Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted February 26, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted February 26, 2012 This is a thread about the health of the wrestling business (in particular WWE), and New Japan isnt a healthy business currently. New Japan is a big name. But so are Leeds United.  Actually, if you followed New Japan and were a fan of it, you'd probably know this first hand. I dont watch it and even I know its been fucked for a while. This is from the Observer issue dedicated to the sale of New Japan: Even though it may appear on the surface that Japanese pro wrestling as a business hit rock bottom and is on a slow ascent, the selling of New Japan Pro Wrestling, the strongest company, for only $6.55 million last week told a tale about an industry hanging on. No companies are doing well right now, which some are blaming on economic fears spurred on by the earthquake and tsunami and an overall mentality in Japan right now that people are afraid to spend money on anything that isn't essential. Plus, attempts at expanding, whether it be Dragon Gate USA partnership, New Japan in the U.S., Pro Wrestling NOAH in Europe and All Japan in Taiwan have not taken hold.  Takaaki Kidami, whose Bushiroad Group Publishing purchased New Japan last week from Yuke's, talked at length this week about future plans.  He noted New Japan was running about 130 house shows per year, and he wants to cut down on that number. He felt the wear-and-tear on the talent was shortening careers. There are flip sides to what is the correct number of dates to run. The fewer shows you run, the longer it takes for young wrestlers to gain the experience necessary to fully comprehend working at the top level. The more shows, you can more experience but the physical demands are harder. The best way to do it, which is almost impossible, is for the wrestlers who need experience to work a lot more dates, but the wrestlers who know what they are doing to work an easier scheduled to prolong their tenure at the top. But, people who buy house shows buy them for the main eventers, not the prelim guys.  And on NOAH: The company hanging on right now is NOAH, which has never recovered from being canceled by Nippon TV at the end of the 2007-08 television season in the spring of 2008, taking away both needed money and exposure. Pro wrestling has been part of the network dating back to 1954, and at one point when NTV's financial situation stabilized, there was talk of bringing wrestling back. But that didn't come to fruition.  WWE might have lost money this quarter, but in the current wrestling climate, it could be far worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve rayson Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 This is a thread about the health of the wrestling business (in particular WWE), and New Japan isnt a healthy business currently. New Japan is a big name. But so are Leeds United. Â New Japan isn't a stable business - just like most of the major promotions (as i already said) which includes the WWE. Kinda hard to describe your business as a healthy one when your profits are going down. Â Â Actually, if you followed New Japan and were a fan of it, you'd probably know this first hand. I dont watch it and even I know its been fucked for a while. Â Where did I say I followed the promotion at present time and where did I say the promotion are a big profitable company? All I said was New Japan are still classified as a major wrestling promotion and gave a small example to last month's Tokyo dome show that drew a great number for the current condition the business is in, which probably is something only a major brand can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Maverick Posted February 26, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted February 26, 2012 This is a thread about the health of the wrestling business (in particular WWE), and New Japan isnt a healthy business currently. New Japan is a big name. But so are Leeds United. Â New Japan isn't a stable business - just like most of the major promotions (as i already said) which includes the WWE. Kinda hard to describe your business as a healthy one when your profits are going down. WWE has huge cash reserves and continues to generate millions upon millions a year, this will likely be completely different for the next quarter especially when you factor in Mania. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted February 26, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted February 26, 2012 Its not a major promotion anymore then. By that logic, is AWA a major promotion in 2012? New Japan just got sold for $6 million and are operating in the red. A major name and a major promotion are two different things. There's not being quite healthy and there's being on life support. It might not even be around by the end of the year. Nobody gives a shit about wrestling in Japan anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve rayson Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 Nobody gives a shit about wrestling  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted February 26, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted February 26, 2012 I dont get what you mean by putting a picture of Hacksaw Duggan up, following a quote which you chopped the end off. I enjoy a laugh as much as the next bloke, but that one's well off my radar. Maybe its the thumb up, but even that I dont quite get considering 1) WWE is about to generate well over 1,000,000 buys in the next month for possibly the biggest show they've ever put on, so obviously people still do give a shit about wrestling and 2) 90% of that picture is made up of Hacksaw's face, and very little thumb. And his hand is chopped off slightly, so Hacksaw could be doing the Kona Crush "peace" sign, rather than his traditional "tough guy" stance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve rayson Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 I dont get what you mean by putting a picture of Hacksaw Duggan up, following a quote which you chopped the end off. I enjoy a laugh as much as the next bloke, but that one's well off my radar. Maybe its the thumb up, but even that I dont quite get considering 1) WWE is about to generate well over 1,000,000 buys in the next month for possibly the biggest show they've ever put on and 2) 90% of that picture is made up of Hacksaw's face, and very little thumb. And his hand is chopped off slightly, so Hacksaw could be doing the Kona Crush "peace" sign, rather than his traditional "tough guy" stance. Â 1. Ok, so in that case the same can be said if New Japan had this big show that did extremely well and drew a heck of a lot of viewers. But they didn't have that. Oh, wait... 2. Now your just being a cunt, that picture is all about Duggan's thumb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted February 26, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted February 26, 2012 Nah, you've lost me now. Â Here's a picture of Road Block, anyway: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve rayson Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 Nah, you've lost me now. Here's a picture of Road Block, anyway:  Sure, simple things are hard to understand... New Japan's January 4 Dome Show 2012 brings in a big crowd, ppv buys, etc. = Nobody gives a shit about wrestling in Japan WWE's Wrestlemania brings in a big crowd, ppv buys, etc. = Obviously people still do give a shit about wrestling  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Maverick Posted February 26, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted February 26, 2012 For the record I was just commenting on your claim that WWE isn't a healthy business. My knowledge of the Japanese wrestling scene is limited at best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve rayson Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 For the record I was just commenting on your claim that WWE isn't a healthy business. My knowledge of the Japanese wrestling scene is limited at best. Â Maybe I'm wrong, but I can't understand how a wrestling promotion can be classified as a stable and healthy business nowdays with it's popularity decreasing to the extreme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Maverick Posted February 26, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted February 26, 2012 For the record I was just commenting on your claim that WWE isn't a healthy business. My knowledge of the Japanese wrestling scene is limited at best. Â Maybe I'm wrong, but I can't understand how a wrestling promotion can be classified as a stable and healthy business nowdays with it's popularity decreasing to the extreme. I'd be incredibly surprised if they weren't financially secure. Wrestling does go in cycles though although the ratings don't seem great at the minute their not horrible either and do show signs of improvement. Cena-Rock should draw them a huge buyrate this year and that will bring them in a shedload of money. Wrestling as a whole is undoubtedly suffering but I don't think there'll be any need to worry about WWE for along wile yet. Especially with no real competition to hurt them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 Weren't the movie division and the network start up costs the main causes of this? Face it, the movie division needs to go and they need to hold off on this network idea. Â As for TNA, if they were making money wouldn't you think they would leave the Impact zone and travel for Impact every week? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Mayhem Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 The fact that his other ventures have fallen on their arse just proves to me that it was more of "right place and right time" with what he achieved with wwe rather than his business acumen. You need to explain the "right place, right time" thing a bit more, for me. I dont actually get what you mean by it. Nobody has even come close to doing what he did in wrestling, and the one federation that did come close was a billionaire with an agenda against him (Ted Turner) and the people running that promotion eventually got murdered. The one promotion to beat Vince McMahon is now sitting in a filing cabnet in Titan Towers with "WCW is a trademark of WWE Inc." on the bottom of it. Â Most of his ventures have been labours of love. The XFL, the movies and the bodybuilding federations had massive "this is shit" stamps on it before he even started them, but he was a mark for all three of those so decided to do it anyway because A) he loved it and B) he could afford it. Gene Simmons was once asked "why did you put out (random tasteless product that died on its arse)?" and he replied "because I can". If McMahon didnt have a pot to piss in, do you think he would even attempt any of those projects? He was also running the largest wrestling promotion in the world when he stepped into those ventures. Wrestling is his bread and butter and nobody has touched them. Â So would you consider Gene Simmons a phenomenal businessman then? Â Someone with good business acumen knows when to put money behind a project and when not to. They recognise the market potential or lack of. Vince's track record doesn't show him being a success other than in one venture, (which was already a fairly large and profitable business he inherited / bought from his dad.) Â If you put Vince in any other business would you expect it to succeed?? His track record suggests no. So he can't in my book be considered a phenomenal businessman as someone tried to claim earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moofasa Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 I don't think you'd find a buisnessman who hadn't lost money. Vince outside projects have been closely associated with the core wrestling business. Ico pro, WWE films, XFL, and WBF. Were all oppurtunties that weren't a major stretch, using what he knew and applying it to bodybuilding, football and films. Putting wrestling personalities in all the products and using wrestling to promote them. They weren't great ideas, but they were Vinces passions and he seemed to think his promoting skills would see them through. Aside from the films it hasn't taken Vince long to cut his losses. I sometimes feel if wrestling didn't have the stigma that it does Vince would think more about the money for these projects. He wants sucess away from the murky world of pro wrestling and to be accepted by the mainstream and will risk losses to get it. Â Vince is not a genius. Vince is a genius at promoting wrestling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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