WrestleMania 42 Accused Of Being 'Soulless' By Fans
WWE is enjoying a level of mainstream attention that it could have only dreamed of 20 years ago. And yet, their WrestleMania 42 event - the biggest wrestling event of the year - was received with mixed reviews at best and downright reviled at worst.
For longtime sports commentator Ariel Helwani, the main problem with WrestleMania this past weekend was that it felt "soulless." On the latest edition of his show, he complained that the show felt overly advertised and filled to the brim with product placement to the point where it just doesn't feel good to the fans anymore.
"It feels soulless," Helwani said, "And they have to realize, because I know there are very smart people involved there. They're not new to TV and they're not new to sports. They have to realize how to get the soul back into their product. It does not exist. And I thought it was very apparent on Saturday and Sunday. It does not exist."
Placing the Blame
Helwani placed a large chunk of the blame on TKO Group Holdings, the sports-entertainment company that owns both WWE and UFC. He believes that TKO just doesn't understand wrestling well enough to inject the "soul" into WrestleMania that it had for decades.
"When everything is for sale, it gets lost. It gets lost. It was upsetting to see. That did not feel like WrestleMania. That did not feel like the showcase of the immortals. That did not feel like the biggest night in pro wrestling. Didn't feel like the Super Bowl. Didn't feel like the World Series. Didn't feel like the National Championship. It didn't feel like that," Helwani added.
"And I don't know if it's because there are people at the very top of TKO who aren't wrestling fans and don't understand the history. They have gone from nothing to overboard. There's got to be an in-between there. There's got to be an in-between where the soul of the company and the product remains to where you're still benefitting and making money off of it but you're not spitting in the face of the fans."
Fans had no shortage of complaints about what the problems are either:
"WWE continues to become more and more of an advertising and marketing company and less of a wrestling company," one user on X lamented.
"Paying thousands to attend a 4 hour show and getting less than 2 hours of performance, disgusting really," another remarked.
"Was not that good! Couple match's were good but didn't feel like wrestlemania. What the hell with all the commercials? Wasn't the reason we pay for PPV or streaming, so we don't have to watch commercials? More advertising than wrestling! Horrible!" a third wrote.
There are, of course, fans who vehemently disagree and felt that both nights of the Showcase of the Immortals was great from start to finish. But there certainly seems to be growing distaste for the product as the months and years go by.
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