Wrestling Thread May 5-18 | 5/16 Black Friday for WWE - Stock Price Crashes

[Case]

If you can give me ONE good reason why I should care about the IC and/or US Titles in 2014, I will publicly concede to you that you are correct.  Don't tell me about their history. I want to know why I should care TODAY.

I can 100% see your point, and i'm not saying you are wrong for having it..My wanting to get rid of the US and bring back TV is all based on the creative team/writers actually coming up with story to support the belts and make them mean something again..And that goes for the WHC too..I guess I'm delusional in thinking things will turn around and they'll actually start writing good feuds and making belts/matches/ppv's mean something again.. #Cue the "It's still real to me damnit" video..

 

[deleted]

The kid in me will always like to see one of my favorite guys with a belt on their waist no matter how relevant it is within the company.

 

[spiderjericho]

I don't see how you guys can say the WWE is a profitable business. McMahon, who is a category 1 risk taker, rolls the dice constantly. It's probably the secret to his success. But lately it hasn't worked with the poor performance of WWE films and investment in the network.

In the 80s, Vince Putting the company on the line with Mania. Bank rolling the WBBF in the 90s. WWE restaurants in the late 90s. Bank rolling the XFL in the 2000s. Bank rolling WWE films. Bank rolling the network.

I know you have to spend money to make money. But the dude isn't exactly Steve Jobs. Not does he have a strong core business like Bill Gates that can support a venture like XBox. Nor is he leaning on a commodity like oil.

PPV business has been down for awhile, doesn't help that they bungle PPV build ups, oversaturate the market with too many shows and have failed to really build up stars. When your core business isn't that strong (hard core and kids are keeping it a float) then these risky ventures are bound to fail. It's like the WWE, TNA and UFC like to shoot themselves in the foot.

 

[Peep Game]

 

[uptown4real]

Fandango is a Don Juan hahaha the way he handled summer on divas

 

[macbk]

Club is in the rafters .

 

[spiderjericho]

Fandango is a Don Juan hahaha the way he handled summer on divas

Despite being a work of a work, I thought he came off as not having no game. Home girl was desperate for dizznick. She asked him out. He was acting like a weirdo/nonchalant douche bag. Then she jumped on him to kiss; had no chemistry then friend zoned him. Last season, Eva tried to game him to be a dancer.

Johnny not looking too good. I do like that he, T.J., Brian, John and a few others pop up. I just think it's weird that Alicia Foxx ain't on there since I thought I heard Aryan was her sister.

 

[Peep Game]

^Arianne's not her sister, this is.
View media item 976301View media item 976300She was on the FCW roster at one point

 

[spiderjericho]

My bad. That's why I said I thought...

They both got that Riri forehead thing going on.

Alicia is my most improved wrestler.

Watched NXT.

- Ascension. Seriously besides a vampire vibe and squash matches what else is there?
- Mojo Rawley sucks.
- Charlotte/Alexis Bliss match. Way too much offense from Charlotte and not enough from Bliss. Still hard to tell if she's a good worker. Also the 450 is pointless.

+Michael Wallstreet line from JBL
+ Main Event.
+ William Regal as commentator.

 

[naija nitemare]

I'd make sweet love to Victoria

 

[essential1]

Listened to the Heyman interview with Stone Cold, pretty good stuff. Talks about how and why ECW couldn't survive.

Listened to 3 out of 4 parts of Stone Cold with Bischoff part 2 is the more interesting. Learned that Scott Hall came up with Sting's Crow gimmick.

 

[kingfoamnyc]

Vince McMahon lost $350 million as of market close on Friday, as shares in his WWE took a beating from investors. The stock was down more than 40% since the market open. In fact, the stock, which had closed just below $20 on Thursday, opened down below $11. That immediately knocked the WWE boss out of the billionaire ranks, putting his net worth now at an estimated $750 million.

The stock fell after news that WWE had signed a new television deal with NBCUniversal for less than some investors had hoped. Benchmark analyst Mike Hickey estimated WWE got a 50% raise over its last TV agreement, but he expected the new deal to pay WWE double or triple its previous one.

“The company’s valuation could take a heavy beating this morning, as the new domestic TV deal with NBCUniversal likely disappointed investors,” he wrote in a report downgrading the price target for the company’s stock from $29.12 to $19.96.

WWE executives kept an even tone but offered little additional guidance. “We never commented publicly on the expectation,” said George Barrios, chief strategy and financial officer. “We said we were undervalued by the math that we had done.”

The new TV deal hit at a turbulent time for WWE and McMahon. The company’s shares shot up 89% in the first three months of 2014, and McMahon’s net worth peaked in mid-March at $1.6 billion. But shares dropped 29% the week after WWE announced its new online streaming network had only 667,000 subscribers, taking a $325 million chunk out of McMahon’s fortune. He remained a billionaire until this morning.

Some investors saw the trouble coming. Intrepid Capital Management, once WWE’s largest outside investor, sold its 10% stake in January. Intrepid’s Jayme Wiggins told Forbes in a feature story on McMahon that he thought the billionaire was getting too excited about his new online streaming network.

That concern remains, but Wiggins now has additional questions after reading the company’s financial projections provided in the news release about the TV deal. The online streaming network should break even when it has 1.5 million subscribers, according to Wiggins, but WWE said its operating income will be just $40-$60 million at that point—even with new TV deals that will add $90 million to the company’s revenue.


“The question is why their numbers are so low given this renewal,” Wiggins said. “With the information that they put out there, it seems to imply that their core business isn’t making money.”

It is possible that the TV deals have a steep escalation in later years, Wiggins cautioned, so WWE might not be getting $90 million a year by the time it reaches 1.5 million subscribers on the online network, which could account for the underwhelming projections.

“If that’s at play here, it could kind of mitigate all of this bearishness that’s happening today,” Wiggins said. “There is definitely some confusion here, which is why you’re seeing the stock drop.”

Barrios offered little to clear up the confusion. “I don’t want to talk about the specifics of how the contracts are structured,” he said. “I think it’s pretty typical that there is some escalation in them, but we haven’t gone into detail on any of that.”

Cutting TV deals is how McMahon built such a massive fortune in the first place. He got his start in 1972 working for his father’s small, regional wrestling promotions company. Ten years later, he bought out his father and set about taking WWE national. He used pay-per-view to jack up revenues and reach a national audience, making stars out of wrestlers like Hulk Hogan and turning himself into a TV personality in his own right. With TV numbers growing, attendance at live performances blew up.

McMahon became a billionaire for the first time in 2000,

still holding onto a huge stake in the company. But WWE stock dropped a year later and didn’t recover that ground until January of this year, about 13 years or so later, when McMahon—who owns 52% today—rejoined the billionaire ranks. Now he’s down and out once again.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexa...lion-in-a-day/

 

[kingfoamnyc]

Listened to the Heyman interview with Stone Cold, pretty good stuff. Talks about how and why ECW couldn't survive.

Listened to 3 out of 4 parts of Stone Cold with Bischoff part 2 is the more interesting. Learned that Scott Hall came up with Sting's Crow gimmick.

Link ?

 

[Case]

Link ?

http://podcastone.com/Steve-Austin-Show

 

[steebie j]

Both parts of the JR interview with HBK sucked!

 

[kingfoamnyc]

http://podcastone.com/Steve-Austin-Show

thanks !

 

[big van vader]

Punk said he and AJ are getting married next month during his interview at the Cubs game.

 

[notoriouslar]

AJ ends up on camera here.

 

[spiderjericho]

RoH was pretty good. 3.5/5 or 4/5.

- Production value/lighting
- Ring Psychology/selling
- Seriously selling
+ Great workers for the most part even old ***** Liger.

 

[steelogreen]

That man loves chicago! Wonder how he would react if blackhawks 2 peat this year. I also wonder if he watches football

 

[Peep Game]

CM Punk is like Where's Waldo and having the time of his life

 

[imasoleman18]

i wish cm punk was still in the wwe

 

[3dgarfly23]

Just came back from the ROH/NJPW show ppv was crazy ! YB vs red Dragon OMG ***** and steen match was also **** GAWD I

 

[3dgarfly23]

I'll post pics Monday

 

[rell826]

I don't. This showed how much of a primadonna he is. Stay away.