The Curious Case Of WWE & Professional Sports

I have written in the past that I love when WWE treats their product like a sport. I do, I love it, I am a huge sports fan at heart. In between the goofy segments that clearly have nothing to do wrestling, or the throw away comedy matches or situations, I thought I noticed WWE was starting to make an effort to bring back the competition and sport of wrestling. After looking back, that only seems to occur when Lesnar is around. Mainly because he isn’t a gimmick or creation, he’s a real, and you can’t do anything but put him in programs that come off like real fights for a title because that’s who he is. This really holds true after the recent survey I took regarding the WWE Network.

If you have the WWE Network, you probably received and email asking to take a brief survey of your TV or streaming service watching habits. I took it because I figured, hey what the hell… I pay for the service, I might as well contribute to try to make it as best as possible. I started to take the survey and noticed something that really bent me out of shape…..

Can you explain to me why I am not being asked if I watch any type of sports programming? I don’t care at all about Pawn Stars, The Voice, Family Feud, Breaking Bad (I know it’s the best show ever, but I’ve never seen one episode because IDGAF).. The only stuff I watch on occasion is the Adult Animation, which I have cut way back on over the years. You are telling me that your product is closer to Pawn Stars and Walking Dead than a sport? Really now? Didn’t pro wrestling have to be sports entertainment due to the shame that comes from the word wrestling?, or is it no longer sports entertainment now? I watch WWE and their shows because I like SPORTS! Sorry WWE, I LIKE SPORTS! No matter how much you try to pretend you aren’t wrestling and you are some awesome provider of entertainment for people ages 0-200, it doesn’t work like that. I worked in radio for many years, and no station I was on played rap, rock, metal, country and bluegrass, you know why? Because it would have failed in three minutes. You are a show based on stories that culminate in a 20×20 ring that is supposed to be a competition, scripted or not. Why are you so ashamed of this? Why? You can still make DVD movies and have Total Divas on the E! Network and still be true to yourself, I promise. Actually maybe a few more people would tune in if you are acting like a professional sport. My guess is you would rather be like American Idol than the NBA NFL MLB UFC NHL etc.. Why wouldn’t you want to try to tap into the sports world more? You got on ESPN for the Lesnar signing, keep it going! (no I don’t mean ESPN should show WWE highlights). Have you been unaware that the sports world is booming?. Tens of billions of dollars being generated by pro sports and you want to be Breaking Bad.

Listen, I get it. It is entertainment, it is a TV show and all of that, it’s scripted. I am also sure that a lot of people who watch wrestling believe that it is fair for WWE to be lumped in with all those shows and types of programs. I do understand that, I promise… But to ignore the best form of reality TV (sports) just because you don’t’ want to be lumped into a specific category is jackass dumb as Jim Ross would say.

What do you think? Comment below with your thoughts, opinions, feedback and anything else that was raised.

Twitter @ryanalessio