5 Reasons Roman Reigns’ WWE Championship Run Has Succeeded
By Josh.0
WWE.com
5. It’s All in the Numbers
Like Shakira’s hips, numbers don’t lie. Since the opening of the market on Monday, April 11th (a week after WrestleMania 32), WWE stock has steadily risen from $15.66 per share to $18.10 as of June 8th. The TV ratings ebb and flow but what investors (and Vince McMahon) ultimately care about is the company’s overall worth. The impending brand split will most likely fix some of the ratings woes in the short term giving them enough time to bolster online content and continue the overwhelming success of the WWE Network.
The build-up to WrestleMania 32 saw Vince line his pockets with so much of our dollars that he rejoined the billionaire’s club. Despite the inevitibility of Reigns defeating Triple H in the main event and thus becoming champion, shares of WWE stock rose 18% between February and April 2016, making Vince’s portion of WWE holdings worth a cool $1.1 billion. While these numbers may seem like a jumble of nonsense they point to an irrefutable fact that whether you like him or not, Roman Reigns truly has been best for business.
Now that Seth Rollins has returned from injury and all three members of the Shield are back to in-ring competition, we can expect to see WWE milk this angle for all it’s worth as we approach Summer Slam. Reigns was never more popular than he was during his run with Rollins and Ambrose and WWE will shamelessly use that popularity every chance they get because they’d be fools not to do so.
The bottom line is that the choice to make Roman Reigns the champion was a business decision and it has paid off huge for the WWE. The stockholders are happy, the investors are happy, and Reigns is happy because despite the boos, he is still the champion. To put it bluntly, your feelings as a fan simply don’t matter when compared to a 12% rise in earning estimates.
Next: No. 4 The Wisdom of Triple H