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The weekly presence of the Puerto Rican urban artist Bad Bunny when programming the WWE It is part of the successful wrestling company’s strategy to capture the attention of the young audience unfamiliar with the product and consume entertainment on various platforms outside of television programming.
Benito Martinez Ocasio, the first name of the award-winning Veracruz artist, hit the wrestling scene on January 29 when performing the song ‘Booker T’, a piece dedicated to the ex-wrestler who was twice a member of the WWE Hall of Fame and is part of his latest record production “The last round of the world, In the pay-per-view event Royal Rumble at Tropicana Field in Tampa, Florida.
On the same show, Bad Bunny started a fight with the two-time world champion The Miz, a lawsuit that has lasted for the past few months and will culminate on Saturday’s billboard WrestleMania 37, to be held at Raymond James Stadium, also in Tampa.
It will be the Bad Rabbit’s debut in the ring in a tag team match. The Puerto Rican is going to team up with his fellow countryman Damian Priest to clash with Miz and his accomplice John Morrison. WrestleMania 37 starts at 8 p.m. and can be viewed via the Peacock platform, with a monthly price of $ 4.99, or via pay-per-view with a price of $ 29.99.
The impact of Bad Bunny, an avid wrestling fan, has been positive for WWE. Your merchandise on the WWEShop.com portal is one of the best sellers. In the first week of February after performing at the Royal Rumble and on the weekly Raw show, he sold for more than $ 500,000 worth of shirts, jackets and posters.
On the podcast “Business of Sports” de Bloomberg On March 19, Stephanie McMahon, daughter of Vince McMahon’s business owner and Chief Brand Officer, shared WWE’s interest in bringing in talent from overseas to take their product to the next level.
“We recognize that there is a large percentage of the population that are not WWE fans that we want to attract. At the same time, we also want athletes, pop culture influencers and celebrities on our programming for the same reason. The rising tide is really lifting all ships in terms of audience and growth, ”he said.
So we are very excited; we have a few 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.
Completely immersed in WWE, Bad Bunny won the minority title “24-7” on February 15th with the help of Priest. The 27-year-old from Veracruz took the belt to various presentations such as the program Saturday Night Live, aired on NBC, on Feb. 21, singing onstage with the sash around her skirt. The event was a free promotion for WWE, although the company recently sold its channel to Universal for $ 1 billion, so the content will be broadcast exclusively in the United States through the Peacock streaming platform.
After wearing the belt for a month, Bad Bunny gave up the belt and handed it to the wrestler R truth, character associated with the history of the belt.
Help the pandemic
According to the WWE president, Nick KhanThe fact that Bad Bunny is on the schedule every week is also due to the fact that the multiple Grammy winner has an empty agenda because he cannot 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. Made it a little easier to get a deal this time as he’s not in 25 different cities during that time. Most concert money is collected in the summer. It doesn’t look like there will be any big tours in the summer (…) so we’ll see what other people we’ll talk to and who we’ll see, ”he added in an interview with Forbes. on February 8.
Outside of Bad Bunny, WWE included the controversial YouTube star in its programming last week Logan Paul, who became involved in the angle of the WrestleMania match between Kevin Owens Y Sami Zayn Paul made headlines in Puerto Rico earlier this year by announcing that he would move to the island to pay less tax thanks to the benefits of Laws 20 and 22.
Paul’s fans will likely be watching the WWE product this weekend to see if the fellow ‘influencer’, who has been boxing in exhibition fights lately, has a physical disagreement with the wrestlers. In this way, WWE is introducing its product through Paul’s platform, something the company aims to do at all ages who receive training through a variety of applications, Khan said.
“I’m not convinced that there is a group of 15 year olds who watch linear television and just don’t watch us. They find our content elsewhere, and we have to reach them even before the age of 15, to make sure we have a chance to win over new fans so that when the other fans start to disappear and get old, we always have a new population. Khan said.
It’s not new that celebrities from the sports and entertainment industry can be seen in WWE, especially at WrestleMania. The first edition held at Madison Square Garden in New York in 1985 involved 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 Vega Baja, who has been on the rise since debuting in the “big categories” at the Royal Rumble. Priest increased his value in the business thanks to his run on NXT, WWE’s alternative brand.
In a recent interview with Agencia EFE, Priest praised Bad Bunny’s presence in WWE to help boost the Latino market.
“The two of us are together, and he’s a superstar, he’s helping Latinos in our world wrestle. I’m proud of it. Yesterday a Latino came up to me and said ‘thank you for representing’. We make people feel important, ”said Priest.
Make a good impression with your training
Bad Bunny, who has included WWE legends such as Ric Flair and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in his music videos, has taken his commitment to 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 Puerto Rican has moved to Orlando, near the company’s Performance Center, where he takes on new recruits and educates emerging talent.
“When I say he thought he was going to do something with WWE, he focused, he rented a house in Orlando and moved to Orlando, and he’s on the PC every day,” said Triple H at 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 He breaks it in the ring every day. When people say, ‘He’s taken a place’… he’s earned my respect and the place he takes now, ”he added.
Bad Bunny’s training was responsible for ex-wrestler and authoritarian talent on Raw Adam Pearce and wrestler Drew Gulak. Pearce told Billboard’s Luis Gomez that the artist began training during the holidays.
“I think it was intimidating for him, as it was for any new prospect entering the WWE Performance Center. I saw him look around and marvel at the pictures and the ring, like ‘man, this is real’, ”said Pearce.
On Friday, Bad Bunny shared images of his preparation with a message of thanks for fulfilling one of his dreams and promoting his anticipated fight.