To say the internet has changed professional wrestling would be an understatement, to say the least.
As with our entire world, the worldwide web has had an enormous impact on the sport, both on the on-screen performances and backstage dealings. Many of the wrestlers themselves have created an online presence, which has come in various forms over the years, and the WWE website is full of content that can only be found there.
But the question is, has all this change been for the better? That answer can be a tough one since the WWE hasn’t always had a great relationship with the Internet, but there are several ways the web has become an integral part of the WWE Universe.
#5 WWE Network
Obviously, the WWE Network completely turned professional wrestling upside-down with regard to pay-per-views, which have become a staple of the business. As a matter of fact, the major monthly events are only pay-per-views in name, since most people watch them through a Network subscription instead of actually paying per view.
Beyond that, the Network is unlike anything that any other sport has going.
After all, where could you pay $9.99 per month and watch any World Series game or Super Bowl ever, on demand? Add to that the ability to watch WWE shows and documentaries that aren’t in-ring programming and the WWE Network would seem like a brilliant and innovative marketing decision.
But for all of the Network’s positive attributes, it still doesn’t completely make sense from a business perspective. Sure, it’s incredible that fans have all of that wrestling content at their fingertips, some of which – like the “Table for 3” series – wouldn’t have existed just a few years ago, but it’s difficult to see where the endeavour is making much money for the company.
A year ago, the Network barely had enough subscribers to break even just with the money made from pay-per-view buys in the past, and subscriptions haven’t increased enough to change that, rising from 1.2 million to about 1.5 million.
#4 Superstars online
For about 20 years now, wrestling personalities have attempted to connect with fans and use the internet to their advantage. At first, that came in the form of venues like AOL Live Chats, which is exactly what it sounds like and would’ve seemed incredibly cool and technologically advanced in the mid-to-late-1990s.
That said, technology wasn’t actually all that advanced at the time, so difficulties were bound to arise. Those difficulties notoriously came to a head when Vince McMahon himself was left alone in such a live chat with no fans able to interact with him in 1998.
Here’s an excerpt from that session of Vince talking to himself under the screen name “WWFLive2,” as reported by The Pro-Wrestling Chronicle:
WWFLive2: I'm sitting in Bill Banks office with a cup of coffee in my hand that's cold, looking up at DX making some sort of gesture toward their crotch, what the hell is the matter with Bill Banks?WWFLive2: Oops, Bill just told me to suck it!WWFLive2: What does he mean by that?WWFLive2: Perhaps Monica can help us out!WWFLive2: And how about that Chris Rock anyhow.WWFLive2: Just like he said, Bill Clinton gave Monica a job, oh what the hell you can finish the rest.
From there, that developed to a point in time when each Superstar would have his or her own WWE-managed website, which would display in the “lower third” graphic as the wrestlers came to the ring. Can you imagine having to keep up with what each Superstar’s individual website was and making sure you were on the right one?
Now, of course, WWE has all that streamlined into its website, complete with an online shop to order merchandise any time. As for the wrestlers’ online personalities, that is honed through social media, most frequently Twitter and Facebook.
On the positive side, that has led to some really cool interactions, both with fans and other wrestlers. Cesaro and Sheamus have both held Facebook Live sessions while sitting ringside during a match, and Xavier Woods has developed quite a following for his video game musings on his YouTube channel, UpUpDownDown.
And we can’t forget glorious Twitter exchanges between Kevin Owens and just about anyone, including Goldberg.
On the flipside, WWE has seen negatives from Superstars being on social media. In 2015, Seth Rollins’ then-fiancee notoriously posted nude pictures of Seth and Zahra Schreiber, who was then a WWE developmental talent, to Seth’s Twitter account right as an episode of Monday Night RAW was starting.
More recently, announcer and backstage interviewer, Tom Phillips, got caught up in a somewhat similar scandal. Allegedly, he was cheating on his fiancee with another woman, even sending her messages that she made public on social media when she discovered he was engaged.
While some might argue that these incidents show the dangers of social media, they would seem more to indicate that cheaters eventually get caught.
#3 Spoilers and dirtsheets
For as long as the wrestling business has been around, spoilers and dirtsheets have at least played a small role. For every time promoters and executives tried to make moves behind the scenes, there was a reporter trying to scoop out the story and let fans know about it.
Vince McMahon said in an interview with the Orlando Sentinel last year that he gets frustrated by this practice, particularly because of how it affects the fans.
Nonetheless, it's difficult to hold something like that but if you can, the audience loves it. It's one of the reasons why I'll always be anti-some members of the media, so-called dirt sheets or whatever it is. Not because of their voice and certainly not because of their opinion. No one respects the First Amendment more than me. Their opinions, negative or positive, they're entitled to. I've always appreciated that because, quite frankly, some of the things I've learned from. It's that they want to be a spoiler. No! No! Don't spoil this. But I know that's a part of their job too.
Sometimes in today’s wrestling world, those leaks still truly stem from actual information that people have. In the case of Mickie James’ recent return to the WWE main roster, company officials were reportedly upset that the information got out, but people would’ve possibly figured that out anyway.
She was returning as La Luchadora, but as soon as the masked figure appeared on SmackDown, James’ name came up as a possible identity, both based on what could be seen of the character’s face and on her return to NXT.
Other times, though, the spoilers ruin what could’ve been a really spectacular surprise. When Sting made his WWE debut at the 2014 Survivor Series, he did so to help Dolph Ziggler complete his amazing comeback win over Team Authority to knock Triple H and Stephanie McMahon out of power.
If that had been allowed to be a true surprise, fans would’ve been absolutely floored that the WCW legend was truly going to be a part of the WWE and not just a video game character. Instead, several websites let the cat out of the bag hours in advance.
Even worse, these leaks and even just speculation can actively ruin a storyline both in the short-term and the long-term. A perfect case in point is the 2015 Royal Rumble, which was won by Roman Reigns much to the displeasure of fans in Philadelphia and around the world. But why did the WWE Universe turn on this idea?
After all, they had cheered Reigns just the year before when he had a much weaker pedigree but was the last man eliminated by winner Batista.
The answer, at least to a degree, lies in the leaks. Roman had been considered a favourite to win the event for quite some time, even over mega-face Daniel Bryan, and Reigns was even doing interviews as a favoured participant before the event.
This, among other things, led fans to feel like Reigns was being “shoved down their throats” as a standard-bearer for the company, and they had plenty of time to formulate reasons as to why that wasn’t acceptable.
#4 Closing holes requires work
More recently, the WWE has generally done a good job of either closing the leaks or getting inaccurate information out there to keep fans guessing. One such instance occurred in the build to Elimination Chamber in 2015, when Sheamus was advertised for events after the pay-per-view as the Intercontinental Champion, even before the participants in the Chamber match for the belt vacated by Daniel Bryan were known.
This led to a widespread belief that Sheamus would be winning the Chamber match and the white belt. Of course, Ryback actually won that match, signalling that fans could no longer feel confident that they already knew major outcomes ahead of the event.
The WWE brass also did a good job of preventing anyone, including other performers, from knowing that Shane McMahon was returning for the build to WrestleMania 32 in 2016. Vince described the effort that required for the Orlando Sentinel:
Shane was in a bus and he was not allowed to come out of the bus until Stephanie's music hit and Stephanie had walked down the ramp. Shane comes out of the bus with security and goes right up to what we call Gorilla position (an area just off stage) and the guys there go, ‘I can't believe it.’ And all of the guys backstage, the vast majority of them, they didn't see Shane when he walked through. They were all shocked and surprised. That's what I try to do: totally surprise our talent. They like to be surprised just like the audience.
With the WWE starting to find ways to keep fans guessing, even a few of these types of occurrences can go a long way. By giving us tangible times where we truly didn’t know what to expect, we can go into shows with that excitement and anticipation that gets lost when every rumour comes true exactly as it had been laid out ahead of time.
#5 Can’t avoid it
The internet has provided the WWE with far too much positive change for it simply to be disregarded in favour of “the good ol’ days” before the web took centre stage. From a fan’s perspective, the WWE Network is a truly magnificent app that is good for wrestling fans of all types and backgrounds, and interacting with Superstars online is an incredible opportunity that obviously wasn’t afforded to past generations.
That said, the WWE has to continue to find ways to combat the negatives that go along with the freedom found online. Superstars have to remember how easy it is to get caught up in a social media scandal if you’re not handling your personal matters in a respectful manner.
Company officials also need to build on the momentum they’ve already established toward closing up leaks for major events. It still isn’t perfect, as Randy Orton was widely known as the favourite to win the Royal Rumble this year, a match he did go on to win. But even knowing that, fans still went into the event not knowing fully what to expect, largely because rumours have been proven false more often recently.
That process needs to continue if the WWE wants to come out favourably in this uncomfortable relationship with the Internet Age. If they aren’t already doing so, officials need to make sure to tell multiple stories behind the scenes and just stay quiet unless it’s absolutely necessary to tell employees ahead of time what’s going on.
Do it as a service to fans who would love to be surprised once more.
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