WWE has been trying to lock down the Latino market for years.
Since the unfortunate passing of Eddie Guerrero, there’s been somewhat of a void in regards to that demographic. Rey Mysterio helped somewhat, but once Rey left the picture then WWE has struggled with the Latino market.
The company has tried on numerous occasions to cater to the Latinos, but it just hasn’t panned out the way they want it to. Why? It’s a combination of plenty of things; not pushing enough Latin stars, being unable to sustain a push that successfully connected with the Latino market, or even barely understanding the culture beyond the surface.
Former WWE Intercontinental Champion Carlito called the company out for their lack of knowledge regarding the Latino market on Molusco TV, and he highlights how limited the company’s thinking is when it comes to that demographic (Transcript courtesy of ringsidenews).
“What I’ve been saying for years — even back when I told Vince — WWE doesn’t know the Latino market. People think because Vince is the owner, he’s in control of everything, but even he told me, ‘That’s the problem. We don’t know Latinos. We don’t know the culture.’ WWE thinks if it’s Mexico, it’s just Mexicans. If it’s Puerto Rico, it’s only Puerto Ricans. They don’t get how it all mixes, how diverse our culture really is, especially in wrestling.
They still don’t understand the Latino audience. They are ignorant of the Latino experience. I think they thought in Mexico, Mexicans only care about Mexicans, and Puerto Ricans only care about Puerto Ricans. They don’t understand the connection Latinos have.”
Carlito says that he tried to explain to them, but it was still out of his hands. He feels that his presence in AAA could’ve helped the business, but that decision simply wasn’t in his control.
“We are very regional in that sense. They’re ignorant of the Latino market because they don’t have anyone who writes Latino, they don’t have Latino bosses. They don’t really understand the market.
I tried to explain it to them, but it was out of my control. If it had happened, it would have been huge. Forget if it was with Dominik or not — it would have been something big.
With AAA, I speak the language, they know me, I worked with them a couple of times. But like I said, it was out of my control, so what can we do?”
It’s not clear how WWE is doing currently with the Latino market. Their past two AAA shows have been a success, so it’s possible that WWE is finally starting to grow in that area. Feel free to check out the entire hour long interview though it’s completely in Spanish.