Competing with WWE

[tim]

There was a thread a couple years ago on this topic that I remember reading and I think now is a good time to reexamine it. With the weak Network performance, creative stagnation, widespread discontent and the Punk podcast controversy WWE at this moment at least, and for some since all the injuries plagued them this year, really feel like a weary giant ripe to be tipped over. BUT, how possible is it?

 

Could another wrestling promotion compete with WWE? How could it be possible? What would they need? Who could do it, what would be the minimum necessary requirements?

 

What's the most possible scenario? Someone with some clout getting some serious investers behind them with enough money to poach a few guys with name value from WWE and sit on them until their no compete runs out? If Vince McMahon really is a millionaire who should be a billionaire that says there's hundreds of millions of dollars in pro wrestling left on the table for SOMEONE to make. I feel like there are a lot of people out there willing to watch a pro wrestling product that interests them and seems hot who aren't watching regularly right now. But is the market really there to feul competition? Is WWE hegemony over pro wrestling so much that a competitor won't be taken seriously?

 

Could a smaller company rise up and challenge them? TNA failed miserably but how much better could competent management have done in their place? Say TNA were run by some business savy people with a great booker with a clear vision, could their show have ever been rivalling RAW in ratings? What would it take for an indy to reach that level?

I've got more questions than answers here but I'd like to see some takes on it. It's something I've been thinking about a bit lately with how stale WWE and a lot of the wrestling landscape in general is. I'd sure love to see some real competition come along somehow but I don't think anyone's holding their breath.

[EvenStevenBooking]

No one wants wrestling so there is no real chance of competition. As successful as WWE is, their USA deal is pretty lopsided in NBC's favor and creating a promotion in this environment is literally just throwing money away.

[Grimmas]

I daydream a lot and a month ago I was thinking about this topic. How could someone compete.

 

Here is the idea for a new company I had.

 

It's based off tours, something like 12 shows in 3 weeks than take 2-3 weeks off. You own or rent a tour bus (model after music tours) rent hotels, give food vouchers etc...

 

3 of these shows are taped in higher quality and edited together for your weekly "TV" show. Another one is your live "PPV" show. The rest are all taped, maybe not at same quality, but taped.

 

If you can get a TV deal you air your TV shows there and do these other things online. If you can't you set up your online/platform streaming service. You can subscribe to get every show for some value or you can pick and choose shows for certain values. Say.. It's 9.99 a month for everything or you can get the iPPV for 9.99 and the other taped shows for 1.99 and the TV is free on that service.

 

TV is not live to air, it's like ECW's where you can show things from the past, music videos, etc.. Even show some footage from the smaller shows in lesser quality.

 

You have a base set of talent and the rest of the folks needed to round out the shows are local guys from where you are touring.

 

Diverse talent too. You need women, minis, puro, lucha, european, black, white, fat, muscle, techniciains, brawlers, etc....

 

You have an online champion where every title defense is put up online, not only on your platform but on youtuibe/dailymotion, etc... Should be up the next morning, like every show that is on demand.

 

That's all I can think of.

[broccoman]

I think the best option would be to go Lucha Underground on Steroids as a Hispanic-heavy touring promotion mostly in the South, with influences from WCW.

 

Kinda a mix of Lucha and either Memphis or Bill Watts. (I could see Wattsian booking working with lucha talent for some reason)

[rzombie1988]

It's possible but WWE wasn't built in a day. They've been doing this for 60+ years now and they've been the king for around 30 now. You'd need a steady promotion with long term thinking and a Russo-free environment.

 

A smart promotion would also follow the OVW model - Get a building and do your training/tv/shows from it.

 

I do think it's a bad time though because there is too much wrestling already, a bad economy and millions of entertainment options.

[BillThompson]

Sadly, I don't think there will be any competition for WWE anytime soon. People like to point to Lucha Underground, TNA, or RoH, but they're just fooling themselves. I can't see any of those companies ever reaching the level where they are actual competition. Maybe LU, but even that would take a concerted effort, and a ton of breaks, over a ten year period to get them to that point.

 

Honestly, it may end up being something like WWN, where they branch out to foreign markets and create a distribution service that is not dependent on TV in any way.

[concrete1992]

SIDE NOTE: The idea of an internet championship should really be implemented more widespread today for smaller promotions. That is no way saying a bigger company couldn't do it but more a comment on indies right now could be taking more advantage of THE INTERNET!

 

As far as competition there definitely COULD be against WWE right now but that ain't happening so it is hard for me to even really get invested in the thought.

[KrisZ]

WWE was able to explode because they took guys that were established names across the country and brought them together under their great promotional skills and maximized their potential.

 

Now who these days can you say is a Hogan, Piper, Orndorff, JYD, Shultz, Volkoff, Ventura, Valentine, Tito that you could just plug right in with a Slaughter, Snuka, Muraco, Sheik in a promotion that already had a 20 year chokehold of the major Northeastern cities.

 

It just can't happen anymore.

[Shining Wiz]

No one can compete with WWE by trying yo be WWE. You just come off looking like WWE light. Look at TNA. 10 years on a major cable channel, and they're still seen as wanna bes.

 

You would need a product that looks different, feels different and is presented not as being different than WWE, but as being its own unique thing. Now, what makes it different and does that different catch on? Who knows. Maybe it's going realistic based around the Timothy Thatcher style, or going cinematic like LU. But the key is to not just say you're different than WWE, but actually be different in as many ways as possible.

[iamthedoctor]

Yeah you really need a company thats been around for a long time that has established stars.

[Matt D]

I think the most damning thing about TNA, out of a thousand damning things is that so many people who either identify themselves as wrestling fans or once did have never even heard of it.

[overbooked]

The short answer is you'd need a lot of time and a lot of money.

 

The slightly longer answer...

 

I think one of the key issues is that with a lack of territories you could end up relying on WWE cast-offs and so you immediately look like a bush league version of WWE. I'm not sure how many big stars would jump ship to an unproven and unestablished company, so you'd need to offer pretty big money as 'insurance', and then you've got a roster of overpaid and under-motivated talent.

 

So, I'd be tempted to invest over the long-term instead. Before launching a national/international company, I'd be interested in setting up several schools attached to small promotions, essentially creating my own territories and my own means of creating new stars. Each school/promotion would have a different style and ethos, and workers would be encouraged to move between them every six months or so. Ideally, I'd make this international too - have a school in Canada, one in the UK etc as well as a few dotted around the US.

 

Then, stage two would probably be two/three years down the line. I'd have some reasonably rounded new faces to build a bigger promotion around, and would be an established enough business to hopefully attract some interesting free agents and maybe agree some talent exchanges with Mexican and Japanese companies. This would enable a three-ring circus to the in-ring product, as I'd have a variety of people to work with.

 

I think there is still money to be made from a touring company, but those tours need to cover more than the US. Even TNA can draw in Europe, so I think there is a real opportunity to have a promotion that genuinely feels international, perhaps running tours every couple of months in Europe as well as some American shows, and maybe even exploring markets like India and the Middle East.

 

TV is at the heart of wrestling, but in light of the WWE Network and YouTube viewing habits, I'd invest heavily in a really good online platform rather than chasing a TV deal. I'd maybe have a weekly studio-based wrestling show for free, then a small subscription to watch house shows and semi-regular 'super shows'.

 

The company needs to look good too. The production values need to be excellent. A studio wrestling show could still work with a great set, great lighting and first-rate music and commentary. Every worker would have a proper logo, a proper entrance video and a great outfit. Each visual element would need to hang together so that the presentation is coherent and instantly recognisable, and ultimately distinctive from WWE. This would all lead, hopefully, to really appealing merchandise to sell on those tours.

 

Then, it just needs strong booking. By having the 'territorial' system underneath there would potentially be a pretty large pool of wrestling minds to step up and book the main product, and enough of them to keep swapping them around to keep things fresh.

 

As I said at the start, it would need a lot of time and a lot of money. I think it is highly unlikely to happen. But that is how I'd do it...

[TRMD]

If a network like MTV were to produce a Women's Wrestling promotion and stick the rocket to it's back, I think it would thrive.

 

Put it on at the same time as Raw? Yeah, I'd think there would be competition.

[anarchistxx]

I wrote a long post on this a few years ago when the same topic cropped up. basically, to compete with WWE you need a totally different aesthetic, unique presentation and unique style. Use as few former WWE guys as you can. Have an easily identifiable image, get on board with modern trends, make it into a type of brand, a lifestyle. market it to a specific group of people. Get the alternatives on board at first, make it a sort of cool, underground niche and progress from that into the mass consumption. Play up the reality show aspects, while at the same time having long, believable storylines with lots of twists and turns and things at stake that go beyond the typical, lazily booked wrestling feud.

 

As Paul Heyman used to stress, accentuate the positives. Do the things WWE can't or won't do: athletic, high risk wrestling, edgy story lines, blood and violence when it matters [i.e. at the end of huge feuds], interesting music and collaboration with underground artists. WWE is so laughably off the pulse when they try to engage with culture of humor or be modern - this is an area where you can murder them hands down.

 

Hard to achieve without a fair amount of money, talent and nous. And even then you may just form a niche in the market.

[Mini Bennett]

So basically what Global Force seems to be doing, Overbooked?

[anarchistxx]

Have Global Force even had a show yet?

[Matt D]

It's not that kind of company.

[anarchistxx]

A wrestling company that doesn't run shows? What is it, a highlight reel for wrestling around the world? Because that isn't what I described in my post at all.

[Mini Bennett]

Unless Matt knows something we don't, my understanding is that no one knows exactly what Global Force is at this stage. I was just making a comparison between Overhyped's post and GFW partnering with NJPW and AAA, as well as groups in England, Australia, South Africa, Ireland and New Zealand.

 

Perhaps Matt will add a little more insight.

[pol]

I don't think GFW's partnerships with other promotions exist for any other reason than to provide a bullet point on Jarrett's pitch to the TV networks.