That mythical million

[Mr. Artistic guy]

It would seem that despite all the clamouring and hollering about a steady decline in the PPV buys globally for each proceeding Wrestlemania, they went out there and earned above that elusive mark or 1 million household purchases of this years Wrestlemania 27. The exact figure was 1,042,000, a good 40,000+ above the epoch benchmark.

Now naturally a lot of the praise is going to be directed at The Rock for his hosting role at the event but I'm confident not everybody will see it this way. So I just want to get your reactions to this very good news.

The significant questions I'd have to ask are:

1) What would you attribute as the cause for this accomplishment?

2) What it means for the company as a whole, what does it imply as to the health of mainstream wrestling?

3) How would you maintain or build upon this figure for the coming year?

 

[Azane]

Wrestlemania had a really really strong build up, and I liked the card rolling into it, you had enough questions needing answered, and a few solid pure wrestling matches (still sad they made one a dark match). I think that everything involved was leading into a good show, the "disappointment" that some people felt was because all of the lead ins seemed great.

Wrestling isn't going anywhere, WWE can still rope a million people into paying 50$ for a few hours, the declining rates have been due to alot of factors, and the fact they can build a show with so much young talent is a testament to how good ths product will hopefully become.

Maintain this by continuing to push the young stars, Rock Cena is going to be stale before it happens, DO NOT BANK ON THIS MATCH TO SELL, It's old already, and it's not gonna be freshened up by anything at this point. Celebrities? bring in some B-listers, they'll make up for their appearance costs in drawing power. For the most part the E's been pretty good about celebrity power at WM. As long as today's stars are tomorrows legends, we'll only see the products average entertainment level go up.

Also, bring back MITB @ WM, giving it it's own ppv just oversaturates the World title market, and is working against both ppvs.

 

[mr_dna]

Well to start that is a big chunk of buys more then WM26 885,000 buys which had Taker v HBK 2, Cena v Batista, Edge v Jericho among others. Which was down from WM25 970,000 buys

WM26 Had no Rock & No Stone Cold and i do feel they probaly brought in around 100k buys so i do think they had a big part of it. It can go either way next year we are going to have Cena v Rock and possibly Undertakers last match so i rekon we will see a 1 Million Buys WM then.

Is this a good thing i dont know if it is the case and Rock,Austin brought in the extra 100k + buys no thats not good as and wrestlmania 50 Rock & austin wont be there on there mobilty scooters to help boost buys , But if it is due to Younger generation and WWE going more mainstream good on them

What has me worried above all is HBK, Edge is gone if Taker & HHH are gone next year the only big guns WWE have left is Orton & Cena there is no one yet at there level so the show to wait for is WM 29 With no HHH,Taker and No Rock

 

[HeenanGorilla]

Sorry guys. I don't like to admit it either..and I hate having to be the first person to say it. But the Snooki-factor is something that simply can't be overlooked.

Cole/Lawler also had a bit of drawing power at that time...

 

[Johnny Dangerous]

Because.... you dumb mutha fockos...are sheep and i guess there are over 1 million sheep worldwide. The card sucked but just like youve been conditioned to do... you plopped 50 bucks down for it anyway. Conformists.

 

[sabataged]

A lot boils down to the Rock. I didn't order WM26 after ordering the previous 5 or 6 WrestleMania's. I did however order WM27...and said I was going to the minute I found out the Rock was the host.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WrestleMania this year had a huge build up and Vince really went all out. The presence of The Rock and even Snooki did help because it garnered a lot of WWE/WrestleMania coverage within the mainstream media. I have little doubt that The Rock's presence in particular led to greater interest but, if anything, I think his presence will ultimately be granted too much importance in the minds of some.

WrestleMania cost $55-65 this year, can't remember which off the top of my head. Everyone knew ahead of time that The Rock wasn't going to be competing in a match and that, generally speaking, his role in the event would be pretty limited. We all knew he'd probably be out first to cut an opening promo and would have some role in the Cena vs. Miz match. So, I have a hard time believing that a huge number of people would be willing to shell out that sort of money just for that level of participation from The Rock. Some did, no doubt, but don't buy into the hyperbole that you'll hear from some suggesting that it was all about The Rock.

 

[Twanfusco]

@Johnny dangerous, people bought the ppv because they wanted to see it, because they enjoy the wwe product, that doesn't mean they are sheep and follow everything the wwe does. Wrestlemania is the biggest wrestling spectacle of the year and the build up to this years event in particular was very well done. It might not have been the greates of all time but there will be a very few people who'd say if they had the chance they'd go back and not buy it. How about you quit tryin to be a rebel and either just say you are not interested in the wwe or just not comment on the topics concerning the wwe instead of trying to be cool by slating people who bought something they wanted to see.

 

[RJB1976]

Was this a disappointing WM? Yes. But much like the Super Bowl or the World Series, it may not look good on paper, but it will always lure in Millions.

 

[Tattooed Jesus]

The Rock is what put this years WM27 over the top. It had a different build that lots of the previous WM have had, and that again had a lot to do with The Rock. Thats what The Rock is already being billed to mainevent next years WM. People especially wrestling fans love the Rock, so that will pay to watch just about whatever he does, especially in a wrestling ring. Also next year is looking to be more than likely the Undertakers last match, so that will be another huge selling point for WM28. I think this shows that wrestling is still going strong and it is something that millions of people still enjoy watching.

 

[RJB1976]

If the WWE needs the Rock to get WM over 1 million buys, then the company realizes that it is in trouble right now. Meaning that they don't have faith in anyone, Cena included, to be the face of the company.

 

[Kofi/ZigglerClassic]

Gotta say it. It was The Rock/Cena contraversy and Snooki that brought in the dough (Miz also. Alot of Snooki fans remember Mizanin in his reality tv days). Everyone else sadly no one except die hards cared about.

 

[Swamp D.]

SNOOKI for sure....... The same people that watch wrestling buy the events so what pushed it over?? The logical answer is Snooki.

No One is going to say "I haven't watched wrestling in years but The Rock is going to talk at Wrestlemania this year.... wow I am going to pay 70 bucks...yay!"

The only way to do it is get mainstream pumped up enough about something that they have never seen before and never will again. It doesn't matter if people wanted her to beat some ass of get her ass kicked they tuned in for her.

 

[Dagger Dias]

The likely causes for the buys reaching a number above one million are The Rock and Snooki. WWE hardcore fans were going to buy it regardless for the fact that it was Wrestlemania. The card wasn't that impressive looking. However a ton of oldschool fans could potentially come back for The Rock, not to mention fans of his movies may have wanted to check the event out. Same goes for Snooki. I don't like her myself but she's part of a very popular show who's fanbase would possibly have gotten the PPV just to see what she would do there. This does not signify that the health of mainstream wrestling has changed for the better or not, it's right where it was before Wrestlemania 27. Unchanged. What it means for the company is that they got lucky and made a ton of money off of a below average show. The figure will be maintained and most likely beaten next year when we get Cena VS The Rock after it being hyped for an entire year.