>>18537072
To be clear, I'm not defending Cornette here.
I don't care for the "wrestling" in modern day WWE. Neither do many other people. And most of the wrestling outside of WWE now is dimeless, indy crap that will never draw.
I'm close to not watching anymore, frankly. And let's not pretend that WWE's success is because it's putting on a product that's hotter than ever - it has a loyal following that it entertains and it's found ways to optimize the profits it draws based on that viewership in ways it had never done in the past. I haven't seen any evidence that it's grown since the 90s - it just peeled off the casual fans and kept the die-hards who will stick around no matter what.
That's not criticism. I'm all for business and making money, especially when it involves a product people dearly love. But let's not pretend that making more money than ever is the same as more popular than ever or even as good as ever.