Hi folks! Never done this before, so I hope it’s an interesting one at least. I do like to gauge what sells and what doesn’t in the professional wrestling world, and YouTube hits are surprising in that you’ll never guess (unless you looked already) which videos garner the most views.
And I have not only limited it to WWE! I’ve included videos from other promotions as well. To be able to do this, I have to include a section before the “Top 5”, showing videos posted in the last year (some slightly over a year) which mustered an incredible amount of views. There’s no bias here, as I’ve included WWE, Impact, ROH, New Japan and AAA Wrestling. I’ll also let you guys know the “trends” for each promotion, as it pertains to the kinds of videos which get viewed the most.
Recently Flourishing
The first video is a nod to New Japan, despite it not having 1m views as of this writing. Japan’s core fan base is understandably Japanese, so its YouTube channels most viewed mostly features the Bullet Club and other English-speaking wrestlers.
And the most seen video is not a match or segment, but a historical recollection of the Bullet Club’s leaders betrayals. We see leaders like Prince Devitt (Finn Balor), AJ Styles and Kenny Omega leaving the faction for one reason or another. The trend I noticed with these betrayals is you should never trust The Young Bucks!
Next up is one from Impact Wrestling and is perhaps not as “cool” as the previous. In fact, the match is pretty forgettable and surely not Abyss’ best work. In his last run he put other guys over, which includes this “Monster’s Ball” with Kongo Kong. Why does it have over 6m views in less than a year? I have no idea. Most comments want Abyss to get his old mask back, or insult Kongo Kong by saying he’s a cheap Umaga rip off.
What is the trend with Impact videos? It’s 100% the Knockouts division. Out of its top 25 most viewed, 18 of those all involve at least one Knockout. The Beautiful People faction (Velvet Sky, Angelina Love, Madison Rayne), whether they are together or not .. are the most sought after as they’re featured in 12 of the top 25.
And you know what? It’s a similar trend for Ring Of Honor. By far their most viewed videos are matches from Women Of Honor. And it’s not like their most viewed video of all time has rave reviews either .. there’s several comments mentioning how sloppy the match was. You’d expect fans of Ring Of Honor to be watching their best matches, but it turns out sloppy women’s matches are more of a draw.
And next up is a prime example of how something as simple as a thumbnail can garner stupid amounts of views. This is the most viewed match from Mexico, which is mostly thanks to Scarlett Bordeaux’s ass. The majority of comments are in Spanish, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out how many are drooling over her perfectly sculptured rear end.
It’s things like this which made Impact Wrestling take notice and get her signed up. And the match is also an example of how she can wrestle when she’s not busy showing off. With 21m views and rising, Bordeaux’s backside reigns supreme. Funnily enough, Faby Apache and other female talents are the biggest draws on their YouTube channel.
If I wanted to include a WWE video for this section, it would be John Cena’s engagement proposal to Nikki Bella at Wrestlemania (87m). So that’s all for the recently flourishing. I spent much time looking around .. so if I missed any I apologize! Let’s get in to the main course now, the top 5 most viewed wrestling YouTube videos as of this writing.
Top 5 Most Viewed YouTube Videos
The first one is interesting as it’s the only one with comments disabled. Back when AJ Lee was a bit of a fruit loop (I hope she didn’t hear that), she was going around kissing anything & everything; even Big Red Machine’s like Kane. But which kiss is the most viewed on WWE’s channel? The one between AJ Lee and John Cena. It comes across a little awkward, even more so as AJ is so small it’s almost like Cena’s kissing a kid lol. Why does it have 92m views? Your guess is as good as mine.
Next up is a patriotic six-man tag at Tribute for the Troops way back in 2008. The faces John Cena, Batista and Rey Mysterio took on Randy Orton & Jeri-Show. The majority of comments show their love for John Cena (or Jhon Cena, Jhon Xena etc) and Rey Mysterio. A few comments for Batista also. With 94m views, it’s the most viewed complete wrestling match on WWE’s channel.
Crazily enough, this next one rivals some of WWE’s biggest videos. And why does Impact have a video almost at 100m views?? It’s thanks to the epic thumbnail of Velvet Sky revealing herself to the referee. As you can imagine, there’s a lot of thirsty men (& women maybe) who clicked on it with the hope they’d see some skin. Spoiler alert! Velvet Sky was incredibly covered up the entire time. The Evening Gown match? Terrible. It goes to show what fans are looking for in their wrestling. Sex sells.
So the next one baffles me more than any other video here. Why? Let me explain what’s going on ..
.. Randy Orton handcuffed Triple H to the ring ropes and RKO’d Stephanie McMahon; you never actually see it in the video though. So what we do see? Randy moves Stephanie on to her back. He teases hitting her or Triple H with the sledgehammer. Looking very worried, Triple H tries grabbing Randy to stop him. After a few minutes, Orton snaps and smashes Hunter in the face with the sledgehammer. But that’s it! 103m views for one sledgehammer shot and not much else. Why?? I can’t answer why. Come to your own conclusion lol.
And the most viewed wrestling video anywhere on YouTube? Here we are. Sporting an incredible 111m views, the brawl between John Cena and Brock Lesnar in 2012 remains something fans look back on fondly. I’m not sure if it’s Cena love or hate, but it’s telling how many fans tuned in to see Brock totally busting his face open.
It’s difficult to find out exactly when he got busted open. Either Lesnar accidentally headbutted him early on, or there was a stiff strike somewhere after that. Can you find out when it happened? I don’t want to guess at this point.
What is obvious from looking at WWE’s channel is John Cena’s a major draw. Out of their top 25 vids, Cena is involved in at least 11 of them. Randy Orton, Triple H, Brock Lesnar, Rey Mysterio, The Undertaker and The Great Khali make regular appearances as well.
What is your take on the trends? Why are these videos the most viewed? Are there any answers? Or is it coincidence Cena draws? Is it right (outside WWE) that it’s the women who draw the most? I don’t have any answers. A viral wrestling video is rarely logical. Please let us know if you have any other “recently flourishing” vids, or if I missed anything huge. I have more articles in the works, so I shall see you soon. Thank you!
