How long do you think the WWE will stay in business?

[It's...Baylariat!]

This is a real vague question, but I think it's a good one myself. Wrestling itself has been around for ages and promotions have came and gone. WCW, AWA, the major Indy promotions, and ECW have folded due to one thing or another. Right now, the WWE is the biggest wrestling company in the world. That being said, who's to not say that the WWE could find themselves losing viewership or if USA gets tired of carrying Raw after their new contract and decided to stop airing Raw. All of this is possible. Not saying it's happening or rumored to be happening, but it's something to think about.

So, how long can the WWE last? And why would they last so long? Not so long? Would it be feasable to say that it might not be long at all?

 

[Kingofthedeathmatch]

I honestly think the WWE will be around forever even if the name changes or Vince isnt running it. If USA took RAW off their channel they could easily find a new channel or they could even make a WWE channel but either way the WWE is too powerful to ever go out of business.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I think it's just too vague of a question to answer as there are so many variables to consider. There are so many maybes, might bes, what ifs, could bes involved that there's simply no way to tell.

Now I'm sure that there are some that will say that the WWE will go out of business very soon just because they don't like the WWE. That's all well and good but personal dislike doesn't constitute concrete reason as to how long the WWE will last. You might as well ask when the world is going to end or the date in which Christ is supposed to return to Earth and all the other vague and, mostly, unanswerable questions.

I read something on the CNBC website a few weeks ago involving the WWE and financial forecasts show that the company's overall revenue is expected to grow 15% a year for the next 5 years. Financial forecasts aren't written in stone, very few things are.

 

[Mr_Wrestling_Number_7]

About the only way I see the WWE (as a name) being no more is if the McMahon children become disinterested by being involved in other things and selling off their shares. If someone bought WWE, I could then see it being a risk as to whether it survives. Simply because I would be afraid that whoever bought it, though obviously loaded with cash to spend, wouldn't know the first thing about the wrestling business. I mean, how many wrestling enthusiast multi-billionaires are out there? I would trust Trump buying it, but WWE's days would be numbered if anyone else did.

 

[johnbragg]

WWE will be in business for the forseeable future. Raw sustains decent ratings. Even if Raw fades to the point where WWF was in the New Generation 1990s, as people have more and more channels and options (video games, DVDs, TV on demand, social networking sites, etc.) just standing still is an accomplishment.

So WWE programming is something that cable channels and maybe even networks will remain interested in.

Also remember that WWE has a lot of options and a lot of cards to play between "remain where they are/grow marginally" and "close up shop."

Let's imagine the worst possible 2010 for WWE.

There are rumblings of Syfy cancelling ECW. The Smackdown-MyNetwork contract is up, and I'm not sure that plug isn't pulled altogether on MyNetwork. Let's say that Smackdown ratings are down, ranging from 1.3-1.7 9 weeks out of ten. Fox is not interested, NBC's new Comcast bosses aren't thrilled with putting WWE on every week. Smackdown on WGN just isn't worth it, so interim CEO Stephanie McMahon folds the brand that she is most identified with.

Jeff Hardy goes to jail and, oh, let's say Vince's liver explodes from steroid damage. (I tried to think of the next non-TNA name on the Dead Pool list, and Vince is probably it.) Vince hasn't taken many chairshots, so there might not be the same Benoit-Umaga-Alzheimer's pattern, but the decades of steroid abuse and recreational drugs make for a sobering autopsy report.

(Verging deeper into imaginationland) TNA is able to carve out solid 1.5 ish ratings in their quarterly Monday shows. Worse, on those nights, Raw fails to break 3.0 after the January 4 Bret Hart supershow.

Even after a year like that, WWE is far from closing. In fact, consolidating two brands into one would allow them to give stars time off, and would give a huge boost to RAW. (Revenue and profit would be down overall, but that's a different story.)

 

[Blue Chipper]

This is a pretty vague question, however, I can still say that I fully believe that WWE will stay in business for an exceedingly long time. We all understand how extremely wealthy the WWE is, and with that much money, I don't see how they can not last for decades. Unless a very damaging occurrence happens, which we can't predict, one can reasonably say that the WWE will be a mainstay on television and continue to rack up tons of money. The WWE shows no signs of stopping, and it just keeps garnering more and more money. The huge amount of money they consistently make is undeniable. We can't predict if something bad will happen, but with the facts that we currently know, we can believe that WWE will continue to flourish.

So, unless a very traumatic event occurs, one can conclude that WWE will stay in business for a hefty amount of years based upon their financial security.

 

[dagoldstandard]

no offense, but don't ever say WWE is too powerful. people thought the same thing about wcw. they had everything(star power, great wrestlers, huge crowd, etc) but they failed. but to answer the question, it depends on whether or not cena's gone or not. not hatin on cena, but he's their top dog, and when they lose him(assuming taker, hbk, and hhh are gone) what's going to happen to the ratings!

 

[The Ultimate]

I often wonder this question as well? How long before wwe goes? My answer to that will probably be...well, not far enough for a Wrestlemania 40, that's for sure. Because with constant advancements in technology, and the world changing every single day, people are going to stop losing interest in pro wrestling, there will be new forms of entertainment, and whatnot, in fact non-prowrestling fans are still surprised that people still watch WWE, it was hot back in the '90 s but now, it has slowed down considerably. I am going to be generous and give it maybe another 10 years....

 

[johnbragg]

Ultimate, what you're failing to realize is that those new forms of entertainment have an upside for WWE.

Think in terms of ratings. Ratings that would be top ten in cable now would have gotten a show cancelled twenty years ago when there were only three networks plus maybe a dozen cable channels.

That process will probably continue. In five years, if WWE can still pull a 2.0 or better every week, that's your cable network's top show. Those kind of ratings helped get the plug pulled on Nitro, remember.

As long as WWE is treading water, or even losing audience more slowly than TV as a whole, WWE is in a position to survive.

Bigger threats on the horizon?

A class action suit by dead wrestler's families?
By ex-WWE divas on sexual harassment/hostile work environment grounds? (Things like the Piggie James video and the Diva's Championship being given to Undertaker's girlfriend are par for the course for women in WWE, but would not look good at all in court. Subpoena Nora Greenwald, Lita, Sunny, and the PTC's video archive and WWE has a big money problem.)

 

[pjrr]

I believe that the WWE will fold after Vince's death. His two children are not knowledgeable enough on the wrestling or business side to be able to run the company alone, and Linda might be too entangled in politics or may have already passed away.

 

[Big Ol' Buckta AIDS]

I have a feeling that the E will be around for a very long time. It is pretty clear that vince does trust some people ( Such as HBK and HHH ) with booking, ala sheamus and drew Mc. Steph has been with creative for quite some time, and although some people might ee this as a "down" time in the E creative wise, it is still churning in the dough. My guess is that vinces death will probably put an end to the PG era,as well, since it will be much easier for linda to distance herself from a buiness her kids run as oppossed to one her husband runs. With vince's death you gotta belive that HHH wil be really running creative, and that shane will robably come back to work the buineness side of the company. the question is who wil take over after them. but for at least the forseeable future, i belive that the company will be fine.

sorry for all the mispellings

also, has anyone else noticed the dude on top of the wrestlezone forum page looks like cena with the spinner belt?

 

[SickJames]

It'll be around for WrestleMania 100 when I'm 93

It wont end anytime soon. Stephanie will run it and Shane may even come back if needed and their kids will run it

It's gonna be fine, and actually there'll be new ways to enjoy entertainment but we're not gonna just throw away entertainment we have. No. We love our sports too much, that's like saying basketball will get boring and the NBA will be gone in 15 years

It's not gonna happen. I just get sick of this question because why is it we only single out pro-wrestling.

I see WWE, NFL & NBA all being around a long while

WWE will find new stars and btw WCW had WWE as competition, major competition when it was powerful. So it's understandable why they failed. But TNA is competition to WWE like ECW wouldve been to WCW had WWE not been around. Basically ECW couldnt compete with WCW whether WWE was around or not

ECW wasnt competition to WWE or WCW and TNA to me is lower than ECW.

ECW had a hardcore style that was unique about them, TNA is only even anything because former WWE, ECW & WCW stars made that company, they wouldve be a big deal or a little of a deal without them if it was only homegrown talent


All those former WWE, WCW & ECW stars couldve easily went to Wrestling Society X instead of TNA, so screw TNA it's not the company itself that's special it's the stars that they acquired that made them.

So no, WWE wont be defeated by a rival TNA and arent in the same boat as WCW. WCW was never on top with no major competition like WWE

 

[Midnight]

As far as the person who said that it will end when Steph and Shane take over, I highly doubt that. Keep in mind that Steph is married to HHH. HHH lives for the business and I'm positive that the team of HHH and Steph could keep the company going for quite some time.

However, let's say for arguments sake that HHH and Steph divorce. Not a simple one, but a real nasty one. It gets so nasty that HHH gets blackbooked. HHH jumps ship to another promotion say ROH and brings some life into them and makes them a player. TNA and ROH merge together and form an alliance similar to WCW and run Stephanie out of business.

In the forseeable future, I see that as the only way WWE goes down. Outside of that, I think it will take quite a bit of time. I would be shocked to see WWE go down before WM 50. Of course, it could also end when "the world ends on 2012".

 

[CuddleBuns84]

no offense, but don't ever say WWE is too powerful. people thought the same thing about wcw. they had everything(star power, great wrestlers, huge crowd, etc) but they failed. but to answer the question, it depends on whether or not cena's gone or not. not hatin on cena, but he's their top dog, and when they lose him(assuming taker, hbk, and hhh are gone) what's going to happen to the ratings!

They said that when Stone Cold and the Rock left... Look at that, other people stepped up to main even stop, and made something happen. Another thing that no one took in consideration. The company is publicly owned, which in some cases, they are in good shape, because their buying power has increased, and they preserve a lot of life with being public.

I think the new question is, if WWE buys TNA, will they turn that company around? I think no, because well, half of those guys would just get fired after the buyout.

 

[Supersayin]

I can never see it end. WWE and TNA are probably going to be the only MAJOR companies around the time this world goes down. They both have worked hard so they will stay forever.

 

[Deexter Jorgan]

The thing that your missing in this scenario Lariet is that the WWE is an established brand, the fact is anything synonemous with sports entertainment or even wrestling in general is the WWE's they have made many wrestlers into household names and many recognised celebrities into wrestling legends.

The fact is that USA will carry Raw until the end of time if they have to because its a sure fire ratings winner and doesnt go on hiatus like their other episodic television shows, so that wont happen at all.

Secondly smackdown is single handedly saving mynetwork tv, its the only original programming that the network carries that will bring in a million plus viewers.

ECW on the otherhand i have to agree, the brand is going nowhere because of the fact that Vince doesnt want it to succeed, and lack of promotion and bad treatment of guys like dreamer i dont see it going anywhere in the WWE's spectrum of things which as i have stated before is quiet sad.

The WWE in general is doing better then it ever has, unlike its predecessors the company has branched out into other forms of entertainment, not just wrestling, its movie production house has churned out movie after movie making the company a good source of income, they sell their own merchandise and gain a huge slew of revenue their, also look at their video library arm, they are making a tone of money their as well, so if the two big shows ended the WWE would still exist due to the fact that the company has other interests, it is not just a small indie fed that grew before its time they actually have other resources.

The company even still gets a sizable amount of income through its ticket gate.

So will it ever die?, well if the whole world lost power and ability to create books television, video and not able to make clothes and other merchandise i say maybe.

Good thread though

 

[HBK-aholic]

As long as a McMahon is the head of the company, I think the WWE will always be around. It'll go through slumps, as everything does, but I think the McMahon's have enough sense, and love for the business that it won't go out of business. Maybe I'm putting too much faith in that family, you could argue, but they've done pretty well so far and I don't see anything changing about that in the forseeable future.

 

[Dagger Dias]

So, how long can the WWE last? And why would they last so long? Not so long? Would it be feasable to say that it might not be long at all?

Good question. Honestly, none of us can truly predict the future, but this thread asks a very interesting question that I'm sure all of us have thought about before. I think that they will remain in business for several years. As long as they have at least one tv show, a good number of PPV's (I'd say keep the big 4, night of champions, and maybe 1 other one), have someone who knows the business in charge of things (Steph and HHH once it's not Vince), and enough fan interest.... if they maintain all of the above then I see them lasting several years because that's all they would need to keep making a lot of money.

It's not a very big part of the equation yet, but part of this depends on how well TNA does after January 4th. Only time will tell.

 

[WorldHeavyweightChampion]

No business in this world is immune from the possibility of collapse or non-existance. Even Rome and the USSR both fell. WWE most definately can be a thing of the past. It's foolish to think it can't crumble. And being a publically traded company doesn't mean anything (i.e. Enron, MCI, etc...).

On a personal note, I hope they do go out of business. I hate, always have hated, and always will hate the WWWF/WWF/WWE. I grew up a fan of the NWA, and later WCW, and even enjoyed the old AWA (and eventually some of the real ECW), as well as NJPW/IWGP. WWF/E is a bunch of crap and a disgrace to professional wrestling and I would be glad to see it fall.

Long live the NWA (if they ever find something even resembling the old JCP) and more power to TNA!

 

[X]

Moderator Comments (Lord Sidious)
Jking's shouting comments have been deleted.

Wow.

Okay, deep breath man. First things first, for the love of god turn off the caps lock. Anyone who posts in all caps lock is generally assumed to just be a moron and no one will read your post at all. Luckily I was bored and decided to. But seriously, turn off the caps lock man, please.

First things first, you seem to be under the impression that Vince McMahon Jr. started the WWE and brought it to where it is today. Which is completely and utterly false, because it was his father, Vince McMahon Sr. that started the company andturned it into the biggest wrestling promotion in the northeast, a promotion that would routinely sell out Madison Square Garden long before Vince Jr. came around and took over the company from his father.

Now, you can definitely give Vince Jr. credit for taking the WWF into the new century and turning it into the number one professional wrestling promotion in the US, but to claim that he did every bit of legwork and took the WWE from nothing to everything is simply preposterous. Please know your history before you attempt to "educate" us.

And the fact that you think the bookers of a wrestling product get together and collect "stat sheets" of all the merchandise and fans of each wrestler shows you're also quite naive on that topic as well. Booking most of the time has to do with who you know, it's the same exact thing in just about any professional industry. There's a reason Sheamus is the WWE champion right now, and I assure you it has nothing to do with his merchandise/fanbase stats, no it has more to do with his bestest friend in the world and work out buddy/co-trainer Triple H.

So please...before you get all angry and huffy and attempt to call us all "******s" and to "educate us", you should make sure that you do in fact actually know what you're talking about. In this case you most certainly do not.

 

[VintageWWE]

I for one think that the WWE will be around much later than Wrestlemania 50. Even if Vince passes away you still got Steph and Hunter to take over. I don't see the two of them closing down the company even if Linda and Shane don't want to do it anymore. Shane will probably return to the WWE if Vince does pass away and take care of corporate WWE and Steph and Hunter can take care of creative and talent. The day the WWE goes out of business is the day that no one in the US watches pro wrestling anymore. Companies like TNA and ROH will never be able to drive the WWE out of business just because WWE has too much money and they don't. No billionaire is going to invest money into a new wrestling promotion like Turner did and only if that happens can there be actual competition for WWE.

 

[FromTheSouth]

I believe that the WWE will fold after Vince's death. His two children are not knowledgeable enough on the wrestling or business side to be able to run the company alone, and Linda might be too entangled in politics or may have already passed away.

This is terrible.

1. Even if Stephanie isn't knowledgeable on the wrestling side, as you claim, her husband might know a thing or two about it.

2. There is a staff of writers, road agents, and bookers who could do fine without a McMahon in their hair.

3. The business side of the company isn't that hard to run. You have a VP for every sector of the business and then a CFO to dole out the money and CEO to determine the overall direction of the company. Any executive in a sports franchise could step in and run a sector of the business or the company as a whole.

4. Shane McMahon has a business degree from Boston University, and worked in the offices side by side with his mother for years. To think that he won't be coming back to the company at some point is foolish.

The WWE will last as long as fan keep watching. There are now four McMahon grandchildren who will grow up in the business. HHH, Shane, and Stephanie are still young enough to maintain the business for another 40-50 years.

 

[Tastycles]

I think it's too big to say. I'm sure it'll come to an end some day, there have been very few companies that haven't. Huge companies tend to collapse unexpectedly or suddenly, and I'm sure when the time comes the WWE will go the same way. Nobody in 1988 would have said that Pan-Am only had three years left, or in 2006 that Lehman Brothers had less than 2. There are too many variables to consider, and nobody knows what is going on behind the scenes or who is being shady. Vince's authoritarian nature means that I doubt it will be him that oversees a collapse, but you never know.

 

[Ytoojae]

I don't think that the WWE has a problem in the future with new technology making the company obsolete.

Why I hold this opinion is that I believe more than any other professional sport or sports entertainment company the WWE has been on the forefront of embracing technological change and using it to enhance the viewer experience.

For years WWE.com has been leaps and bounds better than most of the big three (four if you include the NHL) pro sports websites, they've constantly seeked new ways to display their product while retaining as much control over their content as possible, an example being that they have much more control over the way their video games are presented than do the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB -- which license out and essentially hope for the best (it's why multiple companies are allowed to release <league/association> products of the same media, such as EA Sports and 2K sports).

I have no doubts that as technology advances that the WWE will continue to be at the forefront and embracing it with open arms. To the WWE more technology generally means more ways to showcase their company. Other companies fear technology because they haven't embraced it for nearly as long as the WWE have and they're afraid of being swept away in it.

The first real test for the WWE will indeed be Vince McMahon's death, which, touch wood, will not happen for many years. However, I do have faith in Triple H, Stephanie and whoever else runs the company with them. In fact, I will go so far as to suggest that when Vince finally passes (and/or steps down from his position, but, I think he's going to be one of those work till he's dead type guys) that the WWE will over a small transitional phase really freshen up and become a very exciting time in company history. For as good as Vince is his style has become so well known that much of what he is capable of is predictable. We simply don't know what Steph and Triple H will do when their time comes, and how much right now they tow the company line for Vince while keeping their genuine ideas that may upset Vince to themselves.

I believe that the legal ramifications of potential big money law suits involving sexual discrimination and from the families of young deceased wrestlers will happen eventually. However, I believe that the WWE is strong enough to survive this. The public generally knows of both situations already so I don't believe that viewership will plummet based from a result against the WWE in these instances. I believe that the WWE is financial enough to not have too much to worry about in either instance. Yes, it will hurt but not to the point where it will break the company.

Realistically the only way that I see the WWE folding is through natural or man made disasters. In that I mean catastrophic stuff happening in the United States - whether it be war or 2012esque natural disasters.

 

[multiverseman.com]

You never know. A combination of different elements and factors could sink any company. It's never just one thing. Imagine Linda winning a Senate seat, divorcing Vince and fracturing the shares. Or imagine Steph, Linda, & Shane freezing Vince out and selling to a company who just wants to sell off assets. Stranger things have happened. Suppose Cena, HHH, Vince & all die in a plane crash, ratings go down immediately, stock prices drop and a greedy corporate raider swoops in and decimates them.

Ok, here's a more realistic scenario. MyNetworkTV folds and SyFy yanks ECW, all within the same month (Smackdown and ECW aren't long for this world anyway if you ask me). The next month Vince has a heart attack and has to relinquish his duties. Stocks drop, it's all over within 8 months.

Likely? No, but not inconceivable.