Guess which sport has got the most popular YouTube channel? Nope, it’s not the NFL. Nor is it the NBA, MLB, NHL or NASCAR. In fact, it’s not even ESPN.

Stumped? OK, try this one:

Which active American athlete is the most followed on Facebook? Wrong again. It’s not Peyton Manning, Russell Wilson, Lebron James or Steph Curry.

If those aren’t the answers, what are?

Surprise, surprise, it’s the WWE, which has received nearly 5 billion video views on YouTube in the past year and attracted nearly 100 million new likes, a 38 percent increase, according to The Wrap.

And the most social athlete? WWE superstar John Cena, who received a huge boost in recognition after his cameo in Amy Schumer’s Trainwreck.

Asked what’s the key to this success, Jayar Donlan, WWE’s SVP of digital and social content, gave The Wrap the somewhat standard answer that “we’re listening to our fans and creating content that they want on a platform that they want.”

OK, but lots of entertainment brands are doing that. What’s WWE doing that’s different?

The answer is integrating social media into its on-air storylines. For example, the company recently had Arrow’s Stephen Amell, a social savant himself with more than 1 million Twitter followers, feud with WWE’s Stardust, with his own 400,000 followers. Their “spat” started online, moved into an on-air confrontation on USA Network’s WWE Raw, and concluded with a tag-team match during the brand’s annual Summer Slam pay-per-view event.

“We want to be everywhere,” Donlan told the magazine. “If our fans are there, we want to be there and give them an experience worthy of their passion. If new stuff comes out and it reaches that critical mass, you’re going to see WWE participating in it.”

Read more: The Wrap

Brief Take: WWE’s genius is in telling truly cross-platform stories, moving seamlessly from one to another, instead of just using social media to try to push viewers back to TV.

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