and lockdown, WWE struggled to broadcast its shows at first. But then they made the most of the available situation. Wrestlers feed off the energy from the crowd, but that was not possible during lockdown. Therefore, a strong narrative element predominantly characterized the matches of that period.
The participants would vocalize their thoughts related to the storyline and engage in excessive trash talk amongst themselves. WWE also filmed its shows in advance and they edited the footage to add special effects which added more value and depth to the different storylines. The fans loved all the unique elements.
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What do you think about Cena’s comment on WWE achieving great success even during the pandemic? Tell us your thoughts in the comments box.
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