When UFC started out it wasn’t allowed on pay-per-view, and porn was! Dana White cleaned up the image of the company and has made it the most spoken about combat sport in the world today.
Compare this to WWE. One of the most popular forms of entertainment in the ‘90s now has a declining viewership and often cannot fill up arenas, sometimes even for pay-per-views. Live event attendance is also at an all-time low these days. What are the things that UFC does right, that WWE does not?
#5 Connecting with an adult fanbase
In 2008, WWE decided to enter a new phase of programming, known as the PG era. Gone were the bloody, sexually charged programs that characterised the late 90s-early & mid-2000s. This was a safer, more family oriented era, much in the vein of WWE programming in the late 80s to the early 90s.
At present with 'faces of the company', such as John Cena and Roman Reigns, WWE is looking to capture the younger demographic and sell the experience as family entertainment. The same audience buys merchandise like belts and action figures, earning Vince McMahon a whole lot of revenue indeed.
The older audience, now disillusioned with the current sports entertainment product, finds what they’re looking for inside the Octagon. Passion, intensity and more often than not, bloodshed. These were the elements that drew many to WWE in the first place, and they find the watered down product cheesy and trite.
Some PG segments have been described as being insulting to one's intelligence. UFC caters to adults, and hence, they are ever growing.
#4 Creating new stars
No, WWE creating The Shield is not a valid argument against this. Roman Reigns gets more negative reactions than positive, Seth Rollins feels completely watered down as a babyface and Dean Ambrose too did not fare well as Champion.
Compare this to UFC, which is constantly looking to innovate and create new stars to carry the brand to great heights.
Because of the hype around Ronda Rousey and UFC 207, people were invested in a new champion, Cody Garbrandt. As he was booked against a WWE legend in CM Punk, Mickey Gall has become a household name right now.
Amanda Nunes, by association, has also become a recognised household name among the casual fans.
#3 Selling the 'real sport' aspect
WWE performers work day and night to risk life and limb and put on a show for fans. Sadly, the stigma of it being 'fake’ is something it carries on its back, ever since it came out of the closet, so to speak.
While WWE talent can leave the audience suspended in disbelief through the duration of a fight, somewhere deep down, every fan is aware that it is scripted entertainment.
On the contrary, the audience is aware that every blow is hurting the opponent inside the dreaded Octagon. UFC provides combat-sport fans with a real life experience of seeing two fighters with different stories (and maybe even different fighting styles) slug it out to be the winner.
#2 Not over exposing talent
At most, UFC fighters enter the Octagon only a few times every year, and therefore there's a sense of anticipation about their appearances. On the other hand, we see WWE performers practically every week on television, in addition to house shows and pay-per-views.
You know how the old saying goes, ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’. Little wonder then that part-time performers sell the most tickets for WWE. Thankfully, WWE has cut down TV appearances in half with the brand split.
Let's hope if Ronda Rousey signs, she's not on television every week.
#1 Unscripted promos
In today’s highly corporate WWE environment, wrestlers are often seen fumbling and fudging their lines. This is because they’re given scripts to memorise and then repeat. Hence, when we hear them talk at ringside, there's no feeling of authenticity and moreover, there’s hardly any element of drama to keep us hooked.
The reason for the success of Talking Smack is that it seems unscripted and it doesn’t feel like your usual WWE promo.
Compare this scenario to pre and post fight conferences in UFC. Each fighter speaks from the heart about their gameplan, their strategy before the fight, and their feeling of elation at winning or their sense of dismay at losing.
These are the thoughts of your favourite UFC fighter and not a writer who's being paid to write his lines by Vince McMahon. In a way, much like the fights, the promos too are more ‘real’.
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