The Business of WWE

WWE’s fourth – and likely their best show in Saudi Arabia may very well be their last. The event showcased a major title change and the first-ever women’s match in Saudi Arabia. This has not been confirmed by anyone. The reason I mention this is because a few major superstars who were involved in all of the key storylines at the event have recently expressed their displeasure to Vince McMahon regarding the travel issues getting home from Saudi Arabia.

Some of these names include Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, Rey Mysterio and Kofi Kingston. Would WWE really go to Saudi Arabia without their best talent? Probably not. It’s a shame too because WWE originally signed a 10-year contract with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to put on shows there for the next decade. It’s a shame that they may have to quit after fulfilling only 20% of the contract.

Saudi Arabia officials also reportedly want out of the deal, maybe due to cultural issues. Or perhaps they just don’t really see it being financially advantageous to be paying WWE as much as they are.

In Fairness, the shows did seem a little less organized than would have been preferred. It also probably rubbed the superstars the wrong way when they found out Vince McMahon purposely left the show early, as if he may have sensed that there would be some issues in getting home.

WWE will clearly be in excellent hands when Triple H gets the torch passed to him by Vince McMahon and begins running the entire company. The main roster may start to be run a little more like NXT. WWE recently had its best episode of SmackDown since the show’s debut on FOX, and part of what made it so great was the fact that it wasn’t over originally planned. The NXT superstars gave the production an authentic feel.

It’s a very simple formula; but you know what, it works. It was also foreseeable that WWE’s next move (in storyline) would be to have minimum roster superstars “invade” NXT to get “revenge.” Something that would be an intriguing possibility in the future is for stars from both the main roster and NXT, to become interchangeable; to have the freedom to move laterally across the company between brands.

NXT’s inclusion at Survivor Series officially marks, at least in my mind, that NXT is now viewed on a level playing field with the main roster in WWE. NXT superstars already feel that way, and they definitely should because the black and gold brand has always had excellent in-ring work. Superstars are also protected in terms of their booking; not to mention they don’t have to travel nearly as much (at least for now).

It seems like Vince McMahon is guilty of over-planning at times for events. Triple H seems to be slightly better about being a little more relaxed about preparation and not stressing himself out too much.

WWE’s next step with regard to the incorporation of NXT into its product may be to interchange superstars across brands. Just a thought.

The fact that WWE superstars, for the most part, are exclusive to one brand – either Monday Night Raw or Friday Night SmackDown – and thanks to the WWE draft (even if it was a somewhat lackluster draft) were both done in an attempt to eliminate the problem of overexposure. Top stars within the company were typically the ones who suffered from overexposure because they were usually the people who were featured on both Raw and SmackDown some weeks.

The fact that they are all exclusive to either one show, or the other, and will only be seen once a week lends itself to making them feel more like special attractions. This means fans will be less likely to grow tired of certain superstars and assist them in the process of building a mystique to their characters.

Overexposure is a real thing in WWE; why else would the WWE universe have grown tired of John Cena? Because he went through a period in his career (between WrestleMania XXI in 2005 and WrestleMania XXIII in 2007) where he was WWE Champion for 20/24 months, and fans just wanted to see others become champions too. In basketball terms, they kind of reviewed Cena as a ball hog (like Russell Westbrook, a ball-dominant point guard). The WWE universe ultimately grew to love Cena’s personality over the years.

The dynamic between Roman Reigns and the entire WWE fanbase is a blatantly obvious demonstration of how the company should elect to push superstars going into the future. WWE cannot seem to create the next John Cena with any one particular superstar. Instead, the company will probably need to alternate between anywhere from 5-8 Superstars. This has been evidenced most recently because the WWE universe is beginning to turn on Seth Rollins.

A very similar situation with his former Shield brother Roman Reigns occurred because they could not get over the fact that WWE chose him to win the 2015 Royal Rumble over the returning Daniel Bryan. The universe clearly doesn’t want just one top person in the company if they have turned on its two biggest stars. It’s now up to people like Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, Kevin Dunn, Paul Heyman and Bruce Prichard to listen to the advice of the audience.

WWE may want to scale back on Seth’s push by making the decision to have him drop the Universal Title (maybe or maybe not to The Fiend). Then, a good strategy to deflect some attention away from Rollins might be to remove him from TV for a month or two to freshen up fans’ perception of his character.

Quite a few members of the WWE universe are complaining about the quality of the product. In fairness, they always do, and to a small degree, it gets on my nerves. I admit, the quality of the content that WWE was putting out wasn’t the best say six months ago.

Now I think people are complaining more so because the roster, particularly on Monday Night Raw, is relatively young and many of them are still in the embryonic stages of their pushes. Once they become top stars and establish themselves a little more, I think that WWE product will be in a fantastic place. People are so quick to complain, but they just need to have a little more patience.

The fact that WWE has separated its talent with another draft and made them exclusive to one brand will enhance the quality of life for the superstars because they will no longer have to work Raw and SmackDown on any given week (which occasionally did happen). It will serve to improve the superstars’ quality of life, which I know for sure that they appreciate immensely.

Some WWE superstars recently commented on the negative reaction to the Hell in a Cell Pay-Per-View on October 6. Fans were not hesitant to voice their extreme displeasure with the result. In response, some superstars such as Roman Reigns, Becky Lynch, and Drew McIntyre commented in response, asking fans in summation to please have just a little bit of respect for the superstars who are putting their bodies online for their entertainment.

I couldn’t agree more. Fans are not beholden to the WWE product. If they don’t like what they’re seeing, they have every right to turn it off. People get immersed in watching certain products and they seem to forget that they are the ones choosing to consume it, so they will continue to consume what is familiar to them even if they don’t like it. Some people would rather complain about the poor quality of a particular product than go out themselves and make something better.

The official debut of WWE Backstage on FS1 isn’t until November 5, 2019, but FOX Sports showed a special preview episode this past week on October 15 (it was very successful). This will go a long way towards changing the perception of generic sports fans to view WWE superstars as legitimate athletes. This is something Triple H (who was a guest on the premiere of WWE Backstage) has dreamed of since his wrestling days.

The first important piece of information which came from this episode was the fact that, after only holding the position for about three months, Eric Bischoff is no longer working as the Executive Director of SmackDown. He wasn’t very involved in the creative process. Bruce Prichard, a 40-year veteran in the business (he came up with the masterful idea behind the debut of Kane in the first Hell in a Cell match), will be very involved creatively. Bischoff served more as a figurehead to represent the company.

The second is that modifications have already been made to the original WWE draft.

Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross have been officially traded from Monday Night Raw to Friday Night SmackDown on FOX. This makes sense because the Women’s Division on SmackDown is just a little thin. Bliss and Cross also may, or may not, split as a team and perform as singles stars from here on out.

This move will help to give SmackDown some depth at the top of their Women’s Division, as Monday Night Raw clearly has the superior Women’s Division. This move is most likely to aid in positioning SmackDown as the A show in wake of its move to FOX.

The possibility has at least been discussed internally of NXT touring around the United States and holding its events in venues that hold about 5,000 people. Currently, NXT is taped weekly from Full Sail University. This facility can only comfortably accommodate about 1,500 people. If this were to happen, it would begin in January 2020, and it would be a direct result of AEW beating NXT in ratings each of the first two weeks they have gone head-to-head.

AEW tours and holds events in arenas that hold between 5,000 and 10,000 fans. This large audience may dwindle as fans gradually get over the new feel of the product. AEW, however, will most likely continue to provide a healthy dose of competition to WWE for the foreseeable future. The competition will be good for both companies because they will be more motivated to make their respective products better.