The TKO Era: Profit Over Passion?

The TKO Era: Profit Over Passion?

Back in 2002 WWE had various problems. The company was coming off a high point but lacked star power. But a new branch of superstars was coming. Cena, Lesnar and Orton helped save the company, giving it another high point. It took a while but things got hot again. We have been through ups and downs, but it feels like we are in another downward period. The reason for that is TKO, not the McMahons, is in charge now. With major changes being made, you can start to feel the shift.

Professional wrestling has seen three massive people retire recently. John Cena retired at the end of 2025, followed by AJ Styles and Brock Lesnar in 2026. That leaves us with Randy Orton, who looks to be slowing down, as the only person remaining from the legendary Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) class of 2002. Randy had a significant back injury in 2022 and 2023 that changed his pace.

John and AJ are still working with WWE in other roles. Brock remains unclear what he will do. He might just retire back to his farm and hunt. He hated having to travel so much and disliked the lifestyle, at times being a bit loose and free while being in the ring.

Rey Mysterio has a contract until 2026. He has been wrestling for 35 years now, a number that Sting was able to match. The oldest people on the roster are R Truth at 54 and The Rock at 54. We have not seen The Rock in the ring for a while as he is part of the board now. Rey is 51 for the record. The rest of the main roster is mostly in their 30s and 40s. NXT is testing people before calling them up to the main roster.

Rumours for a while were that Brock would retire at SummerSlam in front of a home crowd. Yet he decided to retire at WrestleMania 42 in Vegas instead. I am a casual WWE viewer these days and I do not like the current product. First the rings are covered in advertising, and second there is just too much advertising in general. The quality of wrestling is different now. They are working less and it feels very staged. It seems to lack the same skills as the past.

There are only a handful of people I like to watch. While there are a couple of newer stars I think are fun, the magic spark that existed for me is just gone. That said, in a strange way I quite like watching NXT at times. It seems like they are wrestling in an older, better style compared to the main roster. The focus is on wrestling and reminds me of the old SmackDown 6 era. Even the women’s wrestling in NXT and on the main roster feels better and more focused than the men’s side lately.

I am struggling to see that same creative focus on the main roster. Now the focus is on profit and milking fans. Management does not seem to understand the product and slowly that is showing. Honestly, why watch the full show when I can watch clips on YouTube? I avoid the worst bits and get the best bits. It feels like less wrestling and more athletic people just trying to wrestle.