‘The Money Is Just Unbelievable’

Few stars are as respected in professional wrestling as The Undertaker, and even he concurs that he’s amazed at WWE’s astronomical financial surge in recent times. Looking back on the promotion’s development over the years from cult favorite to international entertainment giant, the Hall of Famer matter-of-factly spoke on the “Club520” podcast on the state of the business.Â

“It’s absolutely nuts,” Undertaker said. “To watch the business itself grow into what it is now with all these Netflix deals, it’s just like, you couldn’t even envision that. Like, we were just trying to sell out a venue, sell out an arena, and now with Netflix, they’re streaming our pay-per-views, they’re streaming “Raw,” it’s just crazy.”

That is stated as WWE is surfing the wave of record TV and streaming rights agreements. The company earlier this year secured a multi-billion-dollar agreement with ESPN bringing top-shelf WWE programming such as WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and others to ESPN’s streaming service. It’s a milestone step, broadening WWE’s reach in mainstream sporting media.

And it’s not only ESPN. As Taker mentioned, WWE’s deal with Netflix places “Raw” on the world’s largest streaming platform. Netflix’s global reach allows WWE the opportunity to add tens of millions of new homes to its base of customers, making it a worldwide growth opportunity for the company on a scale unimaginable before. “The Deadman” jokes about how he wishes he could cash in on some of this success.Â

“And the money, oh my God. You know, I wouldn’t change anything in my career, but man, I wish I would’ve come along a little bit later.”

WWE, once driven by pay-per-view buys and cable subscriptions, now lives and thrives on billion-dollar contracts. What is certain is that WWE’s ascent to giant media status is now no longer a doubt. As The Undertaker so aptly summarized, the magnitude of today’s success is “unbelievable.”

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the “Club520” podcast and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for transcription.

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