By Brandon Fairweather
WWE is thriving following allegations that led former CEO and Chairman Vince McMahon to relinquish his duties and retire.
On June 15th, WWE announced their investigation into the chairman of 40 years after reports of a $3 million settlement with an employee for sexual misconduct.
McMahon stepped down as the CEO of the company on June 17th and retired on July 22nd.
On July 25th, Stephanie McMahon, and company executive Nick Khan became the co-CEOs of the company, while Paul “Triple H” Levesque was named the company’s Head of Creative.
With these changes in company leadership and creative responsibilities, WWE saw a boost in ratings, reviews, ticket sales and approval from the fans and superstars themselves following Vince’s retirement.
One of the most telling differences in WWE’s new direction is the viewership of their weekly flagship shows Monday Night RAW and Friday Night Smackdown.
In the 5 weeks before Vince’s allegations, an average of 1.7 and 1.95 million people, respectively, tuned into RAW and Smackdown weekly. 45% of the viewers in WWE’s target 18-49 demo tuned into RAW weekly, while 44% would tune into Smackdown.
Vince’s scandal led to more viewership as during this 5-week period before his retirement, 1.8 and 2.17 million people tuned into RAW and Smackdown weekly, while the company also reached their target demo a lot more as 54% of their viewers aged 18-49 tuned into RAW and 50% tuned into Smackdown.
Following Vince’s retirement and the onset of a new administration, TV viewership increased and was consistent for both shows. In the 5 weeks following his retirement, 2 million and 2.11 million people tuned into RAW and Smackdown weekly. The company managed to keep their target audience watching with the latest changes still, as 55% of their viewers in the target demo watched RAW and 51% watched Smackdown.
The ratings for the WWE’s flagship shows RAW and Smackdown also rose and were highest after Vince’s retirement, according to IMDB.
During the 5 weeks prior to Vince’s investigation, IMDB gave RAW and Smackdown an average rating of 6.22 and 6.2. Those ratings stood consistent during the 5-week period of Vince’s scandal as both shows were given average ratings of 6.66 and 5.68. The overall ratings of the product went up following Vince’s retirement, as both shows were given an average rating of 7.7 and 6.88.
Beyond the numbers, these numbers are best put into context by the fans’ admiration of the now Chief Content Officer of WWE, Triple H’s work.
The company’s also brought back several big names that the fans love, and the company has seen 10 returns of popular stars or tag teams since July 25th.
Triple H has also created a 15% spike in RAW viewership and “increases in social media engagement,” according to WWE.
The excitement following WWE at this time has also led to the company’s marquee event, WrestleMania, to selling 90,000 tickets in 24 hours for next year’s outing in Los Angeles, which is 80% percent of its tickets. Triple H also comments on how the company has never sold tickets so quickly, according to the Wrestlezone.
In the 3 premium live events since the new administration took over, SportsKeeda, WrestlingHeadlines and WrestlingOps report that SummerSlam, Clash at the Castle and Extreme Rules have all seen vast amounts of success.
Most of the company’s superstars, such as Finn Balor, are also pleased with the changes that have been made, according to the comments he made to CBS.
Despite the retirement of wrestling icon Vince McMahon, the WWE has been taken to a new level under the new administration.
Data Journalism 395 