The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) organization has treated us to some memorable moments over the last decade. It’s a sport that never remains still and is always looking to explore its boundaries.
In this guide, we take a look at how WWE has changed over the last 10 years. We explore the growth in popularity of signature events, like WrestleMania, and the greater interest in betting on wrestling and how you can do so nowadays in the same way you can with the likes of NFL lines.
Let’s kick things off with the most significant change of all.
The rise of women’s wrestling
Within the second half of the last decade, there has been a justifiable shift in focus on women’s wrestling. In the past, it’s fair to say that many female wrestlers felt like an afterthought, their fights tacked on to the end of a headline event, almost like a token gesture.
It was hugely disrespectful to the women’s sport and as a result, the WWE now lists women’s fights as headline events. They devote more time to creating their storylines and characters, giving them a chance to outshine their male counterparts.
The shift in focus may also attract more female fans to the sport, which would be a big boost for both the female athletes who compete and the WWE in general.
The rise and fall of the WWE Network
At one point in time, WWE was inaccessible to watch, for many people. Coverage was mostly restricted to satellite channels or pay-per-view events, which could be too costly for most people to enjoy.
The WWE saw an opportunity to remedy this problem and launched the WWE Network back in 2014. For just $9.99 per month, wrestling fans could watch all PPV events, as well as past footage from WCW and ECW events.
The network simply works in the same way as a subscription service like Netflix or Amazon Prime. However, in the US at least, the WWE Network has fallen out of favor. Instead, the wrestling organization has signed a deal with US streaming service Peacock to make it the home of the WWE. Fans can still access the same kind of service – it just requires a subscription to Peacock instead.
The rise in popularity of signature events
There have been some truly memorable events in the last 10 years that have helped shape and evolve the WWE, and draw in legions of new fans.
One of the most significant events was WrestleMania 30, which took place back in 2014. The event not only featured contemporary legends such as John Cena and Bray Wyatt, but true heroes of the sport like Hulk Hogan, The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin, who all came out of retirement.
It also featured other memorable moments, like Daniel Bryan beating Triple H, before Batista and Randy Orton scrapped it out in the signature event.
The WWE has since expanded WrestleMania to make it a two-night event, such is its popularity.
These kind of events have become hugely popular with fans who enjoy betting. Sportsbooks have answered this demand by offering deals and bonuses on WrestleMania fights, which has helped draw greater interest, and overall, contributed to the development of the sport.
Profiting from Saudi Arabia
In recent years, there has been a closer relationship forming between the WWE and wealthy figures from Saudi Arabia. We’ve seen events take place in the Arab nation, with star fighters flown out to take part in huge PPV events.
The WWE committed to a 10-year deal back in 2018 and this has led to them generating a lot of money – and attracting a lot of backlash. Fans have been concerned that the relationship has become too close. In early 2023, there were reports of the WWE being sold to the Saudi Arabian Investment Fund.
While no sale has materialized, the WWE has faced fierce criticism for its apparent double standards in trying to promote women’s wrestling while cozying up with a regime that is so anti women’s rights. The WWE has even gone as far as not including any women wrestlers in its Saudi Arabian shows.
In its defense, the WWE has made efforts to include women. In 2019, both Alexa Bliss and Natalya travelled to Saudi Arabia to fight, but the bout was vetoed by the Arab nation’s government. Persistence paid off and the first women’s fight took place in Saudi Arabia in 2020, between Bayley and Naomi.
