The Undertaker is amazed at how much the WWE has grown over the past few years.
The company has become a global juggernaut in entertainment. The Saudi Arabia deal netted them a billion dollars over ten years before a merger with the UFC turned TKO into a $20 billion company.
Meanwhile, the recent deal to bring Raw to Netflix will net the company at least $5 billion in what is the biggest deal for a wrestling company in history. While speaking on his Six Feet Under Podcast, The Undertaker was amazed at how much the company has grown.
He spoke with NFL legend Shawne Merriman about the company. The Deadman says WWE is “completely different” to when he started in 1990. He noted they were now on the same level as the NFL, MLB and NBA. He added that the performance center is copying the way the NFL recruits the best college players. This is another thing similar between WWE and NFL.
“From where I started to where we’re at now, it’s completely different. The way it’s perceived is different—the magnitude of the events, the sponsors—it’s all changed dramatically in the last 20 years. I think we’re now on the same level, or close to it, as the NFL, Major League Baseball, the NBA, and all the major sports leagues and entertainment industries.”
“We’re finally at that level where we’re not seen as a sideshow or a circus act. It’s a good feeling to know I was part of that development and that system. The process to get into the Performance Center is challenging. Just like the NFL wants the best college players—we want the very best, too.”
“In the last 20 years, we’ve really turned the page from a sideshow into a major entertainment genre.”
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