Nick Khan isn’t buying the idea that WWE changed its WrestleMania plans because fans got loud online.
The WWE President addressed the long-running controversy surrounding Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, and The Rock during an appearance at the Sports Business Journal World Congress of Sports. For more than two years, many fans have believed WWE pivoted after backlash erupted when The Rock appeared to be taking Cody Rhodes’ WrestleMania spotlight.
According to Khan, that narrative isn’t true. While discussing the situation, Khan insisted the outcome seen at WrestleMania 40 was always the destination.
“By the way, the plan was always how it ended up in Philly two years ago. Sometimes it’s a predetermined outcome in wrestling. You want to throw the fans off. You want to let things bake and then boom, it ends up the way that we wanted it to end up. It never changed. That was just online rumors and gossip that we were changing. Never changed.”
The conversation then turned to whether WWE ever changes plans when fans begin attacking creative decisions on social media. Khan’s answer was immediate.
“We will never respond to social media criticism.”
He explained that WWE’s decision-making process revolves around business results, not online outrage.
“Again, if ratings are down, if revenue’s down, if relevancy’s down, it’s up to us.”
Khan went on to explain that WWE executives have been far more focused on building the company’s next generation of stars than monitoring social media complaints. He noted that he, Triple H, Shawn Michaels and other WWE leaders spent the past year discussing how to accelerate younger talent as top names such as John Cena, CM Punk and The Rock get older. The WWE President also made it clear that he views social media as only a small slice of the overall audience.
“I have never read X or Twitter as it relates to our business. And I’ve certainly never read it regarding me. That is a vocal minority.”
For fans who still believe the company changed course because of the “We Want Cody” movement, Khan’s comments leave little room for debate. From his perspective, WWE’s creative direction wasn’t altered by fan backlash, and social media criticism won’t dictate future plans either.
Whether fans agree with that philosophy is another story entirely, but Khan says WWE will continue measuring success through ratings, revenue and relevance rather than trending topics.
Do you believe WWE always planned for Cody Rhodes to finish his story at WrestleMania 40, or do you think fan backlash forced the company to change direction? Let us know in the comments and share your thoughts.
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