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Is the scuttlebutt that the Wolves are going to TNA in a DONE DEAL format?Comment
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Posted it two pages back.....could be appearing on Impact tomorrow. The when is all that needs to be decided. Surprised they went to TNA and not back to the indie circuit.Comment
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Best example of Indy vs. WWE is when Punk came up and was wrestling Morrison in ECW. Morrison can go, has the look, and loads of athleticism. As an assortment of tools, he was probably ahead of Punk at the time. Punk was seen as THE MAN in the indies, but at the time, he wasn't viewed as the greatest worker. Definitely elite, but I remember a number of people didn't have him in their top 5 indy workers. But Punk was 10x more resourceful than Morrison ever was. Punk's learning curve on the big stage was unreal, where as Morrison got to a point of being pretty good and never improved from there, in the ring or otherwise. Even Bryan, who I thought was very lacking in charisma. And I wasn't alone. His learning curve was ridiculous too. Now he barely does anything and the crowd is eating out of his hands, in a way that even the ROH crowds didn't do (save for maybe his enterance.) Those guys that come up having seen it all are at a big advantage in the ring and on the mic. They've been exposed to so many styles, especially like Generico who has wrestled every town in the US most likely, that they never look awkward or out of place even in the land of the giants. How ironic....Comment
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It's just funny to me that they finally decide to raid the indies, they sign all of these guys who we all knew were awesome, and the product has been better than it's been in years, and the in ring better than probably ever.
And you STILL have Triple H & DeMott playing that tired card. It's crazy, just makes no sense. Every big name indie guy they sign adapts and thrives, and in most cases, find a way to get over even when they aren't supposed to.Comment
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If you've never seen Ricochet, trust me, they don't have guy(s) (plural) who can do the flying he can do. They have *one* guy. Neville. That's it. Maybe Evan Bourne. Maybe. And I would argue Ricochet is more spectacular and has a better overall look. None of them can promo.Originally posted by Observer
Passing on Ricochet makes absolutely zero sense to me. If he went on RAW tomorrow and was allowed to do what he can do, he'd get over in one match.Comment
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If you've never seen Ricochet, trust me, they don't have guy(s) (plural) who can do the flying he can do. They have *one* guy. Neville. That's it. Maybe Evan Bourne. Maybe. And I would argue Ricochet is more spectacular and has a better overall look. None of them can promo.Originally posted by Observer
Passing on Ricochet makes absolutely zero sense to me. If he went on RAW tomorrow and was allowed to do what he can do, he'd get over in one match.Comment
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s@ppisgod: I know you were wondering about DVD sales cannibalization. Here are some numbers run in the Observer this week, pulled straight from the company SEC filings:
International aside, they need to push 2M subscribers to make this thing work.The UFC Fight Pass is projecting 100,000 subscribers at $9.99 per month, worldwide by the end of 2014. The WWE Network is projecting between 1 million and 2 million subscribers in the United States (the 50 states and Puerto Rico, the only places it will be launched at first) by the end of 2014. They project in the U.S. alone, they will have 2 million to 3 million subscribers by the end of 2015.
Even at those lofty numbers, between the start-up costs and the cannibalization of PPV, a WWE SEC filing stated that the company was expecting profits to be lower this year than last year.
“We expect the network will reduce OIBDA and net income in 2014 as the initial ramp in subscribers and revenue is not likely to be sufficient to offset both the foregone pay-per-view revenue and the incremental, direct expenses associated with a network launch, such as programming, marketing, customer service and content delivery costs,” wrote WWE’s Chief Financial Officer George Barrios.
Long-term, based on the U.S. market, they project in 2015, when there are no longer the start-up costs, that the network would break even with 1 million subscribers, earn $50 million in OIBDA (pre-tax profits) with 2 million subscribers, and earn $150 million in OIBDA with 3 million subscribers.
They are projecting that the network will, in the U.S., cannibalize about $60 million annually in money that had previously been taken in, largely in PPV and DVD revenue. They expect another $15 million annually in cannibalization of those revenue streams for 2015 when the network expands internationally. The costs per year right now are budgeted at $65 million, of which about $20 million is earmarked for programming.
Essentially, for 2015, they need $140 million in revenue to the company to break even. While that would figure to be 1,167,000 on a worldwide basis, because of splits in revenues, depending on what percentage use outside streaming devices, it would really be a number somewhere between 1.17 million and 1.67 million worldwide subscribers
The plan is to launch the network outside the U.S., in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Nordic countries in Europe, either at the end of 2014 or early 2015.
After the initial launch, they are projecting with 250,000 subscribers outside the U.S., they can break even on international revenue. With 750,000 subscribers internationally, they can hit $25 million in new OIBDA and with 1,500,000 subscribers internationally, they can hit $85 million in new OIBDA.
What do you guys think?Comment
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I think you're right, but I also think there are a lot of guys who think those 1.5 guys they already have that can do flippy things is already too many. I mean, it seemed like they had a stable of big, not incredibly useful guys in the early-mid 00s like Kane, Morgan, Heidenreich, Snitsky, etc and they just signed more and more and tried to make them work. The cap always seems to be a lot smaller on the guys they just don't like. Like tag teams. They say they want a better, deeper tag division, but they don't want the Wolves. Or the Briscoes. Or the Young Bucks. Who are all quality, but couldn't be more different. They don't fit the cookie-cutter look that Vince likes, so they aren't necessary. But they'd love to have Beer Money. And I like Beer Money, but it illustrates the point.Comment
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They're completely re-structuring most of their business model. It's going to take some time. The new way is more sustainable, which is why it's important to get it implemented now and start making that side of the business a successful brand like Raw is in ratings. But is a big risk in the short term. How many DVDs do they sell at...oh, I don't know....WALMART? Tons. How many of those are single star bios, WCW/ECW nostalgia, and recent PPV tapes? Almost all of them, the compilation DVDs have dried up quite a bit. So all of those are going to overlap with what's offered on the Network, mainly the PPV tapes which are essentially going to die almost immediately. That's serious revenue, even before the PPV BUYS which are only included in the whole package. So you're taking away two pretty good revenue streams and trying to replace it with one that's offered for a lower price. It's hardly going to be a financial home run from the get-go. They need to rope in almost half the consistent viewing audience of the FREE show to pay every month to start making serious money. It's a risk, moreso than people are letting on...
Also, I don't know how feasible this really is, but they NEED to get it into China. Most populated/successful country on the planet. I know they really restrict the crap out of things over there. But WWE finally broke in there not too long ago for a show, and I know Shane has experience over there. Getting into that market, while maybe impossible, would make hitting their vital numbers internationally and overall, much, much easier.Last edited by s@ppisgod; 01-16-2014, 04:08 AM.Comment
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RE: The conversation earlier about guys with indie experience vs WWE assembly line create-a-wrestlers:
Main event saw The Ascension beat Hunico & Camacho in a tornado match. This was where you could see certain issues with training. These guys are so programmed to do the same traditional tag team match that you constantly see, that when they’re put in a tornado situation everyone looked lost. It was kind of bad most of the way, a couple of decent spots at the end. Camacho went for a tope but got nailed coming through the ropes with a bolo uppercut by Viktor. With Camacho laid out, they did the high low on Hunico for the pin in 9:02.Comment
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They are complete morons for skipping on a guy like Ricochet. Good looking, awesome physique, unheard of "you have to see it to believe it" athleticism... he'd get over as Larry said in one match more than just about every cruiserweight they've had since Mysterio.Comment
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