Not a whole lot happening on WWE programming this week. It was an international tour which meant a lot of solid matches, but nothing to enhance current storylines. Essentially we get a week of great wrestling matches and a break from pay-per-view hype.
Or is it because there has been more going on OUTSIDE the ring than inside?
I will start with this. I am no financial expert. I have a guy who does my investing for me. I do basic math and figure out how much into debt I am every month, and this is the extend of any financial know-how I have.
For those unaware, WWE is embroiled in yet more lawsuits, all pertaining to sour deals with NBC Universal, poor WWE Network subscriptions, low pay-per-view buy rates, Dish and DirectTV dropping WWE PPV offerings, and a near-50% drop in stock value, resulting in Vince McMahon losing some 400-million dollars. Financial experts say now is the time for new management, a corporate takeover, or the company be sold to a firm who can reclaim losses. Law suits are abound, investigating whether there was misconduct by the WWE Board of Directors, hidden talks, financial mismanagement, and, you get the idea.
The number one fact here, is Vince will NEVER sell. Any firm or so-called financial expert who calls for the sale of WWE has no clue who Vince McMahon is, and has no basic understand of how the business of WWE functions.
Get something else straight, this is not the first time Vince lost money. This is not the first time Vince has been sued. This is not the first time WWE has been investigated. Each time something serious went down, Vince kicked out at the two count and wound up standing tall.
Let’s go over a few:
1) Steroid Scandal – Even damaging testimony from Hulk Hogan could not force Vince into submission. That was huge, testifying in front of government officials, being in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, and somehow WWE is still around.
2) The XFL – Vince lost millions upon millions of dollars on this catastrophic failure. Everyone, including so-called “experts” in the wrestling business said it was the end of WWE. Well, WRONG! Vince lost a crapton of money, but yet his wrestling business flourished. That did not seem to stop the McMahon family at all.
3) Chris Benoit – This was a big freaking deal. I do not need to recap the horrifying truth, but this stopped WWE in its tracks for all of one week. Yes, the steroid investigations started all over again, and this was mere months after former WWE wrestler Christopher Nowinski began his whole “Concussion Awareness” tour as a result of his own injuries in wrestling. WWE was quick to institute a new “Wellness Policy” which many feel is a sham, but others have seen the proof it is very real. Again, the “experts” said WWE would have to shut down. It didn’t.
4) Anytime something bad happens and it garners media attention – You know what bothers me most? Is every time some news station wants to say something simply to get ratings. WWE did something bad this week, let’s show it off everywhere. What is worse, is the Internet Wrestle Community is just as bad. Hell, they are like Transformers or comic fans. When something does not go EXACTLY as they want it to, then “(insert name here) has been RUINED FOREVER!”
These so-called financial experts look at the numbers and not at the people. They talk lawsuits and company shutdowns simply to turn heads and get attention. My three-year-old twins do a better job. The point is this, as long as there are fans, there will be a television program. There will be a WWE Network. Sure, the numbers have not been what they once were, but no company, not even Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Apple, Coke, Dell, or any other company would close after one bad stock market day. If every company who had a bad financial quarter shut down, there would be nothing but Sticky Pads and toilet paper.
The most interesting bit of actual wrestling news to come out of this week was the apparent title change at a live event overseas. As the tale goes, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan defeated The Usos for the WWE Tag Team Championships in controversial fashion. The decision was overturned by Dave “Fit” Finlay and the Usos then retained the titles when the match was restarted. Crowd in Belfast popped huge for Finlay. Perhaps WWE is testing the waters for a future title change? Imagine if Bray Wyatt held either the United States or Intercontinental Championship, and his family with the Tag Team Championships? Not unheard of, only a year ago did The Shield do the exact same thing.
Adam Rose continues to “party on” and Bo Dallas makes his SmackDown debut, defeating Sin Cara. I do wonder about the new NXT people. None of these guys seem like main event material to me. Bo Dallas and his “Bo-lieve” gimmick would benefit from Brother Love as a manager. Sure, he was NXT Champion, but it does not mean he could be a future WWE Champion. Same for Adam Rose. Unless something is in the works, he might as well starting tagging with Fandango and face off against R-Truth and Xavier Woods every single week.
The week was busy, not in the way we would have thought. I imagine next week, starting with WWE’s annual Memorial Day tribute, we will see the dial slowly cranked higher as Vince is likely more focused on putting on a damn good show.
Easy. More Bad News Barrett!
