Bruce Prichard Talks about NBC’s Role in Donald Trump Coming To WWE
If you have not yet listened to the podcast “Something to Wrestle” it is something you should give a go if you’re a WWE fan. In a recent episode, Bruce Prichard was interviewed in which he talked about all the big events in wrestling he has been involved in and how they came about. In this article, I will talk about the points that were raised, and if you enjoy the read make sure to check out the full podcast.
One of the most interesting subjects talked about was how Donald Trump, the now-former President although he will not admit it, came to take part in the WWE in 2007. The clip has gone viral on YouTube and it is quite something to see the leader of the world’s most powerful country take part. It helped Trump gain huge popularity with wrestling fans that stayed loyal to him to help vote him in power when he beat Hillary Clinton.
The event was talked about in the press around the world and was one of the biggest successes that helped WWE expand its viewer base. Bookmakers such as WV online sports betting were even taking odds at one point on if Trump would take part in another event. Prichard talks about how it all came about in the podcast and it was a joint effort between NBC and the WWE.
Trump and WWE have a very long history together which started in 1988 in Atlantic City and was back the following year at WrestleMania VII. By 2007 the WWE was working closely with NBC and due to Trump also being onboard with them it made sense.
Another big story covered in the podcast talked about how John Cena ended up facing Kevin Federline. For those of you that don’t know who Federline is, he became famous due to marrying Brittney Spears and was not liked by many. It caused huge headlines at the time across the world and due to the size of the deal it had everyone talking. Prichard says that they used celebrities to talk about it and others followed on their own. It was a massive event that generated millions in PPV.
Prichard went into further details about how the WWE uses celebrities using Federline as an example. At the time Federline was seen as a D-list celeb but with the right combination of matchup and storyline, it can create greater interest than having an A-list celeb onboard. He said it has also helped to greatly grow the WWE due to getting new viewers due to them bringing in an outsider into an event.
Finally, Prichard went on to talk about the success of Federline vs Cena was due to the craziness of the matchup. The whole reason for putting on that event was to promote Cena vs Umaga. It was a major success which is why WWE will continue this strategy moving forward. In recent times that have managed to attract the likes of Rhonda Rousey and Tyson Fury to take part and there will be many others to follow over the coming years.
