WOL Saturday: WWE and its emotional investment problem

It’s Wrestling Observer Live Saturday with Jim Valley. Continuing from Friday’s WOL, I go more in depth on my strong theory that WWE has a big problem with emotional investment, fan engagement, and converting its audience to spend more money on the product.

WWE has capital, corporate relationships, TV contracts, heritage, and many other assets. Most of all, it has talent. The Royal Rumble and NXT illustrate that WWE has many potential top stars and a plethora of wrestlers who are “only” really, really good.

Despite all of these resources and positives, revenue streams that are indicators of fans engagement are down. Logan Paul vs. KSI drew 1.3 million buys simply because fans were emotionally invested enough to spend money. WWE has done a poor job of storytelling, creating compelling characters, consistency, and rewarding fans for their investment of time and money. Its going to take time to rebuild those relationships.