Many have questioned whether Vince McMahon has indeed lost his mind when the angle involving his supposed death occurred last week. Whether that be true or not, it must be noted that this angle was not solely the work of one man.2007 has so far been a strange year for WWE as much of the attention the company has received has not at all been related to the in-ring product. This has been a goal for many associated with WWE this year.
Vince McMahon has been and is continuously being encouraged by outside parties to create angles that will generate mainstream attention. This outside party is the parent company of the USA network, NBC Universal.
Slowly NBC Universal is having a greater influence in the creative direction of the company, a direction that could potentially leave WWE in shambles.
To fully illustrate the situation that has been brewing in the boardrooms of WWE in
2007, we must first go back a few years to when WWE returned to the USA network. When Vince McMahon left Spike TV the intention of the company was to create a bidding war for what was thought to be one of the hottest cable television properties around, WWE "Raw". That plan slowly backfired as television executives passed on wrestling, seeing it as a fad from 1999-2000 that was not popular with people today.
This culminated with WWE going back to USA after originally leaving the cable station for Spike TV (then known as TNN)in 2002. WWE had zero negotiating power and ended up taking a terrible deal from USA where they had no control over pre-emptions and would not receive advertising revenue, a loss of over $10 million per year.Over the last few years, the relationship between NBC Universal and WWE has been interesting. Evidence of NBC Universal pressuring WWE to gain more mainsteam attention has been seen with the recent involvment of Kevin Federline, Donald Trump, and now Steve-O into WWE storylines. The fact that WWE has 2 separate 3-Hour "RAW" specials this month is also an initiative forced upon WWE by the networks.
Having these 3-hour specials in a month where there are two PPV's is beyond ridiculous and makes me wonder if the best interests of WWE are being served. This Sunday's Vengeance PPV has been overshadowed by the Vince angle to the point where the television is no longer focusing on what the company needs to do to generate income, entice PPV orders. It is becoming very apparent that WWE is at the mercy of USA and NBC Universal, doing whatever they say and desperately trying to stay within their good graces.
Why is it so important? As was seen a few years ago, and as was spoken of behind closed doors in Stamford, wrestling is not popular with people in television. As has been said many times in the past, television executives write the history of wrestling. The true power of WWE creative is currently out of the hands of Vince McMahon as he is doing what his bosses want, yes, Vince has bosses to answer to.People may question this belief and say that WWE should be thankful for the focus their programming receives and furthermore, would stand to benefit from increased media attention. This may seem true on the surface however I have and always will maintain that wrestling companies are much healthier when the focus of their creatvive is on the in-ring product and not on non-wrestling characters.
Furthermore, WWE needs to create television that will entice people to come to shows and buy PPV. Simply popping an audience for a brief ratings climb only benefits the network and not the overall health of WWE.
4 comments: on "Losing Control Of His Company"
I totally agree Frank. Very smart article. What Vince needs to do is stop worrying about mainstream and just make a good wrestling product. They'll always have a dedicated group of fans but if they concentrate on a strong in ring product they'll hook a new generation. At this point, is the new gen fan gonna be nostalgic about Bobby Lashley and Bogey Man? Give em something better to remember, and by that I don't mean Cena.
Oi...
D for Deport, motherfucker!
This is a good point, Frank. So far, bringing in famous celebs from other parts of culture has done dick for WWE, but if they're forced to continue to do it, they're screwed. Wrestling is going through a down period right now, and until they can find the next Austin or Hogan that every fan can get squarely behind, nothing's going to get better.
Frank, great article. It is so true. I agree with you.. wrestling does better when it focuses on the in ring product. If you look at the Monday Night Wars you will see that most of that was cause of the wrestlers who where in the ring, moving from one company to another. or doing crazy promos. It had nothing to do with Trump or other outsiders coming in.
Yes, at times it is fun to see someone from outside the business to come in but if its over used then it loses its appeal.
On another note.. I dont see how stockholders selling shares cause they think the owner of the company was blown up on live television can be good for business.
But I will say it again.. Vince and the network wants attention. Good or bad it doesnt matter.
And D.J.B still lobies for the Fronte report.
Again great article bro, and someone who sees that the evils arent only of the jackoffs behind the curtain, but the jackoffs behind the jackoffs behind the curtains, and conveys it well.
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