WWE CEO Nick Khan was a guest on MoffettNathanson’s Inaugural Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference call to discuss a wide range of topics, including how and when WWE decided to bring in two of their biggest outside names, Bad Bunny and Logan Paul.
Staring with Bad Bunny, Khan says he was introduced to the hip-hop sensation during the pandemic, which is when he found out that he was a huge wrestling fan.
It started during the pandemic. There was a New York Times Sunday magazine cover with Bad Bunny on it. I didn’t know Bad Bunny’s music that well at the time. This was pre-vaccine COVID, so October 2020. Read the article, and a young lady who works with us said, ‘I don’t know if you know, but Bad Bunny is a huge wrestling fan.’ Showed me his Instagram feed. Triple H, when he was active, did this water routine with his entrance. Bad Bunny did it at a Miami Heat game. He’s a huge fan. We sat there on Bad Bunny and this guy, who was not yet the number one artist, but certainly seemed on a path to that, he was not touring. He was sitting at home like all the rest of us. We reached out to him, ‘what do you think of this?’ ‘Yeah, I’d love to do it.’ He came in, lo and behold, our Spanish viewership on the show he was on spiked by 30 or 40 percent. Obviously, the relevancy factor mattered. He wanted to do more and more.
Shifting subjects, Khan then explained how celebrity boxer/Youtube personality Logan Paul got brought in to work for WWE.
We also replicated that in a different demographic category with Logan Paul, who we were getting pitched on internally by our entertainment relations folks. ‘Logan Paul is going to be the next big thing.’ He came in and took is seriously, as did Bad Bunny. It registered. It mattered. Our young audience spiked. Our bread and butter are our full-time superstars, but to be able to bring in Bad Bunny and Logan Paul and Pat McAfee at different points, it just increases awareness, which is good for us.
Bad Bunny last competed for WWE at Backlash in Puerto Rico, where he defeated Damian Priest in a San Juan Street Fight. Meanwhile, Logan Paul last wrestled at WrestleMania 39 in a loss to Seth Rollins.
(H/T and transcribed by Fightful)