Undisputed WWE Champion “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes recently shared insights in a vlog that documents the company’s latest tour across Europe. He discussed WWE’s goals behind expanding its live event schedule in the region.
According to Rhodes, this expanded tour allows WWE to gauge fan interest across markets and identify which cities could host larger events, including Premium Live Events (PLEs). WWE has made it clear that some stops on this tour serve as auditions for future opportunities.
Rhodes said, “It’s a lot of work, but when you’re actually on the tour, you find yourself wanting more tour, and you can tell this is a good one because I think everyone here wants to kind of keep going. There’s a couple guys here who are used to this base, and then there’s people who are completely not used to it, and it’s fun to see them get with it, and it’s a reminder for us how we used to. But I mean, the whole thing’s different because when you’re in a new country, that’s a different responsibility. I think we’ve done really well by all the cities we’ve gone to, particularly feeling them and touching them and having that moment with them individually. Well, I think the biggest takeaway is it’s not a secret that some of these events are potentially to gauge places that WWE can go with a bigger setup, with a bigger show.”
On how fans across multiple countries have been trying to outdo one another in noise and atmosphere at events:
“A PLE like Clash, for example. I don’t think that’s a secret anymore, especially over here, these countries, to a degree, in a very positive manner, have been competing with each other on who’s the loudest. We get the sound meter, the decibel level, and what city could potentially this next big PLE be in. I think that it’s fun to be here on the ground when we’re first going to play, like Portugal yesterday, first going to places that we haven’t been in a long, long time, to see what the love is there, what the levels are. It’s a tribute to what WWE has become. Universally, there hasn’t been a place we’ve gone that hasn’t been losing their mind.”
You can check out Rhodes’ comments in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
