For about three nights per week and generally on the weekends, WWE has eyeballs glued to the display to see what’s going to occur subsequent on RAW, SmackDown and NXT.
If Cody Rhodes’ loss to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39 and the returns of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and CM Punk over the past 12 months have been any indication, something might occur on this planet’s No. 1 professional wrestling promotion.
Numerous it has to do with a frontrunner most professional wrestling followers received’t get to see on display except they flip to a enterprise channel on TV. The man has helped steer the ship to viewership progress with key demographics on the corporate’s flagship reveals “Friday Night SmackDown” and “Monday Night Raw” and its developmental model “NXT.”
WWE President Nick Khan arrives on the crimson carpet earlier than the 2023 ESPYS on the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles July 12, 2023. (Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports)
The credit score goes to Nick Khan.
Khan is an outsider in terms of professional wrestling. He was a high-ranking govt at Creative Artists Agency earlier than becoming a member of WWE management. And he was named president of WWE after the corporate closed its $21 billion merger with UFC.
Rhodes was amongst those that praised Khan.
“I grew up in the industry, so I’m privy to any time an executive from the outside world — I don’t mean this in a negative connotation — a civilian, a non-wrestler steps into the world of wrestling and sports entertainment,” Rhodes advised Fox News Digital in a latest interview. “If you look at Jim Hurd in the ’90s, that guy said he managed Pizza Huts, but I’m positive he couldn’t even do that. He was detrimental and terrible and wanted Ric Flair to cut his hair.
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“Whereas, on the opposite facet of the spectrum, Nick is a good instance as a result of he’s a wrestling fan. This man was an usher at WrestleMania in Las Vegas. He noticed Bret Hart and Hulk Hogan and Yokozuna. He labored himself up from the underside. He didn’t begin with cash. His connection to the business is present, and he’s modern. He’s not misplaced up to now. He’s not wanting thus far into the long run. I feel that’s one of many issues that helps him enormously.”
Cody Rhodes hits the ring at WrestleMania Goes Hollywood at SoFi Stadium April 2, 2023, in Inglewood, Calif. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Rhodes said what stuck out to him immediately was when he returned to WWE in 2022 at WrestleMania 38 in Dallas. He told Fox News Digital there was “some confusion” initially on what his nickname — “The American Nightmare” — was at first. It was the antithesis of “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, Cody’s late father.
“The one individual to actually wave the banner for me and beat the drum was Nick Khan,” Rhodes said. “I might say him after which (Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque) have been my most vital teammates I’ve had since returning. But Nick was the one actually to inform the highest brass at WWE on the time what ‘The American Nightmare’ is who Cody Rhodes has change into and what he can do for WWE.”
Rhodes was far from the only major return WWE has seen over the last two years.
The Rock not only returned but inserted himself into the main event of WrestleMania 40 on night one, even though he was hoping for a night two showdown with Reigns.
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Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, right, with WWE President Nick Khan during a ceremony announcing Johnson has joined the board of directors for TKO at the New York Stock Exchange Jan. 23, 2024, in New York City. (Michelle Farsi/Zuffa LLC)
Johnson spoke glowingly of Khan in a 2021 Instagram post with the executive and his sister as Khan entered the WWE realm.
“In the mid 1980’s, Nick Khan, his sister Nahnatchka Khan and myself used to run round as youngsters in Honolulu, Hawaii each month when my grandmother would promote her professional wrestling reveals at our native enviornment,” he wrote on Instagram
“As youngsters we LOVED the professional wrestling enterprise and as adults, our love and respect for the wrestling enterprise has change into boundless.
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“Now years later…. Nick is WWE PRESIDENT. Life is unpredictable. Amazing. Here we all are.”
The two have been noticed collectively round New Year’s earlier this yr earlier than The Rock shocked the WWE Universe on the “Day 1” episode of “Monday Night Raw.”
The Rock was most likely extra more likely to come again to WWE than the Second City Saint often known as CM Punk. But Punk shocked the complete business when he confirmed up on the finish of “Survivor Series: War Games.”
WWE stars Jey Uso and CM Punk smile throughout a sport between the Calgary Flames and the Chicago Blackhawks on the United Center March 26, 2024, in Chicago. (Getty Images)
The pop from the gang was so loud it was possible heard throughout Lake Michigan.
Punk stated in an interview on “The MMA Hour” with Ariel Helwani it was Khan who reached out to him round Thanksgiving.
“I got a call from Nick Khan, and he was just like, ‘Hey, we want to talk to you.’ And I was like, ‘Cool. (I’m) on my way to the gym, and I have this coming up. CFFC, I’ll be back.’ ‘Cool, you want to talk Monday?’ ‘Great.’
“So, it was the week of Thanksgiving. I spoke to him Monday. … The name, I’m all the time so nervous about pulling the curtain again on stuff, however I feel the decision was extra about, ‘Hey, we need to discuss you coming again. We’d love you for Royal Rumble. They assumed that I most likely had some form of non-compete or one thing like that and have been form of floored once I was like, ‘No man, I’m able to go. Let’s do it.”
Levesque may have said it best when he addressed fans at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for WrestleMania 40 kickoff. It’s a “new period” in WWE. And it’s one with Khan and Levesque leading the charge.
“I’ve heard it coined because the Renaissance Era, and I actually like that outlook on it,” Rhodes told Fox News Digital. “For me, as a wrestler, I’m most excited that we not have to face within the shadow of the Attitude Era due to the final two years we’ve performed higher enterprise than they ever did — they usually did distinctive, unbelievable, superb enterprise. I’m solely making comparisons on a black and white stage, {dollars} and cents, when it comes to what WWE’s been in a position to do over the past two years.
Cody Rhodes wrestles Roman Reigns throughout WrestleMania Goes Hollywood at SoFi Stadium April 2, 2023, in Inglewood, Calif. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
“I mentioned Renaissance because of all the things we’re trying, the changing of the programming and also the characters. They now appeal differently. Every year has its signature thing. There was Hulkamania — eat your vitamins and say your prayers. There was the Attitude Era — the (Jerry) Springer-type crash TV.
“Now, we’ve got a extra, reach-across-the-aisle and connect-to-the-audience-type relatable superstars. We nonetheless have bigger than life, little question, however that’s all going into this very, like I stated, Renaissance Era.”
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