6 Issues With WWE

What is going on with WWE at the moment?

After a hot streak, which culminated with Cody finishing his story and defeating Roman Reigns at WrestleMania XL, WWE seems to have hit a tricky moment.

Here are a few issues at the moment. Let’s do this!

1. TKO Ripping off fans

The fans are the bread and butter for all companies. WWE has been around for decades and they have a strong, passionate fanbase. But since TKO came in to take over, they have been creeping further and further into ripping their fans off as much as humanly possible.

WrestleMania took place in Vegas this year and the ticket prices were a constant sore point for fans. Reports of tickets costing THOUSANDS, yes THOUSANDS of dollars. What on earth are they thinking? Fans were reporting that they were paying hundreds for nosebleed seats (basically, where the wrestlers look like ants).

This hasn’t just been limited to the showcase of the immortals though. Backlash France was a similar story. Event after event, Triple H was confidently announcing to the press and fans in the arenas that this was a new record gate (amount of money made from ticket sales). This is not something fans want to hear and are certainly not going to cheer for this.

According to some reports, fans were paying thousands for the ultimate WrestleMania experience, where they would attend meet and greets, walk down the ramp and then sit in the first few rows. This dude paid $38,000 for the privilege, (check out the video below, it’s a great watch).

Continuing the theme of ripping off their fanbase, how about this Lily doll from WWE shop? One lucky customer said how this doll was tiny when it arrived and it only cost a cool $45. For a doll.

TKO

Just a matter of weeks ago, TKO’s own president said that the company were following the ‘dynamic pricing’ model that has been so controversial as of late. So the higher the demand, the higher the ticket prices will go. He said the following:

“WWE has just gotten into the business of dynamic pricing and having dynamic pricing tools. And keep in mind, some of that growth … is going from 300 WWE events down to 200.” He continued, “The scarcity is creating demand and the demand is giving us more pricing power.”

Vince Russo chimed in on the issue of TKO ripping off the fans when he spoke on the Legion of Raw podcast. He said the following:

“It’s not even WWE greedy; it’s TKO greedy, it’s Endeavor greedy, and it’s Ari Emanuel greedy. I do not believe if Vince McMahon were in place, you would be paying these prices for tickets.

I do not believe that because I swear I can tell you one thing: working for Vince McMahon, Vince really did care about the fans and the fanbase, and Vince was not looking to rip off his fanbase. So it goes beyond the WWE, man. It’s TKO, it’s Endeavor, it’s Ari Emanuel. It goes above and beyond the WWE.”

Will ticket prices improve for fans? The likely answer is…not anytime soon. WWE have just announced that New Orleans is no longer hosting next years WrestleMania. Why? Because they made a ton of money in Vegas this year so they are heading to Vegas again in 2026.

Money talks. But fans will get fed up at some point and then it’s a hard road back.

2. R Truth & The Releases

So releases happen in all wrestling companies. It’s just a part of the business. They can happen when a business is struggling (it happens), or simply when a wrestler is seen to be not drawing for the company and it’s time to part ways.

What is so ridiculous in the R Truth situation is this – WWE is making more money now than ever before. Billion-dollar Netflix, multi-million dollar TV deals, the highest ticket prices in history, sell-out shows, high merch sales (errm $45 dollar Lilly dolls everyone!) and they go and release a company stalwart, who is LOVED by all backstage and has been with the company since 2008 (2000 if you count his first stint before going to TNA for a few years).

Wrestlers can certainly be released for reasons stated above. But with Truth, he was literally in the main event for the WWE Title the weekend before this was announced! He was regularly featured in segments and was mega-over with the crowd. In workplaces, there are just some people who you don’t fire and in WWE, I feel Truth would be one of them. It feels like WWE has lost its soul with decisions like these.

3. The Stories

Building up from Cody’s return to Cody finishing his story, it was all about long-term storytelling. There seemed to be several story beats to different storylines. CM Punk/Seth Rollins would intertwine with Drew McIntryre and then McIntyre with Priest etc etc you get my point. This certainly makes the stories more exciting, knowing that they can flow in several different directions.

What has happened?

The main event scene now is dire. Jey Uso was given his shot at the big-time (which I don’t mind one bit – they need to create new main-event stars) but his title reign has come to an end in under two months. Then there is Cena (who I will speak about more later). There is the tag team division, which is absolutely dire on Raw. Then there was the decision to have the TLC match for the World Tag Team Titles on Smackdown when WrestleMania was calling out for it. There are weeks and weeks between seeing champions on shows, let alone defending their title (Iyo Sky anyone?)

Some of these decisions seem baffling and it’s almost too easy to fix. Yet baffling decisions continue. What’s going on Triple H? We need to understand. Don’t we all fantasy book? We look at an upcoming PPV/PLE and then work our way either towards it, or backwards from it and book out the matches in a story. Why isn’t it happening in WWE now? There doesn’t seem to be a plan at the moment. The Money in the Bank event is a prime example of this. Four matches were announced and the Dominik Mysterio match was only added last minute due to the fan backlash.

4. 5 match ples

There has to be a happy medium? WWE is sitting at 5 match events. AEW is sitting at around 10. Surely, around 6 or 7 is going to be the sweet spot? 5 match cards are hurting WWE a lot at the moment. I get the idea that sometimes less is more. I get that. But we aren’t getting 5 quality matches. We are getting (in the main) average matches with a ton of advertising. What was the last PLE you can genuinely say was great?

Some may say Elimination Chamber. That was March 1st. We are now half-way through June. With the talent at their disposal, it should not be like this. They should be putting on great PLEs EVERY month. (Oh and the Chamber was a 4 match card).

5. John Cena

John Cena returned for one last run in 2025. The dates are ticking down. And he is here to ruin wrestling. Do you think he is doing a good job?

The heel turn that we wanted in, what…late 2000s? Well it happened at Elimination Chamber in 2025. I loved it. It was not expected at all and that’s when I love wrestling. When I’m shocked. When I see something I haven’t seen before (or for a long time).

The only problem with this is, the follow-up. Where has Rock gone? Why did Cena align with the Rock? It happened, and then nothing happened. It feels like Cena is trying too hard to be a bad guy. He has been the good guy for so long that it must be difficult. He has been so successful as a good guy, beating literally everyone in front of him. But now, he has to resort to kicking people in the nuts and hitting them with the belt to beat them? To beat Truth? It doesn’t add up. And the fans aren’t buying into it.

6. The Ads

The advertising has hit new heights. “WE WANT (SLIMJIM) TABLES!!”

We also have ladders sponsored now as well. Where is this going to end? The ring mat has been covered in sponsors. As well as the turnbuckle pads. And the giant Prime bottles at ringside. The constant plugs on commentary. And the dancing Dude Wipes person in a suit, wandering around Allegiant Stadium at WrestleMania. Oh don’t get me started on WrestleMania. It was one walking, sponsor of a weekend. With a little wrestling thrown in.

Let’s bring it back around

So come on WWE. You have been red hot through two years and now you need to get your shit together and bring it back around. For your fans. There is so much potential here to blow any competition completely out of the water. But don’t treat your fans like cash cows.

Start booking long-term stories that make sense. That the fans can get behind. There is still so much good stuff but it just feels like a little bit of soul is missing at the moment. I really enjoyed Raw this past Monday and there is so much to build on.

Let’s start with those ticket prices please! Before we price out the everyday fan for good.