WWE put forth their showcase event of the year last weekend in WrestleMania 42 from Las Vegas. But wrestling fans had mixed reactions to the event, the build, and everything happening around the pro wrestling giant at the moment. And Ariel Helwani has put his finger on the pulse regarding why.
It feels soulless.
WrestleMania 42 was pushed heavily by ESPN all week in the build-up to the “showcase of the immortals.” Then there was the incredibly polarizing roles of Pat McAfee and other celebrities that were shoehorned in at the last minute. But when it came to the actual event, the “immortals” were sponsors like Ram Trucks and Mortal Kombat, not the stars themselves like Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes.
Ever since WWE was merged with UFC to create TKO, the new direction that its corporate overlords have taken the product are big on commercials and advertisements, like you might see at many other sporting events. Professional wrestling has never been that way through the generations. And Ariel Helwani believes the shift from little advertising to the mat being splattered with ads and non-stop commercials getting almost as much time as the matches themselves has left WrestleMania with an empty feeling.
“It feels soulless,” Helwani said, “And they have to realize, because I know there are very smart people involved there. They’re not new to TV and they’re not new to sports. They have to realize how to get the soul back into their product. It does not exist. And I thought it was very apparent on Saturday and Sunday. It does not exist.”
Helwani echoed criticism from WWE fans that the entrances and set design for WrestleMania 42 were stripped down from last year’s show that was also in Las Vegas. But he returned to the main complaint of the deluge of commercials.
“When everything is for sale, it gets lost. It gets lost. It was upsetting to see. That did not feel like WrestleMania. That did not feel like the showcase of the immortals. That did not feel like the biggest night in pro wrestling. Didn’t feel like the Super Bowl. Didn’t feel like the World Series. Didn’t feel like the National Championship. It didn’t feel like that,” Helwani added.
“And I don’t know if it’s because there are people at the very top of TKO who aren’t wrestling fans and don’t understand the history. They have gone from nothing to overboard. There’s got to be an in-between there. There’s got to be an in-between where the soul of the company and the product remains to where you’re still benefitting and making money off of it but you’re not spitting in the face of the fans.”
The numbers tell the story. One social media account focused on wait times between matches calculated that WrestleMania 42 had 2 hours and 45 minutes of wrestling with 4 hours and 36 minutes of wait time between action across two nights. Much of that wait time was centered on advertisements. Another account calculated 1 hour and 14 minutes of advertising time on Night 1 of WrestleMania 42.
Yahoo even compared WrestleMania 42 to historic shows from years ago that had just a few minutes of commercials during the showcase event. Given that fans are already paying subscriptions, whether it be for ESPN Unlimited or Netflix overseas to watch the event, the incredible amount of commercials on top of that price is a major historical shift from what WrestleMania used to be. And it’s one major reason why fans like Ariel Helwani are feeling disenchanted with the company’s current direction.
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