>>13585165>There are no draws in modern wrestling, the companies are the draws.Alright. Now we got something. And believe it or not, I do actually somewhat understand where you’re coming from. This is something that Vincent Kennedy ShitMahon was actually working towards for years. Roman Reigns is sort of an experiment of his: Could Vinny Mac bruteforce the creation of a star in a fashion that was entirely inorganic?
The answer was sort of, kind of. Big Dog Roman never got over in the way Vince intended. It was only when Roman was allowed to be himself that he finally caught on with the crowd. But the only way that could have happened is with Vince pushing him in people’s faces to begin with.
So I think it’s half and half.
You’re right. The WWE is the biggest promotion in the world and for years was a de facto monopoly. The WWE’s rep precedes itself. It has a built-in following that no one can compete with.
By that same token, there are certain stars that can thrive there. And others that can’t.
Cody, Roman, LA Knight all benefited from this system. But by that same token, they also suffered from it. Cody was Stardust, Roman was Big Dog and Knight languished in developmental for years.
It was only when the company actually recognized what to do with these guys that they received any kind of push and actually established themselves with fans.
But, now that they’re established, I do think they qualify as draws. You really believe if those guys jumped ship tomorrow to AEW that WWE ratings wouldn’t plummet and AEW would easily score a milly? Not sure if I buy that.