I think it's largely a matter of production values.

Our TTRPG sessions are usually 5-6 guys sitting around the couches and coffee table of the FLGS, a box of Tim's doughnuts to one side, a battlemat with some rough outlines scrawled, random bits and bobs to indicate monsters and PCs, and a couple of game books being passed around. character sheets come in various forms, from finely crafted 3rd party download to "i tore out pages from a notebook, here is some chicken scrawls".

the "quality" of RP can, and will, vary wildly: from 1st person, in character with voice to "my dude checks out the house, do i see anything?"

Plus we occasionally talk over each other, read our game books or check our phones for not-game stuff when we're not on scene for a while.

I would like to think we're an average group, and it don't make for good YouTube content.

I wouldn't call what the CR people are doing the TTRPG equivalent of the WWE, but I'm certain that they are fully aware that there is a need to put on a show, and it influences their play.
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Puffin's recounting of his sessions is a different beast from Critical Role since it's in a more digestible format. a 12 minute story about the time the PCs did a thing with some visual aids is a lot easier for most gamers to absorb then multiple sessions in an ongoing story.

compare that to how I can consume a 12 episode anime in ~4 to 5 hours. which is usually one or two story arcs done to completion.

that's like... 1 -1.5 episodes of critical role's ongoing story.

It's a different format meant for similar but still different audiences.