Add as a preferred source on Google Fan dissatisfaction with WWE‘s current creative direction is no longer just a social media conversation. It has now turned up in analysis of TKO Group Holdings’ stock price.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, JPMorgan pointed to the negative response to the product and the year-over-year drop in Monday Night RAW viewership as points worth watching. The bank still kept a positive rating on TKO stock, lowering its target from $225 to $222.
“WWE fan dissatisfaction is worth watching but is not yet a structural problem. Premium live event viewing appears to be growing, although Raw ratings are trending down year over year.”
Even with that warning, no significant change is expected right now. The decisive stretch shouldn’t begin until 2028, when WWE’s main television deals move back to the center of the conversation.
“I was told even so, right now nothing is expected to happen until around 2028 at which point the Netflix deal and USA deals will be in play, with both ending at the end of 2029. If numbers aren’t strong, we’re told that’s when Mark Shapiro and company will really start pressuring Nick Khan and Levesque. And if numbers are strong, things will stay the way they are.”
If WWE ratings are not strong around 2028, the belief is TKO President Mark Shapiro and others will "really start pressuring" Nick Khan and Triple H.
— Cultaholic Wrestling (@Cultaholic) July 24, 2026
This comes after a JPMorgan analysis of TKO's share price noted: "WWE fan dissatisfaction is worth watching but is not yet a… pic.twitter.com/1aRP1mx7ag
There’s a business reason for the 2029 timeline. The Friday Night SmackDown deal with USA Network runs five years and started in October 2024. The RAW deal with Netflix has an initial ten-year term, though the platform can end it after the first five, right at the end of 2029.
For now, the financial numbers work in favor of Nick Khan and Triple H. WWE’s revenue in the first quarter of 2026 rose from $391.5 million to $475.7 million, while adjusted earnings went from $193.9 million to $256.1 million.
Mark Shapiro, TKO’s president and COO, had already acknowledged the criticism on the company’s most recent investor call, while making clear that the company doesn’t view the issue as structural.
“Let me say that we are not concerned about the ticket performance whatsoever, as it was unrealistic to expect year two growth in Las Vegas. And even with that, WrestleMania 42 was still one of the highest gates in WWE history and easily outperformed anywhere else we could have staged it. As it relates to the creative, there will always be periodic fan dissatisfaction around creative execution, commercial load, and celebrity usage. We listen to all the feedback. We do not turn a deaf ear. But these are not new criticisms.”
The subject reaching a JPMorgan analysis marks a shift. The pressure on Khan and Triple H hasn’t started yet, but viewership, ticket sales, and fan response figure to carry far more weight once TKO begins negotiations on the next round of deals.