Name: 職業摔角什麼時候變得這麼賺錢了？ (When Did Pro Wrestling Become So Profitable?)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T09:54:22.000Z
Duration: 5 min 39 s
Description: 【看影片學英語】數萬部 YouTube 影片，搭配英漢字典即點即查，輕鬆掌握單字發音與用法，長久累積看電影不必再看字幕。

In the world of professional wrestling, there's something called a "Swerve."

ANNOUNCER: "HULK HOGAN HAS BETRAYED WCW!"

基礎被動語態

Some examples: These tag team partners are called "Baby-faces", or the good guys.

Then one of them swerves, when he super-kicks his tag-team partner in the head, quickly

assuming the role of the bad guy, or what the wrestling world calls the "heel".

Or a match is almost lost, when… what's that?

The superstar wrestler appears out of nowhere sprinting down the aisle to save the match.

So it should go as no surprise that World Wrestling Entertainment, known as the WWE,

the most popular brand of sports entertainment in the world is prepared for any swerves that

So here's the story of how the WWE learned to see the swerve coming.

So I spoke to Bloomberg reporters Felix Gillette...

Gillette: I'm a writer for Bloomberg News for the global business team.

Bhasin: And I'm the U.S. luxury reporter at Bloomberg.

To find out exactly how the WWE is positioning itself for an all-out global invasion.

Which starts with a massive change to their lucrative pay-per-view model.

Gillette: WWE basically pioneered the pay-per-view model on cable.

I remember as a kid when the pay-per-view events came up all of our friends would scramble

around and try and get one of the parents to, to pay for it.

Gillette: They saw a little bit sooner than some of the other entertainment brands that

where this whole thing was moving was away from cable and satellite television, and towards

Gillette: They made this risky decision in essence cannibalizing that pay-per-view model,

And after some early turbulence it's working.

Roughly 1.5 million people are paying a $9.99 a month

for the WWE app, making it the fifth-most popular streaming OTT service.

This "adapt or die" approach is in the WWE's DNA.

Over the past 30 years the company always seems to think two steps ahead.

Bhasin: WWE was at its most threatened when Ted Turner took them on with WCW

Which stands for World Championship Wrestling.

And back then, the WCW was winning the ratings war.

Bhasin: WWE had changed its product from a family-friendly

kind of cartoonish style to this really raw,

with violent, outrageous reality inspired plotlines and aggressive personas.

Bhasin: And they won that fight against Ted Turner.

The early 2000s ushered in an era of testosterone-driven programming aimed at

Bhasin: Bra and panties matches and people smashing each other over the head with like

Until 2015 when WWE fans started a hashtag #GiveDivasAChance.

Since then, WWE hired 40 more female wrestlers.

And that growing cast of female characters was part of a much larger plan.

Bhasin: They started to try to appeal to a broader set of people.

Gillette: Let's attract more female fans.

And after we've attracted more female fans, let's attract more international fans

They're broadening their base and they're doing that in large part to make it

Gillette: They're trying to build up their fan base in China, they're trying to build

up their fan base in Europe, they you know already have a pretty good fan base in India.

Bhasin: India is a place where they already have an established wrestling culture.

Because of the gigantic Indian wrestler The Great Kali.

While the WWE set a revenue record in 2017, only 30% of it is coming from overseas audience.

And there's one person whose responsibility is to grow that number.

Bhasin: The buck eventually stops at Vince McMahon no matter what's happening within

Gillette: Yeah, he's a very controlling guy, and it's a very, very, very tightly scripted

Bhasin: And that goes down the board to big stars' entrance music,

So with a CEO like McMahon always planning two moves ahead

and an aggressive push into multiple international markets, a big issue... is money.

Gillette: It's hard to do all those things simultaneously without committing a huge amount

And that's where the WWE becomes an attractive company for buyers.

Gillette: Potentially one thing that could happen with WWE is they could benefit by being

acquired by a bigger technology or telecom company.

An Amazon, or a Facebook, or a 21st Century Fox.

So with a market cap of $2.8 billion, the advantage of owning 100% of their own content,

and a rapid consolidation spreading throughout the entertainment industry, it looks like

the WWE is well positioned, even if there are swerves ahead.

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職業摔角什麼時候變得這麼賺錢了？ (When Did Pro Wrestling Become So Profitable?)

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