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When WWE network finally goes live in UK what do you foresee as the amount of subscribers they will generate in that country. In my opinion it will be at best 150k and that may be a generous at best which still is nowhere near enough of the totals they need to start turning a profit. For 30000 additional subs overseas they already indicated they got this is a very slow start.
The US has an estimated population of 319 million people. With WWE’s current subscriber base that is supposedly from the US, they are drawing 0.0022 of them to buy the Network. The UK has around 65,000,000 people so by the US rate, they would draw about 143,000 subscribers so your “at best†number seems pretty good. When you consider that some of the supposed US customers are actually from places outside of the US, with the buyer using a VPN service, I think they will probably come in well under that number as it’s not a true US number and some of the people using a VPN service are from The UK.
Why has Hillbilly Jim been treated as a legend by WWE when he spent less than ten years active as a wrestler with the company? He seems like a good guy but I do not see how he can be relevant. Couldn't they find another legend for the house?
He has always gotten along well with the company and they like him. He did fine on Legends House in my opinion. I don’t have a problem with them using him.
First, with the abundance of internet resources out there, with wide exposure for TNA, ROH, and other promotions, wouldn’t it be smarter for WWE to capitalize on name recognition and introduce newly signed talent under their established ring names? It seems really narrow-sighted to imagine themselves the only recognizable wrestling company (yes, I know Vince sees it as an “entertainment†company, but wrestling is the reason they exist at all). They must realize that legions of fans know exactly who Kevin Steen is, or Tyler Black, or Jon Moxley, or KENTA. Why not use that? Wouldn’t using established names help to draw in fans outside the kid demographic, who have only read about top indy or international names and are dying to see them on national television?
The one thing you forget here is how many people know who Kevin Steen is? Raw draws around 4 million people on a weekly basis. Only a small percentage of those follow independent wrestling. So to the vast majority of WWE fans, the wrestlers are who they say they are. They won’t know Kevin Steen from Kevin Owens. But, if WWE brings in Steen, lets him keep his name and he becomes a huge star, they then have to pay him rights to use the name, a la Rob Van Dam. Considering their PR machine would be what made him a star, they don’t see any reason to pay him extra on top of that.
Second, every answer to the question that I’ve seen says that WWE wants to own “characters†and therefore the merchandising rights to those characters, but I’ve never seen that explained in detail. If there are royalties laws based on “names and likenessesâ€, and if a “character’s†likeness or identity reference appears on a t-shirt, and are based on those of the actual person’s likeness, what’s the difference? Isn’t the wrestler entitled to royalties regardless of what name he’s promoted under, whether it’s his real name (John Cena, Randy Orton) or a WWE-created name (Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose)? Doesn’t Harrison Ford get royalties for every piece of “Han Solo†merchandise sold? What are the legal subtleties that make it advantageous for WWE to create new ring names?
The wrestlers get whatever royalty fees they negotiate with the company. To use your example, yes Ford does. However, if Ford also owned the “Han Solo†name, they would have to pay for the right to use that name too. Ford would get a double dip. WWE doesn’t like to pay our double dips.
I think it is such a shame there are very few managers and valets are present. Both Heyman and Lana are excellent, I even thought Summer Rae's theatrics with Fandango was entertaining. But with such a big roster, could you see more talent becoming managers. Bo Dallas could be a great heel manager, trying to inspire stars who are on a losing streak. Enzo Amore is born to be a manager for top stars. It could even be a way to use Christian. Why are WWE so against it at present and are there any other names who you think could make great managers?
WWE moved away from managers years ago because they wanted to market singles stars that could speak for themselves and they also wanted to be more like an entertainment show, not a “wrasslin†show. I love managers and would love to see them make a comeback. There are a lot of people I think could be great at it and it adds a unique element to matches.
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