All-Purpose McMustache/WWE Sale Thread (Future: Endeavor-ed)

[Ringmaster]

Mar 8, 2023 6:58:57 GMT -5 HMARK Center said:

Mustache Madness aside, this might be why the sale is primed to happen:

By the look of it, NBC is losing $5-$10 million on Raw/NXT, Fox is losing at least $20 million on Smackdown, so it's not expected they'll renew for more money.

Not a big shock: the bubble of massive sports rights deals is beginning to burst, and WWE's ad buys just don't generate the kind of revenue that regular sports ad buys do.

Vince likely knows there's a chance things can go sideways here, so best to cash out at the height of the company's value.

Vince: Ok god dammit! get me Alica Fox, we need to smooth things over with her dad! gonna make sure my show stays on FOX

Backstage hand who has been eating a sandwich and overhearing this as Vince is actually talking to a cardboard cutout of Austin: Um...Sir, I don't think that...

Vince interrupting: I don't pay you to think! I have my finger on the pulse of what's happening I know that f***in Tony Khan hired Fox but we can seduce em back, I've got a trillion-dollar idea..

Backstage hand who is just going along with it: Right, what was that idea again?

Vince: A third show on Thursdays, 4 hours long. 'Bloodline'. Every match, promo, and segment will be about them. Gonna add Nia Jax to the mix then I'm gonna... (Vinces voice trails as he wanders off)

[The Heartbreak TWERK]

Mar 10, 2023 11:49:07 GMT -5 Ringmaster said:

Mar 8, 2023 6:58:57 GMT -5 HMARK Center said:

Mustache Madness aside, this might be why the sale is primed to happen:

By the look of it, NBC is losing $5-$10 million on Raw/NXT, Fox is losing at least $20 million on Smackdown, so it's not expected they'll renew for more money.

Not a big shock: the bubble of massive sports rights deals is beginning to burst, and WWE's ad buys just don't generate the kind of revenue that regular sports ad buys do.

Vince likely knows there's a chance things can go sideways here, so best to cash out at the height of the company's value.

Vince: Ok god dammit! get me Alica Fox, we need to smooth things over with her dad! gonna make sure my show stays on FOX

Backstage hand who has been eating a sandwich and overhearing this as Vince is actually talking to a cardboard cutout of Austin: Um...Sir, I don't think that...

Vince interrupting: I don't pay you to think! I have my finger on the pulse of what's happening

My brain:

[The Rick Jericho]

Mar 7, 2023 16:42:20 GMT -5 Bang Bang Bart said:

seems to be the real McStache here. (was part of a pic that Sean Ross Sapp shared)

Reminds me of:

[gentlemengreg1]

Being reported by WSJ that Iran and Saudi Arabia have resumed diplomatic talks between each other for the first time in years at the guidance of Chinese Government.

First of all…horrible news for all freedom loving people.

Second, inside the pro wrestling world Vince McMahon and WWE is going to see a mighty backlash if company is sold as a private company to the government of Saudi Arabia. The company will suffer a catastrophic blow which will go on for years.

[Ringmaster]

I just realized Vince looks like he's about to demand someone get him more pictures of Spiderman

[Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!!]

Mar 7, 2023 16:42:20 GMT -5 Bang Bang Bart said:

seems to be the real McStache here. (was part of a pic that Sean Ross Sapp shared)

When she wanna smash but the Peepee too small.

[bob]

I’m choosing to believe Vince glued a Grouch Marx mustache on himself

[DichEvans]

Mar 7, 2023 16:42:20 GMT -5 Bang Bang Bart said:

seems to be the real McStache here. (was part of a pic that Sean Ross Sapp shared)

If you can't beat him, slowly turn into him (pic is Ted Turner)

[XIII]

Mar 13, 2023 15:02:19 GMT -5 DichEvans said:

Mar 7, 2023 16:42:20 GMT -5 Bang Bang Bart said:

seems to be the real McStache here. (was part of a pic that Sean Ross Sapp shared)

If you can't beat him, slowly turn into him (pic is Ted Turner)

Vince: "That's great, Ted, but I'm in the mustache business."

Ted: ...

[The Captain]

Mar 9, 2023 10:49:14 GMT -5 polarbearpete said:

Mar 9, 2023 10:29:28 GMT -5 HMARK Center said:

I doubt things will go in the toilet; WWE still has a lot of value to TV broadcasters, and I still think NBC-Comcast will bend over backwards for them. But I do think the Fox deal might be in some trouble, and while it won't mean that WWE is in any kind of actual trouble, it might mean that the stock price will adjust to a new normal that's not quite as high as it is now, thus making a sale by this summer a higher likely return.

The only real question for Fox, I think, is how much they're interested in keeping Smackdown away from NBC and their stations. NBC has it good with WWE right now; sure, they might be short $5-$10 million based on how much the rights fees cost, but NBC gets a lot of mileage out of the partnership given the amount of spinoff shows they've gotten out of WWE (the reality shows on E!, the A&E Biographies, the Peacock content, etc.), plus the fact that Raw and NXT are the only things really keeping USA Network afloat at this point, doing enough to let USA claim a top spot among the most watched cable channels in the process. A shortfall of a few million while getting all of that in the process is definitely worthwhile for them.

With Fox, though, the projections were that they wanted Smackdown to draw around a 1.0 in the prime demo, and they were expecting regular viewing numbers closer to 3.5-4 million a week; Smackdown is a very successful show for its timeslot and gives Fox regular Friday night ratings wins, but it undershoots the hoped for numbers pretty considerably, and unlike NBC it isn't like Fox is getting a lot of additional WWE content to compensate for a larger financial shortfall based on ad buys and the rights deal they signed, nor is WWE content, say, boosting FS1's footprint or whatever. It also isn't like a regular sports league, where Fox could've also gotten the benefit of producing their own, say, "pre and post game show" kind of content, since WWE does recaps and stuff on its own shows. Part of what makes the NBA so valuable for the Turner networks, for example, isn't just the games drawing the way they do, it's also how well Inside the NBA does for TNT, and that's in-house content TNT can produce for itself. I'm guessing that if the Fox deal is to grow then it'll likely take a big commitment from WWE that might involve either producing more content, or shifting some content from NBC to Fox, and it's hard to say how much WWE is willing to do that and risk alienating a long-time partner.

Oh yeah it’s definitely a possibility that Fox doesn’t want to re-up Smackdown if they want to shift strategies away from the Friday Night sports aspect they wanted. I just don’t think that necessarily means Smackdown signs for less money somewhere else, they could be paid the same or more by NBC for that content.

Also, a note on A&E, that’s a separate deal as I don’t think Comcast/NBC owns A&E, Disney does.

A&E is owned by Disney and Hearst split 50-50. But yeah, no NBCU/Comcast involvement.

[Gawk Rivers]

Vince overexplaining Movember like 30 times a day to his perturbed friends and family who want to shave him at gunpoint

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

This is what Cena had to say about Vince in an interview with the AP:

"No (it is not hard to reconcile the feelings I have for Vince McMahon with the allegations against him). I mean, everyone has the right to have their perspective. I have the right to have mine. When you love somebody, you take them as imperfectly perfect as they are. We all make mistakes, we all have poor decisions. Lord knows I’ve made my collection of poor choices. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to love somebody. There’s no way I can go on record and say I don’t love Vince McMahon."

[polarbearpete]

Any word on if Vince was at Smackdown last Friday and Raw last night?

[Finish Uncle Muffin’s Story]

Mar 14, 2023 7:16:35 GMT -5 "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik said:

This is what Cena had to say about Vince in an interview with the AP:

"No (it is not hard to reconcile the feelings I have for Vince McMahon with the allegations against him). I mean, everyone has the right to have their perspective. I have the right to have mine. When you love somebody, you take them as imperfectly perfect as they are. We all make mistakes, we all have poor decisions. Lord knows I’ve made my collection of poor choices. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to love somebody. There’s no way I can go on record and say I don’t love Vince McMahon."

This is a fast way to get headlines, I'm not sure why he said it, even if he believes it. Bad look.

[canceled4truth]

JOHN NO! DON'T COMPLIMENT THE RAPIST! JOHN!

[Feargus McReddit]

Mar 14, 2023 7:16:35 GMT -5 "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik said:

This is what Cena had to say about Vince in an interview with the AP:

"No (it is not hard to reconcile the feelings I have for Vince McMahon with the allegations against him). I mean, everyone has the right to have their perspective. I have the right to have mine. When you love somebody, you take them as imperfectly perfect as they are. We all make mistakes, we all have poor decisions. Lord knows I’ve made my collection of poor choices. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to love somebody. There’s no way I can go on record and say I don’t love Vince McMahon."

I'll be slightly fair and say he's not the first person to say positive things about Vince and it feels like almost everyone who comes out of WWE does, so Danielson, Mone etc. It's disappointing but considering his reputation, how he's structured his company around and how even now he's still the most important figure in wrestling even without creative power (which, I mean, feels like a when he gets that back and not if), it's not entirely without logic. He's Harvey Weinstein if everyone found out about what he did and wasn't seen as losing influence beforehand.

Now, having said that, him in particular? That is something that someone in his team should have just said no comment or that he's only back to wrestle and not involve himself with backstage politics. I know Hollywood is super shady and I get it but...I don't know, someone PR wise should have found an excuse to cut that question off or dragged him away because he wanted to meet Michelle Yeoh or something.

[FinalGwen]

Cena like "Well, who hasn't sexually assaulted someone?". Gross.

[jm]

Mar 14, 2023 7:16:35 GMT -5 "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik said:

This is what Cena had to say about Vince in an interview with the AP:

"No (it is not hard to reconcile the feelings I have for Vince McMahon with the allegations against him). I mean, everyone has the right to have their perspective. I have the right to have mine. When you love somebody, you take them as imperfectly perfect as they are. We all make mistakes, we all have poor decisions. Lord knows I’ve made my collection of poor choices. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to love somebody. There’s no way I can go on record and say I don’t love Vince McMahon."

[polarbearpete]

I mean we’re talking about people, like Cena, who have known the man closely and personally for over 20 years. It’s not surprising that the relationship they built over those years still influences how they think of him even with the news and allegations coming out in the last year or so. A lot of them have said they have almost a familial/father like relationship with him. That being said, he could have sidestepped the question a little better PR-wise I’m sure.

[ssdrivin]

Mar 14, 2023 7:16:35 GMT -5 "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik said:

This is what Cena had to say about Vince in an interview with the AP:

"No (it is not hard to reconcile the feelings I have for Vince McMahon with the allegations against him). I mean, everyone has the right to have their perspective. I have the right to have mine. When you love somebody, you take them as imperfectly perfect as they are. We all make mistakes, we all have poor decisions. Lord knows I’ve made my collection of poor choices. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to love somebody. There’s no way I can go on record and say I don’t love Vince McMahon."

Meanwhile, back in 2017, on the subject of WWE Network's handling of Chris Benoit content:

“Often times we get caught up in a person’s ability and their performance,” Cena told a Sydney fan event this month.

“This transcends WWE, it’s a problem with sport and it’s also a problem with entertainment. People will do bad things. But if they are good at what they do, sometimes those things are overlooked.

“I don’t believe in that. I believe you should take ownership for your actions — all of them.

“Not just ones that are performed in front of an audience. I think our company’s stance on the entire situation can set a precedent on athletics and a precedent for entertainment, for taking ownership of your actions.”