How close is the WWE close to tanking?

[Epic Reine 0]

I don't think this has been properly discussed.

 

Buisness goes down every year. I think the real scare started right after the Invasion angle ended. WCW's business steadily went down for years as well before tanking. Do you really think there's a real chance that WWE could very well be out of business within the next few years?

[CanadianChick 0]

No, because unless I'm mistaken, they are still profitting. WCW was losing money annually. WWE is just gaining less money every year.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

They are still profitable and have over $250 mil in reserve from their IPO.

 

They're going to be around for a while. So enjoy the slide.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Also, even though the WWE is creatively incompetent, they have a brilliant business model. Whether it was Vince or Linda or someone else, they have been amazing marketers. The amount of revenue streams they have is ridiculous.

[Guest Coffey]

They're as close to tanking as the odds of a plane crash. That's the way I look at it. Wrong flight goes down, WWE is done.

 

It's a terrible thing to say. Financially, WWE isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

It depends. This movie project could end up tanking the entire company if they bomb bad enough.

[2GOLD 0]

It depends. This movie project could end up tanking the entire company if they bomb bad enough.

 

Yeah, I wonder how much money Vince is blowing on his movie division. The guy just cannot accept that outside of wrestling, he is the biggest business moron of them all.

 

Wrestling- Marketing genius

Other- you are better off buying stock in Billy Beer

 

The good thing is he has 250 million, the bad news is his projects are getting bigger in terms of spent money.

 

Bodybuilding- Cheap

football- little more costly

movies- very costly

 

What's next? WWE Airlines?

[Team Angle Pusher 0]

No WWE Ice Cream bars....

 

No the WWE will not go down in a long time. They are still making a hella lot of money.

[Promoter 0]

They are as close as Vince Mcmahon not being able to run the damn company. All hell will break lose. We saw how things went when Vince was not around last year for that terrible ppv GAB. We saw how the company ran like wcw on that one raw show last year in Las Vegas I think when they showed a ppv match to open the show because the production staff went haywire without Vince. Say what you will about Vince, but he is the blood of that company. There are already reports that Steph can't get along with others who have wrestling knowledge in the company and only likes to listen to her yes men from hollywood.

 

Imagine if Vince isn't around and she has complete reign? Maybe we will be hoping Triple H does have strong input or we could end up with more Lucy the Dog in world title match storylines where the company really turns into soap opera. I can bet big bucks if they go that route they would eventually bottom out. Who would have thought the wwf would have sunk so low in the 90's after the big boom of the 80's. Luckily, for us fans there was wcw with something new and "in" or we might have been drilled into the ground with stuff like Doink The Clown and The Plumber and be watching wrestling on 2:00am in the morning. Anything's possible because look at wcw and the powder keg roster they had of talent from star power in Hogan and Flair to up and comers like Goldberg and Jericho.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

I think the movie project could potentially tank the WWF in 5-10 years. It could set things in motion that finally tank the company.

 

I'll also say that the company will die within 10 years of Vince's death.

[Promoter 0]

You know, this is a serious topic and just shrugging things off like the company is made of kryptonite is what brought wcw down and all the other wrestling promotions in North America. UFC seems to be gaining steam with that Ultimate Fighter series. Who knows, maybe fans will start demanding that sort of product from wwe. You never know. Another thing to take note of is that wcw was not really a ratings disaster in terms of other television shows, yet they were taken off the air. In terms of the tv world, even the most popular shows get taken off the air for no reason regardless of its popularity. The wwe having 24/7 could be a sign that the company is considfering securing its own station in case of such a thing down the line. Maybe not in 10-20 years, but how about after that? Pro wrestling was huge in the 50's, yet it never made it back onto broadcast television on a major network until 1985 and it only became live in 1988 due to the popularity of Hulk Hogan(yet people mock the man's contribution to the business). The company isn't even at the level it was for demands the last time RAW went into a bidding war for television rights. Wasn't there even talks about smackdown being cancelled? Rumour or not, it would not have legs if it were in 1999 to be gossiped about because it was so hot.

[bob_barron 0]

But WCW was LOSING money. WWE is still making a profit despite business being down- they have more then enough to last them a very long time.

[Downhome 0]

I love reading this sort of topic...thanks.

[Promoter 0]

Yes, wcw was losing money, but they were always LOSING money before Bischoff turned things around in 1996-1998. WCW had a huge conglomerate behind it that could afford to lose money(new brass kicked it to the curb). It was a popular product and Ted Turner backed it. If the wwe starts to lose ratings in the future do you think the big television excecutives will keep it in prime time like it is now? The key here for pro wrestling's come back was prime time exposure during the 90's and in the 80's it was the new forum of ppv/closed circuit and NBC.

 

Now there are tons of other forms of entertainment in the ppv forum unlike the 80's. The wwf can always get tv exposure, but it's the type of exposure that counts. The wwe use to depend on the house show circuit to make its money, but now it's really all tv as they have taken the importance of house shows off the minds of fans in the last few years. If they don't broker a great tv package with a major network/station they are screwed because if they aren't in prime time and if they are forced to do things where the tv shows have to sell the house shows they are in trouble. There is a reason for increased house shows internationally.

[Fökai 0]

It depends.  This movie project could end up tanking the entire company if they bomb bad enough.

 

Yeah, I wonder how much money Vince is blowing on his movie division.

The budgets for the Kane and Cena movies were each $10 million. With that, I highly doubt they're going to spend anywhere near that on the films with Austin.

 

I love these threads, too.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

If you want to know what things would be like with Vince not around, pay attention for the next 4-6 months, at least, because that's how long Vince is stuck in a wheelchair for, thanks to his tremendous ego. And yes, this does mean he might not be at WM XXI, so think about that one for a second.

 

As for Hunter and Stephanie running things, while Hunter has a great wrestling mind, as far as the business side of things goes, he hasn't proven he knows anything on that front. As for Stephanie, well, the less said about that the better.

[AndrewTS 0]

Once Vince retires or dies, I expect the WWE will follow within 10 years.

[Fökai 0]

An observation:

 

If and when Vince retires from his position, he'll defer his off-camera responsibilities to Hunter. As much as he cherishes Stephanie, he expects her to be head of creative and little else. Shane is now overseeing the WWE Magazine division, in addition to his WWE Head of New Media position. Without Patterson and Ross, who will Vince turn to?

 

Enter John Laurinaitis.

[Promoter 0]

Vince missing in action in the new few months won't be a sign. He's still the owner and will lay the groundwork with where he wants the majority of the company to go. That's what he's been doing in the last few years anyways. Vince has already stated that no one person will do his job and that it will be carried out by different people. Again, observe the madhouse that was wcw with too many chefs in the kitchen. Linda seems to be the business saavy person in terms of business deals and whatnot. I don't think Triple H will be doing that.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Vince missing in action in the new few months won't be a sign. He's still the owner and will lay the groundwork with where he wants the majority of the company to go. That's what he's been doing in the last few years anyways. Vince has already stated that no one person will do his job and that it will be carried out by different people. Again, observe the madhouse that was wcw with too many chefs in the kitchen. Linda seems to be the business saavy person in terms of business deals and whatnot. I don't think Triple H will be doing that.

No that's what Shane will likely do.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Vince not being there means he won't have the same hands on approach that he likes, and that means things being done more to the liking of the people in charge who are actually there, and that means Stephanie and Hunter. It also means nobody can go up to Vince and make last minute suggestions, or attempt to sway him into going against anything Stephanie and Hunter want to happen.

 

Don't make any mistake about it. Vince not being there in person affects how things happen, and what gets decided.

[res37618 0]

WWE is nowhere near tanking. Anyone who took the time to listen to the conference call yesterday can tell you that it's a tightly run business, and it still sees a profit virtually every quarter. It would take years of large money losses to tank the company, and there's too good of a business infrastructure in place for the company to just aimlessly lose money or go bankrupt. If it happens, it won't be in Vince or Linda's lifetime, if ever. You can't equate bad storylines and smaller attendance figures to a company tanking . . . they survived the mid '90's running small venues with terrible storylines, and are nowhere near that point now. Hell, the storylines sucked just as bad back in '98-'02 (the Corporate Ministry? Mae Young and Mark Henry?), there were just more mega-stars to cling to then.

 

WCW is NOT a good example of what happens when a wrestling company goes under . . . . it wasn't profitable for a good 10-15 years, and was never more than just a little piece of the huge Turner/Time Warner puzzle. If WCW had ever been important to either Turner or Time Warner, it would've been taken care of and managed to a better capacity. WCW was never more than a joke, honestly - it was just a lucky joke for about three years in the late '90's. Even in their prime, beating WWE in ratings and PPV buys, WCW still seemed like the minor-league promotion to me.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

If something freaky happens that sees Raw or Smackdown taken off TV, that could theoretically shut them down, because they'd have no major vehicle to push anything. Of course, they'd probably be able to get on another station, but that could depend on the freaky occurance that saw them lose Raw or Smackdown in the first place.

[what 0]

It depends.  This movie project could end up tanking the entire company if they bomb bad enough.

 

Yeah, I wonder how much money Vince is blowing on his movie division. The guy just cannot accept that outside of wrestling, he is the biggest business moron of them all.

 

Wrestling- Marketing genius

Other- you are better off buying stock in Billy Beer

 

The good thing is he has 250 million, the bad news is his projects are getting bigger in terms of spent money.

 

Bodybuilding- Cheap

football- little more costly

movies- very costly

 

What's next? WWE Airlines?

I don't think the movies are nearly as bad of an investment as the XFL or the resturant.

[what 0]

If something freaky happens that sees Raw or Smackdown taken off TV, that could theoretically shut them down, because they'd have no major vehicle to push anything. Of course, they'd probably be able to get on another station, but that could depend on the freaky occurance that saw them lose Raw or Smackdown in the first place.

There's no way they'd lose Raw and Smackdown. The ratings are just too good. Even if they drop below 3.0, a company will still want them because that's still a top 10 cable rating.

 

The only way the WWE folds is when the talent well runs dry. It's ridiculous how little money the WWE puts to developmental when the long term future of the WWE is so dependant on that.

[pochorenella 0]

TNA will go under waaay before WWE does, if ever.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Not in terms of money, maybe, but if a main event guy is seen by the mainstream has being in a terrible movie, it reduces that guys stock, and WWE's stock by proxy. Each failed venture takes away some of what little value mainstream press and people give to WWE.

[Fökai 0]

It depends.  This movie project could end up tanking the entire company if they bomb bad enough.

 

Yeah, I wonder how much money Vince is blowing on his movie division. The guy just cannot accept that outside of wrestling, he is the biggest business moron of them all.

 

Wrestling- Marketing genius

Other- you are better off buying stock in Billy Beer

 

The good thing is he has 250 million, the bad news is his projects are getting bigger in terms of spent money.

 

Bodybuilding- Cheap

football- little more costly

movies- very costly

 

What's next? WWE Airlines?

I don't think the movies are nearly as bad of an investment as the XFL or the resturant.

You'll at least see a return investment, not to mention that the advertising will be done in-house, which saves them $50 million over the course of the film contract.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

If something freaky happens that sees Raw or Smackdown taken off TV, that could theoretically shut them down, because they'd have no major vehicle to push anything. Of course, they'd probably be able to get on another station, but that could depend on the freaky occurance that saw them lose Raw or Smackdown in the first place.

There's no way they'd lose Raw and Smackdown. The ratings are just too good. Even if they drop below 3.0, a company will still want them because that's still a top 10 cable rating.

People said there was no way WCW would lose Nitro either. It can happen, if Vince or Kevin Dunn goes that little bit too far with some crazy angle. And regardless of what ratings Raw or SD get, if something insane happens that sees WWE image drop, it won't matter what ratings they get.

[razazteca 0]

An observation:

 

If and when Vince retires from his position, he'll defer his off-camera responsibilities to Hunter. As much as he cherishes Stephanie, he expects her to be head of creative and little else. Shane is now overseeing the WWE Magazine division, in addition to his WWE Head of New Media position. Without Patterson and Ross, who will Vince turn to?

 

Enter John Laurinaitis.

Paul Heyman!