Cody Rhodes has raised an alarm about the amount of insider business information being shared publicly by WWE and professional wrestling companies in general, warning that the overload could eventually cause fans to disengage from the product entirely.
Speaking on his What Do You Wanna Talk About? podcast, Rhodes voiced a concern that has clearly been building for him, drawing on his own experience as a fan of other entertainment franchises to illustrate his point.
“Everything is documented. It’s scary. It’s scary, but it also holds you accountable, I guess. I’m in my head on some of the things as of late about every single piece of WWE right now, and every wrestling company, somebody needs to share and put it out there. And I think what’s going to happen is an overload of information to where fans just stop caring. Like, ‘I watch the show. I like the show. I like this guy. I don’t like that guy. I like her. I don’t need to know how many people were in the seats.’ It’s wild. I don’t know who’s keeping all of these records. But I’m getting tired of, what do we need this for? Who’s this for? It seems like it’s doing great, you know? Anyways, that’s my bit,” Rhodes said.
The comments carry some personal resonance given the WrestleMania 42 build to his match with Randy Orton. Pat McAfee, who was inserted into the program at the direction of TKO CEO Ari Emanuel rather than WWE creative, referenced insider business metrics during the angle, including noting that attendance was down year over year and framing his involvement as an attempt to save the business by helping Orton win the championship. McAfee ultimately opted out of the angle following WrestleMania, praising Rhodes and saying the business did not need saving after all.
WWE touted WrestleMania 42 as one of the highest-grossing events in company history despite mixed reactions to the show’s creative direction.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit What Do You Wanna Talk About? with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
