Over the course of WWE’s long history, there have only been a couple of times the promotion has seemingly stepped out of its area of interest and into the mainstream. For a lot of, at once is one among those times, because the promotion has seen hikes in popularity, attendance, and exposure over the past few years, largely because of deals with Netflix and the infusion of celebrities into the product like Logan Paul, Bad Bunny, Pat McAfee, and others.
This has led to conversations regarding WWE’s place in popular culture for the time being, especially as compared to other high points just like the Attitude Era of the 90s and the primary wrestling boom within the 80s. On “Busted Open Radio” last week, Dave LaGreca pondered if WWE was more mainstream now than ever, something that two-time Hall of Famer Bully Ray, a product of the Attitude Era, wasn’t entirely on board with.
“I get where you are coming from, and Mark [Henry] brings up the purpose of the Bad Bunny’s and the Pat McAfees,” Bully said. “I feel pro wrestling has welcomed numerous outsiders in to broaden the scope of who we reach.
“Like, we all the time discuss getting recent eyes on a product. I’m sure there have been a s**t load of Bad Bunny fans on the market who had never watched pro wrestling that began to observe pro wrestling because Bad Bunny was on. Or perhaps a McAfee person, or especially a Logan Paul guy, who’s got a gazillion followers who won’t have been wrestling fans, but might now tune in for Logan Paul. Back within the Attitude Era though, I felt that wrestling was cool and that it spilled out into the mainstream, versus WWE bringing within the mainstream now, to thus perpetuate its coolness.”
When you use any of the quotes in this text, please credit “Busted Open Radio” and supply a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
