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IS THE WWE NETWORK WORTH THE PRICE, PAYING THE WRESTLERS, WHAT WOULD MAKE VINCE MCMAHON CHANGE HOW HE DOES THINGS AND MORE

By Dave Scherer on 2017-08-13 10:00:00

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With WWE canceling most of the first run exclusives on the Network, is there any other reason to keep subscribing other than the PPVs (which are way too many)?  I get that older content seems to be a draw but that only seems to be a subset for people of a certain age/era.  I enjoy having grown up in the attitude era/original ECW but it isn't enough to compel me to renew my subscription.  How can they satisfy subscribers and their investors in the long run?

Only you can answer that but to me?  Hell yes.  I love NXT and would subscribe for that and the Takeover specials alone.  205 Live is good too.  Plus, the Mae Young Classic is coming up. Add in the PPVs and that is all I need to subscribe.  The bottom line is that the real draw is in the live events.  Watching Big Show cook a brisket, or something like that, draws in a very limited audience.  Even the older content isn’t a huge draw.  I think you answered your own question, you aren’t a fan of the current product.  In order for the Network to get of value to someone, they have to enjoy what WWE is doing now.

Please help me with this. There has been a great influx of talent from NXT in the last year, and maybe it's because I don't watch NXT, but there are so many performers that the crowd goes crazy for, I just don't get it. I guess it's the booking. But wrestlers like Nakamura, Balor, Jobber Zayn, Corbin, etc, I'm sorry, I just don't get it. I have not yet been really impressed with any of them. Please tell me what I am missing. And why do they call Nakamura the "rockstar"?

For the second question in a row, you had the answer yourself!  You don’t watch NXT.  The people going nuts for those talents when they debut do.  So what you are missing is NXT.  They call Nakamura that due to his charisma.

Hypothetically, if a number 2 company which could be anyone from GFW, ROH etc started to push WWE in relation to popularity and TV ratings, would we start to see a different WWE TV product?

Obviously, this is very hypothetical.  But I would just go to history and look at what happened when WCW did it to them.  That was the one time Vince McMahon left his comfort zone.  But they weren’t as strong of a company financially then as they are now.  Back then, Vince changed to survive.  He is much better heeled financially now so he could stay true to his beliefs for a long, long time.  To me, the best chances for change to occur in the WWE booking, while Vince is alive, is for whoever their TV partner is to demand it or the company is sold and the new owners mandate it.

Could you explain to me how the wrestlers get paid? I mean, I know they get some percentage of all their merchandise sales, and that is probably different for each wrestler, but what is a downside guarantee? What is an average downside guarantee?  And when they travel, or get hurt, who pays for that?

In WWE, full time talents get paid a downside guarantee, plus bonuses for things like house shows and merchandise sales.  Unless I knew everyone’s downside, which I don’t, I can’t say what they average it.  It differs by the person.  WWE pays for the talents to get to house shows and home from TV.  The talent usually pays for transportation and lodging.  For events like WrestleMania week, the company picks up the rooms and usually the trans.  If a talent gets hurt wrestling, WWE pays for the medical and pays them their downside while they are out.

I grew up in the Boyle Heights/East L.A. area. All my friends and I LOATHED the "cholos" (aka gangsters). They claimed to have love and pride in their race, while selling drugs and murdering their own people. Sometimes, even killing innocent adults/children/babies in their  cross-fire. That being said, what do you think of Konnan/LAX glorifying that lifestyle? What about wrestlers like New Jack and Cryme Tyme in the African-American communities?  Even if you booked them as faces, and made had them say funny things, they're still glorifying the dregs of society and the shame of their perspective races.  It's just like if the WWE had cast the Zeb Coulter character with a younger wrestler and having him dress in a white robe and hood.  No difference. I'm sure I'm not the only Chicano that cringes every time Konnan is on camera, especially when he has a microphone in hand. I just fast-forward their matches.  What do you think?

I have never been a fan of gimmicks that play off of race baiting.  I see a lot of the same things with LAX, that is glorifies gang violence, and I am not a big fan of it either.  I get that in wrestling guys are going to attack people and all, but I do think there is a line there that I don’t personally want to see crossed.  I look at those kinds of things on a case by case basis.

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