This fall, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) merged with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to form TKO Group Holdings. This means that the entertainment companies that present theatrically staged fights have joined the same companies that televise “real” martial arts. Mixed martial arts.
WWE viewership has been on the decline in recent years, but it hasn't disappeared.Still watched by millions of people of all ages Living It airs weekly on USA Network. And what started as a televised phenomenon has found success online as well. WWE consistently ranks in the top 10 most subscribed YouTube channels in the world.
Months later, the merger raised questions about what impact the new company would have on what constituted America's “popular” media, and to what extent corporate control would influence it. WWE's continued existence and seamless transition to the Internet ecosystem holds promise that with more platforms, new technology, and a younger, more knowledgeable audience, independent and democratized media can flourish. Nevertheless, it is a reminder that corporate media is as powerful as ever.
Assessing corporatized media in 2024 means assessing the extent to which corporate snippets and clips are transferable, and the extent to which they circulate and stick. TikTok's popularity continues to grow at a time when TV and film studios are threatening to use artificial intelligence to replace human writers, and artists' work is being stolen by big tech companies' large language models. Media production is at a turning point, but young viewers continue to enjoy 24/7 access to algorithmically tailored media.
The decline in cable viewership is old news, but a 2023 Nielsen report details the dramatic decline, with broadcast and cable accounting for less than 50% of total TV usage in the United States. I am. With streaming and internet-based media now mainstream, these numbers are filling a TV-like gap in media consumption across the country, especially for young people.
By many standards, professional wrestling ranks as a very popular medium. WWE shows don't top the charts (that spot has always been given to Fox News shows), but they do top YouTube and Reddit. The subreddit r/SquaredCircle bills itself as Reddit's largest professional wrestling community, placing it in the top 1 percent of Reddit communities by size. SquaredCircle features discussion groups like “Kayfabe Sunday.” Kayfabe must be strictly observed. Treating the fictional world of wrestling as real, we discuss the microdrama and relative athleticism of wrestlers. What are the main rules? There are no criticisms (people admitting it's a scripted show) or filming (based on reality) comments.
The kayfabe approach stands in stark contrast to the gritty reality of many UFC programs, now part of the WWE umbrella, including the endlessly violent “Power Slap.” In this arena, violence is not only within the realm of convention, like wrestling (alongside sexual dialogue and pure theater), but is also required. The centrality of violence in both networks, whether scripted or “real,” emphasizes its usefulness as a business model. And housing this authentic violence alongside shows featuring controlled slapstick reflects the demands, and perhaps challenges, of today's entertainment. We want something gross and real, and we want it now, but we also want experiences like: select believe in what is real. As reality TV continues to grow in popularity, the latent desire for drama has escalated to the point of physical combat, reaching its logical end point. The latest entertainment giant provides a platform for the realization of aspirations by absorbing and shaping the most unpleasant aspects of American culture into fun and games.
The merger of WWE and UFC has significantly changed the format and direction of the sport itself after a long history in the wrestling business.in the book Ringside: A History of American Pro WrestlingAuthor Scott Beekman describes how wrestling promoters gained control after World War I, especially by employing “fake (or 'set-up') matches at the expense of legitimate matches.” It details how the rights were acquired and accumulated. In doing so, fans got increasingly theatrical thrills and wrestlers lost their powers. A wrestler's skill no longer determined success, and the required sportsmanship evaporated.
As wrestling became a televised spectacle, promoters began to direct match styles and character personas beyond the arena, which had previously been their primary concern. An in-arena crowd that gives instant and emphatic feedback is a completely different audience than a viewer at home, who might switch to the next channel the moment they get bored or irritated. In the era of cable television wrestling, the villains, or “heels,” also underwent a transformation. The unique characteristics of a particular place, often based on racial prejudice, have given way to blatant rule-breaking, flashy clothing, and flashy attire.
Heels now needed national recognition, and therefore needed to tap into broader national attitudes and sentiments. As Beekman details in his book, this often included overtly political characters. “Television brought the threat of communism directly into American homes. . . . The link between communism and “un-American” rule-breaking tactics proved so strong that it was eventually linked to the Cuban villain. It has also spread to people who are exposed to it. ” Russian figures like Ivan Koloff (aka the Russian Bear) and Vladimir Kozlov (aka the Moscow Mauler) fueled Cold War stereotypes and anxieties.
While politics influences storylines within WWE, real-world politics also influences the professional wrestling industry. In 2020, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared professional wrestling an essential service to allow WWE to continue filming during the coronavirus lockdown. And it would be disrespectful to omit former President Donald Trump's time in WWE. That included hosting WWE matches in his building, regular on-screen appearances, and a long-standing friendship with WWE co-founder Vince McMahon. WWE functions like any other big company because it receives preferential treatment from politicians.
Another reason for WWE's enduring popularity is that its plots and characters continue to react to the political climate.From the book “The World of Wrestling” by Roland Barthes mythology, he argues that professional wrestling, beyond spectacle, “aims above all to portray a purely moral concept: the concept of justice.” As social media forces users to consider what is true, audiences have become part-time umpires in disputes large and small. Comment sections and tweet threads are currently filled with lively debates about the serious, the mundane, and the absurd. Some of these arguments involve pressing issues worth raising, or they may be an expression of excess energy and frustration in situations that make us feel powerless. There is also.
WWE's version of wrestling embodies a collective obsession with justice, and its format verges on farce. The match is simultaneously detached from reality, and of course 'fixed', reflecting the bogeymen of the day, whether it's communism, immigration or elite snobbery in the form of reading Shakespeare. In a 2000 YouTube clip titled “Stone Cold Doesn't Like William Regal's Hamlet Reading,” Steve Austin's subversive character prepares the audience for a Hamlet reading. He got in the way of British wrestler Regal. hamlet Don't omit it. When Stone Cold came in, the announcer declared, “That's not Shakespeare!” That's a Texas rattlesnake! ” Stone Cold quickly punches him and then bravely walks away, showing that violence can be a quick and effective solution to snobbery.
in his book Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of SpectacleChris Hedges explores how these matches present a refracted mirror image of reality, succeeding not only in their signature qualities but also in America's ultimate obsession: their unerring ability to show winners and losers. It explains in detail what is going on.
Established truths, conventions, rules, and reliability mean nothing. Good and evil have no meaning. As in culture in general, the idea of a permanent personality or a permanent set of values has evaporated. It's all about winning. It's all about personal pain, revenge, hedonism, and revenge fantasies while inflicting pain on others.
In 2023, there is a style of narrativization that presents reality and all its socio-political dimensions as a foregone conclusion. There is comfort in the conflict between winners and losers. Brains full of conspiracies and brains bright and completely intact, brains worthy of pity and brains worthy of suffering.
As Beekman notes in his book, wrestlers themselves have always had precarious power, both financially and over their schedules and labor rights. In this respect, wrestlers are similar to American professional athletes, who are highly paid, have no control over their work, and often face serious health risks as a result of their work. Historically, promoters and show organizers have had near-absolute control, but now wrestlers are classified as independent contractors and are responsible for their own health insurance and travel expenses. In 2022, Jacobins reported that despite recognition of persistent and widespread exploitation, the path to unionization remained difficult.
The evolution of American professional wrestling from the “grappling arts” to what we see in today's WWE is a story of corporations and promoters working together, feuding, splitting, and crafting the rules for economic gain. be. Naturally, business interests and growth take precedence over considerations for the health and safety of individual wrestlers at all costs.in ringside, Beekman points out that “a horrifyingly high percentage of wrestlers die before the age of 40 due to hardcore matches and outrageous stunts and gimmicks,” and Vince McMahon, former CEO and executive chairman of TKO Group. , which it said showed a consistent and widespread lack of concern for talent safety. . By focusing on revenue, the company was able to churn out content and grow profits.
As basic as the storyline and theme is: Barbarians vs. Suits, the surface-level plot hides a dark underbelly. At the WWE office, McMahon was forced to resign as a result of sexual misconduct. As of January, McMahon is also under federal investigation for sex trafficking by a former employee who claims he provided her to a prominent wrestler for sexual purposes. Following this report, he resigned as chairman of TKO Group. Additionally, the merger itself has been the subject of litigation, with Mr. McMahon at the center. The complaint alleges that in order to avoid further investigation and maintain control of the company, McMahon forced the company's management to force a contract with the UFC for a lower amount.
Labor issues continued after the merger, with more than 100 employees being laid off at the time of the merger. In his book, Hedges characterizes the corporate theme of wrestling as follows: And the most powerful story tonight, and the most powerful story in all of North America, is about the economic ruin, despair, and enslavement of a terrified and abused working class to ruthless and tyrannical corporate employers. It is. ” His WWE triumph in the internet age shows that maximalism works in all areas, and that business consolidation and the ruthless pursuit of profit remain the secret to success in American entertainment.