The fascination over the White Rabbit gimmick and the ongoing hunt for clues has been an undeniable success for WWE. It’s got fans talking, which is the point. Now the true test of the QR codes and videos might be less than two weeks away: Will people watch WWE Extreme Rules just to find out who the White Rabbit is?
There’s no guarantee the reveal will take place in Philadelphia, but all signs are pointing in that direction. Fightful Select provided the latest, citing sources saying that “WWE Extreme Rules was supposed to be the ‘reveal’ of the White Rabbit.” The outlet also suggested that “WWE creative has been largely hands off with the segment,” so the person or persons behind the teases has plenty of control.
The consensus (also backed up by Fightful Select) is that Bray Wyatt is the White Rabbit. So in a sense, it’s become a referendum on whether fans will watch Extreme Rules to see Wyatt make his return (whether physical or otherwise) if they weren’t already planning on watching the show live.
Thanks to the barrier for entry for premium live events being so low compared to the pay-per-view days, stunts like this are tailor made for the 2022 version of WWE. Most people who care to watch the big cards already have Peacock subscriptions, so it’s just a matter of setting the time aside to watch. Compare that to asking fans to plunk down $50 or more in the PPV days based on anticipation alone and there’s no question it’s a much more viable tactic today.
That said, WWE still has some downside here if it either makes people wait longer than Extreme Rules, at which point some fans may tire of the chase, or fails to pay it off in a satisfying fashion. The guess here is that anything less than Wyatt will seem like a letdown, and anything in addition to him will be icing on the cake. We may know as soon as Oct. 8.