The WWE recently made waves for reports where the company's use of AI for storytelling was openly admitted, and I'll cop to being one of those fans who were outraged in the moment. At a time where the WWE is in desperate need of fresh storytelling, it shocked me that the company seemed to be leaving the fate of its creativity in the hands of a computer, so to speak. Thankfully, one big boss man, TKO COO Mark Shapiro, clarified things with an explanation that calmed me down a bit.
A recent WWE town hall was held, in which company president Nick Khan and several other executives commented on several topics concerning the wrestling organization. POST Wrestling shared a comment from TKO's Mark Shapiro speaking to the fact that AI isn't being used to write story arcs so much as figuring out what fans in different parts of the country (and world) are looking for. As he put it:
Nick Khan and Triple H are using AI for storylines with the WWE. What’s resonating? What superstars are resonating? In what pockets of the country are they resonating? That helps us with, obviously, our content, our editorial, our creative, our mapping, our touring, and of course, maximizing revenue and getting our product out to the fans most in need of it.
This is to say, AI can't be blamed directly for Pat McAfee being injected into WrestleMania 42's main event. Mark Shapiro makes it sound as though Triple H and others are still calling the biggest shots, but are using AI as a supplemental tool to help inform them on the popularity of certain superstars, and seeing what will "maximize revenue," otherwise known as bilking fans for money. I'm sure AI has lots of great ideas for that.
Article continues belowI did suspect this would be the case when I saw the initial posts on social about the WWE using AI. It seemed very off-brand for WWE brass to trust a third-party AI to craft its product when, for better or worse, the decades have shown the writers have never been afraid to throw every idea at the wall to see what sticks. (I ask, what AI could've come up with Bray Wyatt, or Danhausen?) Plus, would all of the egos involved so willingly give credit to AI for narrative choices?
Of course, I can't help but think that if WWE creatives are using AI to guide its storytelling paths, that sets up a slippery slope. The temptation is always going to be there for someone to prompt the AI for how an audience would respond to El Grande Americano Original hiding in a piñata to sabotage the other one.
I'm being facetious, of course, but if AI is already in the room when creative decisions are being discussed, it isn't hard to believe the technology will eventually be utilized to ideate the storylines themselves. Obviously, there are a lot of opinions out there about the quality of AI and what it can do, but for those with no problem with a hypothetical future in which WWE storytelling was created with AI, at what point do you just prompt your own AI to make your own wrestling federation?
Just something to think about as we wait for SmackDown on USA on Friday at 8:00 p.m. ET. Monday Night Raw is on Netflix on Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET, and they're both live. Neither is AI-generated as far as we know, but perhaps that reality is on the way.
