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WORK RATE VS. CHARACTERS AND STORYLINES, MONETIZING WRESTLING IN 2020, NEW JAPAN IN THE USA AND MORE

By Dave Scherer on 2019-12-28 10:55:00

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In the most recent Q and A, you talked more on the story being more important than match while others have argued work rate over the story. With that being said if you look back at the greats of all time with very few exceptions all excel at both aspects and those same people led to multiple golden ages for the business. So could it be that 1 isn't more important than the other and rather major companies need to consider not sacrificing one for the other and trying instead to provide a complete product?

You misunderstood what I was saying.  I said to SOME people, the characters and the stories matter far more than the in-ring matches.  I think AEW is finding that out right now.  What I said was that to some people, if they don’t care about the personalities and the reason they are fighting, it doesn’t matter to them how good the work in the ring is because they don’t invest in it and thus don’t care.  What I am saying is that the people that love the in-ring will work will always watch.  A promotion adds viewers when they can get the people that are drawn by the personality and characters invested as well as it gets more eyeballs on the product.  I never said a company should do one or the other.  Of course, they should strive to deliver on both aspects.

It's obvious that the ROH/New Japan working relationship hasn't been all that great this year That being said do you think that NJPW could chose to work with other promotions such as AEW or Impact much like AAA currently do?

As New Japan mentioned, their deal with AXS is over now, and since Anthem owns AXS, it would be a reach that they would work with Impact.  It’s pretty obvious that they are done with ROH as well.  Honestly, at this point I think it they want a presence in the US, it’s better to just go it alone.  The only company that makes sense for them to partner with is AEW, due to their TV slot, but if they did so and ratings kept going down, they could get blamed for it and it could taint the potential of their product.  I honestly don’t know that there is a whole lot of growth for them in the US given the nature of their product.  It’s hard hitting and presented as sport, but I just don’t know if there are enough people out there to invest in and make a run in the US profitable.  If I were them, I would monitor AEW and see how things go with them before making a big step to run consistently in the US.

My biggest fear/question (not to be a downer...it's just that I love the new, revitalized NWA so much) is just how are Corgan and the NWA monetizing this? Studio wrestling and selling t-shirts on their website can't possibly be profitable...yet. How long can Corgan keep footing the bill, if indeed that's what he's doing?

That is a valid concern, and one that I also have for AEW.  Whenever a promotion is staying in business based on the owner’s money, I am concerned as well.  I don’t know Corgan’s finances so I can’t say how long he will stay invested in the NWA but I do know he loves it and I don’t think he would start it up without knowing it would take a while before it could be monetized the way it needs to be.  What we know as we head into 2020 is that the Holy Grail that every company is searching for is a great TV rights deal.  That is where the big money comes from now.

Is Renee Young under contract to both WWE and FOX?

Yes.

How much influence does Triple H have over EVOLVE shows?

I can’t put a number on it.  They are Gabe and Sal’s shows.  With that said, if an NXT talent is on it, he obviously will set the course.  I am sure there are other talents that he is watching and if he wants to see them do certain things, he tells Gabe.  But he isn’t looming over the product or anything like that.

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