Headline Planet presents an exclusive backstage look at the Donald Trump storyline. The most extensive report online, Headline Planet’s analysis covers the sudden end of the story, the ratings impact, the story on McMahon’s skepticism and more.
Conflicting reports have emerged about whether WWE ever intended for the Trump storyline to continue for more than a week or two.
There is definitely evidence for the fact that WWE officials did not envision the program lasting for the long-term–Vince McMahon himself had historically opposed “sale” storylines due to the potential financial impact they could have on World Wrestling Entertainment, the publicly-traded corporation, and thus went into the angle with some skepticism. PWInsider outright said that the angle was designed to be a quick, hotshot ratings booster.
At the same time, there were definitely ideas thrown around for a long-term storyline with Trump as owner, and according to a PWTorch.com report, when creative came up with its two plans for the future of the storyline in the wake of the press release scandal, the WWE stock decline and the lack of reaction for Trump’s appearance on RAW two weeks ago, one of them was designed to continue the storyline for several weeks. Most credible sources believe WWE had at least seriously considered, if not outright planned, a Trump ownership storyline that lasted for several weeks.
McMahon did ultimately opt to bring the ownership storyline to a close, although as was teased in a recent WWE press release, the two might end up in a future feud.
There has also been some discussion about what led to the ratings spike this week. The media, and many WWE workers, have been quick to credit the Trump storyline, although some analysts, including those at the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, counter that Trump’s past WWE involvement did not produce as much of a ratings spike.
Ratings breakdowns are never precise enough to determine whether the lack of channel-surfing during commercials–along with the mere hype for “commercial free”–was capable of producing that kind of ratings increase, but one piece of evidence in favor of the Trump influence is the fact that the rating grew from a 4.2 in hour one to a 4.8 in hour two. Given that hour one had no more commercials than hour two, there was a clear growth in interest as the show went on–that generally occurs when WWE fans have legitimate interest in the featured storylines and matches.
(Report compiled based on information from PWInsider.com, F4WOnline.com, PWTorch.com)
