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The weekly presence of the Puerto Rican urban artist Bad Bunny in the programming of the WWE is part of the strategy of the successful wrestling company to catch the attention of the youth audience that is unfamiliar with the product and consumes entertainment on different platforms outside of television programming.
Benito Martínez Ocasio, First name of the lauded vegabajeño performer, entered the wrestling scene on January 29 when performing the song “Booker T”, Piece dedicated to the ex-wrestler twice member of the Hall of Fame of the WWE and that comprises of its last record production “The Last Tour of the World“In the pay-per-view event Royal Rumble at Tropicana Field in Tampa, Florida.
In the same show, Bad Bunny started a fight with the two-time world champion El Miz, Lawsuit that has spread over the past few months and will have its climax this Saturday on the billboard of WrestleMania 37, To be held at Raymond James Stadium, also in Tampa.
It will be the debut of the Bad Rabbit in the quadrilateral in a fight in pairs. The boricua will team up with his compatriot Damian Priest to clash with Miz and his minion John Morrison. WrestleMania 37 starts at 8:00 pm and can be viewed via the Peacock platform, priced monthly at $ 4.99, or pay per view priced at $ 29.99.
The impact of Bad Bunny, an avid wrestling fan, has been positive for the WWE. Your merchandise on the WWEShop.com portal is among the best sellers. In the first week of February after his appearance on the Royal Rumble and on the weekly Raw show, he sold over $ 500,000 in shirts, coats and posters.
On the podcast Bloomberg’s “Sports Business.” on March 19, Stephanie McMahon, daughter of Vince McMahon’s business owner and Chief Trademark Officer, shared WWE’s interest in bringing talent from outside to elevate her product.
“We recognize that there is a large percentage of the non-WWE fans that we want to attract. At the same time, we also want athletes, influential people from pop culture and celebrities in our programming for the same reason. rising tide really elevates all ships in terms of audience and growth, ”he stated.
“So we’re very excited; we have some tricks up our sleeve for WrestleMania. Bad Bunny has certainly been a big part of our programming since the Royal Rumble. It’s been crazy,” he added.
Fully immersed in the WWE, Bad Bunny won the “24-7” minority title on February 15 with the help of Priest. The 27-year-old vegabajeño took with him the belt to different presentations like in the program Saturday night live, Aired on NBC on February 21, singing on stage with the band on his lap. The event was a free promotion for the WWE, although the company recently sold its channel for $ 1 billion to Universal for the content to be broadcast exclusively in the United States via the Peacock streaming platform.
After carrying the belt for a month, Bad Bunny gave up the belt handing over to the wrestler R-Truth, Character linked to the history of the band.
It helps the pandemic
According to the WWE president, Nick Khan, Having Bad Bunny on the weekly schedule is also due to the fact that the multiple Grammy winner has an empty agenda because he can’t do a concert tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I don’t think we would have made it in a world where Bad Bunny was on tour. It made it a little easier to close a deal this time because he’s not in 25 different cities during that time. Most of the money from the concerts it gets in the summer. It doesn’t look like there will be big tours during the summer (…) so we’ll see what other people we’re talking to and who we’ll see, “he added in an interview with Forbes on February 8. .
Outside of Bad Bunny, WWE last week included in its programming the controversial YouTube star Logan Paul, Who became involved in the WrestleMania wrestling angle between Kevin Owens i Sami Zayn. Paul made headlines in Puerto Rico earlier this year by announcing that he would move to the island to pay less taxes thanks to the benefits of Laws 20 and 22.
Paul fans will likely be taking a look at the WWE product this weekend to see if the also “influencer,” who has lately been dedicated to boxing in exhibition fights, has a physical altercation with the wrestlers. In this way, WWE introduces its product through Paul’s platform, something the company wants to do at all ages consuming training for different applications, Khan said.
“I’m not convinced there’s a group of 15-year-olds watching linear TV and they’re just not watching us. They’re finding our content elsewhere, and we need to reach them even before we’re 15 , to make sure we have a chance to win new fans, so that when other fans start to disappear and spoil, we always have a new population, ”Khan said.
It’s not new for celebrities in the entertainment and sports industry to make appearances in WWE, especially at WrestleMania. At the first edition held at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 1985, Mr. T, Cyndi Lauper, Liberace and Muhammad Ali.
Latin impact
On the Bad Bunny side, his presence helps sell Priest, a fighter raised between Dorado and Baix Segura, who has boomed since his debut in the “major categories” at the Royal Rumble. Priest raised his value to the company for his run to NXT, WWE’s alternate brand.
In a recent interview with Agencia EFE, Priest praised Bad Bunny’s presence in WWE to help elevate the Latin market.
“The two of us being together, and being a superstar, he helps Latinos in our world, in wrestling. I’m proud. Just yesterday, a Latino came to me and said ‘thank you for representing.’ making people feel important, ”Priest said.
Make a good impression with your workout
Bad Bunny, who has had WWE legends in his music videos like Ric Flair and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, has taken his involvement in the brand very seriously.
Paul “Triple H” Levesque, a former WWE star and now vice president of global talent and development, revealed this week that the boricua relocated to Orlando to be close to the company’s Performance Center, where he trains new recruits. and rising talent.
“When I say he got into the idea that he was going to do something with WWE, like, he focused, he rented a house in Orlando and moved to Orlando, and he’s been at the computer every day,” he said. say Triple H to the Pardon My Take podcast.
“I see people online saying, ‘The first time you hit the ring, it’s over.’ That was a long time ago. It’s breaking it in the ring every day. When people say, ‘He has taken a place’ … He has earned my respect and the place he holds right now, “he added.
Bad Bunny’s training has been led by former Raw wrestler and authoritarian talent Adam Pearce and wrestler Drew Gulak. Pearce told Billboard’s Luis Gomez that the artist began training at Christmas.
“I think it was intimidating for him, as it would be for any new prospect coming into the WWE Performance Center. I saw him looking around and marveling at the photos and the quadrilateral, like ‘man, that’s real ‘”, shared Pearce.
On Friday, Bad Bunny shared pictures of his preparation with a message of gratitude for fulfilling one of his dreams and promoting his anticipated struggle.