Greatest gift for WWE is putting smiles on people’s faces world over: Stephanie McMahon

You ask Stephanie McMahon, Chief Brand Officer (CBO) of WWE, about her most memorable moment from 25 year of Monday Night RAW, which WWE celebrated this past week, and the without hesitation McMahon picks the most recent one where she made the announcement for an all-woman Royal Rumble. To think McMahon, who practically grew up with WWE in her blood and been working with company for nearly two decades, to pick that as her memorable moment goes on to show how historic the moment was - not just for RAW or the WWE - but for the industry of pro-wrestling in general.
WWE has been promoting women superstars like never before for the past three years and with huge success, and according to McMahon, the ‘Women’s revolution’, as it is called, has transcended beyond just WWE and the positive message of belief and empowerment, especially for women, has been put across well.
I think that is (message of belief and empowerment) in all in the stories that we tell,” asserts Stephanie. “Even real life story of what is happening, like for example Alexa Bliss overcame a eating disability that almost killed her twice, look at where she is today.
“You think about Sasha Banks who stayed at home as a kid to help her teach her brother who is autistic, so her mother could go to work and who was homeless for number of years. You thin bout her story, that perseverance is a real-life story we all can be inspired by. With digital and social media, the purpose of that platform for me is also about inspiring and putting out a positive message,” says Stephanie.
However, women sharing the same space as men, in a male-dominated industry, surely was a long overdue one. WWE was often criticked for their treatment of women and it took an active role from wrestling fans that prompted WWE to change their approach, something Stephanie has no qualms in admitting.
“In a match in 2015 that lasted all of 30 secs, the crowd started a hastag #GiveDivasAChance and it trended worldwide for three days,” she elaborates. “And there was call for more athleticism, better charcter development, better storylines and their voices were so loud that our chairman and CEO Vince McMahon responded.”
And for this shift, Stephanie credits her husband Triple H, who is also Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative for WWE.
“In terms of WWE, Paul Leveque (Triple H) started recruiting elite athletes from all over the world, both male and female and he started training them the same way as men, he the same opportunity to tell stories in the ring, the same as men and what resulted was a huge ground swell of our audience chanting for our women and chanting women’s wrestling and ‘This is Wrestling’ and it really gave rise to the voice of our audience and they knew they could impact the content of our show,” she adds.
And it is this audience interaction that has allowed WWE to rule the roost when it comes to pro-wrestling. For Stephanie, that has been the key to WWE’s success.
“The real reason why WWE remains so relevant and continues to grow over the past 50 years, is we are all about storytelling - no different than a famous Opera, play, book or a Sitcom. It is protagonist vs antagonist with conflict resolution; the only difference is our conflict are settled inside a 20x20 foot ring with some of the great live action you can see in sports and entertainment. And when you have that connection with the audience, when audience is part of the show influencing the storytelling and you have larger than life, still relatable characters, the audience has the opportunity to engage and live their fantasy through these characters which is no different than any other form of media and that really is the secret to or our success,” says Stephanie.
And what has really made WWE a cut above the rest is the fact that the company has transformed itself from being just a top wrestling company to a global brand. WWE successfully continues have a global presence with smart CSR and their support for initiatives like Susan G Komen, support for breast cancer research, Make-A-Wish and Connor's Cure charity for pediatric cancer research and Stephaine adds their mission of putting smiles in people’s faces world over is being fulfilled.
“WWE is the most unique form of content in the world, we are a global media company and I think as long as long as we are fulfilling our mission of putting smiles on people’s faces world over, I think that is our greatest gift. To be able to help a child who is sick, make them forget that they are sick, even for a couple of hours watching the show and give that gift to their parents, to see that joy on their child’s face and even not so serious, just someone who is having a really hard day and can escape into the story telling and fun of WWE.”
Coming back to the wrestling, when asked about what would be the advice she would give to women superstars competing in the Royal Rumble, she had this to say: “I think these women could be the one giving me the advice. They are the one who have made this movement happen, their incredible talent, their athleticism, their character, their courage and their perseverance; I am in awe. In terms of being a performer, I will tell them to soak it in and enjoy every minute of being part of this historic match and not to take it lightly.”
Talking about Wrestlemania and dream matches, Ronda Rousey vs Stephanie McMahon came up and she had a very intriguing answer for that: “I think first and foremost, we will have to officially make Ronda part of WWE roster, so we will have to wait and see if that is going to happen or not,” said Stephanie.