With ESPN raising the price of its app’s Unlimited plan, I’m reminded of WWE’s first premium live event on ESPN’s service last September, Wrestlepalooza.
Following the event, Mark Shapiro, president and COO of TKO, told The Main Event with Andrew Marchand in November that WWE’s parent company was looking to move pastwhat founder Vince McMahon created.
Said Shapiro:
“Right now, a lot of our PLEs were created by Vince McMahon. We need to get in the business of taking that torch and moving past that, and Nick
(Khan) and Triple H created Wrestlepalooza, which is the launch event for our new ESPN deal, which did incredibly well and may turn into a superfranchise. Not to mention from a merch standpoint, I don’t need to tell you, securing the I.P. rights and then selling merch at Wrestlepalooza, let’s just say it was a real winner…”
September is right around the corner, and Wrestlepalooza 2 isn’t on the calendar. Looking ahead to October, there’s Money in the Bank. Survivor Series follows in November, and announcements on Crown Jewel and the John Cena Classic could be coming at any time.
But a sequel to a show that saw Brock Lesnar annihilate John Cena and made children cry?
Not a peep.
Maybe that’s a good thing, considering the event drew mixed reviews and earned a C grade from ESPN.
As potential superfranchises go, it appears Wrestlepalooza is headed for the same fate as another one-hit PLE, Great Balls of Fire — an event with a colorful name and a suspiciously crude-looking logo.
