Vince McMahon no longer a billionaire; Loses $350M; WWE Stock plummets after NBC Deal

[Pedigree1]

Wow this is huge news no matter how you look at it! Losing 350 MIL,is huge to even the WWE..

This is a huge blow,and changes are a-comin I am sure of it.. Kevin Dunn,who we all know is an executive VP is really high up on the food chain.. IMO you cant piss off DirecTv,and cable companies by cutting them out of the PPV share prices! They are going to want Vince's head on a stake im sure of it.. I am no financial expert at all.. But losing again 350 MIL is absolutely damaging all the way around..

Theres Trips,Steph,Linda,Vince,Dunn as the so-called figure heads right now.. You cant go back to PPV and ask for 45 dollars prices,those days were dead as soon as the network hit! Vinnie Mac would absolutely throw anyone under the bus to save his company including his blood.. IM sure of that!

As far as the talent goes,there was major grumbling about the video game royalties being drastically cut! By over 50% with what some talent are saying except the big dogs of course.. The writing is on the wall,Vince could very well be asked to step aside along with Steph,Linda,Trips,Dunn!

Disney or whoever could buy them up cheap! The WWE better figure out how to turn this ship around rather quickly,they are in serious trouble..

I love the WWE have so for over three decades,i want them to be around forever! But as it stands now,investors control everything.. If the investor sees the WWE as a high-risk there likely not to invest in them.. WWE has suffered through a lot out of the years,every time vinnie mac,steps out of the norm it bites him in the ass..

I applaud him for having the grapefruits to do something outside the box.. The XFL,his bodybuilding league cant think of hte name right now! Vince is nearing 70 years old,the investors have to be nervous as hell right now! I would be.. If it turned out Vince would have to step aside,would Shane replace him? I doubt it,Shane basically walked out on his birth right,and wanted to do his own thing.. Its going to be interesting

 

[nightmare]

I can see Vince sacrificing a few people to clean things up & appease some shareholders, but Vince himself stepping down? No Chance. No Chance in Hell. He especially wont give up the reins to someone who has no clue about how to run a wrestling company. A big name being thrown around as a possible buy out contender is Disney & that itself would be bad for wrestling. Sure they are a big company with plenty of resources & a proven track record financially- but what the hell do they know about wrestling? Say they do come in, dethrone the top brass & make changes to become more profitable. This is great in one aspect, but it will hurt the product as a whole. They will put who they want in charge of what & that could spell disaster for the programming. Drastic changes will be made to appease their standards & that is not good.



Just because things did not go as planned in certain other business areas, there is no cause for panic. The stock went up based on the hype of certain deals, when it didnt pan out as expected, the #'s fell back down. This isnt really bad seeing as how they are closer to the numbers that WWE has been pulling for a bit now. When the Network is available to a wider market, then the stock will surely rise up a bit. Plus all those new subscriptions & renewals will start to pay off as expected.



Vince and his family have built an empire. Some rough waters ahead, but nothing catastrophic & certainly not anything that will see Vince off the throne. This is Vince fn McMahon people. Do you honestly think that it will take anything less than death itself to pry the WWE away from him?

 

[Kizzo]

This big of a drop in a single day isn't good... hence the emergency conference call on Monday.

Expect some big changes ahead in the coming weeks. Vince will have to put up a sacrificial lamb to restore confidence. No one is safe... Not even his family. McMahon will do anything to save his company.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

It's highly unlikely that McMahon is going to be forced out without his wanting to step down. He owns 52% of the company and something like 80% of the voting shares. The man took the company public, but he didn't give up very much control. One could argue that has actually been a drag on the stock ever since its debut on the NYSE.

I think that McMahon is a smart businessman, but not as smart as he likely thinks he is. His failures have been many, and they've been costly. It's also impossible to ignore the vanity-fueled run for office by his wife. I think the biggest problem is that when it comes down to it, Ted Turner ended up being right after all...it's the wrasslin' business, Vince...not the entertainment business, and it's whenever McMahon has tried to branch out too far away from that core business that he has suffered.

For all the revenue the company brings in, it's got a pretty thin profit margin, and extremely little growth. I mean, nearly zero. Its revenues aren't growing much, their earnings haven't grown much, and it's been this way for QUITE a while.

That's ultimately what makes this sting for the WWE. The WWE Network was their way to jump start their growth, and it's looking right now like a failure. It appears that they've overestimated their market. Essentially, they have less than about 700,000 hard core fans, and then they have some casual onlookers who maybe buy a PPV here or there. The WWE Network may end up hurting them with DirectTV where they probably get the bulk of the revenue from those casual fans. Think of it this way: The WWE Network was a one time shot in the arm. Less than a million subscribers signed up, and it's not looking like they're going to get a whole lot more. That's why the stock price is heading into the shitter. The TV deal just confirmed that the WWE is in a bad place.

At the end of the day, there's really only one way to jumpstart growth again: Find fresh blood who connects with the crowd and brings ratings and PPV buys back up again.

That is:

A) Easier said than done.
B) Not enticing to stockholders
C) Something that a private owner can cope with without getting jittery.

Ultimately, what we're seeing is Peak WWE. Unless there's another Rock, Hogan or Austin on the horizon, there's not going to be much doin in the WWE for some time.

 

[jmt225]

This is all such horseshit. Nothing but a kneejerk reaction.

WWE had to be prepared for this. The WWE Network wasn't established for immediate success, but LONG-TERM success. It'll pay off in the long run if they stick with it. It's doing pretty well in America only, just imagine the numbers it'll do once it's Worldwide. People just have to be patient....

 

[lowandmighty]

In all seriousness, I'd be watching to see if those stocks go down anymore over the next to weeks, if they do then I'd be buying shares in WWE, you could make some money out of it yourself.

Everyone always goes on about how you should look for ways to make money out of the things you love so if you're a wrestling fan, which you are then go for it.

 

[James]

Things will be back to normal soon.

WWE should go back to 30 buck PPVs with direct tv, dish, etc because not everyone has the internet or at least get the wwe network on demand or something.

It'll work out.

 

[Van Dam]

I wouldn't worry too much about this. There will be some changes backstage no doubt but Vince is a genius and he will work it out.

 

[SoulTrain4]

While researching this whole situation I came across an interesting technique called "short and distort" where short shares (like Lamelson) hold shares and them run an attack campaign to drive prices down in order to cash in on It later.

It's the opposite of "buy low/sell high" you get to pocket the difference.

Stocks and the market aren't for everybody, there are a lot of weak minded people out there that are easily manipulated, easily scared and prone prone to knee-jerk reactions. They are the types who dump stock quickly at the sight of any trouble.

No major investment sites are covering this despite it being such a big deal on the dirtsheets, no forbes, no businessweek nothing...trust me I looked. This is more than likely a tactic being used to drive WWE stock price down so they can profit and nothing more.

It doesn't help that Vince stated he wanted to double or triple TV revenue and didn't do it but a 50% ain't bad, the network has about 600,000 subscribers in two months and it's goal was 1 million in a year...I'm not seeing a good reason to go into panic mode here.

If the network fails then it's just like WWE New York or the XFL but the company will be alright. The PPV providers won't turn down the money WWE brings them they aren't that stupid, they will just cut Vince's share as a punishment for trying to be independent.

They spend a lot of money on programming for the network, WWE Films is an albatross around their necks that probably still hasn't paid for itself and they are still doing what they do.

Vince has always been ambitious with his new ventures (I mean dude wanted to go head up with the NFL for Christ's sake) and there's no reason for him to stop now, he will keep trying even if the Network fails. RAW, Smackdown and now Total Divas generate money so they will be cool.

Some changes will have to be made in order to cover the loss of DVD sales and PPV buys the network eats though...

 

[whoopin' ass]

Hate to say it but I have to agree, they will play it safe for a while in an attempt to make things look better. I don't know if Vince truely understands that as a public company he has to keep the investors happy. He has had it pretty good since wwe went public with buying out WCW and EWC, business had done well. Last time he had to do anything really radical, he owned the whole company so he could do what he wanted but this network seems to be causing him tons of grief. People invested money and don't like seeing its value drop. Vince may still own a majority but that doesn't mean he can ignore or just give lip service to the other investors. It will be interesting to see what happens as this is just the latest thing - wwe films is constantly losing money, other ventures like the wwe restaurant closed - investors will only take so much.

 

[ajdb]

I don't get nasty here very often, but I pretty upset.

You people told me I was nuts when I was talking about the WWE Network being a bad thing. You told me that it wasn't a big PPV provider were dropping WWE like a hot potato. Now look, I'm right.

This is indeed bad for WWE. WWE basically pulled a Dolph Ziggler with this TV deal. Lots of hype, looked great, poor results.

WWE tried to be a wrestling company without PPV. That doesn't work. WWE has spurned PPV providers and if you people think WWE is more powerful than those providers, I feel sorry for you.

You people dismiss this stuff like no big deal. Here are some harsh realities:
1- WWE is going to be investigated by the SEC and they will get caught
2- WWE Network is at its peak right now and it's underperforming
3- This getting lots of traction in the news. 2 Forbes articles and I heard it mentioned national radio today
4- WWE is now poisonous to outside companies.

WWE has been on the downward turn for awhile and this is the first loud thud. WWE is no longer a big deal. How many celebrities were involved at WrestleMania this year? 0. Why? Nobody cared. Outside of WWE fans who wanted to see Bryan pick up the belt what was there to be excited about. Even Cena's match wasn't big news because non-wrestling fans don't know or care who Bray Wyatt is yet. They couldn't even get mainstream attention with Brock ending the streak. WWE is currently sliding out of mainstream media and this is the first "hard" proof of that.

Personally, I hope this is a blip. I know it's not, but I hope it is. WWE no longer has face. Hogan was that face for a time. Then, they went without a face and WCW started beating them. McMahon & Austin became the face of WWE followed by Triple H, then Cena. The Cena crutch no longer works and the company doesn't have face.

I do think Vince is becoming dead weight. I never thought I'd say that, because I always saw Vince McMahon as someone with great authority and who could command attention.

What changed my mind was the announcement of the Network. The man that came out when they introduced Vince McMahon looked very old, very tired, and very much out of place. Vince looked uncomfortable, almost like he didn't want to be there and what was scariest of all was that there was no longer that twinkle in his eye when he talked for that brief moment.

It may be time for Vince to go be a granddad now and let Stephanie & Trips have a go at this thing.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The problem is they won't LET Steph do it... if anyone is sacrificed it'll be her. She's cashed out her stock or most of it, much as Shane did when it was clear he wasn't getting the keys to the kingdom. She's got 3 kids and time for one more if she wants, she can spend time on her charity stuff or even set a new venture up...but the Steph/Paul running the company idea is now pretty much dead I think.

The irony is Shane has gone on and succeeded in business independently, to the point he could now be seen as a "safe pair of hands" for the business end, he has major contacts through the talent agency stuff, contacts in China to get WWE in there and most importantly learned virtually every aspect of WWE's core business during his time invovled, from being a ref to pioneering the Byte This/WWE.Com stuff that is basically now a cornerstone of their business.

For the outside investments that he walked, had his moment with Vince would make him a more attractive option as he clearly isn't beholden to his dad when it comes to "best for business".

I too am stunned that I've been trolled for stating the obvious - if someone accuses you of misrepresenting numbers in a traded company, you get SEC investigated, if that happens and they find ONE discrepancy then you're in deep shit and the CEO nearly always carries the can.

Trips will be safe from the wrestling side as he knows the core business better than anyone, a team of he and Shane could turn things around as Shane too is a respected guy among even the newer talent... many of them grew up watching him and will get that he's more "one of them" than Vince ever could be.

The celeb thing is not quite fair this year, as it was clearly based around their heritage rather than the "spectacle" as in many other years. You had the biggest movie star on the planet in attendance in The Rock... you had the 3 biggest names in the last 30 years in the ring together... guys like Warrior making his return... the musical guests they had this year made sense....far more than the rumored Eminem "concert" would have done. 30 didn't need the celebs... now Summerslam may well do so now as Batista bombed so badly they can't count on his Marvel connection helping. But they got Hugh Jackman on RAW a few weeks back, he's another top 5 actor... Aaron Paul isn't that level, but they got him while he's still in that honeymoon period from Breaking Bad so he's still "hot" even if the movie bombed.

You ain't getting Downey Jr. or the like but WWE is still batting quite high for their celebrity involvement.

In terms of mainstream exposure they are doing well, now for the wrong reasons but Bryan made the BBC news twice in a week... once cos he wasn't in the Rumble... that's the BBC "most respected news outlet in the world TM" not TMZ or celeb sheets but a proper news outlet... likewise he is being covered for his injury. Bryan CAN get mainstream exposure cos he comes across as an athlete rather than fake wrestler... Sure there has been some bad news too (not for Barrett) with the Warrior death and Taker's injury but in the main WWE HAS been talked about a lot in mainstream media in the last 6 months or so..

It's not any more toxic to investors than it was before... many wouldn't touch it due to it being "phoney wrestling" and a hard sell... The kind of people who would buy WWE stock would be those who got it... but once faceless hedgefunds and speculators get involved then it can get messy as these can create the view it's a toxic stock. Hell for all we know JBL might buy a shit load of WWE stock now... but the genie is out of the bottle in terms of Vince controlling the perception of the WWE now. It's been coming a long time, people now realised they're being worked at times... fine for a storyline, not in real life business...cos it's illegal and called fraud.

 

[jrjolley]

One of the more interesting points that I don't think anyone has considered yet is this. We have absolutely no idea on how long some of those investors have been putting money in. Think, if they have been through all the various missteps that the WWE has had over the past few years, they obviously feel it's a good time to get out. On a personal level, i'd never invest in them, simply because the WWE forgot the fans who made it. This quest to pander to kids and soccer mums really hasn't paid off because the older generation of fans see the company as boring and a joke. It's the older fans who have the credit cards and the interest in longterm evolution. I think Vince has forgotten that kids grow up and most of them will think Cena is a bit of a dick once they get to teenage years.

Back on topic though, this is really quite serious for the WWE. If they are investigated for fraud and misrepresentation, it's going to be a few sleepless nights for VKM and the McMahon family.

 

[bioshock]

Be a good time for WWE to go after Goldberg since they can get Sting, imagine if at Summerslam they could book Sting vs Undertaker and Goldberg vs Ryback. That not only sells with current fans, but fans of the last 20 years would want to see Sting in WWE against Undertaker, and the gobs who were fans of Goldberg.

Hope WWE rebounds, and I bet they do. They went thru worse times with the roids, and then the battle with Ted Turner.

 

[bioshock]

This feels like déjà vu...

Just like that report last year that the McMahons had lost however many hundreds of millions of dollars, saying Vince lost $350M is somewhere between extremely misleading and outright blatantly false. Vince McMahon hasn't lost a dime. He bank accounts read the exact same as they did yesterday, plus interest.

I'm not sure why you would think they have to get the ratings up for NBC, considering the deal is now done. That's like saying Miguel Cabrera has to put up better numbers for the Tigers now that he's signed his contract extension. The time to get the ratings up was before the deal was signed, not after. And, let's be honest, people who subscribed to the network are either going to renew or they're not. It's a very small portion of the subscribers who haven't decided if they're going to renew or not, and are basing it on what happens creatively over the next few months.

WWE is smarter than this. Stock prices have never had much effect on the creative direction of the company and they never will. Because the creative direction of the company doesn't have much effect on the stock price. It's the same company in name, but the business side of things and the creative side of things are so separate they might as well be different companies.

Of course his bank account is going to look the same, your stocks aren't money that sets in your bank account. It just means Vince had $350 million in stocks yesterday, and just lost that $350 million in stocks, so if Vince wanted to cash in all his stock tomorrow he would be getting $350 million less dollars than he would of last week. Get it?

 

[FlairFan2003]

WBF, XFL, WWE Films, WCW, now the Network... every time Vince steps out of what he knows he seems to blow it. The vision is there but there is always seemingly something in either his execution or he really does believe his own hype that little bit too much. .

WCW was a "Blow It" ?!?!?!?!? Vince purchased the video library for $2.3 million according to the Forbes Article, without buying any of the company's outstanding debt or any talent contracts. He also didn't need their TV deals (which the Turner Networks weren't going to renew under the new AOL Ownership) so that wasn't loss financially or creatively.

Furthermore, that Video Library has been a veritable GOLDMINE for WWE. Just the first Ric Flair DVD (comprised of about 85% NWA/WCW footage) sold nearly a million copies it's first week in release. The money they have made taking footage already paid for and produced by another company and simply placing it on a video release (Hulk Hogan & Steve Austin DVD's with both WWE & WCW footage combined, Shawn Michaels DVD with AWA footage, a far less expensive purchase for the company, etc) has delivered a huge profit margin. Even today, 13 years after the acquisition WWE is STILL MAKING PROFIT off of the WCW footage (upcoming 50 Shocking WCW Moments DVD & Great Am Bash Retrospective both due for release soon). Even if they sell in underwhelming numbers the profit margins are high with almost no production costs, plus the prior sets dedicated to Flair, Austin, Hogan, HBK, The NWO, etc have already paid for the initial investment and then some, its all pure profit at this point.

Even more important now, there wouldn't be a WWE Network without the NWA/WCW footage, that has been a huge part of the allure to purchasing the subscription.

Not buying the talent contracts was a brilliant move as well, Vince could pick and chose who he wanted when he wanted them and at what cost, sometimes far below their WCW salaries, and not be saddled with talent he didn't want or couldn't use. In the end just about everyone marketable was brought in, and bigger stars made nice salaries, but not buying the original contracts was a shrewd move because if any of the talent wanted to work after their AOL deals expired WWE was the only show in town, its not like there was another nationwide company that could match the TV and PPV exposure of WWE (The way WCW did). We saw some talent waited out the expiration of their WCW deals (mostly larger stars with bigger salaries like Hogan & Nash & Goldberg) while others didn't. Meanwhile, it wasn't like WWE needed them all right away anyhow, they were winning the "Wrestling Wars" without them so adding your Hogans, Flairs, etc was just icing on the proverbial cake (and ultimately more profit) for WWE.

No doubt the Times Square Restaurant wasn't a success and the XFL was a failure, but the WCW purchase was probably one of the singles greatest deals Vince & WWE ever made.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Really? When he could have had both companies running, doubling turnover and a massive crossover event after a good period... Or the watered down crap that came from the buy out... He blew it...

 

[scomvp316]

To start with VKM can be fired The board can call a no-confidence vote and if the majority on the board vote yes then in essence VKM would be fired and a buyout would take place With these investors being with Vince for so long the likely hood of that happening is very very slim

Vince is caught in the middle with pandering to the kids who make up probably 70% of merch sales not counting dvd's The adults are the driving engine for PPV's,ticket sales,and tv ratings The smart thing to do is go to PG-13

The booking has to get back to what is was like in the late 90's In today's wrestling in my opinion you must have multiple champions throughout the year so it keeps the fans guessing You can still build stars but not just build the show around one person Cena will always be the face of this company but that doesn't mean he has to be in the title picture all of the time Recently we have seen a change in that philosophy of building stars on the back of veterans Making Cena Champ will not change a thing it has to be a collective creative change from top to bottom

The Network must expand it library and have some sort of agreement with other promotions library So it would be more like a soft merger but each company would not help the other out from a revenue standpoint WWEN should be the HUB of wrestling material Also if they were to add a build your own dvd to the network and limit the consumer to no more than three dvd's a week to ensure those customers will stay for the long haul I would say customers couldn't download anymore than 15 hours of material each week

 

[Shootydooks81]

been a lurker for a while, and I've read the past few pages....I agree with one of the posters, they need to go back to the attitude era or at least pg-13, they made a ish ton of money during that time and brought to light a lot of great talent and got the most out of them, this pg family era is what has really turned me off the past 5-10 years...I hope something does happen or they go in a different direction, it's just getting old and played out. Or it could just be me lol.

 

[wwesux]

That bought lotsa smiles and laughter to myself the devil himself mc moron deserves to lose it all when he can easily invest for foundations and help Africa s starving children he throws money on investments where they don t work . I am sure TED TURNER is laughing his ass off on this vince tries so hard to be that billionaire Man TED TURNER is and he has failed !!

 

[toddmb]

Yeah, this has nothing to do with creative or the wrestlers being pushed. It has everything to do with Vince and the WWE making promises to investors that they could not follow through on. I don't know how they fix it, but it has everything to do with the business end of things and not the creative/talent side of it.

 

[Slyfox696]

It's as much about perception as it is actual damage to the business

Only stupid people perceive the removal of speculators from stock as a cataclysmic event. And here you are...

... Jobs got forced out of Apple on something similar, at the time he didn't "fit" what was needed and it wasn't until later he got back in.

Did Steve Jobs have an overwhelming amount of control of the stock? No? Then this is just another case of the poster endless being right about you.

For a LONG time people have had questions about Vince's position and ability to run the company either as successfully as in the past or to deliver the commitments he makes to investors. That is aside from the creative end and the stories there...

No, ignorant wrestling fans and wrestlers who weren't good enough to get over have had questions. Most intelligent non-butthurt people have known better.

Sure Vince owns the majority, but for these to make such a statement means they likely own a large chunk of what else there is, enough for force the conference call and get the issue raised.

Once more, endless is correct about you. You really are completely clueless.

Sure a fine might be the outcome, but how many CEO's of fined companies then keep their jobs?

When the CEO owns the overwhelming majority of voting stock, always.

You really don't have any idea what you're talking about.

But even last week there was talk of a request for an SEC investigation

Please source this, I've not seen anything to support this.

Vince has never faced this before

You probably ought not post anymore in this thread, your ignorance is blinding.

This is all such horseshit. Nothing but a kneejerk reaction.

WWE had to be prepared for this. The WWE Network wasn't established for immediate success, but LONG-TERM success. It'll pay off in the long run if they stick with it. It's doing pretty well in America only, just imagine the numbers it'll do once it's Worldwide. People just have to be patient....

Of course his bank account is going to look the same, your stocks aren't money that sets in your bank account. It just means Vince had $350 million in stocks yesterday, and just lost that $350 million in stocks, so if Vince wanted to cash in all his stock tomorrow he would be getting $350 million less dollars than he would of last week. Get it?

Shh...don't talk logic with morons, they'll never understand.

 

[beckyh]

I think we should know more once the Monday morning phone conference call is done. One of the sites had the phone number and passcode. Someone can dig it up or we can all listen to it on audio later that day.

As for Lemelson Capital (http://lemelsoncapital.com/), it says on their site they deal with special situation investments. Someone more learned than I will have to figure that one out

Perception is reality in all businesses. It is a fact of life. It is the same reason we line up to get (____) product or to see this or that event. We perceive a certain value to having/experiencing it and act accordingly. Personally, I believe there were very high expectations set for the Network and the TV deal that were not met by a long shot. But the Devil is truly in the details.

I don't believe there can be confidence in the company right now. Not with VKM and current management and not with their current business strategy. VKM can set the tone for what changes will be made or reset expectations with the bottom line or both.

A great remedy for that would be a solid bottom line for the upcoming quarter. Nothing silences dissenters like cold hard cash.

 

[Breaks Silence]

I’ve been reading posts here for years and decided this is big enough an issue involving wrestling to finally post. Some of these forum topics are good but too many involve trolling, unrelenting fan boys or just plain incompetence. However, there are some intelligent people here too that understand how the world works (in this example WWF market conditions).

Bottom line is this – unless WWE catches on with the general public like it did in the 80’s or late 90’s it is very likely it goes back to the dark ages. I know this will offend many here but I say this as a lifelong wrestling fan, the last 10 years of WWE has been unwatchable (actually even longer). Now if it’s unwatchable to a lifelong fan like myself it’s easy to see why ratings are so low. I’m sorry but NBCU is not going to give WWE a 100% increase for the product it’s put out the last ten years. Never mind the ratings continue to fall year after year. They were lucky to get a 5% increase if they even got that.

The thing is you just don’t hear about wrestling anymore unless you look for it. In the 80’s everyone knew who Hulk Hogan was. In the 90’s everyone knew who the Rock & Austin were but since Rock & Austin there has not been one wrestler remotely close to a household name. I’m a social person with extended family, friends, etc and haven’t heard a peep from anyone about wrestling since the late 90’s. Bottom line - there are no more household names – ask 100 people on the street and I guarantee no more than 2 people would know who John Cena, CM Punk, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, etc is.

Yeah, these guys have run the show for years but all they are doing is keeping the wheels churning but that’s about it. General public wouldn’t know their name anymore than they would the ring master’s name at the Ringling Bros circus.

Bottom Line – No household name = 2nd rate entertainment that will be frowned upon. WWE (wrestling in genera) has their work cut out for them. They don’t find the next big superstar very soon they will completely slip away until programming is on 1:00am on Saturday nights.

I’ve tried to at least keep up with the goings on in wrestling by either reading sites, tuning in here & there but nothing is good anymore. This is way too long a period for wresting to go without a household name superstar. Somebody needs to connect the mass public to the product and that doesn’t look very likely.

 

[SoulTrain4]

I'm always stunned when people go on about wrestling's popularity or guys being household names and I ask myself, almost all of the time...why do people care about what other people know?

Look I understand that folks want what they like to be popular but that shit isn't relevant In the grand scheme of things. 4 million people watch RAW weekly (on average at least, who knows how many people watch it on other media outlets like YouTube) that's insane for a weekly show but even everyone's precious Attitude Era pales in comparison to the numbers, as far as ratings, shows like Seinfeld did during It's heyday and guess what...there are people who never watched Seinfeld and don't know who any of the characters are. That said, why wrestling fans care about who non-wrestling fans know is just ridiculous to me, stop caring about that shit. If they don't watch the show it stands to reason they wouldn't know who they are and whether other people know who any individual wrestler is doesn't make the product any better or worse.

The industry is much different than it used to be and the WWE as well as other promotions have to make some changes but they let the allure of wrestling (kayfabe) die a long time ago (thanks attitude era!) no wonder people don't really watch it. A magic show isn't interesting if you know who the tricks work and wrestling gave all the tricks away, this is one reason why WWE aims it's products at children because they still buy into the show.