John Cena and Nikki Bella‘s break-up has been theatrical. However, as fans mourn the death of true love, there’s a growing congregation that says this is nothing more than WWE’s latest magic trick.
WWE‘s former First Couple have used social media, interviews, and even the Greatest Royal Rumble to broadcast their raw emotion. This wave of publicity has monopolized headlines in recent weeks as seemingly the entire world has an opinion on their split.
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And that may have been the plan all along.
The timing of their break up is worthy of closer examination. Originally, Season 3 of Total Bellas was supposed to culminate around Cena and Bella’s wedding, but now, it hinges upon their split. This rapid overhaul of tone has converted apathetic viewers into desperate followers. An according to Mike Johnson of PWInsider, that could be by design.
“They were together before the whole Total Divas began and then they had to ask John if he would do the show. He always did it because he said it was good for her and good for the company. But announcing that they had broken up just a few weeks before Total Bellas debuts — certainly, that’s a lot of free publicity leading into the new season. With WWE in the middle of doing television negotiations, so let’s show NBC Universal how worthwhile our reality show are for them — and their ratings have been down compared to previous seasons,” he said.
Accusing WWE Superstars of melodrama is the same as indicting Santa Claus for breaking and entering on Christmas Eve. However, could this actually be true?
Well, Johnson’s notion television rights are noteworthy. WWE’s deal with NBC Universal expires in the summer of 2019. But WWE may be looking to take its business elsewhere as a plethora of rumors has implicated FOX as WWE most vehement suitor.
However, there’s way more to WWE than chokeslams, with Total Bellas and Total Divas just being one of Vince McMahon’s tentacles. If WWE can show that, in this case, Total Bellas is a demonstrable asset, that gives them more leverage at the negotiating table.
Without looking at any numbers, I think we can safely assume that this season of Total Bellas will have its best viewership yet.
But just because the timing of all of this could greatly benefit WWE, doesn’t make them guilty of orchestrating a Fake News love story. However, manipulating emotion is the lifeblood of WWE and if you think this is a morally defunct concept, I’d like to introduce you to the Attitude Era.
At the moment, this is all nothing more than a batch of reckless speculation. However, as the weeks go by, look for this sage to command new levels of scrutiny.
[H/T Ringside News]
