Report : Raw Staying With NBC Universal, Smackdown will not.

[futballiscool]

The only issue is I doubt FOX would care but I can't see USA letting WWE promote a FOX show on their network since they are owned by NBC. Back in the day I doubt USA/Spike TV cared about Raw promoting SD on UPN but times have changed. In fact I remember when SD moved to the CW I never got USA and we didn't see much of the Raw guys appearing on SD other than a few times before Survivor Series.

I think the brand split will be even more enforced and the only time the other brand is mentioned is when they have a PPV coming up and just run down the card.

My perspective is with the amount of money WWE is getting from both USA and FOX they'll both want Rousey, Lesnar, Cena.. on their show when available . There won't be a B brand or even a 1 and 1a. They'll want all the star power on the entire roster on their specific show.

Also it can function like the NFL or NBA with the WWE going between network to network in the same week.

Again all complete speculation

 

[futballiscool]

Another point...

How does a billionaire entrupenuer not look at these contracts and think about getting into wrestling business. I don't mean Sinclair with ROH, I mean a new Ted Turner

 

[Ewa PGH Fan]

My perspective is with the amount of money WWE is getting from both USA and FOX they'll both want Rousey, Lesnar, Cena.. on their show when available . There won't be a B brand or even a 1 and 1a. They'll want all the star power on the entire roster on their specific show.

Also it can function like the NFL or NBA with the WWE going between network to network in the same week.

Again all complete speculation

Lesnar and Cena are such part-timers at this point that demanding them really isn't worth it IMO. Plus Cena is still a FA and can appear on both shows and by 2019 maybe full time Hollywood and rarely appearing on WWE TV at all.

 

[Duffman]

Which will be all the time now with co-branded PPVs every month.

They just feature both Raw and SD matches, I don't think we'll see a Raw guy challenge for a SD title and vice versa. I mean look at MITB, we have AJ vs Nakamura for SD but I don't see them appearing on Raw to promote the match since Raw has their own matches to promote.

 

[Duffman]

WWE has about 3x the talent they had back in the Attitude Era or hell even 10 years ago, they need a brand split otherwise they'll have to release half the roster because they wont have enough time for all of them.

 

[Ewa PGH Fan]

Another point...

How does a billionaire entrupenuer not look at these contracts and think about getting into wrestling business. I don't mean Sinclair with ROH, I mean a new Ted Turner

Because building a good product that garners a big enough following and ratings to get this kind of scratch is very very hard and easier said then done. It requires a couple boat loads of money to get off the ground not to mention succeed and losing your shirt is a lot more likely than ever making any profits. See TNA/Impact as one example. You could also cite ECW and WCW as well because while they both had some success, in the end they both lost a boat load of money and were closed/sold very cheaply.

Also look at long it took Vince to get WWE to this point. WWF/E started in the late 70's/early 80's and it's just now garnering this type of TV deals.

 

[Ewa PGH Fan]

They just feature both Raw and SD matches, I don't think we'll see a Raw guy challenge for a SD title and vice versa. I mean look at MITB, we have AJ vs Nakamura for SD but I don't see them appearing on Raw to promote the match since Raw has their own matches to promote.

Yeah, but running down the card is still promotion and it's easy to slip in a 'when you can check out Smackdown' reference to learn more about the card.

It remains to be seen if either deal will allow the Networks to mettle in booking/creative which if WWE allows is a big mistake in my book no matter how much they're paying. WWE is the expert on booking wrestling not the Networks. If you allow someone to mettle who doesn't know what they're doing it usually kills the promotion in the end. I'm not talking about the length of a show or the over all rating (PG...etc....) which a Network should obviously have a say in.

 

[Ewa PGH Fan]

WWE has about 3x the talent they had back in the Attitude Era or hell even 10 years ago, they need a brand split otherwise they'll have to release half the roster because they wont have enough time for all of them.

Not to mention how hard it would be to break in new talent from NXT.

 

[futballiscool]

Lesnar and Cena are such part-timers at this point that demanding them really isn't worth it IMO. Plus Cena is still a FA and can appear on both shows and by 2019 maybe full time Hollywood and rarely appearing on WWE TV at all.

Well if hypothetically USA doesn't care about Cena, Lesnar because they're partimers I'm sure Fox will be thrilled at the ratings bump they'll get for their exclusive appearance.

That would seem important

 

[Ewa PGH Fan]

Well if hypothetically USA doesn't care about Cena, Lesnar because they're partimers I'm sure Fox will be thrilled at the ratings bump they'll get for their exclusive appearance.

That would seem important

Once every 3 months or so, doesn't seem important to me

 

[Racer8825]

All reports I've seen is it'll be on network Fox, which is a BIG time deal for WWE. Also, the reports indicate the show will move to Fridays. No news on if it will remain live or be taped as of yet. My gut says if you're paying that kind of cash (1 billion for 5 years) it'll remain live

My guess is it'll be pre-recorded like it was when Smackdown was originally on Thursday nights and taped on Tuesdays.

 

[Ewa PGH Fan]

My guess is it'll be pre-recorded like it was when Smackdown was originally on Thursday nights and taped on Tuesdays.

Very doubtfully. WWE has shown that live gets higher ratings. Plus, Friday would mean Smackdown stars would go on the road for Smackdown on Friday and do house shows til Monday and then head home. If it's taped, no reason to wait til Friday to air it. You'd put it on a higher rated night instead.

 

[futballiscool]

Because building a good product that garners a big enough following and ratings to get this kind of scratch is very very hard and easier said then done. It requires a couple boat loads of money to get off the ground not to mention succeed and losing your shirt is a lot more likely than ever making any profits. See TNA/Impact as one example. You could also cite ECW and WCW as well because while they both had some success, in the end they both lost a boat load of money and were closed/sold very cheaply.

Also look at long it took Vince to get WWE to this point. WWF/E started in the late 70's/early 80's and it's just now garnering this type of TV deals.

ECW was run out Paul Heyman's basement. It was creatively influential but it's not a part of this discussion.

The only time someone with money competed with Vince was Ted Turner's WCW in the 90's. It led to record ratings, better product quality, and more leverage for the performers.

I agree with your point that it's going to take a lot of money and a willingness to take a financial risk. With WWE singing billion dollar TV contract now's the time someone ( ESPN, Mark Cuban) is going to be enticed to challenge them again. If no one observing sees the value in a big investment in wrestling, it's officially a monopoly for at least another generation

Also I disagree with the idea that this is the culmunation of decades of WWE brand building. The ratings are in a valley. This all has to do with the value of live TV content in the Tivo/Netflix/streaming era. Wrestling content is worth money because a good percentage of the audience watches live.

 

[futballiscool]

Once every 3 months or so, doesn't seem important to me

Again, if that's USA or Fox's mentality I bet the other network is very happy

 

[Racer8825]

Very doubtfully. WWE has shown that live gets higher ratings. Plus, Friday would mean Smackdown stars would go on the road for Smackdown on Friday and do house shows til Monday and then head home. If it's taped, no reason to wait til Friday to air it. You'd put it on a higher rated night instead.

Remember it's the WWE we're talking about here. They haven't always done what makes the most sense.

 

[Ewa PGH Fan]

ECW was run out Paul Heyman's basement. It was creatively influential but it's not a part of this discussion.

The only time someone with money competed with Vince was Ted Turner's WCW in the 90's. It led to record ratings, better product quality, and more leverage for the performers.

I agree with your point that it's going to take a lot of money and a willingness to take a financial risk. With WWE singing billion dollar TV contract now's the time someone ( ESPN, Mark Cuban) is going to be enticed to challenge them again. If no one observing sees the value in a big investment in wrestling, it's officially a monopoly for at least another generation

Also I disagree with the idea that this is the culmunation of decades of WWE brand building. The ratings are in a valley. This all has to do with the value of live TV content in the Tivo/Netflix/streaming era. Wrestling content is worth money because a good percentage of the audience watches live.

I never said brand building, I said time. He didn't get these kind of deals during the Monday Night Wars either when ratings were sky high compared to now. I understand it's the demand for live content that's driving this but look how long it took in WWF/E's timeline before that happened. And if everyone is so desperate for live wrestling TV content, why is no one throwing this kind of money at Impact, ROH or the new NWA??? (We all know why)

 

[Ewa PGH Fan]

Again, if that's USA or Fox's mentality I bet the other network is very happy

They're not paying for one wrestler, they're paying for the whole show. Creative drives the show/ratings and not one wrestler's appearance or lack of.

 

[futballiscool]

I never said brand building, I said time. He didn't get these kind of deals during the Monday Night Wars either when ratings were sky high compared to now. I understand it's the demand for live content that's driving this but look how long it took in WWF/E's timeline before that happened. And if everyone is so desperate for live wrestling TV content, why is no one throwing this kind of money at Impact, ROH or the new NWA??? (We all know why)

Those companies aren't what I have mind.
I'm talking about a Ted Turner model circa 95. Someone with unlimited funds who's willing to invest serious capital in wrestling.

I'll only use Cuban as an example because he's tacitly connected to the wrestling business through the AXS/NJPW partnership. There's a 99 percent chance he has no interest in starting a company but he'll work as the hypothetical billionaire. Let's say he's willing to sign CM Punk, a handful of the high profile independent wrestlers, Paul Heyman for head of creative, and poach a handful of high profile WWE wrestlers when their contracts expire. What type of rating could that draw? What is that worth with the new market set this week?

It's also worth noting that the biggest non-WWE wrestling event America's had in close to 2 decades sold out in a half hour and has tickets going for hundreds of dollars on Stub hub right now.

If nobody sees the value in a big investment in wrestling right now I doubt it ever happens

 

[futballiscool]

They're not paying for one wrestler, they're paying for the whole show. Creative drives the show/ratings and not one wrestler's appearance or lack of.

I completely disagree and think individual wrestlers can and should be difference makers but fair enough

 

[UVA_Guy81]

Wondering if WWE will try to sign more talent closer to when that time comes. Figure they'll probably as least give Omega a solid offer next year and try to re-sign Daniel Bryan as well.