PWInsider - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

 
 

TNT-AEW, WHY I WANT THE XFL TO SUCCEED, WOULD I HAVE A ROLE ON WWE BACKSTAGE AND MORE

By Dave Scherer on 2019-12-22 10:00:00

You can send us questions for the PWInsider.com Q and A at pwinsider@gmail.com.

Do you want the XFL to succeed?

Absolutely, the more success that the XFL has, the busier Vince McMahon will be.  The busier Vince is, the more chance that we can see needed storyline changes in the WWE product.  If he is not micro managing the product, maybe the storylines and character development will improve and the product will be more fun to watch than it has been.  Hey, I can dream right?

Do you think it WILL succeed?

Honestly?  No.  History has shown us that there isn’t a big market for non-NFL football, especially out of season.  The NFL is a lot like WWE, they make the lion’s share of their money in rights fees deals.  I don’t see the XFL being able to get those kinds of deals.  I hope I am wrong.

When will the WWE Women's Evolution end?

I would say an evolution ends when equality is achieved.  I think we are pretty much there right now.

What are TNT’s expectations for AEW?

It’s been reported that 500,000 viewers is what TNT expected for AEW. Now if that was to start, with the expectation of growth, well that certainly hasn’t happened.  In fact, the opposite has as they started at their peak and are now about at half of the first number. If it’s not, well then AEW needs to make sure they stay above that number.  If TNT is happy with 500,000 viewers, that probably means that there won’t be a significant bump in rights fees going forward, and that is what AEW needs in the long run to be a success.  Right now though, TNT is probably happy.  They are getting, in essence, more than they are paying for.  It’s a win for them.  The real question is if AEW will continue on down the road if they don’t see a way to get profitable.  

Curious what your thoughts are in Ryan Satin’s role on WWE Backstage? Would you have taken the job if offered? To me, it seems he’s really risking his journalistic integrity for an on air role with WWE or am I being naive? 

In 2019, going into 2020, “journalistic integrity” sure isn’t what is used to be in all forms of reporting.  With that said, Satin probably took the spot thinking it would expand his audience and thus make him more money.  Technically, he works for FOX, not WWE so he could certainly say there is no conflict of interest.  I can’t say if I would have taken it or not to be honest. It would depend on a lot of factors, such as whether there were restrictions on what I could say and how much the role paid.  If they censored me in any way, I wouldn’t even consider it.  Beyond that, it would have taken a lot of money to get me to seriously consider doing it, because as you said people would think I sold out my credibility.  From what I have been told, the money isn’t in that area.  I don’t think there’s any real chance I would have taken the spot, but I am in a much different position than Satin is. I don’t need to do it.  My work has been around for decades and we are established.  I make a great living, thanks to all of you that support the site.  He is relatively new in the business so it was probably worth it to him to take the chance.

You can send us questions for the PWInsider.com Q and A at pwinsider@gmail.com.

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!