Week in Wrestling - Sunday May 27, 2018
WWE Money In the Bank Update
Here is the current official update on the Money in the Bank PPV, on 6/17 in Chicago.
We should know a lot more after some key matchups this coming week on RAW and Smackdown, which will add more to the MITB matches.
- Last Man Standing - A.J. Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE title
- Nia Jax vs Ronda Rousey for the RAW Women's title
- Carmella vs. Asuka for the Smackdown women’s title
- Money in the Bank men’s match - Bobby Roode, Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Rusev, The Miz and member of The New Day
- Money in the Bank women’s match - Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Alexa Bliss, Ember Moon, Natalya, Naomi, and Lana
- Roman Reigns vs. Jinder Mahal
- The Bludgeon Brothers vs. The Club for the tag titles
We should know a lot more after some key matchups this coming week on RAW and Smackdown, which will add more to the MITB matches.
WWE NEWS
FOX Pays Huge for Smackdown
WWE has come out with the best of all worlds in its television negotiations, with Raw remaining on the USA Network in its Monday 8-11:05 p.m. time slot and Smackdown moving to Friday nights from 8-10 p.m. on the FOX Network. Both new deals go into effect in October 2019.
The five-year deal, which would go through September 30, 2024, was estimated by one insider as worth about $4 million per week, and printed reports listed it as $205 million per year (virtually the same) and the two deals combined were talked about in the $445 million to $475 million range. The deals show the value of things like contract year and major stars. The WWE’s deals with both USA and FOX, for a combined $2.2 billion to $2.4 billion over the five years, covers October 1, 2019 through September 30, 2024.
The five-year deal, which would go through September 30, 2024, was estimated by one insider as worth about $4 million per week, and printed reports listed it as $205 million per year (virtually the same) and the two deals combined were talked about in the $445 million to $475 million range. The deals show the value of things like contract year and major stars. The WWE’s deals with both USA and FOX, for a combined $2.2 billion to $2.4 billion over the five years, covers October 1, 2019 through September 30, 2024.
FOX had recently canceled several popular shows and the word from those within the organization just a few weeks ago to us was it was getting rid of some regular programming to clear the deck for WWE programming, but at the time the belief was that was for Raw, which USA Network looks to have kept, since it had the right in its contract to match any outside offer. USA made the decision to match the biggest outside offer for Raw. USA declined to match the Smackdown offer. The FOX offer for Raw was believed to be in the range of $240 million to $270 million.
FOX has also promised to heavily promote its WWE content during its other sports like NFL, College Football and Major League Baseball games. While Friday night is a worse night for drawing viewers than Tuesday, the increase in exposure from being on the FOX Network, both because it’s a far higher rated station, and because it is available in far more homes, will more than offset it. In fact, it would be expected that Smackdown would have more viewers than Raw, because of the power of FOX and far greater visibility.
WWE hasn’t commented at all, including the key question regarding whether the show will be live on Friday nights or taped on Tuesday, like it was in the past when Smackdown aired on Friday. I would expect it would be a live show because I can’t see FOX spending that kind of money for a taped show. In particular, FOX will have an NFL game on Thursdays and will heavily promote Smackdown. The idea for the fall would be NFL, Smackdown and College Football on consecutive nights.
FOX has also promised to heavily promote its WWE content during its other sports like NFL, College Football and Major League Baseball games. While Friday night is a worse night for drawing viewers than Tuesday, the increase in exposure from being on the FOX Network, both because it’s a far higher rated station, and because it is available in far more homes, will more than offset it. In fact, it would be expected that Smackdown would have more viewers than Raw, because of the power of FOX and far greater visibility.
WWE hasn’t commented at all, including the key question regarding whether the show will be live on Friday nights or taped on Tuesday, like it was in the past when Smackdown aired on Friday. I would expect it would be a live show because I can’t see FOX spending that kind of money for a taped show. In particular, FOX will have an NFL game on Thursdays and will heavily promote Smackdown. The idea for the fall would be NFL, Smackdown and College Football on consecutive nights.
Most likely, that would also mean that Smackdown, and not Raw, will be the most-watched show in the U.S. This will mean it’s incumbent to get the bigger draws on that show, meaning next year in the Superstar Shakeup, expect moves to get more of the bigger names onto that brand.
There is also a risk involved, in the sense that there is far more pressure on network television to draw ratings. If Smackdown can’t do competitive numbers, it could be moved, taken out of prime time, moved to FS 1 or dropped at the end of its contract. Unlike with USA, where it’s a lock that Raw will no matter what be among the top rated cable shows, even if it goes back to heavily declining numbers like from 2015 to2017. There is no such guarantee of that for Smackdown. For FOX, it looks like 2.5 to 3 million is the usual cutoff point for shows to be renewed or canceled, although obviously things other than ratings factor in. Wrestling, because of its lower ad rates, in the past had to be far more than usual programming to be worth it, not bubble level.
But Friday also has far lower expectations. In addition, the belief is that a program like wrestling is forever programming like other sports. A TV series may last a few seasons and ten years is a lifetime. Sports programming seems to last forever.
With the emphasis on live programming, one would suspect it would be airing live on Friday, except on the West Coast. That greatly changes a lot of things for the company because the tapings workload for those involved in television would require two different trips per week. However, the revenue increase for a company that will be on easy street financially from this point forward, will make it easy to hire as many new people as possible or incur as much expense if that is the decision. It would be much easier to tape on Tuesdays for a Friday airing from a logistical standpoint.
There is also a risk involved, in the sense that there is far more pressure on network television to draw ratings. If Smackdown can’t do competitive numbers, it could be moved, taken out of prime time, moved to FS 1 or dropped at the end of its contract. Unlike with USA, where it’s a lock that Raw will no matter what be among the top rated cable shows, even if it goes back to heavily declining numbers like from 2015 to2017. There is no such guarantee of that for Smackdown. For FOX, it looks like 2.5 to 3 million is the usual cutoff point for shows to be renewed or canceled, although obviously things other than ratings factor in. Wrestling, because of its lower ad rates, in the past had to be far more than usual programming to be worth it, not bubble level.
But Friday also has far lower expectations. In addition, the belief is that a program like wrestling is forever programming like other sports. A TV series may last a few seasons and ten years is a lifetime. Sports programming seems to last forever.
With the emphasis on live programming, one would suspect it would be airing live on Friday, except on the West Coast. That greatly changes a lot of things for the company because the tapings workload for those involved in television would require two different trips per week. However, the revenue increase for a company that will be on easy street financially from this point forward, will make it easy to hire as many new people as possible or incur as much expense if that is the decision. It would be much easier to tape on Tuesdays for a Friday airing from a logistical standpoint.
Stock Price Skyrockets
The hysteria regarding those deals drove the stock price up to record levels, closing at $57.86 per share on 5/21, and at press time on 5/23 held steady at $57.21 per share. It has probably hit its peak for now, but even with the current valuation being 136 times earnings (most media stocks trade at 20 times earnings), the $4.414 billion market value of the company is not overvalued if you look at where profits should be come 2020 off this deal.
Vince McMahon’s WWE stock value would be $1.845 billion, and in a trivia note, it is possible he could be worth more overall than Ted Turner for the first time ever.
Vince McMahon’s WWE stock value would be $1.845 billion, and in a trivia note, it is possible he could be worth more overall than Ted Turner for the first time ever.
C.M Punk vs WWE Lawsuit
The lawyers for both C.M. Punk and Dr. Chris Amann started meeting on 5/21 doing preliminary work preparing for trial that was originally to start this week. There were reports from Pro Wrestling Sheet that there were last minute regarding settlement talks. The very little we’ve heard is that the Punk side was very strong in wanting this to go to trial, even though his side is the one most at-risk from a jury verdict. If the Amann side loses, they are out legal fees (which the belief is that WWE is funding anyway) but Punk can get hit hard with a bad verdict. And while a win by Punk would be a huge moral victory for him and a vindication, the reality is it’s not going to really matter to WWE.
One person close to the situation said that “the defense (Punk’s side) has worked long and hard on building a case for trial. Anything is possible but the defense is ready and prepared for a jury trial.” As of mid last week, the plaintiff lawyers were delaying things but they should be starting jury selection soon.
One person close to the situation said that “the defense (Punk’s side) has worked long and hard on building a case for trial. Anything is possible but the defense is ready and prepared for a jury trial.” As of mid last week, the plaintiff lawyers were delaying things but they should be starting jury selection soon.
Cena and Nikki Spotted
TMZ was in the Cena/Nikki storyline this past week with a photo of them together and apparently on he verge of making up now that Cena has said he’ll have children with her. This was taken in San Diego. Whether this started as a shoot or not, and it probably did since there was a May wedding planned, everything involved here at this point smells like a calculated work and using the media to build this romance into something that rebuilds the ratings for the reality shows. People has even reported they are back together. Nikki has denied it.
Ironically, after all the hype, the 5/20 debut of the new season of “Total Bellas,” which Cena had gone all over the place to promote around the breakup, did 517,000 viewers, the least-watched episode in the history of the show. A lot of this was airing on a Sunday as the show is usually a Wednesday show, and it’s more showing how TV viewing is about creatures of habit and time rather than loyalty to a show.
Ironically, after all the hype, the 5/20 debut of the new season of “Total Bellas,” which Cena had gone all over the place to promote around the breakup, did 517,000 viewers, the least-watched episode in the history of the show. A lot of this was airing on a Sunday as the show is usually a Wednesday show, and it’s more showing how TV viewing is about creatures of habit and time rather than loyalty to a show.
WWE Recruiting
WWE has also gotten aggressive regarding trying to sign up indie talent with MLW as the target since they just got television. That will be interesting because the key guys MLW is relying on have signed contracts. There were reports that WWE approached several wrestlers under contract to MLW. According to legal papers sent, the talent advised MLW of the offers and told WWE they were signed, but WWE told the wrestlers they should still come to a tryout and be around the system.
In the past, WWE would back off when approaching talent under contract to a degree due to what happened in the past with ROH. They’ll still get word indirectly to tell people not to renew their deals like they did with ROH (and there were guys in ROH based on promises made and such while under contract that one would think was tampering, and that’s what led to the legal situation last year where WWE had to pull all offers from ROH talent and waited months after their contracts expired before approaching them again, although in the end the guys like Kyle O’Reilly, Adam Cole and Bobby Fish all came. The MLW deals signed with its key talent were for multiple years.
In the past, WWE would back off when approaching talent under contract to a degree due to what happened in the past with ROH. They’ll still get word indirectly to tell people not to renew their deals like they did with ROH (and there were guys in ROH based on promises made and such while under contract that one would think was tampering, and that’s what led to the legal situation last year where WWE had to pull all offers from ROH talent and waited months after their contracts expired before approaching them again, although in the end the guys like Kyle O’Reilly, Adam Cole and Bobby Fish all came. The MLW deals signed with its key talent were for multiple years.
NXT NEWS
U.K. King of the Ring
The U.K. King of the Ring 16 man tournament has first round matches of Jack Gallagher vs. Drew Gulak (which Gallagher already won), Ashton Smith vs. Joseph Conners, Flash Morgan Webster vs. James Drake, Kenny Williams vs. Dave Mastiff, El Ligero vs. Travis Banks, Zack Gibson vs. Amir Jordan, Tucker vs. Joe Coffey and Tyson T-Bone vs.; Jordan Devlin. The first round matches, aside from Gallagher vs. Gulak which took place at the last Full Sail University tapings, will take place from 6/8 to 6/10 at the Download Festival in Derby, UK. The winners will go onto a one-night eight-man tournament that takes place on 6/18 at Royal Albert Hall in London. The winner of that tournament faces Pete Dunne for the U.K. title on 6/19 at Royal Albert Hall.
New Japan Pro Wrestling News
NJPW Tickets Slow
The 7/7 New Japan show at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, earlier this week they were at less than 5,000 tickets sold. One of the reasons it was as low as it was is the secondary market brokers steered clear of the show. There are only 229 tickets available on the secondary market on 5/22, and the nature of how they are scattered indicates not much if any secondary market buys in the sense these were just people putting up two or four tickets individually, as opposed to buying large amounts in different places like at a WWE show. That’s notable because of how quick Long Beach sold out. But to this point there is nobody and nothing announced for the show, and won’t be until after Dominion.
Even though there are tons of unsold tickets for the show, there has been no advertising for the live event on AXS TV, nor have I seen or heard about any local market advertising, even local cable buys in San Francisco, Oakland or San Jose, during Raw and Smackdown which one would think would be a no-brainer strategy. There has been nothing I’ve heard on local radio. There has been no announcement about television of the show, but with it listed as a 5 p.m. local time start, the only reason to start that early local time on a Saturday night is for maximum television viewership by being prime time in the Eastern and Central time zones.
Even though there are tons of unsold tickets for the show, there has been no advertising for the live event on AXS TV, nor have I seen or heard about any local market advertising, even local cable buys in San Francisco, Oakland or San Jose, during Raw and Smackdown which one would think would be a no-brainer strategy. There has been nothing I’ve heard on local radio. There has been no announcement about television of the show, but with it listed as a 5 p.m. local time start, the only reason to start that early local time on a Saturday night is for maximum television viewership by being prime time in the Eastern and Central time zones.
NJPW President Speaks
New Japan President Harold Meij talked in an interview to Nikkei in Japan on 5/17 and made many statements that were newsworthy and should be noted here.
Given the top story from WWE this past week, and how much money they have coming in from just TV, and how slow the Cow Palace tickets are moving, good luck with that.
- They are projecting that for its fiscal year, that ends in July, revenues will increase 23.5 percent from last year, going from $34 million to $42 million, which would be the largest for any pro wrestling company except WWE dating back nearly two decades to the end of WCW.
- He claimed 100,000 subscribers to New Japan World.
- He claimed New Japan had a 80 percent market share in Japan, but that WWE’s worldwide television rights were 180 times that of New Japan, which would indicate New Japan television rights worldwide are only $1.5 million or so per year.
- "In terms of quality of the product, NJPW far exceeds the biggest company in the world, WWE. The moves. The drama. The talent. Even how attractive the talent is."
Given the top story from WWE this past week, and how much money they have coming in from just TV, and how slow the Cow Palace tickets are moving, good luck with that.
Ring of Honor News
War of the Worlds Business Update
Even with fewer of the mainline stars, and only one of the big four New Japan stars, Tetsuya Naito, on the tour, it was the best attendance in tour history, at 6,000 for four shows, up 11.1% from the prior record of 5,400 in 2015 and 2017. It should be noted this increase had more to do with larger venues because the tour is a traditional four show sell out tour, and this show only sold out two of the events, Royal Oak, MI and Toronto. However, the Lowell, MA, crowd of 1,900 was the best the company has ever done in the Boston market and one of the better crowds in company history. The 1,800 in Chicago was the second best number they’ve ever done in the market.
New Wrestling School in Baltimore
ROH will be opening up a new wrestling school in Baltimore on 6/23 and 6/24. It’s going to be an invitation only wrestling school, basically a finishing school. The idea is that guys who have been trained or are working indies will be brought into train them to get ready for ROH. The trainers will be booker Hunter Johnston, B.J. Whitmer, Joey Mercury, Jonathan Gresham, Will Ferrara and people like Bully Ray and Jay Lethal will also be there at times helping train.
INDEPENDENT NEWS
All In on 9/1 in Chicago is sold out with just over 10,000 tickets sold. About 600 went to the secondary market, although because of the markup, since tickets were going at six and seven times face value at first, people have put more tickets up, but it wasn’t brokers. Probably upwards of 1,200 tickets have been on the secondary market in total at this point. Virtually all secondary market tickets first put up sold in the first week, almost all at Stubhub, where there were 612 sales at an average price of $225.
The Starrcast convention is also sold out in Chicago. There is an attempt to get more space at the convention but that won’t be known if it’s possible until next month. There are General Admission weekend passes that will include meet and greets, arcade games, photos with belts, photos wearing a Ric Flair robe, and the chance to do commentary on matches with either Tony Schiavone, Sean Mooney or Ian Riccobani in front of a reproduction of the old TBS studio set. The hotel situation is so crazy that last week there were ten rooms that opened up and they were gone in 42 seconds. A C.M. Punk autograph session at Pro Wrestling Tees also sold out instantly, but that was clearly going to do so.
By: Larry Causion Jr. CausionCreations.com
Posted: Sunday, May 27, 2018
Credit: Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Posted: Sunday, May 27, 2018
Credit: Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter