WWE WrestleMania 41 commercials Screengrab via WWE X.
WWEBy Matt Yoder on

When it comes to commercials dominating sporting events, usually the most complaints come from golf fans. Maybe NFL fans when they encounter the dreaded commercial-touchback-commercial sequence. But pro wrestling fans? Commercials haven’t been a problem for them. Until now at WrestleMania 41.

WrestleMania 41 was a hit and miss show for fans. There were some great moments and matches like the Night 1 main event between CM Punk, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins that featured all the drama and storytelling that you would expect from modern day WWE. Likewise, the Night 2 opening triple threat between Iyo Sky, Rhea Ripley, and Bianca Belair stole the show.

But there were also some disappointments, most notably the Sunday main event between Cody Rhodes and John Cena ending with an anticlimactic Travis Scott run-in that killed any momentum that was building in the match. The record setting 17th championship victory from Cena should have been an iconic moment, but with no appearance from The Rock and a flat finish, it left most fans feeling disappointed.

But through the highs and lows of WrestleMania 41 one thing remained constant.

The commercials.

WWE has fully embraced commercial support in recent years. And whether it’s new guidance after their merger with UFC to create TKO or fully living into the financial opportunities that increased sponsorships, it’s impossible to get away from. And some would definitely argue that it is ruining the vibe and the aura of WWE’s biggest show.

Fans knew they were in for a long two nights of ads and product placement when WrestleMania 41 kicked off with Swedish DJ Salvatore Ganacci promoting video game Fatal Fury, which was also one of many sponsors on the ring mat. The WWE WrestleMania ring looked like a NASCAR driver’s suit. After Jey Uso won the world heavyweight championship on Night 1, it was a shock that he didn’t give an interview to thank the people at Slim Jim, The General, and Clash of Clans.

But that was just the tip of the iceberg. WWE also loaded up on commercials in between every match, making the wait times between matches longer than the matches themselves. One X account dedicated to calculating wait times versus bell-to-bell action found that the time between matches on both nights of WrestleMania (ads, entrances, video packages) exceeded the time spent in the ring.

But it wasn’t just the ads between the matches that seemed overwhelming, every match had an individual sponsor as well. Nothing brought the intensity and set the stage for the Rhodes-Cena showdown in the main event like taking a brief timeout to see a Drumstick mascot in the crowd.

Of course, we all fondly remember the iconic WrestleMania III main event between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant that featured a giant Big League Chew mascot right before Real American blasted over the Silverdome speakers to 93,000 people.

Add it all up, and it almost seemed like WrestleMania was interrupting a non-stop two night extravaganza of ads. What seemed to trouble fans the most were those watching on the ad-supported tier of Peacock that saw commercials constantly replace pre-match video packages.

All of this commercial load comes when WWE also faced criticism for leaving several stars and potential matches off the WrestleMania card. There could have easily been another match each night if the commercial load was cut back by just 10% or so. Good for WWE and TKO for getting their bag and fully being embraced by corporate America, but it was so much during WrestleMania 41 that it actively hurt the show.

While this kind of commercial load might be commonplace in an NFL or NBA game or other sports, it is not the norm for wrestling fans who have watched sports entertainment for years. How long is it until key moments or finishing moves get sponsored? If CM Punk’s “Go to Sleep” gets sponsored by Mattress Firm then we will know we really have a problem.

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