What Is The Biggest Age Demographic For WWE Television?

From 1995-2001, the Monday Night Wars dominated the professional wrestling scene. Fans made their choice of whether they will watch Monday Night Raw or Monday Nitro, and many hardcore faithfuls decided to flip between both shows.

With WWE being the premier company following Vince McMahon becoming in charge, the National Wrestling Alliance became World Championship Wrestling, and Eric Bischoff steering the WCW ship beginning in the mid-1990s started to heat things up competitively.

During the Attitude Era in WWE during the mid- to late-1990s, the age demographic was geared towards the 18- to 34-year-old crowd, and the scandalous antics is what drove people to watch wrestling in record proportions.

Now, however, the demographic has moved 20-25 years from the most popular time in pro wrestling history. Over the past couple of years, reports have shown that the median age for pro wrestling fans is 54.

During an episode of Wrestling Observer Live, an update was provided of where the biggest age of pro wrestling fans sits at. The age still remains at “50 plus”, which causes controversy in the way that WWE is booking. In addition, the critique is that the company is promoting stars that gear towards women and children, but this does not match the most popular demographic.

2018 showed record-low ratings for WWE’s flagship show, Raw, after nearly 26 years in operation. However, adversely, the company has experienced its biggest financial year, while also landing a lucrative deal for FOX Sports, being able to successfully market the Raw and SmackDown Live brands as separate entities for different parent companies for the first time ever.

Although names such as Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens, and Braun Strowman – all 35 and under – are some of the top names of the company, the main event of Super Show-Down pitting The Undertaker against Triple H with Kane and Shawn Michaels, respectively, in their corners, shows that WWE is still heavily relying on older talent to promote bigger shows.