WWE marched into what its top executives described as “a new
era” over WrestleMania 40 weekend this past Saturday and
Sunday. That phrase was bandied about because there were a
number of firsts that went down in Philly. This was the
first WrestleMania produced under Endeavor, which acquired
WWE last year and combined it with UFC to form a new company
known as TKO. On Saturday night, WrestleMania 40 featured
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s first match since 2016, which
saw him partner in a tag team match with Roman Reigns, whose
own historic run as WWE champion was brought to an end
Sunday after Reigns spent 1,316 days as the face of the
sports entertainment brand.
During a post-show press conference, Paul “Triple H”
Levesque, WWE’s chief creative officer, proclaimed
WrestleMania 40 as the biggest in the company’s history,
with the event already having broken a litany of the
company’s records for social media engagement, merchandise
sales, and more. Not everything was a first; this was
another in a long line of WrestleManias that have streamed
live on Peacock. The deal between WWE and NBCUniversal’s
service is set to expire in March 2026; after that, it’s
feasible that Netflix could scoop up the rights to WWE’s
premium live events — known as pay-per-views in the old days
— just as it has already done for Monday Night Raw, which
will start streaming weekly on the service in January.
Raw’s move to streaming will be a watershed moment for WWE.
But even right now, change is afoot. With Levesque, CEO Nick
Khan, and some new faces running things behind the scenes,
the company has been exploring new production and
presentation techniques. Fans are noticing all-new camera
angles and a different feel to WWE’s live programming. Shots
have longer to breathe, a welcome change compared to the
whiplash camera cuts that were a hallmark of TV broadcasts
under the company’s former head of production, Kevin Dunn.
It’s nothing drastic (yet), but Levesque credited some of
that innovation to Lee Fitting, an ESPN veteran who the
company hired at the start of this year to lead its media
and production unit and bring fresh ideas to the table.
There are more of those coming, Levesque said during the
presser, but his team is taking its time to implement them.
I traveled to WrestleMania 40 for a couple reasons. For one,
I wanted to witness my childhood pal, known to WWE fans as
Karrion Kross, have his first “WrestleMania moment” and
perform on the card. But I also wanted to get a read on how
WWE is embracing tech as it sets out on this post-Vince
McMahon era. This is a company that has dabbled in VR and
360-degree video through the years, and the WWE Network was
groundbreaking for its time — even if it eventually shut
down to make way for Peacock’s much bigger audience.
As it has in recent years, WWE made heavy use of AR graphics
throughout both nights of the show. That involved six
cameras (of 30 total used for the show) that had the ability
to display AR graphics, whether it was the “versus” screen
before each match or custom entrance visuals for many
performers.
Something new for WrestleMania 40 was the inclusion of
beacon AR tech, which “attached” AR to talent and let them
walk through it, as seen in Becky Lynch’s entrance. In the
clip below, you can see the AR viewpoint change between a
SteadyCam and Skycam, with page-turning animations and
highlighted passages thrown in. Everything moves relative to
the camera’s position.
I chatted with Marty Miller, senior vice president and
director of TV at WWE, about why AR has become a core
element of the company’s TV repertoire. The main benefit is
that everyone sees it the same way regardless of device or
screen size, which obviously isn’t the case with VR. This
isn’t the kind of AR you can control or interact with by
moving your device around; it’s more about layering on some
extra polish and glitz for the TV viewers at home. Not
everyone loves it, but pro wrestling fans don’t agree on
much.
“AR is creating an addition; it’s a supplement to the
environment that already exists from the viewer’s television
or whatever platform they’re watching on — from their iPad
or iPhone,” Miller said. “We try to create an immersive
environment and complement whatever the physical environment
is.” Below is another example of where the AR element works
very well. This is all lost on in-person event attendees,
but at least they get to enjoy the real thing.
“It’s just an amazing increase in technology that allows us
to do bigger and better things; more 3D stuff versus 2D,”
Miller told me. Some WWE talent offer direct input on what
they want their AR effects to look like, while others just
give a thumbs up or down to what the graphics team brings
them. The results are sometimes a little silly (like the
supersized Roman Reigns seen here), but these characters are
meant to be larger than life.
AR aside, like the NFL and other sports leagues have done in
recent years, WWE also brought in a mirrorless camera —
Sony’s A7S III in this case — for certain shots to capture a
shallow depth of field for select entrances and in-ring
introductions. It was different enough visually from the
other cameras to be noticeable but not over the top.
Miller and WWE’s production team are already thinking about
where to take things for next year’s Netflix premiere and
beyond. “When Netflix starts, we’ll definitely be pushing
the envelope on every aspect of technology,” he said. “Not
technology just because it’s new; we want technology that
directly relates to the WWE and makes our product better.”
My biggest question is whether Netflix will finally be the
motivating factor for WWE to go 4K. You could argue it
wasn’t worth the effort when the company had to deal with
the cable TV pipeline, but once Raw goes streaming, what’s
the excuse for not making the leap to 4K HDR? If WWE really
wants to be at the forefront of tech and mark a new era,
this would certainly be one way to do it.
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