Why WWE’s WrestleMania is about to become more popular than ever

Pro wrestling’s biggest annual event blends long-term storytelling, celebrity cameos and the return of in-ring legends – for the first time, it is also about to be broadcast to the world on Netflix. Alex Pattle reports from Las Vegas

On Saturday, 65,000 fans will fervently fill the aisles of the Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas. On Sunday, another 65,000 will do the same. For these people, the sleek, modern cauldron marks the final destination on their pilgrimage. These WWE worshippers will be at their unique Mecca: WrestleMania.

The professional-wrestling showpiece has gone by many nicknames, most often “the granddaddy of ’em all” and “the showcase of the immortals”. It’s okay, you’re allowed to laugh. In a world as campy and at times farcical as pro wrestling, the taking-this-too-seriously of it all can be humorous. Yet there is an element that should be taken seriously.

If you still think pro wrestling or its flagship brand WWE is fake or for kids, you’ll have to tell that to the tens of thousands of invested souls striding down the Vegas strip this weekend. You’ll also have to tell the expected millions (“and millions!” to quote Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) watching around the world.

While pay-per-view figures for 2024’s WrestleMania 40 are hard to verify, its content achieved 660 million reported views on social media, while a press release touted “1.3 billion live minutes” of viewership for both nights combined. Wrestlenomics believes the latter works out to around 2.8 million Peacock accounts watching each night. And while WrestleMania 41 will air on pay-per-view in the US, it will stream live on Netflix in the UK and most territories worldwide – for the first time ever. That factor alone almost guarantees more views than ever before.

This development follows WWE’s January debut on Netflix, which streams the company’s Raw and Smackdown shows in the majority of countries around the world, including the US in the case of Raw alone. The 10-year WWE and Netflix deal is worth a reported $5bn, and it speaks volumes about WWE’s rude health that the streaming giant decided to take this risk: of diving so deeply into live content, having only produced sporadic live shows in the past. UFC’s parent company Endeavor, which bought WWE in 2023 and merged it with the UFC to form TKO, clearly felt the same.

These moves might surprise you, if you’ve been on the outside and assumed WWE’s popularity was shrinking. Decades separate the business from its perceived heyday, when it felt like Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock could crack TV screens with their charisma. Yes, WWE’s reputation in some corners is still that of an almost taboo flavour of entertainment, at least an outdated one, but by many metrics, it is bigger than ever. Its suitability to the virality of social-media clips has played a role, as has a long-term transition into the product being more family-friendly.

WWE legend Triple H is now the company’s head of creative (WWE)

There was also the crucial moment when Triple H (real name Paul Levesque) assumed creative control. The WWE legend’s long-term storytelling has proved more popular than the erratic approach of Vince McMahon, WWE’s former CEO and chair, who retired in January 2024 amid a sexual-assault and sex-trafficking case. McMahon denies the allegations against him, but the 79-year-old could not go on in WWE, although it was long assumed he would rather die than relinquish control.

In any case, when it comes to long-term storytelling, WrestleMania can be the ultimate evidence of Triple H’s successful strategy: this is the show where the most important storylines are paid off, or where their biggest twists wrap up fans. Since 2021, WrestleMania has become a two-night attraction, eliciting greater financial value but also more scope for Triple H to deliver narratively.

Over 80,000 fans were present at each night of WrestleMania 39 in 2023 (WWE)

Allegiant Stadium hosts WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas (Getty Images)

Yet while Wrestlemania 41 will appeal to hardcore fans because of its layered storytelling, WWE’s showpiece event has long been able to attract fans who have drifted away, thanks to its inclusion of celebrities and returning legends. Donald Trump, Mr T and Floyd Mayweather are among the famous names to have popped up over the years, while YouTuber Logan Paul will even compete this weekend – as he has in recent years, showing remarkable athleticism time and again. The legends factor, meanwhile, plays on nostalgia; The Rock’s sporadic appearances over the past two decades, since his retirement from full-time wrestling, are the best examples of this.

This year, however, the nostalgia factor may not only apply to The Rock, who is expected to feature in some way. In fact, that nostalgia will surround John Cena’s final appearance at WrestleMania, ahead of his retirement from wrestling in December. The WWE star-turned actor, 47, was the company’s most important performer for a decade, from 2005 until 2015, and after years of fans clamouring, he has finally “turned heel”. That is to say: he has gone bad, in his bid to dethrone Cody Rhodes and break Ric Flair’s joint world-title record.

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson (left) and John Cena, facing off at WrestleMania 40 (Getty)

Cena will challenge champion Cody Rhodes, the current face of WWE (WWE)

So, an iconic moment may await. There have been many over the years, from Hulk Hogan body-slamming Andre The Giant at WrestleMania 3 in 1987, to Brock Lesnar ending The Undertaker’s 21-0 undefeated streak at WrestleMania 30 in 2014, to the uplifting ending of WrestleMania 40 last year – when the current face of the company, the heroic Rhodes, did what his legendary father Dusty could not: win a world title in WWE.

And whether or not Cena makes history, WWE is expected to do just that with another overseas WrestleMania in the coming years. Only twice has it been held abroad (in Canada, in 1990 and 2002), but the WWE has teased a London ’Mania, and if the English capital does not host the “granddaddy of ’em all”, some other nation surely will. Wherever this inevitable WrestleMania ends up, it will mark another first-time-ever moment.

First-time-evers, last-time-evers, first-time-in-forevers. WrestleMania has a habit of producing them all. Whatever you think it is, there’s a good chance WrestleMania is something else entirely. Haven’t you heard? Pro wrestling is cool again.

WWE is available to watch on Netflix in the UK and Ireland, including Raw, Smackdown, NXT, all Premium Live Events, and the WWE archive. WrestleMania 41 is the next Premium Live Event you can watch live on Netflix, from midnight on 19 and 20 April.