Wrestling Still Drawing the Crowds

It baffles me how popular wrestling is these days. Even with all the competition from the UFC and other fighting leagues, wrestling continues to do well. And it’s not just doing well with one demographic, as I can report firsthand.

This form of entertainment — or whatever you want to call it — is all about personalities and creating individual brands. No one does it better then Vince McMahon and the WWE. McMahon has the secret sauce bottled up.

Last night, I had the opportunity to attend a special RAW event at Madison Square Garden here in New York City. And, I must admit, I was pretty pumped up this morning. I wanted to hit someone with a chair in the office.

At the event, I got the chance to meet Ric Flair (pictured above, far right) — one of the all time greats of wrestling. McMahon is smart enough to incorporate the older wrestlers into the mix who are now in their 50’s and 60’s. This is a good idea. He can still appeal to the older crowd while bringing in new stars for the kids. Maybe wrestling’s popularity isn’t so baffling after all.

Speaking of kids, I couldn’t believe how many children were in attendance. Get them while their young and you have them for life. Personally, I was super psyched when my childhood favorites the Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkov came out for a special WWE take-off on American Idol. They sang the Russian national anthem in front of three judges. The only thing I would have changed is the Sheik should probably have sung the Iranian national anthem with the cold war being over for almost twenty years.

I also was surprised as to how many female fans have come onto the wrestling scene. Back in the day you couldn’t find a girl within 1000 feet of the arena. Now half the place is women. Girls five years old were yelling things at wrestlers that one day their future husbands will have to hear out of their mouths. Look out guys, these girls are getting tougher. Another smart move by McMahon to bring in the female wrestlers.

Would you believe Evander Holyfield made an appearance got involved in the ring! With Pac Man Jones moving to wrestling (although not WWE) you begin to realize there is always a home for disgraced athletes. McMahon and wrestling capitalize on the PR these athletes get, and if the PR is bad, even better! I have no doubt Michael Vick will be wrestling sometime in the near future. Mark my words!

Now, I would obviously never ever suggest using Michael Vick or Pac Man Jones as your company seeks to launch a positive athlete marketing campaign, but I wouldn’t hesitate to suggest other wrestlers for appearances and trade show gigs if the target audience is right. As I witnesses firsthand last night, you wouldn’t believe the drawing power that some of these wrestling legends have with men, women and children, and that translates to marketing potential. Plus, don’t forget that some wrestlers are tremendous speakers with years of on the job training. It makes sense. They’ve been playing to packed arenas for years! Let them play to your audience and reap the rewards.