Can someone give Mark Cuban a call and get him to invest in wrestling?

BringThePain834

Getting Noticed By Management
I mean come on. This is someone who has the money. In addition to that, he has the name recognition which would bring in major media should it happen and he has the personality to be a good promoter. And from what I understand he's a pretty good business man who I'd assume would learn from the mistakes of WCW and current WWE while putting on a show, because it's common knowledge that there are people that just simply can't be bothered to give TNA another chance, ROH, PWG, LU are all too scattered and small to be seen as a big deal, GFW is an interesting one because they had done a few "TV tapings" for Amped, yet they never recorded them (put them on YouTube, got a deal, etc.) and nobody has seen those shows, and people are expected to view them as a major promotion?!

It really is the perfect time for someone (with funding from Mark Cuban) to start a promotion considering these factors

1. The state of promotions that aren't WWE - TNA and ROH are in much worse shape than they were 5 years ago. WWE has alienated a huge portion of the fanbase.

2. Disgruntled wrestlers/huge talent pool available - virtually everyone on the TNA roster that isn't Matt Hardy seems disgruntled, and there is plenty of talent out there to sign.

3. More networks looking for cheap programming. Wrestling is cheap to produce in comparison to something like Agents of SHIELD.

4. Old fans that were lost after the attitude era. WWE basically lost all WCW and ECW fans and half of their own after becoming a monopoly. Those fans are still out there. They all wouldn't come back, but many would be given a compelling product.

The problem is that there are huge barriers to entry for the wrestling industry in North America. You HAVE to have a weekly network show to even be a distant second. And that is a lot of money up front with production costs, ring equipment, etc. In addition, it takes more than money to build a successful company. Dixie Carter has proven that. She doesn't have a grasp of the business and it has caused her to listen to all the wrong people. Ted Turner had the same problem. He had the money, but then he just gave Bischoff free reign. On the other hand, you have someone like Paul Heyman who ran ECW, but had no financial abilities whatsoever.
So to be successful, you would have to have someone that knows business, has money, and understands wrestling, or at least has the ability to research and hire someone who understands wrestling. Cuban would be a good investor and I trust that he would bring someone in that really understands wrestling. I personally think the following:

He would go after the "missed opportunities", your Damien Sandows, Sami Callihans, Trent Barettas, Wade Barretts, TJ Perkins, etc.

There would be a bidding war for whatever awesome indy and foreign stars now. Guys like Jack Gallagher, Zack Sabre. Jr, Akira Tozawa, etc would hugely benefit (as they should).

This would allow performers with a glass ceiling on them to jump ship. I could easily see Fandango, Ryder, Axel, Sandow, Slater, Swagger, Breeze and the Ascension taking their chances when their contracts are up.

He would get a television deal right off the bat. He has some kind of stock hold of AXS TV, which isn't a huge channel by any means, but Cuban's name and the press might at least get them looked at by Spike, MTV, FX, hell maybe even a regular Saturday night slot at NBC.

Honestly, I just love the idea of a tangible, physical threat to the existing order (TNA, ROH, LU, GFW) that isn't WWE.
 
He seems to be a smart businessman. Therefore he would not likely invest all the money needed to start a promotion from the ground up. Especially given how long it would take for him to see a return on his investment. Do you know how much money it would take to rent/buy a place, get the ring/lighting/entrance/camera equipment, hire a full staff/crew/roster, make some merchandise & then buy air time for media outlets to market the product?

He would spend all this money, knowing he would never be #1 & hoping to at least reach second place, likely not making any money off of it for a few years. Plus he would want his input taken seriously despite a likely very limited knowledge of the business & that type of ownership never seems to go well for wrestling.

In short.... wishful thinking.
 
Mark Cuban is a billionaire because of his business sense. There is an exception when he's courtside at a Mavericks game though. Guy can't control his mouth. Anyway he's been involved with the WWE in the past, and I'm sure he's not in the dark as to what's going on.

Just the fact that he hasn't offered to take over TNA, God knows their financial problems have made the news, might tell you it's a no go.
 
Ted Turner was a big reason why WCW didn't go away sooner.
He liked having a wrestling show. Most of the other executives didn't.
Once he wasn't calling the shots anymore after the merger with AOL WCW lost a lot of funding.

At least according to Eric Bischoff.

So if that's true then it's a good thing that Turner was letting Eric run wild with the company. He was probably making Turner money in return.
 

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