The wrestling industry seems as popular as ever, with more tickets and merchandise sold and more conversations shifting to professional wrestling. Obstacles once thought impassible are now passable.
On the official WWE After The Bell podcast, current WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth “Freakin'” Rollins told Corey Graves:
“We are in the boom. You have to understand, there is another company that just put 80,000 people in a stadium for one night. A week before that, we sold 90,000 tickets to WrestleMania, broke the all-time gate on the first day. There are seven, eight different television programs of pro wrestling on a week, not counting premium live events or pay-per-views. The talent roster, across the board, is beyond what any generation has ever put forward. It’s very easy to look back at the past with rose-colored glasses and say, ‘but this, but that,’ I’m not taking anything away from the guys who paved the way, I stand on the shoulders of these guys. I don’t do what I do without the legends of our industry that have defined their own generations, but they should be proud, and I know they are, because they are the people who got us to where we are now. The business is bigger than it’s ever been, it makes more money than ever, it’s healthier. The future of the business is so bright and I’m so happy to be a part of it in any capacity. I can’t tell you the pride I take when I see young cats coming up and succeeding in our industry and pushing the thing forward or guys getting an opportunity to prove their worth, and they do because they are capable and seeing guys like Edge, who is close to deciding to hang it up one way or another, going out there and tear the house down with Sheamus in Toronto. On every level, it’s just firing. I can’t say enough about our industry right now. I’m so proud of it. It’s healthier physically than it’s ever been. The longevity for our generation is going to be better than the generation before us because we learned and got smarter. The business as a whole, the money, it’s all there. I can’t say enough, I really can’t.”
– Seth Rollins
Rollins is set to defend his title tonight at WWE Payback against Shinsuke Nakamura, while embroiled in the Money in the Bank briefcase drama within the Judgement Day stable.
Seth Rollins is one among many who are popular among the WWE faithful: Becky Lynch, Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn, and LA Knight all join him. The latter of which has proven to be a top merchandise seller. It would seem the competition with AEW, regardless of whoever believes they are viable rivals or not, has sparked a fire under the entertainment titan.
