WO News and Notes

[goodhelmet]

And wouldn't you know it, today's razor-thin issue arrives right on time.

 

WWE Number Crunching Notes:

 

--- Despite the addition of four PPVs and increase in international business, WWE revenue and profit declined in the fiscal year ending 4/30

 

--- The company made a profit of $39,147,000. From a wrestling standpoint, it is the 2nd lowest profit since the boom but is actually the 5th most profitable year in company history since they are not involved in any money losing ventures like the XFl and the World.

 

--- The reason PPV numbers have increased over the past year is not because of more popular shows but because of increased international exposure to PPVs.

 

--- Meltz feels the most overlooked aspect of company business is the domestic decline and how house show business is down from its peak.

 

--- On the Mania buyrate. the current estimate os 983,000 buys. However, only app. 632,000 buys were from the U.S. compared with last year's Mania which only had 886,000 total buys but more than 700,000 coming from North America.

 

--- Before 2002, international buys were inisignificant and the company only received 5% of total revenues from overseas.

 

---Comparison of domestic figures betwen 2000-01 and the past year:

2000-02= $430,000,000

Past year= $260,000,000

 

--- Acc. to Meltz, people who follow the company know the growth is going to be overseas but that level of decline domestically is largely unrealized.

 

--- Meltz called the investors conference the most heated in company history.

 

--- During the entire presentation prior to the Q&A, ECW was not mentioned once. During the Q&A, ECW was asked about but McMahon refused to estimate the buyrate. Then, the next day, WWE released a first estimate of 265,000 buys.

 

--- Interesting note: Total profits from Hogan's run from 1984 to 1992 were less than the profit margin of WCW in 1998 alone. The Hogan era made Vince McMahon worth $100 million. The Austin era made him worth $1.2 billion. Unfortunately for Vince, the XFL cost him a large percentage of that along with his reputation.

 

--- House shows were up from $22 million last year to $29 million this year because of successful overseas tours.

 

--- TV ad revenues dropped from 13.6 million last year to 12.5 million even though ratings were up. This figure will drop to nothing next year.

 

--- Home video sales dropped huge when compared to last year. $11.1 million last year compared to $5.1 million this year.

 

--- Wrestlemania DVD sales are actually slightly up.

 

--- Merchandising is slightly up from $5.8 million to $6.1 million. This is actually a disappointment because because they did so many international shows that usually do huge merch numbers compared to domestic shows.

[Loss]

Was anything in either issue about HHH taking time off? He sort of alluded to that in his news update yesterday, as all the interpromotional dark matches have been changed and HHH is no longer in them.

[Mad Dog]

It'll be interesting to see what the bottom line looks like when they're pulling in no ad revenue.

[goodhelmet]

Meltz's thoughts on the released wrestlers so far:

 

Mark Jindrak: He just wasn't getting it (whatever that means). Meltz is surprised because he is the kind of guy they like but he was a better wrestler in WCW 5 years ago than he is today.

 

Spike Dudley: Kind of a surprise because he is respected but he never fit the WWE image and Heyman no longer had power to push or save him.

 

Kevin Fertig: Another example of Heyman being out of power because of all the guys in OVW, Heyman was highest on Fertig.

 

Shannon Moore: They just signed three new cruiserweights. (Guess you can't have too many for chrissakes)

 

Akio: Likely a victim of the Juventud crew signing. Will probably have a job in All Japan or TNA or ROH.

 

Maven: A surprise because he had superstar potential a few years back but stopped improving almost from the start.

 

Gangrel: No surprise here.

 

Kidman: Not surprised because by bringing in three new cruisers, Kidman was the third to be cut to make room for the Mexicans. The company was upset with his constant injuries and the only effective role he had was the guy who looked like he was just out of his teens having great matches. Meltz calls him a talented performer who stopped connecting with the crowd.

 

---Marty Jannetty was also cut but after his two matches and being signed, we never heard from him again.

 

---All the cut wrestlers will paid until early October and won't be allowed to wrestle until that time.

 

---With Maven being cut, Nitro is the only Tough Enough guy who has a legit chance at being a star.

 

---16 people were cut from the front office including Mark LLoyd.

 

--- Of the original WCW talent that WWF picked up contracts on, only 3 remain on the roster: Chavo, Hurricane, and Stacy Keibler. Booker T and Torrie Wilson signed deals quickly but their contracts were not immediately picked up.

[goodhelmet]

Was anything in either issue about HHH taking time off? He sort of alluded to that in his news update yesterday, as all the interpromotional dark matches have been changed and HHH is no longer in them.

Not in the July 4 issue as Meltz was still talking about the Cena-Trips program. Haven't finished reading the current issue.

[goodhelmet]

Brian Gerwitz pulls strings from his couch

 

--- His leave of absence is seen like a Pat Patterson retirement. He isn;t really gone.

 

--- The wrestlers (with exceptions like Edge and Christian) have used his bad writing as a scapegoat.

 

--- He was going to be gone to write a movie but when he found out Heyman would have control of the ECW show, knew it wa sa bad time for a vacation.

 

--- He was strongly telling people Heyman should not be let near creative and that the resurrection of ECW was a mistake. Steph had similar opinions but quieted down when Vince gave the go-ahead to do the show.

 

--- Heyman is being kept in the dark regarding the future of the ECW name brand.

 

--- After the ECW PPV and when it was clear Heyman would not be on creative, then Gerwitz took his leave.

 

--- Gerwitz political ally, Ed Koskey was sent to the ECW PPV to report to Stephanie on what went on backstage at the show. Koskey was hand-picked by Gerwita to replace him as head-writer of RAW.

 

--- Koskey will email Gerwitz all RAW scripts and Gerwitz will have veto power.

 

--- Gerwitz will not be attending conference calls or writer meetings but will have his fingerprints all over the show.

 

--- The ECW PPV is on everyone's minds but people aren't talking about it until they get a clear signal from Vince or Steph on what the appropriate reaction should be regarding ECW. (This is friggin hilarious!!! WCW level bad )

 

 

 

 

Even More WWF Notes (It's the WWF issue of the observer... just for Coffey )

 

--- There have been discussions about bringing Matt Hardy back and the decision is in Hardy's hands. If he is even thinking about it seriously, Meltz believes he will be back in WWE shortly.

 

--- Sabu and possibly Sandman will be offered contracts but they will be 6-10 appearances per year deals. This way, they can still work indies and Japan but be readily available under contract for any future ECW appearances. Blue Meanie may have also been offered a simialr deal.

 

--- Speaking of Meanie, Meltz feels his appearance on SD! was a way for the WWE to not have to go to court. Even if they won the case, it would be an embarassment since it would be the 2nd case JBL was linked to that reflects bad on the company.

 

--- Richards and Dean moving to SD! appears to be used solely for the reforming of the bWo, if only just for that one episode.

 

--- Speaking of JBL-Meanie, the company probably thought that people wanted to see it because of the internet buzz even though 99% of the fans in attendance had no idea of what was going on.

 

---Meltz thinks the Rey-Eddie feud is reaching Kane-Undertaker stupidity levels.

 

--- From his internal sources, Meltz says that the front office has never been so disorganized, and thi is coming from people who have been around since the beginning. The thought process, coming from people who aren't even fond of Jim Ross, is that Ace and Tommy dreamer are in over their heads and that Ross did a better job.

 

 

--- JBL commentary on the ECW dvd was done live, not in the studio. Meltz compares him to a drunk belligernet fan sitting next to you and mentions he made fun of several races but was also funny at times. Meltz points out some of his comments...

 

During RVD's speech, JBL reacted "And you were on two channels, right?" "You went bankrupt". When RVD siad he wished he could wrestle, JBL said "You're here. Wrestle. We don't call in sick".

 

Everytime someone used a foreign object, JBL would respond with "That's talent?"

- Ironically, JBLs best matches involve foreign objects and blood as Meltz points out "His last PPV match would probably have JBL saying "that's talent?" about 70 times.

 

When Sabu sold a missed Rhyno kick, he yelled "He missed him" Orlando Jordan said the same thing during a Sandman-Richards spot.

 

When a vido clip of Tazz choking out 911 appeared, he said "Isn't that our ring announcer that sits on a phone book?"

 

When Benoit and Eddie wrestled, he said "Notice how these guys don't miss? They hit each other."

 

When Heyman said 'I got two words for you... Matt friggin Hardy, JBL replied "Nowonder he can't balance a checkbook. He can't count to three."

 

 

More Hardy drama

 

--- Matt Hardy claims that the wrestler who framed him when Edge's tires were slashed was Joey Abs (real name: Jason Ahrndt). Hardy's current girlfriend was hit on earlier in their career by Abs when hardy was dating her for the first time causing a falling out between Hardy and Abs. Well, when Abs was questioned about the slashed tores, he claimed Hardy did it.

[Guest KingPK]

--- Speaking of Meanie, Meltz feels his appearance on SD! was a way for the WWE to not have to go to court. Even if they won the case, it would be an embarassment since it would be the 2nd case JBL was linked to that reflects bad on the company.

Only in wrestling can a dispute over a real fight be resolved with a worked fight.

 

Thanks for posting these, Will.

[Guest Some Guy]

I hadn't even heard that Spike was cut. Too bad, I always liked him and he busted his ass for the company.

 

Marty should have been given a few more matches. He would have been great for gifing top guys a good TV match and have no problem jobbing.

 

Dumping Shannon Moore may have been a bad move if they really want Hardy to come back, given their friendship.

 

I haven't seen the ECW PPV DVD yet, when it shows up at Wal*Mart, I'll pick it up and be able to pass judegment on JBL's commentary and the show overall. Although JBL critisizing anyone for using weapons in matches is stupid on so many levels.

 

BTW, I watched Cena/JBL "I Quit" from Jugdement Day and was underwhelmed. It was a rather pedestrian brawl with a horrible finish. JBL quit before Cena was within ten feet of him with the exhaust pipe. Cena still has horrible timing throws shitty punches.