What a difference a couple months makes. Few months ago WWE was flyin high on the launch of the WWE Network, getting set to renew their TV rights and WWE stock at an all-time high. They delivered the best WrestleMania of all time and fans optimism was back up after looking at all the possibilities of new talent and intriguing storylines. Fast forward to today and all that positivity is gone and replaced with doom n gloom. New talent is up but as usual, storylines are worse than ever. The 1^st report on WWE Network subscriber numbers was a bit lower than anticipated, TV rights did not net them the gains they thought and the WWE stock has plunged down close to the single digits. Where to start haha but I think I will start with the TV deal and WWE stock.

I remember when WWE first started talking about renewing their TV deal to the tune of double or TRIPLE what they were getting previously. They were saying they would get NASCAR type numbers for their deal since they pull in similar or better viewership numbers. Well it seemed that everyone took this news as fact because the WWE stock went through the roof yet the entire time I was just shaking my head. No way in hell, were they going to come anywhere close to TRIPLING their previous deal, not a chance. Doubling it I could maybe see since they are underpaid for the numbers they provide but still, even that I thought was a long shot. In the end they were not able to double the TV money, close but obviously not enough to satisfy people. Now we have a bunch of Wall Street scumbags having a fit and trying to “investigate” WWE because they were stupid enough to buy stock based on the idea that they would triple their TV deal. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that wasn’t gonna come close to happening but people clearly chose not to look at the facts and just drink the kool-aid.

Just look at the state of the product right now, “creative” is arguably the worst it has ever been. Instead of selling wrestling/sports entertainment shows, Vince McMahon has turned WWE into a bullshit variety show that nobody wants to see or pay for. Vince used to pride himself on knowing what the people want but those days are over, he doesn’t have a f*cking clue. They tried to bury the guy that was getting as over as anybody since Steve Austin and only came to their senses because they were forced to. They are trying to kill the face/heel dynamic that is the lifeblood of wrestling. The storylines they do implement are 90% garbage. They actively bury talent that the fans love to watch. I could go on and on but the point is, the product is what sells the company and if you look at the product there is absolutely no reason WWE deserved to double or triple their fees. If anything they’re lucky they even increased it. History has shown people love great wrestling and will support it but for some reason Vince thinks wrestling is a dirty word. And that’s another thing, WWE actually is a dirty word to a lot of ignorant people so they don’t have multiple networks fighting over them like NASCAR. Giving people great storylines like Austin vs McMahon will make them forget their negative view on wrestling/WWE and support the company. But even when they come close to doing something really great like that that could make a big splash (Summer of Punk), they immediately cut the legs off it and kill all momentum for no good reason.

You take all that into consideration and you would have to be a f*cking idiot to buy stock based on the projections they were hoping for. You can’t blame WWE for projecting those numbers, they should be getting that based on the viewership numbers they provide but b/c they are a wrestling company, it’s always an uphill battle. There was a chance they could have done what they intended but no way would I have risked my own money based on that. If you did and lost, you deserve exactly what you got. Can’t blame WWE because certain people didn’t do research and got caught with their pants down. I absolutely love it, the stock market is a hive of scum and villainy so it makes me smile thinking about some of them getting a taste of their own medicine. Wall Street is a bullshit world and I really wish WWE would get out of it and become a private company again, can’t argue the quality of sports entertainment was much better. In today’s world with all the technology and access, they have the roster to go above and beyond their highest peak but they desperately need to get people in “creative” that actually have good ideas and let everyone work w/o being micro-managed to death. The Daniel Bryan/Kane feud is the perfect example of what is wrong with WWE “creative,” mind boggling they would book something that awful when trying to get a better TV deal.

While the TV negotiations were going on, WWE launched the WWE Network, full of classic content and every PPV going forward for only $9.99. A great thing for any wrestling fan but if this was going to be a huge success they needed to bring in people that were not currently watching WWE. You need to give them something to hook them in and then hopefully they will watch the current product and see something they like. But they barely have a clue about what current WWE/wrestling fans want so to think they know what will bring in outside viewers is laughable. From what we have seen so far they are a long way from getting to where they want/need to be. I’m not giving out free ideas, they can pay me if they want them but they need to think outside the box for the WWE Network to really succeed. It can be done but the decision makers of WWE haven’t shown any ability to think outside the box in a long time. They are so dependent on the merchandise money that John Cena brings in that they will let him be the same, stale act we have seen since 2005 and do nothing to try and evolve his character. They will kill other characters momentum to protect their merchandise darling Super Cena. They won’t think about turning him heel if it costs them even 1 John Cena t-shirt sale despite the growth they could achieve for Cena and the company. Their reliance on Cena’s merchandise shows how weak of a position WWE is in. If their product was strong it wouldn’t be an issue turning someone heel and taking a hit on their merchandise for a few months. Like I say, didn’t take a genius to figure it out.

The media is all doom n gloom regarding WWE lately but it’s not even close to as bad as they would like people to think. Just like the Daniel Bryan story, they could make it good any time they want and turn it around, which they did and got the most watched WrestleMania of all time. So even with all the negativity, they could start writing great wrestling and reach all of their goals. But as long as Vince McMahon tries to force his abysmal variety show vision of WWE on us the company will keep treading water and/or continue to regress. Making the current product great combined with a solid plan for growing the WWE Network will help get the stock back to its recent heights, and then when this TV deal is up they can legitimately expect to double or triple the next one. Until then we just have to wait it out and hope they see the light before it’s too late.

If you are a good person that was affected by WWE not reaching their goals, I do feel for you but make sure you do your research next time before risking your hard earned money. Anybody else and it makes me smile. Wall Street scumbags have been trying for years to get their hooks into WWE and kill it, that’s why they are having temper tantrums and making such a big deal out of this. To those people I say HAHAHAHAH, and have just 2 words for ya, BOO HOO!!