The Commercialization of WWE: Impacts on Storytelling

With another SummerSlam in the books and Sunday Night’s Main Event around the corner, many fans are left feeling somewhere between meh and eeh. That’s not to say that WWE’s biggest party of the summer didn’t have its moments. However, the company’s creative malaise coupled with its commercialized presentation has led to one unfortunate conclusion. As far as PLE events go, the show we got at SummerSlam is as good as it’s going to get, and it is a byproduct of WWE’s new era.

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Gunther Becomes the Longest-Reigning WWE Intercontinental Champion

History was made last Friday when Gunther became the longest-reigning WWE Intercontinental Champion of all time. Friday was day 455, topping the Honky Tonk Man’s 36-year record.

Honky Tonk Man won the title from Ricky Steamboat in June 1987 and lost it to the Ultimate Warrior at the inaugural SummerSlam in 1988.

Gunther beat Ricochet on the June 10, 2022 edition of SmackDown to win the title. In the main event of the 9/4/23 episode of Raw, Gunther defeated Chad Gable to ensure he would break the record.

Seeing a dominant wrestler carry the workhorse title to record-breaking success is nice. Honky Tonk Man could draw more heat than a furnace on Elm Street. However, his work in the ring looked too phony to take him seriously.

I know, I know, that was the point.

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