Stephanie McMahon Suggests That WWE Audiences Ultimately Decide Which Superstars Get Pushed/Buried
During a new interview, Stephanie McMahon explains which factors could lead to plans being changed in the buildup to WrestleMania, suggesting that the company is ultimately most influenced by the crowds...
Of course, we already know that's how it's supposed to work, but it's also abundantly clear that it doesn't always go down that way (*cough* Roman Reigns *cough*).
During an appearance at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit, Stephanie McMahon was asked what factors could contribute to WWE changing plans for major events like WrestleMania, and replied that the WWE Universe is the main factor in deciding which Superstars feature in the top storyines as 'Mania approaches.
“Our audience tells us what they love, what they don’t like and worse, what they don’t care about. And you have to be listening, and in WWE, yes, we do, we pivot on the fly. It’s an advantage that we’re live. We do set our storylines out a year in advance, WrestleMania being our Super Bowl and then we program backwards, but things happen. The audience might not be invested in a character that we think they will be invested in for whatever reason. There could be an injury that happens, because we really are an incredible athletic event as well. Anything can happen, so that ability to pivot and twist is really important."
Again, while this does happen a lot of the time, it simply isn't always the case. If WWE, ie, Vince McMahon, sets his mind on someting then that's that - no matter how loudly audiences happen to cheer or boo a particular wrestler.
What do you guys make of Stephanie's comments? Sound off below.