#1306

The only metrics that are are red flags is the viewership, theu are flourishing elsewhere. Theirtv product is still highly valuable as its live content, which is the premium content for networks these days in an age of streaming and torrents.
So despite losing viewers in the droves the show is still valuable

But also a lot of the gains have been maxe in areas some analysta see as short sighted. IE the saudi deal, the decision to make raw 3hrs, keeping around legacy talent on outrageous salaries. All deals that might inject a lot of money into the company for now but may hurt the company in the lomg term as they continue to fail in investing in their future

1 Like
#1309

The one thing AEW poses a threat on is that it may artificially increase WWEs wage bill as more talent have stronger negotiation power

1 Like
#1311

It is and it isnt. Nxt is mostly just indie guys who have developed theor craft elsewhere. With the odd exception (velveteen dream) as developmental its failed in a lot of ways. Its a great show but not great at developing new stars, most of the guys in NXT couldve gone straight to the main roster. And once called up 90% of them flounder, threw no fault of their own, the main shkws are failing miserably at creating new stars (braun for example)

1 Like
#1313

Allegidly a lot of uk talent are refusing deals as wwe are now offering 5yr contracts as standard for fear of losimg talent and they dont want to lock themselves in for 5yrs

1 Like
#1314

Plus the contracts for opening level NXT UK guys is like 30k (though that does let them work untelevised indies).

1 Like
#1315

I think AEW poses a bigger danger in the medium term; if they become known for better storytelling, more creativity and more diverse action than WWE then they could pose a big risk to WWE’s other metrics; their house shows are apparently currently a loss making venture, ratings could continue diving if AEW becomes the must watch weekly show instead of Raw, especially in the UK where it’s free to air (putting the next TV contracts at risk) and while deals like the Saudi one clearly are great for the bottom line, there’s a limit to how much they can rely on those.

The whole thing is easily solvable - fix the creative - but they currently seem to be struggling work out how to do that.

#1318

They’re big ifs, absolutely.

Essentially what I’m saying WWE is a fundamentally strong business with one big weakness that they currently seem ill equipped to fix… AEW pose a risk in exposing that further, but it’s like we’re going to see WWE on the floor anytime soon.

1 Like
#1319

Can’t really know how AEW will go until we see them actually running weekly tv and people actually watching it.

#1321

And even if they do there is absolutely no guarantee enough people will watch it

#1322

I don’t really see the AEW creative being any better. Double or Nothing showed signs of the two biggest issues in WWE; nepotism (all the bullet club and assoc guys winning) and a lack of common sense (cody and dustin ignoring the entire storyline as soon as the bell had rung and making it worthless)

1 Like
#1323

I mean, as Xylo and Javis say - we just have to wait and see. At the moment loads of people are projecting all kinds of stuff onto AEW, which in a way is a big risk for them… they’re gonna struggle to live up to people’s hopes and dreams.

:man_shrugging:

1 Like
#1325

Wrestling is generally better the less you watch it

3 Likes
#1326

This problem is big with WWE as their matches are super formulaic

Thats why everytime I watch WWE after a long break I declare ‘wrestling good again’ but after a couple months I’m just as jaded as ever

1 Like
#1328

Fyter fest is going to be free

#1329

In America. Nothing’s been said about the UK though

#1330

Eh if its free in the US im sure Ill be able to see it with a VPN

#1331

All wrestling is free if you illegally stream it too…

#1332

Yeah but if its online for free with a legal distributor i dont have to worry about the thing going down like the last event!

1 Like
#1333

AEW killed every damn stream in minutes last event :frowning: I had to wait to do my pirating¬!!!

#1334

Those damn millennials and their technology savvy