Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Apr 10, 2020 16:23:52 GMT -5
The sad thing is, they could make a lot of cuts that would hurt far less than what they'll do. For instance, now is the time to look at Lesnar and say "Okay, this dude isn't really moving the needle at all, and he's financially secure for life. We don't need to keep dumping money into him." Mutually part ways, let that be that. Depends on how his contract is set up. He could sue them hardcore if they broke it to release him. Plus his contract could be such that they have to pay him for matches he's signed for whether they happen or not, so they wouldn't be saving anything to dump him. A lot of people are probably going to be paid downside guarantees as it is since they don't get used enough to be making more than that, but they also aren't getting used enough to be "earning" that downside. I remember (granted WWE is a different place now) Ivory saying that by the tail end of her time there, they would book her and some others enough to meet the minimum, then just drop them from the schedule, which was obviously frustrating both financially and creatively. |
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Post by floundertime on Apr 10, 2020 16:24:31 GMT -5
I wonder if Mike “I’m disappointed I can’t watch CSpan right now” Kannellis will get his wish and be released
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Post by The Summer of Muskrat XVII on Apr 10, 2020 16:26:06 GMT -5
The sad thing is, they could make a lot of cuts that would hurt far less than what they'll do. For instance, now is the time to look at Lesnar and say "Okay, this dude isn't really moving the needle at all, and he's financially secure for life. We don't need to keep dumping money into him." Mutually part ways, let that be that. Lesnar isn’t moving the needle because they’ve made it that way. They cut ties with Brock, I guarantee you he’s working somewhere else and making a significant positive impact on their business before 2021 hits unless the coronavirus interferes That being said, I do agree there’s gonna be a massive bloodletting in the next few weeks that they sweep under the rug as happening because of coronavirus. If I’m a Ryder or Hawkins I’m avoiding my phone right now. |
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Post by Cyno on Apr 10, 2020 16:28:39 GMT -5
This pandemic is something unprecedented in recent history, not just on its effects on people's health, but impact on the economy in all areas. We don't know what sort of precautions, if any, WWE had in place, especially when the light at the end of the tunnel is completely out of their hands.
Like, even if WWE was in a big up period, they'd likely be hurt substantially by recent events along with Vince McMahon's own personal wealth. I'm not saying they're going out of business like the XFL looks like they're doing, but some major belt-tightening is inevitable.
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Post by The Summer of Muskrat XVII on Apr 10, 2020 16:33:19 GMT -5
This pandemic is something unprecedented in recent history, not just on its effects on people's health, but impact on the economy in all areas. We don't know what sort of precautions, if any, WWE had in place, especially when the light at the end of the tunnel is completely out of their hands. Like, even if WWE was in a big up period, they'd likely be hurt substantially by recent events along with Vince McMahon's own personal wealth. I'm not saying they're going out of business like the XFL looks like they're doing, but some major belt-tightening is inevitable. WWE actually has a ridiculous amount of cash on hand, like close to $500mil, so they very easily could ride this out if it only goes a few months. They’re in way better shape then UFC, who just paid out a $300mil dividend a couple weeks before this and are cash poor right now. That’s why Dana and Ari have been desperately trying to keep going |
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XIII
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Post by XIII on Apr 10, 2020 16:41:51 GMT -5
Not much choice here really. I imagine that a large part of them will be lower developmental talents and backstage/production workers. Might be some surprises in there somewhere but those are the ones that will feel it most, sadly.
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Post by Cyno on Apr 10, 2020 16:53:58 GMT -5
This pandemic is something unprecedented in recent history, not just on its effects on people's health, but impact on the economy in all areas. We don't know what sort of precautions, if any, WWE had in place, especially when the light at the end of the tunnel is completely out of their hands. Like, even if WWE was in a big up period, they'd likely be hurt substantially by recent events along with Vince McMahon's own personal wealth. I'm not saying they're going out of business like the XFL looks like they're doing, but some major belt-tightening is inevitable. WWE actually has a ridiculous amount of cash on hand, like close to $500mil, so they very easily could ride this out if it only goes a few months. They’re in way better shape then UFC, who just paid out a $300mil dividend a couple weeks before this and are cash poor right now. That’s why Dana and Ari have been desperately trying to keep going That's a lot of cash on hand, but we don't know the extent of what they lost from having to refund tickets and missed out merch sales from Wrestlemania weekend by itself, much less god-knows-how-many weeks' worth of TV tapings and house shows. It's not exactly great to have to eat into that pool, especially if there's a second major wave of outbreaks and we have to do this all over again.
Do I think they're going to be in any real considerable danger like a lot of indies? No. Things would have to get really, really bleak to get to that point. But they're not getting out of this pandemic unscathed either, especially since they are technically a public company. They are somewhat at the mercy of the whims of the stock market, even if it's not quite as volatile to them as they're more of a vanity stock than anything.
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Post by koreycaskets on Apr 10, 2020 16:55:35 GMT -5
I think that Gronk guy has worn out his welcome. Off to AEW he goes!
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Post by The Summer of Muskrat XVII on Apr 10, 2020 17:00:07 GMT -5
WWE actually has a ridiculous amount of cash on hand, like close to $500mil, so they very easily could ride this out if it only goes a few months. They’re in way better shape then UFC, who just paid out a $300mil dividend a couple weeks before this and are cash poor right now. That’s why Dana and Ari have been desperately trying to keep going That's a lot of cash on hand, but we don't know the extent of what they lost from having to refund tickets and missed out merch sales from Wrestlemania weekend by itself, much less god-knows-how-many weeks' worth of TV tapings and house shows. It's not exactly great to have to eat into that pool, especially if there's a second major wave of outbreaks and we have to do this all over again.
Do I think they're going to be in any real considerable danger like a lot of indies? No. Things would have to get really, really bleak to get to that point. But they're not getting out of this pandemic unscathed either, especially since they are technically a public company. They are somewhat at the mercy of the whims of the stock market, even if it's not quite as volatile to them as they're more of a vanity stock than anything.
Them being publicly traded is why I think there’s a bloodletting coming soon. The coronavirus gives them a perfect excuse to do a massive roster cut that doesn’t end with them saying “the company is hurting, we need to cut spending” |
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Post by Joe Neglia on Apr 10, 2020 17:04:22 GMT -5
This pandemic is something unprecedented in recent history, not just on its effects on people's health, but impact on the economy in all areas. We don't know what sort of precautions, if any, WWE had in place, especially when the light at the end of the tunnel is completely out of their hands. Like, even if WWE was in a big up period, they'd likely be hurt substantially by recent events along with Vince McMahon's own personal wealth. I'm not saying they're going out of business like the XFL looks like they're doing, but some major belt-tightening is inevitable. WWE actually has a ridiculous amount of cash on hand, like close to $500mil, so they very easily could ride this out if it only goes a few months. They’re in way better shape then UFC, who just paid out a $300mil dividend a couple weeks before this and are cash poor right now. That’s why Dana and Ari have been desperately trying to keep going $500 million doesn't last long when you have massive crews and office staffs, not even counting the actual rosters. |
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Post by lucas_lee on Apr 10, 2020 17:04:54 GMT -5
I honestly hope not. Especially during the pandemic, I hope no one loses their job and they just get folks who were unhappy
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Post by The Summer of Muskrat XVII on Apr 10, 2020 17:12:12 GMT -5
WWE actually has a ridiculous amount of cash on hand, like close to $500mil, so they very easily could ride this out if it only goes a few months. They’re in way better shape then UFC, who just paid out a $300mil dividend a couple weeks before this and are cash poor right now. That’s why Dana and Ari have been desperately trying to keep going $500 million doesn't last long when you have massive crews and office staffs, not even counting the actual rosters. Oh, by no means do I think they can last forever off that, I just meant they aren’t completely f***ed if they had to go dark for a month or two. They’re on a fairly stable footing, unlike a lot of companies. Hell, if they were owned by damn near anyone else there’s a very good chance AEW and ROH wouldn’t pull through this because both have people on guaranteed deals. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2020 17:17:27 GMT -5
Main roster members who are on high salaries but not featured on TV very often maybe in trouble. Shelton Benjamin for example signed a deal recently that I presume was decent enough to lock him into the fold even through they have no plans to push or even use him much, those type of golden handcuff deals for guys just to keep them are probably too excessive post COVID. Ziggler, Rusev, Kane, Mahal and Sheamus would all be in this "high salary/not main eventing mania any time soon" club.
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Post by romanstylesiii on Apr 10, 2020 17:36:23 GMT -5
I posted this in the WWE/Coronavirus thread about two and a half weeks ago: I'm calling it now - before the end of May, WWE is going to come to terms with a large amount roster members' releases. Probably the biggest mass release they've ever done. No news, no newz, just gut feeling. I'm not looking forward to being right on this, but we're about to hear of a large amount of releases. I'm going to guess mostly lower-level NXT developmental and undercard and guys who appear mostly on Main Event, if at all. With Wrestlemania done and over with, and the XFL imploding, the cuts are on their way. Am not looking forward to this at all. With Vince killing the XFL today, and allowing them to leave early to not have to pay their downside's is certainly a big deal. With all that live event money gone, it's going to be tight in the WWE. Bad news is all these releases are going to flood the wrestling market right when all these small promotions are on the verge of shutting down. I hope the wrestlers that live paycheque to paycheque are able to make a living in the next year |
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Post by I'm Team Bayley and Indi on Apr 10, 2020 17:38:31 GMT -5
I don't want to see anyone lose their job, but it's clear just looking through their rosters that there is people they are just not really using and you wouldn't be shocked if they end up getting released
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2020 17:42:37 GMT -5
All those 500k contracts they handed out like fruit loops to keep people locked up aint looking like the wisest of investments. Good thing for Karl Anderson the UnderTaker killed him and so he was able to take his money to the afterlife.  |
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Post by Natural Born Farmer on Apr 10, 2020 18:03:30 GMT -5
Agree 100%. Not that I want people to lose jobs, especially now, but the WWE does not need to hoard talent like they have, and most, if not all of the releases could flourish somewhere else. Flourish where though, and when? Japan’s crisis is just beginning. While there will be American and British indies again who knows when attendance will return, or if the boom will pick up where it left off? Hope anyone who gets let go has enough stashed away to last out 2020. |
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Post by DrBackflipsHoffman on Apr 10, 2020 18:17:01 GMT -5
I feel like we're never gonna get to see how the gran metalik arc turns out
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Futureraven: Beelzebruv
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Post by Futureraven: Beelzebruv on Apr 10, 2020 18:28:20 GMT -5
XFL doesn't come out of WWE's books, but Vince just lost his other "big moneymaker" and all he has is WWE now, which is losing money too. Even if they aren't tied together corporate-wise, Vince's personal bank account got hit hard on both sides. Also, that less house shows being a good thing is a bit of a myth. They were making enough to pay the guys working them, if no one else. Was WWE losing money before this? I know they'd lose money for one quarter here and there but nothing consistent. I'm curious to see how much is being saved in production costs by doing these block tapings. When they wanted to save money in 1997, they cut the amount of Raw episodes done live in half. Any other quarter, this would be a hit, but this is Wrestlemania, the one time a year when all the lapsed fans come back to the product and you have thousands of hardcore fans spending thousands of dollars. It's like if the retail sector had to skip Xmas. |
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Post by lildude8218 on Apr 10, 2020 18:28:38 GMT -5
Tamina debuted in 2010. This May will be 10 years and she's not really done anything of note. I think they can let her go.
Tino Sabbatelli has been injured for almost 2 years now.
The Colons are working elsewhere and need to just be off the WWE's books already.
Curtis Axel, Bo Dallas, and No Way Jose are all dispensable at this point.
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