Wrestling news, followed through the paperwork.
Wrestlenomics treats wrestling news as a business and legal beat, not just a storyline machine. John Pollock and Brandon Thurston work through lawsuits, media contracts, ratings, talent pay, and TKO strategy with a reporterly patience that rewards close attention.
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Wrestlenomics covers professional wrestling as a business story with legal, financial, and media consequences. It is built for the listener who already knows the headline and wants the supporting structure. A lawsuit is not just a controversy here. It is a source of filings, timelines, depositions, text messages, and leverage. A media deal is not just a victory lap. It becomes a question about platforms, rights fees, sports portfolios, merger risk, and whether wrestling is essential or expendable. Recent episodes move between WWE talent pay, WrestleMania ticket sales, shareholder litigation, TNA contract control, AEW’s television position, and TKO-backed boxing legislation. The show is especially strong when corporate claims meet documents. John Pollock and Brandon Thurston tend to slow down at those points, sorting what is known from what is merely plausible. The pacing stays brisk. The reasoning is patient. There is room for jokes about graphics teams, mortgages, and NFL preseason, but the center of gravity is still evidence. One episode can spend meaningful time on talent compensation as a percentage of revenue, then widen into union risk and TKO’s control over performers. Another can use released texts to revisit public statements about Vince McMahon’s creative involvement. The Janelle Grant case is treated as a filings-and-timeline matter rather than a gossip item. When the show looks outside wrestling, it usually has a reason: UFC’s Paramount deal, boxing regulation, Saudi Arabia event risk, or sports-media consolidation all feed back into wrestling economics. That broader frame gives the show its value. It explains why a wrestling fan might need to understand antitrust, contracts, Nielsen, ESPN, Netflix, Paramount, or Warner Brothers Discovery. The style is conversational, but rarely careless. Speculation is allowed in the room only after the evidence has been named. Wrestlenomics is for fans who want the business desk version of wrestling coverage, with enough dry humor to keep the spreadsheets human.
Made for: For wrestling fans who care about ratings, lawsuits, contracts, media rights, talent pay, and the business logic behind WWE, AEW, TKO, UFC, and TNA. It best suits listeners who prefer evidence and context over hype.
What sets it apart: Wrestlenomics stands apart by treating wrestling as part of a larger sports-media economy. Its strength is the disciplined move from headline to document, then from document to consequence.
Wrestlenomics covers the business of pro wrestling. Pollock & Thurston is a weekly podcast hosted by John Pollock of POST Wrestling and Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston. They are often joined by a relevant guest.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Wrestlenomics makes professional wrestling's corporate decisions, legal disputes, media deals, and ratings arguments easier to follow.
Wrestlenomics follows the money, contracts, ratings, and corporate maneuvering behind professional wrestling. John Pollock and Brandon Thurston work through developments as a conversation, testing public statements against reported details and separating firm conclusions from…
A Hall of Fame ballot meets the financial filings; your wrestling arguments may need footnotes.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A grounded look at WWE pay, lawsuit discovery, and the leverage behind any unionization push.
WrestleNomics traces the money behind WWE talent pay through lawsuit discovery, using depositions and a spreadsheet to make the company's financial machinery easier to read.
A measured wrestling-business review of TNA booking control, independent dates, antitrust questions, and media relationships.
PlayNext's Sports desk treats this as a wrestling-business story about leverage, not just a pulled booking. Brandon Thurston of WrestleNomics and John Pollock of Post Wrestling frame the discussion around wrestling economics, then move into the practical question of whether a…
A wrestling business desk tests released texts against public claims about Vince McMahon's creative influence.
Professional wrestling's corporate story lands as a paper trail, with John Pollock and Brandon Thurston looking at Thurston's reporting on text messages released in an ongoing shareholders lawsuit.
A steady look at WWE's Saudi plans, contract pressure, and the line between speculation and an apparent bid.
Wrestlenomics takes a measured look at the claim that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund was not an apparent bidder for WWE, while still allowing for the uncertainty that follows sports-business speculation.
A grounded look at how Paramount's sports portfolio could shape AEW's media future.
AEW's place in a possible Paramount and Warner brothers discovery combination gives this Wrestlenomics conversation a clear lane. Brandon Thurston and John Pollock work through Tony Khan's upbeat read on Paramount purchasing Warner brothers discovery, then weigh what that could…
A Thursday-night wrestling-business desk where media deals, lawsuit updates, and filings share the same agenda.
Brandon Thurston of WrestleNomics and John Pollock of Post Wrestling settle back into Thursday-night programming with a wrestling-business agenda built around Paramount taking over Warner Bros.
A measured Hall of Fame discussion weighs Batista's legacy through business impact, timing, and voting standards.
Hall of Fame voting is treated as a matter of evidence, influence, and timing, as Brandon Thurston and John Pollock consider whether Batista belongs on the ballot and how his case sits beside Cena's.
John Pollock and Brandon Thurston discuss WWE's performance on Netflix versus cable, along with other wrestling news.
John Pollock and Brandon Thurston discuss a 44-page court ruling finding Vince McMahon's lawyer withheld documents in the Janel Grant lawsuit.
Brandon Thurston and John Pollock discuss wrestling ratings, Netflix numbers, and a Windows 10 update before analyzing NXT vs.
Pollock & Thurston analyze a WWE shareholder lawsuit where plaintiffs seek sanctions over deleted Signal messages by Vince McMahon and Nick Khan.
John Pollock and Brandon Thurston return after a week off to discuss the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame ballot, revealing their votes for candidates like CM Punk and Cody Rhodes.
WWE discovery filings imply about $1.5 million in average main-roster pay in 2022, according to Brandon Thurston on Wrestlenomics.
Wrestlenomics centers on Brandon Thurston's reporting from the WWE shareholder lawsuit texts, including fresh questions about Vince McMahon, Ari Emanuel, and who actually drove creative after the merger.
Pollock and Thurston use Brandon Thurston's reporting to walk through court-filed texts showing Paul Levesque, Nick Khan, and Vince McMahon around the September 12, 2023 TKO merger close.
John Pollock and Brandon Thurston discuss new filings in the Janel Grant case involving Vince McMahon and Brock Lesnar.
John Pollock and Brandon Thurston discuss the Muhammad Ali Revival Act, All In tickets, Nielsen ratings, and the state of pro wrestling and boxing.
Tony Khan’s company Base 10, filed as “Anthony Khan,” submitted a WWE bid at about $7 billion.
John Lasker and Matt Kenny said ESPN’s WWE reporters would have “full independence” and “unequivocal” editorial separation.
Brandon Thurston and John Pollock discuss the UFC's $7.7 billion Paramount deal, compare WWE and AEW events, and touch on NFL preseason.
John Pollock and Brandon Thurston discuss Vince McMahon's new company '14th & I' and recent WWE roster changes.