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The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many entertainment businesses to shut down, either temporarily or permanently. However, in this COVID-19 crisis, two premier pro wrestling entities have kept airing fresh content every week. One of the two pro wrestling giants is WWE as the company has managed to find a way to work around the situation.
In all these years of storytelling, WWE has seldom failed to provide us with unique stories, moments, and facts - and we love these tidbits. For instance, the fact that WrestleMania 16 (2000) had no men's singles match has always fascinated me.
In this article, we present to you 5 WWE facts that are interesting and surprising during this pandemic era of wresting in 2020.
#5 WWE skipped airing RAW a long time ago
There have been many opinions regarding WWE having an off-season. Since the outbreak of this pandemic, several people have opined that WWE should take a break under these circumstances.
Despite receiving criticism, WWE has chosen to go on with its weekly shows, and are continuing to record shows from its Performance Center.
However, the belief that WWE has never missed airing even one of its weekly shows is wrong. WWE has indeed skipped shows, a long time ago.
If you patiently scroll through the list of episodes of RAW on WWE's official website, you will find that WWE RAW did not air on March 14, August 29, and September 5, in 1994. In what doesn't sound like a mere coincidence, WCW Monday Nitro released on September 4, 1994. Clever!
While RAW did not hit the TV sets on December 25, 1995, WCW did manage to air a pre-recorded show on the holiday. As the Monday night wars intensified, WWE couldn't afford another break. Therefore, RAW has be telecast on TV every week since the Christmas break in 1995.
Interestingly, RAW on February 13, 1997 (Thursday Raw Thursday), and February 15, 2007, were telecasted on Thursday.
Also, the February 8, 1999, edition of Raw from the Skydome did not air on TV until February 13. The show got "preempted by the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show." This Saturday edition of Raw is also special because it holds the record for the highest live attendance in the weekly show's history - 41,432.
WWE has even managed to air RAW despite extreme circumstances. WWE had to cancel Raw's live show on January 26, 2015, because of a blizzard. However, the company still put together a show from its headquarters.
#4 Adam Cole's loss to Keith Lee was his first pinned loss in WWE in over a year
It's tough to keep winning streaks alive in today's WWE. Except for Asuka's incredible 914-day undefeated streak and Undertaker's legendary streak at WrestleMania, there haven't been too many impressive undefeated streaks to talk about in WWE, recently.
Therefore, it's impressive that Adam Cole did not take a pin in WWE for over a year. Before Keith Lee ended his run as NXT Champion, Adam Cole hadn't lost a singles match via pinfall since winning the title at NXT Takeover XXV. Cole only suffered two DQ losses in his run as champion.
Similar to Cole's run, Becky Lynch, who wrestled her last match at WrestleMania 36, hadn't had a loss via pinfall since losing to Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship at Money In The Bank in May, 2019.
After losing to Flair, Lynch only suffered one loss in singles matches (via disqualification). The DQ loss came against Sasha Banks at Clash of Champions 2019.
WWE certainly booked these two champions well.
#3 WWE's WrestleMania 36 broke several media records
WWE's TV ratings in the USA has seen a sharp decline in recent times. Ratings for WWE's weekly shows have consistently gone down over the last two decades.
The ratings dip has become more critical with each passing year. Recently, Raw's ratings plummeted alarmingly as the July 13th episode of Raw averaged 1.561 million viewers.
However, there's another side to this story. While WWE's TV ratings have gone down, content consumption over other mediums has hit record highs. A report by wwe.com stated:
“WWE set WrestleMania Week viewership records with more than 967 million video views across the company’s digital and social platforms including WWE Network, WWE.com, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, an increase of 20 percent year-over-year.”
In addition to video views, fans consumed 46 million hours of content during the week, and they made 13.8 million social media interactions.
We have emphasized on WrestleMania 36 since it took place in the middle of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.
AWWE's popularity in India has gone underappreciated in the business. The company has seen 386 million unique viewers in the country annually. Recently, Drew McIntyre had some exciting comments on WWE's massive fanbase in India. Citing WrestleMania 36 viewership in the country, he said:
"I heard in India 25 million people watched WrestleMania 36 which is absolutely insane."
#2 WWE Chairman Vince McMahon's fortunes keep rising despite the pandemic
Most countries have had to enforce lockdown to varying degrees due to the COVID-19 pandemic. WWE has felt those effects, too.
WWE have had tomake several cost-cutting measures to minimize losses due to the pandemic situation. WWE Chairman Vince McMahon's ambitious XFL had to file for bankruptcy as well.
TheMiddletownPress, however, published an interesting report recently. The report stated that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon's net-worth surprisingly saw a rise between March 18 and June 17. McMahon's net worth during this time increased by $177 million. The billionaire's net worth has now risen to $1.97 billion.
WWE reportedly made substantial money over the second quarter this year. As per Dave Meltzer, the company made a profit of nearly $43.8 million.
Besides, WWE purchased EVOLVE recently. The agreement reportedly states that Vince McMahon's company will have ‘the right to use the EVOLVE name and produce events under the banner if needed.’
WWE has found a way to remain profitable despite the challenges, and Vince McMahon is only getting richer.
#1 John Cena has been winless in WWE for over 18 months
Do you remember the days when critics of John Cena called him the 'golden shovel'? The Franchise Player, for the majority of his run as the face of WWE, received criticism for 'burying' young talent.
To be fair, WWE did promote Cena as its resident Superman. However, things have changed in recent years. John Cena isn't the top guy who runs WWE anymore. He is a veteran adamant about giving back to the business. Consequently, he hasn't won a match in a long time.
John Cena's last WWE win came on January 7, 2019, where he teamed up with Finn Balor and Seth Rollins to defeat Dean Ambrose, Bobby Lashley, and Drew McIntryre. On the other hand, Cena's last singles win came against Baron Corbin at WWE's MSG Show on Dec 26th, 2018. The Champ's last WrestleMania win came at WrestleMania 33 in 2017.
Though Cena's evident desire to put over stars is commendable, it's still strange for fans to not see him win in a long time.
One of Samoa Joe's colleagues had harsh words for him HERE
