Speculation On WWE Buying TNA Library

[DirtyJosé]

No knock on TNA's history, but I don't see any value for the WWE to buy this up, at least any time soon. Over a half a million is still a hefty investment, and one that WWE is in no position to offer right now. Vince bought out ECW and WCW because they were cheap, he was making more jack than ever before, and the opportunity presented itself. I do not feel that this is the right time for WWE for be opening the purse strings.

 

[d_henderson1810]

No knock on TNA's history, but I don't see any value for the WWE to buy this up, at least any time soon. Over a half a million is still a hefty investment, and one that WWE is in no position to offer right now. Vince bought out ECW and WCW because they were cheap, he was making more jack than ever before, and the opportunity presented itself. I do not feel that this is the right time for WWE for be opening the purse strings.

Again with the "WWE going broke" linw.

Let's get this straight, WWE are NOT in financial trouble.

So, one network wouldn't pay what WWE wanted. It isn't lost money, because WWE never had that money to begin with. The deal probably didn't happen because the TV station wants Raw and Smackdown exclusively live, whereas WWE want to show these shows live on the Network as well. They couldn't come to agreement, so Vince got less.

As for WWE Network not taking off, it has only launched in the U.S. so far. The USA probably don't have the same fanaticism in watching WWE on TV, because they can actually go to shows. They take WWE for granted.

I guarantee, when WWE Network launches worldwide, it will make back all its money, and then some more. I'll get it when it hits Australia. It might be huge in Japan, Canada and England. Plus when they have all their footage up, and you can watch every Raw, SD, Nitro, PPVs and every other bit of footage, it will be worth it. I have not heard anyone who has it say it isn't fantastic value. The whole Henny Penny "sky is falling in" stuff is just pure fantasy.

If WWE were in financial trouble, then they couldn't afford to pay Brock Lesnar millions for 8 shows a year, or the Rock for a WM, or even Hulk Hogan, when he can't wrestle. When people say "I can't afford it" yet plough money into other expensive things, then what they really mean is "I don't want to spend my money there, but I do on that".

 

[GODSON]

Of course WWE would buy the library, love them or hate them but TNA is the third biggest company in US/Canada history behind the WWE and WCW. They are more valuable than ECW because TNA has 12 years worth of material and 9 years of being on primetime on a major cable network. TNA also had Hogan,Sting,Foley,Angle,Jeff hardy,Nash,New Age Outlawz,Booker T,etc. on a FULL TIME BASIS. ECW resume could not even compete with TNA.

The wildcard factor is Jeff Jarrett. He still owns 29% of TNA. The carters can't sell the library without his approval and I am no law major but he would have first rights to the library I assume. He is trying to start a new promotion and having TNA footage would be huge for his camp.

 

[Headman]

I think the WWE would have about as much interest in TNA's library as they would footage of me playing with my LJN wrestling figures as a kid. TNA's library doesn't even make TNA money so why on Earth would WWE want it?

 

[GI Cake]

Again with the "WWE going broke" linw.

Let's get this straight, WWE are NOT in financial trouble.

So, one network wouldn't pay what WWE wanted. It isn't lost money, because WWE never had that money to begin with. The deal probably didn't happen because the TV station wants Raw and Smackdown exclusively live, whereas WWE want to show these shows live on the Network as well. They couldn't come to agreement, so Vince got less.

As for WWE Network not taking off, it has only launched in the U.S. so far. The USA probably don't have the same fanaticism in watching WWE on TV, because they can actually go to shows. They take WWE for granted.

I guarantee, when WWE Network launches worldwide, it will make back all its money, and then some more. I'll get it when it hits Australia. It might be huge in Japan, Canada and England. Plus when they have all their footage up, and you can watch every Raw, SD, Nitro, PPVs and every other bit of footage, it will be worth it. I have not heard anyone who has it say it isn't fantastic value. The whole Henny Penny "sky is falling in" stuff is just pure fantasy.

If WWE were in financial trouble, then they couldn't afford to pay Brock Lesnar millions for 8 shows a year, or the Rock for a WM, or even Hulk Hogan, when he can't wrestle. When people say "I can't afford it" yet plough money into other expensive things, then what they really mean is "I don't want to spend my money there, but I do on that".

I don't think Jose was saying anything along the lines of WWE of going broke, but merely that it is just in poor business taste to buy something at a high price now when you could sit on it, and watch the price for TNA's footage shrink overtime. There really isn't a whole lot of demand for all the footage unless ROH has half a million to fork over for only videos.

The way I see it, the WWE are the only ones who could gain anything from the TNA footage so it only makes sense to wait for all the TNA Footage to cost around $100,000 -$200,000 before opening up the checkbook for replays of Gail Kim vs Awesome Kong.

 

[Headman]

I don't think Jose was saying anything along the lines of WWE of going broke, but merely that it is just in poor business taste to buy something at a high price now when you could sit on it, and watch the price for TNA's footage shrink overtime. There really isn't a whole lot of demand for all the footage unless ROH has half a million to fork over for only videos.

The way I see it, the WWE are the only ones who could gain anything from the TNA footage so it only makes sense to wait for all the TNA Footage to cost around $100,000 -$200,000 before opening up the checkbook for replays of Gail Kim vs Awesome Kong.

Unless the WWE are trying to be completists and own every piece of wrestling footage ever recorded I really don't see what they have to gain. There's still enough WWE footage unreleased on the network to keep us busy for years. And then there's the WCW stuff, AWA stuff, WCCW, ECW and sooner or later the USWA. Where would TNA fit into this? There's no nostalgia for it and barely any interest in it from current fans. As I said before, TNA hasn't found a way to make money off their own library. I doubt they're even on Mcmahon's radar unless the price is so obscenely cheap that Mcmahon can put it in the vault and save it until the day comes when wrestling has gotten so bad that even the old TNA tapes look good.

P.S. You have the best screen name on this entire forum.

 

[lil steroid meat]

Unless the WWE are trying to be completists and own every piece of wrestling footage ever recorded I really don't see what they have to gain. There's still enough WWE footage unreleased on the network to keep us busy for years. And then there's the WCW stuff, AWA stuff, WCCW, ECW and sooner or later the USWA. Where would TNA fit into this? There's no nostalgia for it and barely any interest in it from current fans. As I said before, TNA hasn't found a way to make money off their own library. I doubt they're even on Mcmahon's radar unless the price is so obscenely cheap that Mcmahon can put it in the vault and save it until the day comes when wrestling has gotten so bad that even the old TNA tapes look good.

P.S. You have the best screen name on this entire forum.

Anywhere from 600k - 1 Million viewers weekly and there's "barely any interest in it from current fans"? Highest rated program on Spike TV and there's "barely any interest in it from current fans"?

You are on a strain that would make Jeff Hardy pass out if you think that there is more interest in the damn AWA or WCCW than there is in the number 2 North American wrestling promotion of the past decade. 1 Million viewers is "barely any interest"?

Do you think there are a million people interested in the AWA? WCCW? Hell, ECW? WCW? WCW doesn't even mean World Championship Wrestling to the world outside of wrestling fans anymore. Twitter search WCW and tell me what you come back with.

I know TNA has some shitty stuff creatively at times, but you're silly if you think it still doesn't have A LOT of brand value...Dixie Carter being annoying is still pulling upwards towards a million viewers weekly...

 

[Headman]

Anywhere from 600k - 1 Million viewers weekly and there's "barely any interest in it from current fans"? Highest rated program on Spike TV and there's "barely any interest in it from current fans"?

You are on a strain that would make Jeff Hardy pass out if you think that there is more interest in the damn AWA or WCCW than there is in the number 2 North American wrestling promotion of the past decade. 1 Million viewers is "barely any interest"?

Do you think there are a million people interested in the AWA? WCCW? Hell, ECW? WCW? WCW doesn't even mean World Championship Wrestling to the world outside of wrestling fans anymore. Twitter search WCW and tell me what you come back with.

I know TNA has some shitty stuff creatively at times, but you're silly if you think it still doesn't have A LOT of brand value...Dixie Carter being annoying is still pulling upwards towards a million viewers weekly...

I wish there was a filter to get through all the "Blah, blah, blah" in this post but I'll try to answer this in the simplest way possible.

Firstly, yes I believe a show that does the same numbers as the cancelled ION television version of Main event qualifies as "Barely any interest". The small potato numbers you're boasting as if they're supposed to be impressive don't translate to DVD sales, ppv buys or anything the WWE could use to make money. So your point on viewership is irrelevant.

The second line about interest in the AWA, yada yada yada... More people watching the WWE product are more interested in Hulk Hogan, Curt Hennig, Sgt Slaughter, Jerry Lawler and so on than they are Samoa Joe, AJ Styles and so on. People who are interested in those wrestlers with the ability to do so will obviously want to seek out their earlier work. If they seek out AWA they'll find well booked entertaining programming for a better era. Who's going to look for TNA? The same people who watch TNA now. It's not even worth it as a nostalgia act like those other promotions I named. Once again, next to no value.


#2 company in America? So they're ahead of ROH and then what? The actual indies? Is that really a big deal? Come on man. Your points usually aren't this silly. 1 million viewers. Do you know how many sitcoms get cancelled for those numbers? But wait, they're on Spike so we've gotta take it easy on them. Fine, I'll give them all the credit in the world for being Spike's top show. They are far more valuable to Spike than they are to Vince Mcmahon.

And this is where I want to separate the TNA bashing from the actual facts. TNA is more valuable for producing content than they are for their library. This is really hard for TNA marks to understand, and I feel bad for you guys preaching about all the interest but outside of you... yes you the people who have failed TNA at attending live shows, buying merch and paying for ppvs, you are the only ones who care. Everyone else sees there's "Rasslin on thursdays" and parks the channel on it while they wait for Jeff Hardy and Kurt Angle for a few minutes.

Sometimes I catch myself coming off as a bit hostile towards TNA. Actually I see that a lot with WWE fans which brings me to my final point. TNA fans are so frustrated at WWE fans for their criticism. Sometimes fair sometimes not so much. But why would Vince Mcmahon value something that his audience looks down upon? He's not going to absorb the TNA audience because those are the fans who are so desperate to find an alternative to Vince that they settled on the worst booked nationally televised promotion in American history. Vince isn't winning those fans by buying the library. And his fans don't want any part of it. So once again and for the last time... Next to no value!

 

[lil steroid meat]

I wish there was a filter to get through all the "Blah, blah, blah" in this post but I'll try to answer this in the simplest way possible.

Firstly, yes I believe a show that does the same numbers as the cancelled ION television version of Main event qualifies as "Barely any interest". The small potato numbers you're boasting as if they're supposed to be impressive don't translate to DVD sales, ppv buys or anything the WWE could use to make money. So your point on viewership is irrelevant.

The second line about interest in the AWA, yada yada yada... More people watching the WWE product are more interested in Hulk Hogan, Curt Hennig, Sgt Slaughter, Jerry Lawler and so on than they are Samoa Joe, AJ Styles and so on. People who are interested in those wrestlers with the ability to do so will obviously want to seek out their earlier work. If they seek out AWA they'll find well booked entertaining programming for a better era. Who's going to look for TNA? The same people who watch TNA now. It's not even worth it as a nostalgia act like those other promotions I named. Once again, next to no value.


#2 company in America? So they're ahead of ROH and then what? The actual indies? Is that really a big deal? Come on man. Your points usually aren't this silly. 1 million viewers. Do you know how many sitcoms get cancelled for those numbers? But wait, they're on Spike so we've gotta take it easy on them. Fine, I'll give them all the credit in the world for being Spike's top show. They are far more valuable to Spike than they are to Vince Mcmahon.

And this is where I want to separate the TNA bashing from the actual facts. TNA is more valuable for producing content than they are for their library. This is really hard for TNA marks to understand, and I feel bad for you guys preaching about all the interest but outside of you... yes you the people who have failed TNA at attending live shows, buying merch and paying for ppvs, you are the only ones who care. Everyone else sees there's "Rasslin on thursdays" and parks the channel on it while they wait for Jeff Hardy and Kurt Angle for a few minutes.

Sometimes I catch myself coming off as a bit hostile towards TNA. Actually I see that a lot with WWE fans which brings me to my final point. TNA fans are so frustrated at WWE fans for their criticism. Sometimes fair sometimes not so much. But why would Vince Mcmahon value something that his audience looks down upon? He's not going to absorb the TNA audience because those are the fans who are so desperate to find an alternative to Vince that they settled on the worst booked nationally televised promotion in American history. Vince isn't winning those fans by buying the library. And his fans don't want any part of it. So once again and for the last time... Next to no value!

I'm not a TNA mark at all. The content can sometimes get sillier than WCW 2000 and that's saying a lot.

I'm just saying that for a library that can be bought for a couple hundred grand and has a fanbase of A MILLION people, why shouldn't the WWE purchase it to make a few DVDs, have something else on the network when they've purchased libraries like Smokey Mountain Wrestling.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

I'm not a TNA mark at all. The content can sometimes get sillier than WCW 2000 and that's saying a lot.

I'm just saying that for a library that can be bought for a couple hundred grand and has a fanbase of A MILLION people, why shouldn't the WWE purchase it to make a few DVDs, have something else on the network when they've purchased libraries like Smokey Mountain Wrestling.

Dude, don't knock SMW, or any of the older territories.

You'd probably be surprised at the number of older fans out there who don't even watch todays product, but still like the network for that content alone.

As for the WWE purchasing the TNA library? It'll happen eventually, but the WWE really has no rush to do so. Like others have pointed out, they really are the only viable buyers for that library, and they're well aware of it. They have a lot of network content that they haven't even released yet, so they're in no rush to find more. They can easily wait until they can get the TNA library for pennies on the dollar. Besides, with all the problems and cutbacks they've had to endure this year, I can't imagine that the investors would think this is a great time to be spending upwards of $1 million on another tape library.

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

Dude, don't knock SMW, or any of the older territories.

You'd probably be surprised at the number of older fans out there who don't even watch todays product, but still like the network for that content alone.

I wasn't even aware Smokey Mountain was ON the Network. Regardless..

I'm not sure how we could go about proving or disproving your statement, but I don't believe there is ONE person whose ONLY reason for subscribing to the WWE Network was to watch Smokey Mountain archives.