WWE, like any wrestling company, is always looking to grow its fanbase, and through its collaboration with Rolling Loud, the company is hoping to bring new eyes to its product.
In an interview with Alfred Konuwa of Forbes, Scott Zanghellini, WWE Senior Vice President, Revenue Strategy and Development, explained that WWE wants to acknowledge the importance of music to its identity through this partnership. He also stated that, to WWE, holding this week’s episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown at Rolling Loud is an opportunity to “extend [its] reach.”
“Music is such a part of WWE, so this was a great opportunity to plan a crossover event as part of a larger strategy to seek out culturally relevant moments in music, sports, art, fashion and entertainment,” said Zanghellini. “That’s where we want to be, challenging ourselves to say ‘how do we hit a new fan?’” said Scott Zanghellini, WWE Senior Vice President, Revenue Strategy and Development, by telephone.
“As popular as we believe our brand to be, we’re always looking to extend our reach and thought this was a great way to bring in a new audience—while also providing a unique experience to our existing fanbase.”
Zanghellini also confirmed that the portion of Friday’s show that will emanate from Rolling Loud will not be affected by the stage collapse at the festival, as WWE will use a different stage for SmackDown.
In the same article, Bianca Belair, who recently celebrated 100 days as the WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion, shared her excitement about the opportunity to perform at Rolling Loud. She emphasized her goal to help bring more eyes to WWE and focused on a somewhat untapped audience in the hip-hop market.
“It’s going to feel like home to me because that’s my environment, that’s what I’m all about,” said Belair of Rolling Loud.
“One of my main goals, even when I first arrived in NXT/WWE, was to bring as many eyes to the product as possible and bring more eyes in the urban market, the hip-hop market. I want to bring more eyes to the product, and that’s what we’re going to get to do at Rolling Loud. I go out there with my baby hairs, and my bamboo earrings, I love to bop around so I hope I’m received well because I’m gonna feel like I’m at home. I hope they receive me like I’m coming to the cookout and they’re giving me the invite to come in.”
Belair also named Megan Thee Stallion, City Girls, Cardi B, and Nicki Minaj as some hip-hop stars she’d like to pair up with. “The EST” teased that she’d like to team with one of these names, much like Damian Priest worked with Bad Bunny, in a teag match.
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