WWE is bigger than ever. Ever since entering a new era after finishing Cody Rhodes’ story at WrestleMania 40, the promotion has gone from strength to strength. More people watch and talk about it than ever, which brings with it lots of pressure and expectations. Yet it also puts WWE on a pedestal of quantity and quality it is expected to meet, and at Crown Jewel this past weekend, it fell short.
Don’t get wrong, it was a decent show, aside from WWE once again surrendering its morals for obscene amounts of Saudi money. Roman Reigns teaming with Jimmy and Jey Uso and bringing the original Bloodline back together was a treat, and Cody Rhodes and Gunther put on a technical showcase that kept me on the edge of my seat. It was a stacked card and felt like it had real storytelling repercussions for the future. But it wasn’t the premium live event in itself that irritated me, but the video package that came before it.
WWE Is Setting A Very Bad Precedent With Its Use Of Generative AI
Opening hype packages are a normal thing in wrestling. A sizzle reel of narration and clips of past matches and promos designed to hook viewers from the outset. They have been a thing for decades, but for Crown Jewel, WWE made use of some glaringly obvious animated clips of tigers and deserts brought to life by generative artificial intelligence. It was blatant too as it showcased an individual peering over a poorly rendered desert and a tiger who was made up of broken features.
WWE wanted to create an opening montage that didn’t just represent the matches it planned to put on at Crown Jewel, but the distinct Riyadh setting defined by towering buildings and its boundless desert, alongside wild animals that conjure up the baseline image of a country like this. But instead of sending its camera crews out to the city itself to capture images, it resorts to generative AI that makes the entire product feel creatively bankrupt. Cheap, tasteless, and something that WWE should be above utilising.
If WWE Starts Using Generative AI, Everyone Is Going To
Considering every single sequence between matches was used to paint Riyadh as a tourist destination without equal, you’d think the company would put more effort into depicting its wonders. It’s not a place I ever intend to visit or care about, but surely WWE could have hired artists to depict it in an exaggerated fashion or at the very least used b-roll instead of generative AI. It speaks to a lack of creativity, and a bad sign of things to come with future events.
With WWE committing to its polarising Saudi Arabia partnership until 2028 at the earliest, it should be doing more than typing ‘tiger’ into midjourney and calling it a day.
WWE is the biggest wrestling promotion in the world, and there is no realistic competition. In the modern era you have rival companies like AEW, TNA, and New Japan, but they are little more than specks on Triple H’s radar. When a mainstream fan thinks of wrestling, they think of WWE, and in my mind this means it should be reaching a higher standard. An echelon of quality that cares about artists and doesn’t rob them of work by making a computer do it.
But if the richest wrestling corporation on the planet is willing to stoop this low, why wouldn’t others do it to cut corners and create their product? Companies like Disney, EA, Ubisoft and Warner Bros. have already expressed interest in using generative AI to streamline processes and increase profits, but I didn’t expect WWE to be so transparent by using multiple seconds of its Crown Jewel hype package entirely made up of AI. It should be better, but it breaks my heart to admit it probably doesn’t care.
I saw a handful of fans kicking up a stink about the poorly executed introduction on Twitter, but this derision was quickly brushed aside by excitement for the opening match. I fear that companies like WWE will make generative AI a facet of normality as talented artists are all slowly but surely robbed of opportunities. It was only a few seconds of footage in a random hype package, but that’s exactly how a transition like this begins. Before we know it, things will be so much worse.
WWE 2K24
WWE 2K24 continues the WWE 2K series with Cody Rhodes as its cover star. Also celebrating 40 years of WrestleMania, 2024’s installment reintroduces dormant match types to the fold, including casket and special guest referee bouts.