The Man They Call WMD
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I'm in shock. I don't know what they plan on doing. I'm very curious tho. I think the wait and see aproach is needed. So I'll wait for more news.
FCW SHUT DOWN
- Thread starter The Man They Call WMD
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I'm in shock. I don't know what they plan on doing. I'm very curious tho. I think the wait and see aproach is needed. So I'll wait for more news.
A lot of sites are assuming that a new facility will open in CT. I actually think WWE is gonna move the FCW talent to Booker T's wrestling school it makes to much sense. Booker T comes back on TE, then he becomes a weekly announcer on Smackdown then he re-opens his wrestling school. Anyone agree with me here?
This makes a lot of sense, to me.
They're going to lose so much money through the WWE Network and WWE films that they're going to inevitably have to cut back.
That's how the WWE will die, if it ever does; it's going to implode on itself from debt. Then again, one WrestleMania can support half of these ventures for probably an entire year, so that's why this makes a lot of sense.
Maybe the FCW TV deal was crummy, maybe they just want to take developmental into a new area (like Booker's wrestling school,), but I'm sure that they're going to keep all of their guys under contract and just move the territory to Connecticut. It ultimately will benefit the developmental talent to work with a star like Booker T, too. This may look bad, now, but it is just a temporary move, I'm convinced.
Richard Blonoff
Make America Rassle Again
Both of these make a lot of sense. I don't live in Florida so I couldn't tell you anything about FCW or its TV deal but I have to image it will be cheaper for them to open a new development territory close to their base of operations.
As it was said, with the WWE Network it will probably cost a lot of money to get it going. Plus they are having trouble getting it off the ground and have probably pumped a good chunk of money into it already.
The news is shocking, especially for it to break so late in the evening but I'm sure it will get sorted out soon. Probably shortly after Mania
Remy LaCroix
Lou Thesz' Favorite Son
I just want to point out that Booker T's promotion rebranded. PWA is now ROW.
That is all.
I live in Connecticut, and as awesome as it would be to have a wwe developmental territory finally come to the company's home state, it just wouldnt make sense to me. Despite Connecticut being the home of wwe's headquarters, there really isnt a ton of interest in wrestling in this state. I've been to dozens of shows in Hartford, Bridgeport, and at Mohegan Sun, and there is rarely a sell out. few outlets carry wwe merchandise, and those that do, dont have much. wwe is hardly ever advertised on local tv or radio stations here, and much of the time when wrestlers do signings in my state, the crowd that typically shows up is pitiful at best compared to the numbers found across the country.
In short, while it seems at a glance that wwe having their minor leagues in their home state would make sense, money-wise it just doesnt seem like an intelligent move. I say this with a heavy heart because, again, nobody would be as happy as me to have a DT here in Connecticut, but....thats just it, NOBODY would be as happy as me.
In short, while it seems at a glance that wwe having their minor leagues in their home state would make sense, money-wise it just doesnt seem like an intelligent move. I say this with a heavy heart because, again, nobody would be as happy as me to have a DT here in Connecticut, but....thats just it, NOBODY would be as happy as me.
I'm not a bit surprised, and i just said last week in the comment sections that wwe was going to start scraping some stuff. WWE has been losing tons of money and when i heard a rumor that the wwe network was going to be pushed back to late in the year i immediately knew why. It's because of the financial situation the wwe is in, because why sink money into something big as your own network when you're already loosing millions.
I Wouldn't be surprised if wwe movies gets scraped and it wouldn't surprise me if this whole wwe network thing gets scraped as well.
I Did a little Research awhile back and when i was researching i started noticing a trend, and now i have been saying for years (not on here, another site) that by 2011-13 that the ratings will be hovering in the low 3s to high 2s and guess what? it is!! and if the trend is not slowed down, raw is going to be in the mid 2s to low 2s by the end of 2013.
Vince the billionaire is now a millionaire wwe is in trouble and is the "sinking titanic" but for some reason, people think WWE is this undestrutable force that could never go bankrupt.
Vince needs to get back to basics, fire every "yes men". The shows are childish and i'm truly embarrassed for letting my peers know i watch raw. Because you know what they say? "You still watch raw? that's for kids now!". Vince, it's time to get back to the smash mouth wrestling.
Ever since the PG-13 era, wwe has been steadily slipping and it hasn't slowed down. WWE is in trouble and no one seems to notice or care.
I Wouldn't be surprised if wwe movies gets scraped and it wouldn't surprise me if this whole wwe network thing gets scraped as well.
I Did a little Research awhile back and when i was researching i started noticing a trend, and now i have been saying for years (not on here, another site) that by 2011-13 that the ratings will be hovering in the low 3s to high 2s and guess what? it is!! and if the trend is not slowed down, raw is going to be in the mid 2s to low 2s by the end of 2013.
Vince the billionaire is now a millionaire wwe is in trouble and is the "sinking titanic" but for some reason, people think WWE is this undestrutable force that could never go bankrupt.
Vince needs to get back to basics, fire every "yes men". The shows are childish and i'm truly embarrassed for letting my peers know i watch raw. Because you know what they say? "You still watch raw? that's for kids now!". Vince, it's time to get back to the smash mouth wrestling.
Ever since the PG-13 era, wwe has been steadily slipping and it hasn't slowed down. WWE is in trouble and no one seems to notice or care.
VinnieSunshine
The lord of darkness
Honestly Im glad this is happening. Awhile back it was mentioned that Triple H was looking to refine development...maybe this is part. Maybe he is looking to start from scratch.
I don't think WWE is in as much trouble as people think. Vince tried to branch out into different mediums...in this day you have to. The NFL is trying to branch out overseas. There is nothing wrong with it. It takes time and money people. Vince is a business man...he knows what he's doing. People get on his case too easy. How do you think the WWE got as big as it did? Vince took risks and branched out, and did things other promotions weren't doing at the time.
I don't think WWE is in as much trouble as people think. Vince tried to branch out into different mediums...in this day you have to. The NFL is trying to branch out overseas. There is nothing wrong with it. It takes time and money people. Vince is a business man...he knows what he's doing. People get on his case too easy. How do you think the WWE got as big as it did? Vince took risks and branched out, and did things other promotions weren't doing at the time.
greatgenius10
New Member
why not make NXT the new developmental system? at least they're travelling with the full time guys. and what if JR & Regal becomes NXT's announce team?
I should probable preface this by saying I live FCW, but in this case, it's irrelevant. My opinions on this move are independent to me opinions of FCW.
With that said; this is a completely and utterly, indefensibly boneheaded move for a few reasons. Firstly, what does WWE have in Stanford? Their HQ and not a lot else. Now, Titan Towers might be a kickass office, but you can't run a wrestling school out of it. Secondly (and this relates to the first point) everything that makes running a developmental fed possible is in Florida. Ya know, at the facility you just closed down. That's where the world class school is, that's where the talent lives (or did, at least), and that's where everybody to debut in the last 5 years lives. Combine the last two sentences and we see that WWE has no school for the developmental guys to relocate to, so for the forseeable future WWE developmental, isn't; since nobody expendable lives in CT, the new fed has no draws, meaning that for most of the tallent, the first time they wrestle in front of more than 50 people will be at a WWE house show, which they have no preparation for; the tallent has to relocate too, and deal with the hassle thereof, but that's no big deal relative to the last two things. Thirdly, this helps nobody in at least the short term. WWE have to go through the expense of setting up a damn new fed, the talent's getting neglected both short, and long term by moving to a location with no facilities or trainers, and since nobody inFCW developmental is able to draw a large crowd, and nobody in CT is going go and moonlight a developmental show, to draw a notable crowd, someone's got to be on the road for 7 days that week. Finally, one of the things that enabled FCW (and to a lesser extent OVW and DSW, as they had their own rosters that weren't under WWE contracts) to adapt to call ups was the fact that (NXT 1 and 2 excluded) top tier guys were able to be replaced as they left, and the fact that how Dusty saw someone was different to how WWE did, enabling a disconnect between who was at the top of FCW and who gets called up. By basing the new fed where WWE management will have more of a say (let's be honest, that's why they're moving it to Stanford) that's not going to be there. The guys at the top of the card will be the guys on their way to a callup which is less of a stable setup since there's not an infinite amount of tallent in FCW, meaning the cream of the crop will get rapidly thinned, a poor way to run a fed (although I admit to that not being a primary intention of a development fed).
tl;dr stupid move, I hate the decision.
With that said; this is a completely and utterly, indefensibly boneheaded move for a few reasons. Firstly, what does WWE have in Stanford? Their HQ and not a lot else. Now, Titan Towers might be a kickass office, but you can't run a wrestling school out of it. Secondly (and this relates to the first point) everything that makes running a developmental fed possible is in Florida. Ya know, at the facility you just closed down. That's where the world class school is, that's where the talent lives (or did, at least), and that's where everybody to debut in the last 5 years lives. Combine the last two sentences and we see that WWE has no school for the developmental guys to relocate to, so for the forseeable future WWE developmental, isn't; since nobody expendable lives in CT, the new fed has no draws, meaning that for most of the tallent, the first time they wrestle in front of more than 50 people will be at a WWE house show, which they have no preparation for; the tallent has to relocate too, and deal with the hassle thereof, but that's no big deal relative to the last two things. Thirdly, this helps nobody in at least the short term. WWE have to go through the expense of setting up a damn new fed, the talent's getting neglected both short, and long term by moving to a location with no facilities or trainers, and since nobody in
tl;dr stupid move, I hate the decision.
Jack-Hammer
YOU WILL RESPECT MY AUTHORITAH!!!!
It's certainly possible. I remember reading several years back that Booker T was really working to get Vince to have his wrestling school be the WWE's developmental territory, but JL ultimately wanted FCW because, allegedly, he loves the Florida nightlife. This was a big sore spot for Booker and was a major contributing factor to him leaving WWE.
However, Booker has been back for a while now and fences have obviously been mended. Having Booker's school be the territory responsible for recruiting & training new stars will add only more credibility when and if Tough Enough makes its return.
Also, Keirn trained DDP and Goldust, while the only PWA graduate I've know of is Jason Steele and he's a threetime developmental reject (as in, WWE said no at three tryouts) who has neer wrestled a match outside of Africa. I can see why WWE went with Doink not the five time WCW champ on this one.
That is definitely true. i wrestled florida indy circuit for quite sometime, and i can definitely say that this sucks. florida not only has the best facility, but most of the wrestling fans. the farther north you move, it seems like fan support also dies. i currently wrestle in west virginia(wvcw), and some of the shows i put on might have at a maximum 25 ppl in the audience, where as in the asw in fl i could wrestle for at least 50. i find myself having to travel to north carolina based promotions just for a decent payday to do what i love, and answer phones for the satelite company the rest of the time so i can afford to travel.
Vince needs to realize that developmental wrestlers today are like the territory wrestlers of the past. we will travel, but most of us go broke in the process. dumbass decision vince. fuck you
BaconBits
WZ Czar of Steaks
People in Florida are going to hate this move. I get that.
But there has to be some financial benefit to doing this. The WWE wouldn't do it if it was going to be a money pit. They have enough other money pits right now, adding another one doesn;t make sense.
I think many underestimate the potential of a developmental territory in relatively close proximity to New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia. The fans in that area are some of the most rabid in the entire country, and if you can manage to get over with that crowd, it really means something towards your future potential in the big leagues.
But there has to be some financial benefit to doing this. The WWE wouldn't do it if it was going to be a money pit. They have enough other money pits right now, adding another one doesn;t make sense.
I think many underestimate the potential of a developmental territory in relatively close proximity to New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia. The fans in that area are some of the most rabid in the entire country, and if you can manage to get over with that crowd, it really means something towards your future potential in the big leagues.
Peoples_Champ
Bra & Panties match winner & NEW...
They should have stuck with OVW. I still have no idea why that development site was shut down, I was under the impression it was successful.
The problem with the current development system is that in the old territories, you would have experienced wrestlers alongside rookies. These days, we have inexperienced talent wrestling with inexperienced talent. This leads nowhere. Any new developmental organization needs to have a balanced mix. Hopefully whatever next steps the WWE decides to take, whether it be Booker's or something new in CT, it has this balance.
The problem with the current development system is that in the old territories, you would have experienced wrestlers alongside rookies. These days, we have inexperienced talent wrestling with inexperienced talent. This leads nowhere. Any new developmental organization needs to have a balanced mix. Hopefully whatever next steps the WWE decides to take, whether it be Booker's or something new in CT, it has this balance.
I think they should make FCW turn into a show for the network.
Lets call it NXT. Let William Regal be the GM, Striker be the interviewer, and JR and Joey Styles be on commentary. Styles said on twitter that he and Ross should work together. Put all the developmental guys on it.
Use some of the big superstars to help out on the show sometimes.
Tell the Developmental Boys that they will be on NXT until they are ready for WWE. Let the winners of future Tough Enough Seasons go to NXT. Sign Indy guys. Let these people earn respect from fans and fight for spots on the main roster.
You can even demote guys like Kidd and Tatsu if Creative has nothing for them. Hell, on Draft day have a "random" selection go to Raw, and on go to SD!
Boom, now I have saved NXT and made a new show for the network.
Lets call it NXT. Let William Regal be the GM, Striker be the interviewer, and JR and Joey Styles be on commentary. Styles said on twitter that he and Ross should work together. Put all the developmental guys on it.
Use some of the big superstars to help out on the show sometimes.
Tell the Developmental Boys that they will be on NXT until they are ready for WWE. Let the winners of future Tough Enough Seasons go to NXT. Sign Indy guys. Let these people earn respect from fans and fight for spots on the main roster.
You can even demote guys like Kidd and Tatsu if Creative has nothing for them. Hell, on Draft day have a "random" selection go to Raw, and on go to SD!
Boom, now I have saved NXT and made a new show for the network.
jrichardson25
Pre-Show Stalwart
I made a mention of that yesterday in another thread. Booker's facility supposedly is really high quality including setups for TV production. I wouldn't be surprised to see that happen especially since then JR could drive to the facility and asses talent since that seems to be his role now.
Back on topic.... I am actually extremely surprised by this move. I think the cost of things might have driven this decision. There are a lot of wrestlers that live in Florida and some (Cena) have places where the FCW guys can actually hit the weights and work with the main event talent to get into shape...(among other things)... I can also assume something went bad... but making an assumption is just that... there's no evidence to support it yet.
I would think we will know the whole story soon enough....
PagingMr.ass
Occasional Pre-Show
I gotta say I agree with this. Does WWE really need to support a developmental league with a roster 40 male wrestlers, 9 divas, and three refs in training, and thats just the people listed under the talent section on their website, once you start adding in all the other people it takes to run this organization its seems like way to big of an operation for something thats only being aired on local programming in a few Florida cities. 40 wrestlers is a higher count than either Raw or Smackdown Superstars, although at least according to WWE.com it looks like they my have completely done away with identifying employees as either Raw or Smackdown superstars as they now appear in one group with no recognizable offiliation.
To add on to this if you look at their alumni page, their are less current signed WWE stars to come out of FCW since its existance then currently signed FCW talent. Whats the point of carrying around 40 guys when only 10-15 show any real promise. Not to mention WWE allready list over ten superstars like Reks and Curtis who are almost never used on TV. The WWE should either cut down to a select few and put them on NXT, where they get real mat and promo time infront of an actual WWE sized audience and get a feel for traveling with the guys and the locker room life. OR they can just go back to how the used to do it where they just become "offiliated" with other existing organiszations like Deep South or Ohio Valley Wrestling. This way someone else foots the bill while WWE saves money by lending financial support to groom certain stars rather than operate an elaborate INDY promotion, which is what FCW essentially was.
On a side note this may be a blessing disguise for some who's main roster bumps may start sooner than expected i.e. Seth Rollins.
Tripleb2k1
Pre-Show Stalwart
1st, DDP was trained by Buddy Lee Parker, Jody Hamilton, Dusty Rhodes & Jake The Snake Roberts
2nd, Dustin "Goldust" Rhodes was trained by Skandor Akbar & Dusty Rhodes
For the record, as far as the whole development change, they do have a training facility in Conneticut called WWE Traxx...was used in some of the old Tough Enoughs with Al Snow. The move was a wise one as the territory can be monitored better instead of sending various evaluators (JR, Waltman, Brisco, Arn, etc...) down to FCW once or twice a month.
As far as the rumored possible 2nd territory, here's hoping it goes to Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy in Calgary Alberta Canada as he's had quite a few graduates be signed to WWE Developmental contracts
Main site is saying that WWE hasn't shut down FCW, it just won't be coming on Brighthous Sports Network anymore. I hope this means I can be able to see it on like Time Warner Cable or something.
WWE has now posted an article about the rumors, which Triple H refutes:
http://www.wwe.com/inside/fcw-future-triple-h
WWE has now posted an article about the rumors, which Triple H refutes:
http://www.wwe.com/inside/fcw-future-triple-h
What a shock that VKM theses days shows no patience to a concept other than his and Stephanie's. WWE has been going through this trickle down affect of losing money in key areas. If you take a look at their bottom line numbers not counting sponsor money this company is in finaancial woe. Whats keeping this company afloat is the millions of dollars they get from select sponsors. Going PG was smart form a bottom line sense for a few years but for longevity this company has no identity or direction. The more Santion's they create the more fans by the thousands they will lose per quarter. Not saying go back to TV-14 cause WWE was over the top compared to WCW. SD and RAW must have better matches and stop with the quick segments and not giving certain talent to show their skills. Clearly this VKM is no where close to what he use to be because of the corporate leaches. A small percentage is this company believe they will be more succesful with entertainment than with wrestling. Attitude era was about wrestling and the way WWE is now is no better than when they were in the New Generation phase. FCW should of been a national show to replace NXT and have two airing a week. The first before Raw and the second after SD. The key to WWE turning it around is HHH. If he continues to just say yes to everything this company with sponsor money within a few years will barely make $400 mill!
But the thing here is that they couldn't care less about attendance. Not many people show up to these events no matter where they're held. The point is putting the workers in front of a crowd and the cameras, not getting a big crowd.
That "some reason" is the little fact that it's true. WWE is making money hand over fist and they're not even close to breaking even, let alone losing money. Business would have to keep going in its current downward trend for at least a decade before they'd start sinking, and that's highly unlikely. Possible, but not very likely.
Anyway, on the topic of FCW, it seems pretty well confirmed now that FCW is NOT shutting down and they are simply leaving Brighthouse Network.
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