Grimmas Posted January 19, 2017 Report Share Posted January 19, 2017 WWE has signed ICW to appear on the Network, with Progress and OTT close to appearing. Now they have told FloSlam that nobody who appeared in the UK Tournament can appear on FloSlam... Here is a fascinating quote from Dave in the WON There are so many questions coming out of this. Promoters from Progress, ICW and OTT were at the event and shown on camera. This is Paul Levesque’s baby and not Vince McMahon’s. It’s been so long ago that people don’t remember this, but when Vince McMahon was about to make his move, it wasn’t just the bold move into others’ territories first. Before he made any moves into new territories, he worked with the other promoters that he later tried to put out of business. He asked them to send tapes of their top talent, and he put a show on the USA Network called All-American Wrestling. All-American Wrestling showcased all the top stars from the different top promotions. At the time the different promotions were sending McMahon tapes, they thought he was doing them a favor by putting their talent on his national platform. But in reality, he was putting their talent on that platform, and then signing most of that talent up and running against those who supplied the tapes with their own former stars. So it looks like Vince did the WWF national expansion, and now, 30 years later, Paul is doing the WWE international expansion. Fascinating times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clintthecrippler Posted January 19, 2017 Report Share Posted January 19, 2017 Isn't that cautionary tale also noted as a reason NJPW has been wary about even allowing individual match content to be licensed to WWE Network and more recent DVD/Blu Ray compilations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted January 19, 2017 Report Share Posted January 19, 2017 I don't think you can compare current indies to old territories either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 19, 2017 Report Share Posted January 19, 2017 Fascinating indeed. Are we gonna see WWE vs NJPW in the years to come ? That would be quite crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted January 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2017 Fascinating indeed. Are we gonna see WWE vs NJPW in the years to come ? That would be quite crazy. NJPW President said he is running shows in LA, because WWE ran shows in Japan. War is on! Plus, the WWE has some deal with EVOLVE, yet is now saying people can't be on WWE and on FloSlam. Yet... FloSlam is EVOLVE's main streaming service. Shit is going down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted January 19, 2017 Report Share Posted January 19, 2017 WWE was already not letting contracted guys appear on FloSlam for EVOLVE. It's why William Regal might appear before the live crowd but never on camera and why Tommy End's matches at EVOLVE 72 & 73 were dark matches for the live crowd only and not broadcast on FloSlam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinit Posted January 19, 2017 Report Share Posted January 19, 2017 Doesn't WWE own a small share of FloSlam too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted January 19, 2017 Report Share Posted January 19, 2017 Fascinating indeed. Are we gonna see WWE vs NJPW in the years to come ? That would be quite crazy. NJPW President said he is running shows in LA, because WWE ran shows in Japan. War is on! Plus, the WWE has some deal with EVOLVE, yet is now saying people can't be on WWE and on FloSlam. Yet... FloSlam is EVOLVE's main streaming service. Shit is going down. None of this seems like a really huge deal to me. This is like McDonald's going after the local burger joint or Walmart tackling a really small chain of pharmacies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted January 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2017 Fascinating indeed. Are we gonna see WWE vs NJPW in the years to come ? That would be quite crazy. NJPW President said he is running shows in LA, because WWE ran shows in Japan. War is on! Plus, the WWE has some deal with EVOLVE, yet is now saying people can't be on WWE and on FloSlam. Yet... FloSlam is EVOLVE's main streaming service. Shit is going down. None of this seems like a really huge deal to me. This is like McDonald's going after the local burger joint or Walmart tackling a really small chain of pharmacies. NJPW is running the USA, because WWE ran Japan recently and signed their guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pol Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 Fascinating indeed. Are we gonna see WWE vs NJPW in the years to come ? That would be quite crazy. NJPW President said he is running shows in LA, because WWE ran shows in Japan. War is on! Plus, the WWE has some deal with EVOLVE, yet is now saying people can't be on WWE and on FloSlam. Yet... FloSlam is EVOLVE's main streaming service. Shit is going down. None of this seems like a really huge deal to me. This is like McDonald's going after the local burger joint or Walmart tackling a really small chain of pharmacies. It's a huge deal if you care about indie wrestling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 WWE is basically trying to use mob tactics on the indies to make money from the work of others to fuck over some other other. NJ is absolutely stupid to even bother with an American subsidiary that actually competes with WWE. They'd be better served finding ways to keep WWE out of Japan or run big shows against them during their tours. Running small shows in LA and selling content to random high numbered cable networks will not make them a competitor for WWE, it will just cost them a lot of money for no reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOTNW Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 WWE is basically trying to use mob tactics on the indies to make money from the work of others to fuck over some other other. NJ is absolutely stupid to even bother with an American subsidiary that actually competes with WWE. They'd be better served finding ways to keep WWE out of Japan or run big shows against them during their tours. Running small shows in LA and selling content to random high numbered cable networks will not make them a competitor for WWE, it will just cost them a lot of money for no reason. https://mobile.twitter.com/i/moments/821702645681307648 The plan isn't to burn cash by flying in everyone and holding small shows, it's to restart the LA dojo and start an american offshoot that would hold its own shows with its own wrestlers, with the regular New Japan roster members appearing like they do for ROH and CMLL. I don't think there's anything they can do to compete with WWE in the US market, and think tryig to expand in other asian countries first would've been ideal but Kidani sees it as a changing time and if he doesn't make the move now he loses forever. Very interesting interview. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted January 20, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 It really should be a race to who can take over China first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 Yeah, it has been pretty clear that this has been in the works, at least the possibility for this sort of expansion into the indies has been in the works for a while. I think they have been laying the groundwork since they saw how over guys like Punk and Dragon got. They were co-opting a style/genre/aesthetic when they were signing top indy talent (not that it was their only reason). They clearly leveraged those signings to strategically expand their reach and appeal, cultivating a narrative (always important in the E) that drew positive connections between indy wrestling and the WWE. Of course they were signing talented wrestlers that worked hard and -in many cases - got over. But they also laid the groundwork that makes indy wrestling a profitable investment for the E and makes a partnership with the E a theoretically plausibly positive for indy talent and organizations. It is a different world now though. I imagine - and I think I have mentioned this elsewhere - that promotions running semi independently with a WWE rep overseeing operations is the ideal. They probably want one or two indy brands, a lucha brand, a UK indy brand, maybe even a Japanese/Asian brand.... perhaps a smattering of others. All talent signed exclusively to move through their system only. You could see special appearances across promotions, everyone theoretically climbing their way to the WWE. They would get to more or less control over the wrestling universe, creating and controlling their own "opponents" and countercultures. I wouldn't even be terribly surprised if they set up other streaming networks that they controlled. It has been a fascinating last few years and we are just getting started. In some ways this may be one of (if not) the most interesting eras to be a wrestling fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 The ROH/NJ relationship has been terrible and the NJ guys stopping bothering almost immediately. Another promotion of shitty West Coast indie guys like Joey Ryan with the occasional appearance by Yujiro or Yano is a waste of everything for everyone. NJ's president seems like he has great business sense, so to put money into this project seems so utterly backwards and stupid, especially since it won't impact WWE in the least and at worst will have WWE headhunting more talent out of spite. Get mad WWE takes your talent, so you decide to start a US branch to expose your talent more to US audiences and make them more popular for WWE, all while actually competing with PWG and their own business partner ROH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 I kind of like the idea of systemic wrestling feudalism. It probably means less shady promoters than in decades past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rzombie1988 Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 It really should be a race to who can take over China first. I have Chinese friends in China and they have no idea what pro wrestling is. I'm honestly not even sure if it would work. Best way though would be to have a Chinese superstar who fights the Japanese and Americans ala reverse 1950's Wrestling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 Ho Ho Lun has the China market cornered Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rzombie1988 Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 Ho Ho Lun has the China market cornered I like the guy a lot, but he ain't the guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 He literally has the market, though, since he created the market in Hong Kong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Liska Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 WWE going after NJPW or CMLL in their native countries would be interesting. I don't think they'd succeed but it would be interesting to watch. But I keep seeing people who want to show how clever they are by talking about WWE trying to kill the indies just like Vince killed the territories. Stop. It's not close to the same thing. Why would HHH and Regal be trying to kill independent wrestling when they've seen how much money they can make off of poaching guys from indy promotions and featuring them? How is it even worth their effort and time? Vince can't just write a check to buy out something like ICW if he really wants to? It would be a drop in the bucket for him. They want to make money off of these non-threatening groups. WWE never even really did anything predatory with TNA and they had national TV and Mania headliners on their roster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 Yeah, WWE's way of expanding when they're already the largest company in the industry by magnitudes is basically convincing smaller companies to give them a cut. Indies that say yes get more exposure, and more talent becomes viable for WWE to pick up without having to really do any of the work, essentially turning the indies into an official developmental territory for them. Then NXT gets to stay as the super indy without having to worry as much about developing talent. All in all, I think it is a pretty beneficial thing for everyone. Of course WWE is going to poach the top talents, but they were going to do that regardless, and at least now those promotions will get something back from WWE and allow them to keep getting new talents to build up. I don't think WWE will go after CMLL or NJPW in their countries. A WWE show is a completely different show than a CMLL or NJPW show, and it seems the WWE fans in Mexico or Japan aren't the same people going to CMLL/NJPW shows anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 Like I said: Wrestling Feudalism All you lose is freedom and that's overrated in a carny industry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradhindsight Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 Doesn't WWE own a small share of FloSlam too? They were a small investor in FloSports when it went looking for capital. FloSlam had not been created yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rzombie1988 Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 WWE going after NJPW or CMLL in their native countries would be interesting. I don't think they'd succeed but it would be interesting to watch. But I keep seeing people who want to show how clever they are by talking about WWE trying to kill the indies just like Vince killed the territories. Stop. It's not close to the same thing. Why would HHH and Regal be trying to kill independent wrestling when they've seen how much money they can make off of poaching guys from indy promotions and featuring them? How is it even worth their effort and time? Vince can't just write a check to buy out something like ICW if he really wants to? It would be a drop in the bucket for him. They want to make money off of these non-threatening groups. WWE never even really did anything predatory with TNA and they had national TV and Mania headliners on their roster. WWE wouldn't have a problem with Japan. They have more TV there than anyone else already. They can easily form partnerships with any of the Noah/Z1/W1/AJPW/Dragon Gate/BJPW crew and start offering big bucks for talent. WWE also already has a few NJ guys and could easily sign more since NJ doesn't have that type of money. They can counter-run, they can loan guys out and they can easily run a dome show. Plus they have the network, meaning the show can air any time they want it to and everyone can see it. Japan would also love some interpromotional WWE vs Japanese matches since Japan loves to feel like the big leagues. It really wouldn't take much with NJPW's small roster size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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