The WWE should bring back Territories

[BC1978]

Eventually the WWE Network will become a reality and they'll need more programing.

Why not fund some territories or supply them with talent like they were doing with FCW. The territory system would allow Wrestlers to try out different gimmicks and work different styles of wrestling.

They could also treat the World Heavyweight Champion as the title all the promotions view as their champ.

New England Championship Wrestling
Eastern/Extreme Championship Wrestling (Dreamer) Hardcore
Mid Atlantic Wrestling
Carolina Championship Wrestling
Southern Championship Wrestling (Lawler) Rasslin
Florida Championship Wrestling
American Midwest Wrestling (Race/Greg Gagne) Mat Bassed
Texas All Star Wrestling (Funks)
Pacific Northwest Wrestling
Western Wrestling Association - Lucha Libre
Stampede Wrestling (Harts)
Maple Leaf Wrestling (Rougues)

 

[Adalam]

In theory it would be good, but I just don't think WWE has the financial income to support so many territories. They are doing fine the way they are anyways, so why retreat to an older model? No, the WWE doesn't need territories any more than people need two butts. Just makes no sense and is ridiculous to see. The theory is good, but theories always look good on paper, so we can't really assume they'll work out in reality.

 

[Slyfox696]

Why would the WWE take a huge loss on wrestling promotions which could one day become a competitor? That's beyond ridiculous.

The WWE has a development territory, that's all they need. They don't need to throw money down a black home, when there are much cheaper forms of television programming.

 

[SunnyD]

They clearly are going to be short on programming. I wouldn't bring back any territories, per se. I would expand NXT if/when the WWE Network comes around. I'm talking an NXT A-Show and an NXT B-Show.

I wouldn't mind seeing some better developed storylines come from the development either (same with regular programming, but that's not the point). Some traditional Survivor Series matches, cage matches, maybe even a smaller version of the Rumble. Whatever it takes to develop talent, and perhaps the almighty ratings.

 

[justinsayne]

They clearly are going to be short on programming.

How do you figure? They own all the following tape libraries

• Capitol Wrestling Corporation
• World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF)
• World Wrestling Federation (WWF)
• World Wrestling Entertainment
• WWE
• American Wrestling Association
• Georgia Championship Wrestling
• Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW)
• Eastern Championship Wrestling
• Ohio Valley Wrestling
• Deep South Wrestling
• Florida Championship Wrestling
• NXT Wrestling
• Smoky Mountain Wrestling
• Stampede Wrestling
• Ultimate Pro Wrestling
• World Championship Wrestling
  
• Jim Crockett Promotions (which by the end included)
• Eastern States Championship Wrestling
• Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling
• Central States Wrestling
• Championship Wrestling from Florida
• Championship Wrestling from Georgia
• Mid-South Wrestling/UWF
• St. Louis Wrestling Club
• World Class Championship Wrestling
• Maple Leaf Wrestling

Seems to me they have endless hours of content right there at their disposal to build tons of programming around.

 

[scomvp316]

Me and my other wrestling junkies the other day came up with an idea if WWE has the financial resources. Instead of territories they should have a minor league system. First in junction buy DGate USA,ROH,and TNA. If they can't buy TNA this system could still work. Treat the other promotions as the minor leagues via A,B,and C. Have talent relations decide which promotion would be the like Triple-A like in baseball. Make those promotions if WWE can't buy them straight out sign a non-compete clause. Have those promotions still run the promotion as their own with little WWE influence. So when a certain talent does spend some time in FCW it would be much shorter and that talent could be used right away for Raw or SD. What do you fans think of having a minor league system for WWE as long as those promotions get to still run the promotion for the most part as they see fit?

 

[BC1978]

Problem is FCW/NXT is limited to Florida. If you think about how things used to work guys would work different territories w/ different gimmicks.

Take Charles Wright he bounced around from Soultaker, Sir Charles, Papa Shango, Kama, and finally hit it off with the Godfather.

Same thing with Scott Levy he went from Scotty the Body (PNW), Scott Anthony (GWF), Scotty Flamingo (WCW), Johnny Polo (WWF) and finally as Raven in ECW.

For all you guys saying the WWF has enough content for a TV Channel I agree that they do. But what gets better ratings. A live Boise State vs. San Diego State Football game or Notre Dame vs. Alabama from 1977 on ESPN Classics.

Is ESPN pulling big numbers with the AWA and UWF repeats?

Also it really wouldn't cost that much. The WWE could easily trademark a name like Mid Atlantic Wrestling then take a trip down to DC, Maryland, or Virginia and talk to the Promotions in the area and sign them to a deal where they'll produce programing and provide them with a few wrestlers.

 

[kcordloh]

I don't disagree with the idea, but unfortunately I don't think it will work.


1) Independent talent is rough these days. Even the promotions of highly regarded trainers are filled with really rough/green performers. This is understandable, I have heard that it's hard to get more than 30 bookings a year. When you think the old territory guys work that many matches in a month or two then it makes sense why they progress so slow.

It's nothing against the talent, but I have a hard enough time going to a local indepedent show and watching 2-3 hours of wrestling, let alone filling hours of my week watching it. I go to 1, maybe 2 shows every 3 months and that's enough for me. It's just not quality.

2) Internet/cable kinda kills the use other gimmicks in other territories idea. Youtube videos never die, and unfortunately fans are fanatics. Kevin Thorn never seemed to get past the Mordecai character, and he wasn't even very identifiable except for his height! If your "Josey Wisler" in one territory as a badass, and all over WWE Network, how are you going to move to another show on the same network and be "Justin Day" and a totally different character without people shitting all over it?

 

[MattGuy28]

I always though the Indys should sort of reform the NWA, have the NWA champion going from Indy Fed to Indy Fed and face the top guy in JAPW, PWG, DGUSA etc

 

[Toroc102]

How do you figure? They own all the following tape libraries

• Capitol Wrestling Corporation
• World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF)
• World Wrestling Federation (WWF)
• World Wrestling Entertainment
• WWE
• American Wrestling Association
• Georgia Championship Wrestling
• Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW)
• Eastern Championship Wrestling
• Ohio Valley Wrestling
• Deep South Wrestling
• Florida Championship Wrestling
• NXT Wrestling
• Smoky Mountain Wrestling
• Stampede Wrestling
• Ultimate Pro Wrestling
• World Championship Wrestling
  
• Jim Crockett Promotions (which by the end included)
• Eastern States Championship Wrestling
• Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling
• Central States Wrestling
• Championship Wrestling from Florida
• Championship Wrestling from Georgia
• Mid-South Wrestling/UWF
• St. Louis Wrestling Club
• World Class Championship Wrestling
• Maple Leaf Wrestling

Seems to me they have endless hours of content right there at their disposal to build tons of programming around.

While it may seem like that they could probably run through all that in one year. They do need more than just old libraries, they need original content. Plus although I bet there's a lot of stuff on those tapes you could use I bet theres also a lot of stuff, like 50% of it atleast that no one is very interested in watching.

Anyhow, I don't feel like the question makes sense. Like, would WWE control these territories or would they just be helping out there competition out of the goodness of their hearts? Just a very odd question, WWE could not keep control of all the territories you listed, that would be called overextension. Imo, if they need more original content for this channel they should decisively end the draft merge SD and Raw completely back together, and expand NXT some more and make it WWE Networks flagship show.

Also, I'm on the skeptical side of this network actually getting done.

 

[SWSTOKES]

people just say bring back the attitude era, bring back the territories.

none of those ideas would work...they worked in their respective eras but you cant catch lightning in a bottle twice as the saying goes.

 

[Toroc102]

Bringing back the Attitude Era is WAY different than bringing back the territories. If WWE actually wanted to go that way they could bring the Attitude Era back in a second. Bringing the territories back would require a fundamental change in the way WWE does business.

 

[DexVendetta88]

When I 1st saw this discussion title I thought to myself, "Why would the WWE bring back a system they pretty much destroyed?" I honestly wouldn't see the WWE taking this kind of route because from an economical standpoint, they would go broke pretty quick since they would have to keep funding each territory individually. Also as someone else here has mentioned in a previous post that technology plays a factor especially with the internet. Also if anyone here recalls the WWE used technology (Video) to pretty much change and demolish the territory to almost nothing.

 

[BC1978]

When I 1st saw this discussion title I thought to myself, "Why would the WWE bring back a system they pretty much destroyed?" I honestly wouldn't see the WWE taking this kind of route because from an economical standpoint, they would go broke pretty quick since they would have to keep funding each territory individually. Also as someone else here has mentioned in a previous post that technology plays a factor especially with the internet. Also if anyone here recalls the WWE used technology (Video) to pretty much change and demolish the territory to almost nothing.

I dont think the WWF/E intended to kill the territory system. They just wanted their talent and they used them as a minor league. Problem is the Territories weren't in the loop. If the WWE really wanted to kill territories why would they sell Stampede back to the Harts? Why would they get into working relationships with SMW, ECW, and USWA?

The person who really killed the Territory system was Jim Crockett and Ted Turner. They're the ones who monopolized the NWA Champion and sat by as NWA promotions all across North America closed shop. How often did Flair work for Don Owen?

The WWE has realized that they need a developmental system. Problem with the developmental system is its limited to Florida.

And you guys are really over estimating the amount of money the WWE would need to invest in each territory to get it off the ground. I'm gonna say $300,000.00 should cover operating costs and 5 wrestlers at $50,000 each.

IMO what each Territory would need to be successful is simple.
1. A Training School where each wrestler can workout daily (This will also help identify new talent).
2. 4 to 5 WWE Guys on Developmental Deals - you don't need a roster full of talent just
3. TV Equipment
4. A former WWE Star signed with a Legends deal

Take the Stampede Promotion. Run it all over Western Canada
1. Use either the Lance Storm Academy or Hart Brothers School
2. Ted Hart, DH Smith, Dallas Hart, Rick Victor
4. Bret Hart & Lance Storm

I remember the WWE was paying Billy Graham $75K a year to sit at home. Why not pay him $75K a year to show up to a TV Taping 12 times per year and Announce or Manage?

 

[Brewski]

And you guys are really over estimating the amount of money the WWE would need to invest in each territory to get it off the ground. I'm gonna say $300,000.00 should cover operating costs and 5 wrestlers at $50,000 each.

^I think you clearly have no idea how money works.

FCW alone likely costs over $1mil a year to run at the VERY least. That's most likely a very low guess considering the trainers they have. I don't know where you think 5 wrestlers can be a whole promotion or where they would be paid 50 grand either. Wrestlers don't make that much at that level and you're going to need somewhere in the range of 20 to begin to be worth the effort. Trainers, a venue, medical, equipment, security, etc. Even the lowest of budget promotions isn't a cheap investment. Paul Heyman had a national cable deal and couldn't afford to pay his guys. Now i'm not saying the E doesn't have the money to finance promotions across the country but even the maximum reward for the investment wouldn't be worth it. I don't care about watching WWE's bottom of the barrel on their network. For every Dean Ambrose you have 10 hardly trained Garrett Bischoff types(Notice even Garrett Bischoff is up higher than OVW guys...), anybody real good is coming up to the big show. Same as that nobody watches minor league sports. Going to baseball games is fun but even if the teams were on TV I wouldn't watch. Also consider that those teams have there own owners that put up their money, not the MLB.

As for who killed and why the territory system is dead the answer to that question is really simple. It's not Vince, It's not Crocket, It's not Billionaire Ted(ok, well sorta), It's simply Cable Television and the information age. The same thing happened to music and all aspects of culture with globalization. Everything is everywhere immediately. Territories made sense back then because you couldn't watch SMW, USWA, or anything else across the country. You got what you could get. Now you have (generally) the best performers in the country on your television every week. Territories are dead and while wrestling as a business is worse, it's much better for the fans.

 

[BC1978]

^I think you clearly have no idea how money works.

FCW alone likely costs over $1mil a year to run at the VERY least. That's most likely a very low guess considering the trainers they have. I don't know where you think 5 wrestlers can be a whole promotion or where they would be paid 50 grand either. Wrestlers don't make that much at that level and you're going to need somewhere in the range of 20 to begin to be worth the effort. Trainers, a venue, medical, equipment, security, etc. Even the lowest of budget promotions isn't a cheap investment. Paul Heyman had a national cable deal and couldn't afford to pay his guys. Now i'm not saying the E doesn't have the money to finance promotions across the country but even the maximum reward for the investment wouldn't be worth it. I don't care about watching WWE's bottom of the barrel on their network. For every Dean Ambrose you have 10 hardly trained Garrett Bischoff types(Notice even Garrett Bischoff is up higher than OVW guys...), anybody real good is coming up to the big show. Same as that nobody watches minor league sports. Going to baseball games is fun but even if the teams were on TV I wouldn't watch. Also consider that those teams have there own owners that put up their money, not the MLB.

As for who killed and why the territory system is dead the answer to that question is really simple. It's not Vince, It's not Crocket, It's not Billionaire Ted(ok, well sorta), It's simply Cable Television and the information age. The same thing happened to music and all aspects of culture with globalization. Everything is everywhere immediately. Territories made sense back then because you couldn't watch SMW, USWA, or anything else across the country. You got what you could get. Now you have (generally) the best performers in the country on your television every week. Territories are dead and while wrestling as a business is worse, it's much better for the fans.

Those Minor League teams might have their own OWNERS but those players are under contract to MLB Teams and they get decent signing bonuses. The MLB teams offset the minor league players salary. Which is what I'm proposing the WWE do.

Do you know why the MLB doesn't own every minor league team? Because they know allowing separate owners creates a better business environment.

Vince McMahon doesnt care about ECW, FCW, or NXT. He only cares about the WWE. Vince just wants the talent ready when it comes to the WWE.

By creating a bunch of minor league territories Vince allows for Wrestlers to experiment with different styles and gimmicks before they find their niche.

FCW has 30 Wrestlers under deals and it's entirely run by the WWE. What I'm saying is the WWE goes to Maryland Championship Wrestling (MCW) and offers them a deal where they become a WWE territory. The WWE provides the owner with a monthly check $10K per Month, some nice new TV equipment, and 5 Wrestlers whose contract the WWE is paying.

MCW would still need to fill out the Roster but now they have 5 less guys they need to worry about. After a few months one of two guys would leave and the WWE would send in some more talent.

 

[Brewski]

The way you say it out now makes more sense but if I were WWE I would be quite weary about my investments working with guys who's training is questionable. With FCW they have a controlled environment where they can have guys work with others who are appropriate for them to learn with/from. While guys could try out different gimmicks I don't think this is big enough an advantage for justifying sending guys around the country. Part of the reason the WWE has been so successful is because Vince is such a control freak and has to be there for every part of the business. WWE has had ups and downs but clearly the guy knows what he's doing. Having a single controlled place where the guys he wants are in charge is more practical.

 

[BC1978]

^
As for who killed and why the territory system is dead the answer to that question is really simple. It's not Vince, It's not Crocket, It's not Billionaire Ted(ok, well sorta), It's simply Cable Television and the information age. The same thing happened to music and all aspects of culture with globalization. Everything is everywhere immediately. Territories made sense back then because you couldn't watch SMW, USWA, or anything else across the country. You got what you could get. Now you have (generally) the best performers in the country on your television every week. Territories are dead and while wrestling as a business is worse, it's much better for the fans.

No it was not Cable TV, internet, or the information Age. The Territories started dying out in the 1980's and came to an end in the MID 1990's and it really boils down to Crockett & Giegel monopolizing the NWA Title. It gets kinda hard for Gene Lebell and Don Owen to keep a territory up and running when the NWA Champion makes 1 visit a year.

Territories can never run like they used to and the Wrestling business needs to adapt to a 4 day a week schedule (Thurs - Sunday).

ROH seems to be working fine and plenty of Indy Promoters make money. The information age should only help wrestling promotions.

 

[BC1978]

Why would the WWE take a huge loss on wrestling promotions which could one day become a competitor? That's beyond ridiculous.

The WWE has a development territory, that's all they need. They don't need to throw money down a black home, when there are much cheaper forms of television programming.

Because it develops talent.
The WWE could easily crush any territory they want, pull out there talent and sign all the top talent on your roster and then cut you off the WWE Network.

However I think the WWE wants some competition. That's why they've really laid off of TNA & ROH Talent.

In reality no one is going to rival the WWE unless some Multi Millionaire with TV Deal gets a hair up his ass and tires to create a new promotion. TNA has the ability to rival the WWE in twenty years if they start making better choices and deliver a different product and stop giving us WWE-Lite.

 

[thebarber]

the WWE Network should solely go through the vast 50 odd years of library they have.
Territories would work well, but Vince is not going to have local tv deals, he wants world wide promotion of his talent so they mean something when they are on tv. He put the small time local promotions out of business to expand the industry, why would ge go backwards?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

With WWE's extensive tape library, they have a lot of available programming. The last I heard, the WWE tape library contains more than 100,000 hours of wrestling footage. The WWE Network schedule will determine how long they'll go through this without resorting to showing reruns.

Last I heard, WWE was also planning on adding a good deal of original content to the network. One thing I remember reading about was WWE doing non-wrestling shows on the network like sitcoms.

The territory system is dead. It wasn't just the WWE that killed it either. The territory system was dealt crippling blows by the advent of cable television and syndication. Before all that, your geographic location determined what wrestling you were able to watch. If you lived in the Mid-Atlantic area, it was Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. If you lived in Minnesota, it was the AWA. If you lived in the Memphis, it was the CWA. Cable & syndication came along and ended all that. Now, you could be living in Florida and potentially watch WCCW or in Chicago and watch WWF. The WWE would almost certainly lose money trying to fund a dozen or more "independent" wrestling organizations. If WWE wants to fund something that has a shot of growing & becoming something, Vince would be better off trying to purchase TNA.

 

[Menski]

Why stick to USA and Canada? There are hundreds of countries out there.

Ted DiBiase. Chavo, Roddy Piper and others have been worked with Scottish Wrestling Entertainment (SWE) in my area. Get them and other similar groups involved around the world and it'll give a lot more exposure to a wider audience. There is nowhere near enough non-Americans/Canadians in professional wrestling.. Give the territories a hour a week on the WWE network. I think they'd have to be independent to a large extent for it to work. Working in a similar way to feeder clubs in football.

 

[RicSpade]

I don't think necessarily its that they need to fund money for farming territories to put on TV, but there are about 30-40 indy places with shows already that are syndicated I could see WWE reaching out to them as a "hey will give your show TV time, but in return any guy shown on the WWE network has to agree that WWE gets first dibs out of ROH and TNA" sort of thing, but honestly look at HBO its the same crappy 20 movies each month. WWE has all the purposed shows like Legends house, They can show reruns of old WWF Superstars, Confidential, OVW footage from before it became a TNA farming location, FCW footage, Tough Enough, Legends Roundtable, Every documentary they ever put on DVD, WCW, ECW, Stampede, AWA, WCCW, and even the C-List Movies they have produced.

To keep things fresh and new I say its a good idea, but in reality the WWE probably has about 20 years of footage if they spread it out correctly where they can show Monday Nitro and WWE Raw from the beginning every monday one episiode a week, Thunder and Smackdown same thing, show Superstars, WWF Main Event, Shotgun Saturday Night, WCW Saturday, Recap Shows, ECW, Old PPV's if you designate possibly 10-15 of these a week, you aren't even beginning to break the WWE ice.

 

[BC1978]

I don't think necessarily its that they need to fund money for farming territories to put on TV, but there are about 30-40 indy places with shows already that are syndicated I could see WWE reaching out to them as a "hey will give your show TV time, but in return any guy shown on the WWE network has to agree that WWE gets first dibs out of ROH and TNA" sort of thing, but honestly look at HBO its the same crappy 20 movies each month. WWE has all the purposed shows like Legends house, They can show reruns of old WWF Superstars, Confidential, OVW footage from before it became a TNA farming location, FCW footage, Tough Enough, Legends Roundtable, Every documentary they ever put on DVD, WCW, ECW, Stampede, AWA, WCCW, and even the C-List Movies they have produced.

To keep things fresh and new I say its a good idea, but in reality the WWE probably has about 20 years of footage if they spread it out correctly where they can show Monday Nitro and WWE Raw from the beginning every monday one episiode a week, Thunder and Smackdown same thing, show Superstars, WWF Main Event, Shotgun Saturday Night, WCW Saturday, Recap Shows, ECW, Old PPV's if you designate possibly 10-15 of these a week, you aren't even beginning to break the WWE ice.

HBO also has a ton of new original content each week; Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, Bill Mahr, Treme, Real Sports, Boxing, Etc. Plus HBO gives you about 10 channells for $20.00. While the WWE will cost $7 to $12 per month for one channel.

Problem is how much of that 100,000 hours is useable? And how does the WWE plan on putting shows together. Will we see see the best of WCW every wednesday from 5 to 7 or will we see old shows of Saturday Night in its entirety?

Big Josh and The Lightning Express wont bring in the viewers.

 

[Kelso1ftw]

I do like the idea but like many have said I don't think its really possible because it would have to put in so much money into getting this onto their network. Plus they already have started a seemingly good looking developmental system with NXT which will probably be one of the main wrestling shows that is on the network.