Pro Wrestling seems hotter than ever. I am East Indian, so I grew up watching WWE (WWF as it was called back then) with the fam jam. I still remember as a kid sneaking up late at night to watch Raw at 9 pm (didn’t know it actually aired earlier on the west coast). I also remember elementary school. Teachers had to ban the DX “Two words”, because every boy was crossing their arms to create the shape of an X at their crotch. You were either doing something DX related, or wearing NWO merchandise. You were either team WWE or team WCW,
That was the attitude era. I don’t think we see this kind of stuff in elementary school anymore. WWE toned down their product, to a more PG-13 level. It is definitely a more child friendly product. A lot of us who grew up in the attitude era were just missing that 14A content.
Enter AEW. There have been other wrestling promotions before AEW came to the scene, but none of them had the financial backing Tony Khan, the owner of AEW, has. In fact, Tony Khan’s net worth is estimated to be around $7 Billion, much more than Vince McMahon, the owner of the WWE. Financially, Khan and AEW have enough money to challenge the WWE.
AEW’s product is more appealing to those who grew up watching the attitude era. I have to admit, the wrestling is wild. Some of the matches I have seen have been top class. A few hardcore wrestling enthusiasts might hate this high flying, fast paced, blood and gore type matches. But hey, this is supposed to be entertainment.
I think it is a great time to be a wrestling fan. Just enjoy it. With the competition, it means companies need to put out a better product. It brings the best out of everyone. Lot of surprises for the fans too as certain wrestlers could jump ship. Cody Rhodes right now is the big talk of the industry.
WWE has gotten some bad rep from the fans recently. The product hasn’t been too great but has some shining moments. Brock Lesnar, Ronda Rousey and Roman Reigns continue to be the big stars. What has irked the fans is WWE releasing talent even when they are making record profits. They did so too during the pandemic. Not the best for image, and talent are certainly showing their displeasure on podcasts and other wrestling shows. Releasing superstars has led to rumors that WWE might be making the balance sheet attractive for a potential sale.
In the first week of February, WWE released Q4 2021 earnings. Their best ever. WWE announced record revenues of over $1 billion during its Q4 2021 and annual earnings.
WWE corporate had no shortage of headlines during a year where more than 80 WWE Superstars were released from their contracts in addition to steep front-office cuts as the promotion sought cost-cutting and profitability. WWE’s business strategy since Nick Khan became its Chief Revenue Officer has led to ubiquitous speculation of a possible sale. Khan, who recently inked an international distribution deal with Disney, recently confirmed that WWE has taken calls about a potential sale, though he continues to insist the promotion is not actively seeking a sale.
With live events back on the dockett, WWE is raking in the big money. Let’s not forget about the big payouts from the shows in Saudi Arabia. Pro wrestling is more popular than ever,
WWE’s largest event, Wrestlemania, is quickly approaching. Celebrities such as Jackass’ Johnny Knoxville and social media sensation Logan Paul are part of the two day card. Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns is the big main event, alongside Charlotte Flair vs Ronda Rousey.
WWE stock has held up relatively well given the broader stock market sell off. The company is profitable, pays a dividend, and continues to bring in consistent viewers.
Over on our discord channel, we played the WWE stock when we were testing the crucial support at $48. This zone has been a huge support zone going back to February 2021. We have now bounced four times from this zone in 1 year. It looked bad before earnings, but record revenues provided a huge bounce from this support.
I have interim support at $53.50. If we were to drop back down, I would love to buy the dip at this level. $62 to the upside is the major resistance. A close above would set us up for a rally back over $70.
I will be watching WWE in the next few months because the stock tends to get a nice pop on the earnings after Wrestlemania. The fans may not enjoy the product, but the business machine that is WWE continues to chug along. Add in the element of a buyout by Disney, and we might have a monster mover. Technically, and fundamentally, the company is in a great position.
