Why aren't current wrestling stars known by the general public?

[Ill-Yaz]

Man, these people so outdated.


Roman got damn near 7 million followers on IG, people know who he is.

The days of the hulk hogan megastar is over. Wrestling isn’t being consumed by 10 million viewers on a weekly basis anymore. That’s just what it is

That's fine but then I don't want to see people put any modern wrestlers in any top 5 of all time lists. That should only be reserved for stars from the MNW Era.

Seen that @Silkk put that Bryan in a top 5 list

How? In 1996, he would have been squashed by Lex.

He would receive the first clothesline

Then the second one

And then the signature forearm smash

He then would have been racked out in the end

Tell me that I'm wrong

 

[Rell84shots]

Too many fans cosplaying as wrestlers that's why. Roman may not be a household name now, but he is the most over guy in the business and women absolutely love him. Despite what the smarks & neckbeards think, you still need to have a star look/presence in order for the general public to even look in your direction. Sorry folks but the vanilla midgets that pollute the business now make the entire industry look bush league.

 

[TM101]

I think a lot of that happened because of the pandemic. It created a sort of fleeting moment where we were all going through the same thing at the same time again. The same thing happened with "The Last Dance". The early days of the pandemic was weird, man.

Dude, Hogan was ABSOLUTELY on that level.

Y'all just don't know, man.

Hogan was about as iconic as Joe Montana, Magic, Bird, etc. . .in the late '80s.

His level of fame is incomprehensible to anybody born in the last 35 years.

I'd go with maybe Simone Biles too, maybe?

You think?

Simone is a good call, its just gymnastics gets burn every 4 years so coverage isn't consistent.
Naomi lost early and pulled out of tournaments and stayed at the top of the Forbes list. If she kept winning she would've been the sports star of the 2020s.

 

[SpacelySprockets]

I bet roman reigns is commonly known by teenagers and below, no different from our generation, a lot of them either grew up watching wrestling and stopped or still watch it, as well as parents who were forced to buy roman reigns merch for their kids.. eventually those kids will grow up and become adults and look at him like a pop culture icon in the way they do cena(who at his peak was universally hated by adults and not looked at as a star on the caliber of rock/austin who preceded him)

 

[Raw Sauce]

Sorry folks but the vanilla midgets that pollute the business now make the entire industry look bush league.

I think having some of them per roster is needed for variety's sake. That said, they should be supremely talented and credible looking (ex. Bryan, Rey, AJ, Rico, Melo, MJF, Rush, Bandido, or Gable) but I agree there are too many of them look small AND weak (Gargano, Cole, etc). I think WWE getting that college athlete pipeline going is a great move to rectify this situation.

 

[Playaz Eyez]

Like somebody already said in here people know wwe the brand more than the wrestlers

Same wit UFC most of the general public couldn't name u the current champs but could remember Anderson Silva or jon jones

Vince has spent years doing everything to make sure this is the case.

 

[Lurk Angle]

Vince has spent years doing everything to make sure this is the case.

Can't blame him to be honest

I mean the two biggest stars they had were gone in less than 5 years

I do think Vince should of did thinks differently but I can tell he was scared business wise of that happening again

 

[goatmane]

They used to say the same about John Cena and now he's everywhere. But how many people are 'household names' now in any field?

u got a rapper.. say Lil uzi who had a whole gen.. very popular within that gen and that space.. but does the average person care about Lil Uzi the same way people can recognize Pac or Big? Hell no... not even close..

Breh Cena still came up in an era where he still wrestled against Attitude Era wrestlers the general audience could still name

Cena is more famous for this meme and "you can't see me"


Roman has 0 crossover appeal and did his thing in an era where nobody knows his opponent

 

[Cattle Mutilation]

Vince has spent years doing everything to make sure this is the case.

I mean it's honestly the best business decision for the brand to be bigger than the stars. Stars come and gom, the brand doesn't.

It's kind of the problem the NBA has. Viewership is largely driven by the superstars and the big franchises than it is driven by the NBA. IT's why we get stuck with national TV games featuring wshytty to mediocre teams because they have a superstar or are a major franchise when vastly superior teams like the Nuggets and Grizzlies get less national TV games.

NBA viewership cratered when Jordan retired. Likely going to happen again when LeBron retires given how big of a ratings draw he is.

 

[Amor fati]

I think they're more known than the average Boxer these days.

 

[Playaz Eyez]

It's kind of the problem the NBA has. Viewership is largely driven by the superstars and the big franchises than it is driven by the NBA. IT's why we get stuck with national TV games featuring wshytty to mediocre teams because they have a superstar or are a major franchise when vastly superior teams like the Nuggets and Grizzlies get less national TV games.
NBA viewership cratered when Jordan retired. Likely going to happen again when LeBron retires given how big of a ratings draw he is.

It really doesn’t make sense at all, as the more stars you create, the more eyes are on you, even those stars move on. If you do your job correctly, you’ll already have stars in the tank like cogs in a machine. That’s a terrible way to run business.

 

[Elim Garak]

Because this era trash.

 

[Sccit]

In a survey of 10 random people on the street how many do you think could identify him by name?

1 OR 2 AT BEST

 

[Sccit]

When WWE is powerful enough to get another 30 second ad during the goddamn Superbowl, someone @ me.



It's probably going to be awhile even though the SB is airing on FOX this year.

I REMEMBER THIS

WHY IS THERE 2 OPPOSITE VERSIONS? LOL

 

[drifter]

Not about wrestling but ratings cratered after Jordan because there wasn't that figure to love to root for/love to hate, Jordan left on top doing something nobody saw before. The NBA is going to be fine after LeBron because outside of just breaking the scoring record, LeBron hasn't been relevant in a major context in almost 3 years and another 2-3 before that one so fans are already conditioned to titles without him.

It really doesn’t make sense at all, as the more stars you create, the more eyes are on you, even those stars move on. If you do your job correctly, you’ll already have stars in the tank like cogs in a machine. That’s a terrible way to run business.

They're doing that. Roman's probably dipping in another year, Cody's picked to carry the ball and be the bridge to Gunther/Theory and eventually Steiner. The most Sasha leaving did to them was clear the deck even more for Rhea and they've got several NXT girls now behind Rhea when/if she's done in 5-7 years.

I wasn't watching a decade ago so idk all of why they don't have certain things and why they're thin now but in 2-4 years they're going to be fine assuming Hunter doesn't find the deavors switch and piss the industry off. They just don't have larger than life characters because wrestling doesn't matter like it did, which goes back to what I said earlier, most things don't. But for wrestling, a huge part is because wrestling didn't age well with the 2010s. These people are using their real names on social media and WWE lists their names on their site. It's probably impossible to get invested at that same level again when the business has been exposed like it has.