Last year Wrestle Mania (WM 27) was a major success for the WWE, one thing Vince McMahon could boast about his company. Wrestle Mania is known as the Show of Shows, the grandest stage of them all. Wrestle Mania to the WWE is what the Superbowl is to NFL. Some pay-per-view of the WWE can disappoint, but one thing we are certain is that Wrestle Mania will always deliver. With 1,120,000 buys, WM 27 is the 2nd most purchased WWE PPV events second only to 2007 WrestleMania 23 which grosses 1,250,000 buys. Personally, the phenomenal number of the number of buy can be explained by 3 important reasons. Firstly, the Rock hosted WM 26. It was the appearance of the Rock for the first time in over 7 years. His appearance must have drawn in a large number of old audience and some mainstream viewers (who may not be wrestling fans) who want to see Dwayne The Rock Johnson in a WWE event. Secondly, credit was given to Snooki who wrestled in a mixed tag team match. Thirdly, the involvement of Stone Cold Steve Austin and other WWE superstars must be a factor for sure. WrestleMania 28 is just around the corner and the match cards is shaping to be the best and most epic WrestleMania of all time with the main event of The Rock vs John Cena; CM Punk vs Chris Jericho for the WWE Championship, Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship; and if you think of WrestleMania, one man will definitely comes to your mind – The Undertaker and he will wrestle Triple H in the most brutal match in the WWE: HELL IN CELL. WM 28 looks like it will be a phenomenal PPV. However, having said that, I still feel doubt that whether WM 28 will surpass 1 million buy, let alone the most purchased WWE PPV. Two reasons are behind my doubt.
The first reason is that the Rock appears to be not the same rating drawer like he was last year. Last year WM 27 people were excited to see their Attitude Era hero came back for the first time in 7 years. People were hyped to see what the Rock would do. However, the Rock does not seem to be the same larger-than-life man. His return to the ring and team up with John Cena at Survivor Serie 2011 was a disappointment from the business point of view. Survivor Serie drew about 300.000 buys. With the PPV hyped with the Rock first ever in-ring action, the buy rate did not significantly increase. Recent Raw episode featuring the Rock and Cena did not boost the rating dramatically. Last week’s episode only gained 3.2 rating which was a worry for the WWE. The rating should be at 3.9 or slightly over 4. Are people still interested in the Rock coming back or people have lose interest in the product because of the 1 year feud which the heat is over. I am really skeptical about this.
The second reason is the lack of celebrity for WM 28. WWE usually invites celebrity to the Grandest Stage of them all with the likes of Floyd Money Mayweather, Sumo Wrestler Akebono, Donald Trump, Snooki and so on. However, the big name celebrity is yet to be released. We are not certain whether WM 28 will feature some mainstream celebrity.
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