How would WWE react in the event of a tragedy?

[Dimensions]

I'm just curious as to how you guys think the WWE would react if something major happened to one or a few of their superstars? Not that I wish harm on anyone but things happen. I mean with all the traveling they do, what would happen if a plane with half the superstars went down? Or what if either/or both of McMahon had an accident and couldn't run the business after Vince retires? Heck, what if Vince died tomorrow?

 

Was thinking about that earlier.

 

What do you all think?

[Black Lushus]

well, we already know they certainly wouldn't cancel the rest of a PPV if a wrestler died halfway through it...

[Guest bigm350]

If a plane went down with half the Superstars I'd imagine the WWE closing up shop for maybe a few weeks and/or ending the Brand Split or hiring some guys from TNA, ROH, or other indie's.

 

If Vince died; I don't know, that's a good question. I'd assume Linda, along with HHH, Shane, and Steph would make all the decisions around the WWE.

 

If Linda, Shane or Stephanie died; I'd assume HHH would get absolute power after Vince retires/dies, or Vince would possibly groom Shane's son to head the empire.

[Dimensions]

well, we already know they certainly wouldn't cancel the rest of a PPV if a wrestler died halfway through it...

Not saying that that wouldn't be tragic but I was looking more towards like potential company killers.

 

Here's another one, what if the building where the were doing a press conference blew up and HHH, Angle, Taker, HBK, Vince, Linda and any other main players died? That's a more far fetched, but like I said, things happen.

[Guest bigm350]

well, we already know they certainly wouldn't cancel the rest of a PPV if a wrestler died halfway through it...

Not saying that that wouldn't be tragic but I was looking more towards like potential company killers.

 

Here's another one, what if the building where the were doing a press conference blew up and HHH, Angle, Taker, HBK, Vince, Linda and any other main players died? That's a more far fetched, but like I said, things happen.

I'd assume that the WWE would go on a brief hiatus until they get some semblance of authority back in place. But without Vince, Linda, and alot of the main wrestlers, I would think that the WWE would eventually fizzle out and die. I think it would be too big of a tragedy for the WWE to overcome.

[Masked Man of Mystery]

I'd say the brand split would end, then things would go back to normal. They unify the titles at the next PPV and move on. The roster's too big as it is. I don't want anyone to die to trim it, though.

[Guest cosbywasmurdered]

Martians from Outer Space could invade and harvest the wrestlers organs as well.

 

 

 

 

 

It's far fetched, but things happen.

[Dobbs 3K]

What if Vince is caught at the edge of a nuclear explosion, and is mutated into a genetic freak of nature, who goes on a rampage, killing a bunch of people in the process? Would he still run the company???

 

What if Stephanie divorces HHH and marries Spike Dudley and has, like, eleven babies with him???

 

What if the Undertaker is really a Satanist and summons a demon to possess Linda McMahon, and she announces that all matches will take place in an empty arena surrounded by fire and that the loser of each match will be KILLED from now on???

[Boon]

Jericho would feud with Benoit over the title?

 

Cruiserweights would be on a primetime show?

 

Deserving talent would get pushed, while dead [excuse the pun] weight would be gone?

 

Hmm... sounds like a real tragedy...

[Highland]

What would have happened had they cancelled that or any PPV halfway through, and have been forced to refund the money?

PPVs are a major source of income and a cancelled PPV would have serious repurcussion. If you ordered a PPV and it was cancelled (Owen's death notwithstanding) would you be willing to order another? Smarks might, but would the casual fan that maybe gets a couple PPVs a year. Vince was clearly thinking about the bottom line when he decided to go on with the show at OTE and honestly I cannot blame him. It wasn't greed, it was just good economic sense (maybe Stephen Joseph can vouch for this, since I'm not an economist).

[Black Lushus]

didn't people reorder IYH: Beware Of Dog due to the blackout that occured during the original one?

[Dobbs 3K]

The re-showing was free to everyone that ordered the original, IIRC.

 

As for Over the Edge '99...my view was always that by cancelling the show, the WWF would've risked pissing off the fans in attendance at the show. Maybe that is being overly cynical, but 20,000 pissed off wrestling fans probably isn't a pretty sight.

[Hunter's Torn Quad]

As for Over the Edge '99...my view was always that by cancelling the show, the WWF would've risked pissing off the fans in attendance at the show. Maybe that is being overly cynical, but 20,000 pissed off wrestling fans probably isn't a pretty sight.

Maybe if they had actually informed them that Owen had died, and said that in respect of Owen they were cancelling the PPV and would be redoing the event as soon as possible and would honor all tickets for that night, it would have at least quelled any potential unrest over cancelling the PPV.

 

Other sporting and entertainment events in the past where a death or other tragic event has occured have been cancelled right away, and people weren't mad, because they understood the nature of the situation.

[Dobbs 3K]

That is a good point.

 

I think ultimately, though, there really isn't a right or wrong response to a situation like that. I'm sure people would've critcizied him if he cancelled the show, too. Vince got put in a very difficult situation, and he made the choice he felt was best, at that moment. Maybe there was some financial aspects to it, but I think he probably felt that taking the "show must go on" mentality was best that night.

[Hunter's Torn Quad]

I think ultimately, though, there really isn't a right or wrong response to a situation like that. I'm sure people would've critcizied him if he cancelled the show, too. Vince got put in a very difficult situation, and he made the choice he felt was best, at that moment. Maybe there was some financial aspects to it, but I think he probably felt that taking the "show must go on" mentality was best that night.

The right thing to do morally would have been to stop the PPV, and send everyone home. From a money perspective, I can see how people can think that carrying on was the right thing to do, but I absolutely don't agree with it.

 

As for people criticizing Vince if had stopped the show, I think it's a safe bet that stopping the PPV would have seen Vince get less criticism than he got for going on with it.

[Guest LooneyTune]

I've never seen (nor plan to see it period) Over the Edge, but how long into the show were they when Owen fell?

[Guest bigm350]

I've never seen (nor plan to see it period) Over the Edge, but how long into the show were they when Owen fell?

I could be wrong, but I'm sure it was either the second or third match in.

[Hunter's Torn Quad]

I've never seen (nor plan to see it period) Over the Edge, but how long into the show were they when Owen fell?

Owen's match was going to be the third one, so I'm guessing they were about 30-45 minutes into the PPV.

[Guest LooneyTune]

Hmm... in that case, they probably should've ended it right there. The only stuff they probably did was the worthless undercard matches no one pays to see. Vince was worth nearly a Billion dollars then, so losing a few hundred thousand isn't going to hurt him that badly (cost for tickets, arena renting, flying in the talent, the sets, etc. etc.).

[Nighthawk]

You know, when somebody dies, they can do pretty much whatever they want by claiming "He would have wanted it that way."

 

I'd imagine half the roster dying would result in a period of silence, redistribution of talent and starting from scratch essentially, that is, dropping all feuds, title holders and storylines. Wrestling frequently behaves unprofessionally about these things, however.

[Black Lushus]

I seem to recall Jeff Jarrett was visibly shaken and pretty much sucked (okay okay I know he sucks anyway, but worse) with his match...didn't his match follow the Owen situation?

[yankovic fan]

Yep,

 

Owen situation and then within minutes backstage interview with Jarrett and Debra.

 

Both were VERY upset.

 

 

Shortly after (or before, can't even remember if they were in the same match) there was a Road Dogg interview and he too was having trouble maintaining character.

 

 

One of the most distasteful things for me that night was they went through with the Nicole Bass/Val Venis thing, but that was distasteful, tragic events or not.

[JJMc]

I seem to recall Jeff Jarrett was visibly shaken and pretty much sucked (okay okay I know he sucks anyway, but worse) with his match...didn't his match follow the Owen situation?

I don't recall the match he was in, but in the interview he did before going to the ring, he was crying behind his glasses. And Debra started saying something worthless, and Jarrett told her to shut up and said something like "we're praying for you, Owen."

[MillenniumMan831]

Debra started relaying something about what her dad told her before he passed away or something like that when JJ cut her off . . . probably to keep her semi-in character.

[Slickster]

Yeah, and even Val Venis got flustered, inadvertently saying that they were in Kansas City, KS during his prematch promo.

 

It was pretty clear watching the PPV which segments/interviews had been pre-taped because so many people were emotional after the incident.

 

But yeah, I'd say that the #1 reason they didn't stop the show was because of strictly financial considerations: they were on tour and after the 5/24 live RAW in St. Louis they taped the 5/30 RAW in Moline on 5/25. There's no way they could have stopped the tour and redone the PPV in Kansas City without losing hundreds of thousands of dollars by refunding the tickets for those RAW tapings. Granted, they did cancel the weekend house shows, but it's easier to cancel those than to lose a RAW taping day. Plus, it was less of a loss because it was going to be a Canadian tour (the exchange rate was more favorable then).

 

Also, cutting the PPV short would have killed KC as a viable tour stop for years to come.

[Black Lushus]

I dunno, I have to agree with whoever said it earlier...wrestling fans or not, surely if they were told what had happened they would live with a stoppage...the crowd was pretty much deflated because of what happened anyway...I mean seeing a guy thud 50 feet from the air will probably shock the heat right out of any crowd...

[tominator89]

I could not imagine being a wrestler on the card having to work around the spot where he fell since it dented in the ring. Also, I'd assume that seeing his blood on the mat would really hit hard for any of the performers.

[Slickster]

I think it was a 'damned if you do,...' situation. You've either got 16,000 angry people demanding refunds, the loss of an estimated $4 million, and unfinished storylines that would screw up the booking.

 

On the other hand, you've got mucho criticism from all forms of media decrying your decision to continue the show and try to give the fans what they paid to see.

 

Vince just couldn't win either way.

[Jericholic82]

not all ain attendance knew owen was dead or even hurt they probably figured it was a work. Mick also said in foley is good, how both he and chyna among others were upset how fans continued to cheer and boo despite the tragedy, but most of them didnt know.

 

You can't change the past, so we porbably shouldnt say what should have been done, but I too have wondered what would happen at mania if , say Batista or Trips got hurt or died this week. If it was trips theyd proabbly cancel mania and turn it into a 4 hour tribute show and every raw and sd wrestler would from then on have to use all of trips moves and phrases and praise him constantly (well they already do that last part

[bob_barron]

I don't think the fans would be angry once they find out Owen Hart was dead.

 

I don't remember baseball fans rioting when they cancelled the game after the umpire dead.

 

Vince should've cancelled the show, offered refunds and found a way to make it up. I don't think it would've hurt him too much financially and the media probably wouldn't have crucified him as bad as they did