Do TOP Wrestlers Still Draw?
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Impact Wrestling editor for #Wrestlebuddy
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For many years you would often hear the phrases “this wrestler is a rating draw” or possibly “if they sign this person it’ll help ratings.” In the past that may very well have been true, however in the current climate of things does this still hold up? Do wrestlers themselves in today’s day and age still change ratings?
Over the past few months Impact Wrestling have had many wrestlers enter into the company either through the Forbidden Door or by signing new talent. This has made the product certainly more interesting by keeping you on your toes all the time. However at the same time with all of these incomings, the ratings have not budged in the slightest. This is not only when it comes to Impact Wrestling either, AEW recently bought in CM Punk, Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole at All Out. Yet their ratings have not risen in the slightest even though 3 big names have entered the company.
The needle not moving as we say can be for a number of reasons. Firstly it can be the fact that fans these days put the product over the wrestlers. If they don’t like the product then they won’t watch it no matter who is on it? If a wrestler they like appears on in a promotion they don’t like it won’t change anything as fans put the fact that they don’t like the promotion first (no matter who is on the show).
Secondly it could very well be due to how social media works in the current climate? Years ago you had to watch the show live to see what was going to happen and if you missed it then you would have missed it there was no going back. That’s why the ratings today are very lose as you can watch it whenever you want but they only count the live watchers. The social media platforms are great however they can hurt the ratings also.
When it comes to the ratings I myself do feel people look too far into them. They do only count the live ratings on the weekly show however there are many who unfortunately unable to do this whether it be due to personal engagements or not being able to get the product where you are (I myself have followed Impact since 2008 but have hardly ever been able to watch it live). With so many different places to be able to watch so many different wrestling shows these days, it feels like it would be so beneficial for the ratings to be stretched over a week. That way when the next episode airs you will get a true reading of viewers.
If we keep seeing wrestlers signed (who fans would consider big) and nothing changes ratings wise, what else could be a solution besides a long shot of changing the ratings system? The main thing that could be done is to simply get more eyes on the product. If you’re able to get as many eyes on the product when the show goes out live, then it will certainly start to raise your numbers. Impact Wrestling may well have caught onto this with their recent partnership with Global Sports Network Extreme, which has opened the door to 11 new countries across Europe who are now able to access Impact Wrestling on their TV.
This is a real plus from Impact to spread their wings and open their product to the international market, more eyes across the world can certainly open more doors such as tours, wrestlers from those countries and who says they stop there? Sometimes it’s not about quality, it’s about quantity but it’s how you use it. Impact seem like they’re on the correct track and who knows where the next few years could take us?
Are we slowly seeing the days of wrestlers drawing ratings disappear and is the way that wrestling evolved through social media over the years changed this? Do promotions need to alter their way of thinking buy looking at expanding more to get more eyes watching over getting big names to draw eyes to the product (I feel they should look at both personally)? Also as unlikely as it would be, would it be beneficial for the ratings to cover an entire week from one episode to the next, looking at the viewing figures on every platform? This will give a you true reading of everyone who watches the product?
Wrestling has evolved a lot in time, however the mindset away from the ring feels like it’s stayed pretty much the same and slightly trailing behind. Do we see any changes going forward? Some may say it’s unlikely, but anything is possible, it’s a wait and see.
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