New WWE Brands On The Way?

[Townender]

The new CFO of WWE, Michael Selick, revealed in a February 26 Financial Week interview with Darla Mercado that the company is exploring the possibility of establishing separate WWE promotions running full-time in separate international markets. If everything went ahead it would go so far as to include separate TV tapings and storylines for each region, turning WWE from an overseas novelty into a local promotion. According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, things are still in the preliminary stages but Vince McMahon has discussed it in detail with Stephanie, John Laurinaitis and others in the inner circle. The territories mentioned include a 'Pacific' region covering Japan, South Korea, China and Australia, a 'Hispanic' territory for Puerto Rico, Mexico and South America, and a European territory, with perhaps a Russian one at a later date. Meanwhile, in the USA, there would be two touring brands, most likely Raw and ECW, with Smackdown becoming the Hispanic brand as it is already well established in the market. Big pay increases would be given to senior agents and creative team members to move themselves and their families overseas, with potential performance bonuses depending on how well business goes. It would start off with a TV executive producer with experience of the region working closely with one agent and one writer who would be running the territory. There would also be a crew of wrestlers, who would also be expected to move their families overseas. Paul Heyman's name has actually been mentioned in connection to the Pacific region. Shane McMahon, along with Selick, is working on a business plan for the venture, which remains in its formative stages. Potential drawbacks include the cost of producing WWE calibre shows, around $500,000 per week, and how TV stations in areas like Mexico would respond to the price. There is also the danger of international markets already beginning to get overexposed. Recent Japanese tours have not performed particularly well, there were concerns over the number of Australian tours, while advances for the next batch of Mexican dates have been well below expectations. Also, though WWE can get away with charging high prices for their shows at the moment as it is a novelty, doing so repeatedly would not help when taking on promotions like CMLL or AAA. If it did come to pass then a lot of new wrestlers would of course be hired, as there would be a minimum of five brands. They are looking at promoting each market using both established WWE stars and top babyfaces based on ethnic backgrounds. Carlito, Mistico and Mysterio would be assigned to the Hispanic brand as top stars, they would look for a top Asian and Australian babyface, and guys like Regal, Finlay, Harry Smith and Paul Burchill could be assigned major roles in Europe. They would also likely raid the local markets in Japan and Mexico, whilst bringing back more of the '80s and '90s stars to make up the numbers. The only sure thing about the creative team members is that neither Stephanie McMahon nor Brian Gerwitz would work internationally. Gerwitz would likely become the chief writer of the USA brands, while Stephanie would hire more TV writers with Hollywood experience. Word is that the interntaionaly territories would be handled by Shane, with Vince concentrating on domestic business, though many have suggested that Vince's personality means he would want to be involved everywhere anyway. [URL="http://wrestling.insidepulse.com/articles/65361/2007/03/02/new-wwe-brands-on-the-way.html"]http://wrestling.insidepulse.com/articles/65361/2007/03/02/new-wwe-brands-on-the-way.html[/URL]

[D16NJD16]

No way in the world of this happening.

[NickC13573]

O Dear God!!!!!!!! More Wwe!!!!!!!!!!

[Townender]

[QUOTE=D16NJD16;206412]No way in the world of this happening.[/QUOTE] That's what I thouht, although it makes for interesting reading. Probably just an early April Fools :) This quote from Dave Meltzer's website though. Does make you think a bit ... "The first look at what Vince McMahon has talked recently of doing with the WWE product that would be the biggest news story regarding the business as a whole since the folding of WCW is the lead story in one of this week's two Observers. This will be the news that everyone in wrestling will likely be talking about next week."

[NickC13573]

If it happens, the wrestling world will be shaken up forever. And if they do it, and it doesnt work out. Might be the end of WWE as we know it.

[keefmoon]

It's probably just a rumour spead by the WWE to a) get people talking about them and b) be grateful for what we have on offer now. International seperate brands with the WWE taking its money and taking all the important people from each region and locking them up to WWE and making the rosters more sparse wouldn't work, in my opinion. But how good would Wrestlemania be if was the combination of all the WWE brands worldwide?! I like the idea of having Raw and ECW as the two brands, I think that could work better than having the three. That is actually what Idid on the real world game I played for a while.

[AfRoMaN36]

This is a terrible Idea... I seriously hope this doesnt fall through.

[KevBone]

If by "terrible" you mean "potentially awesome", then I agree!

[still71]

[QUOTE=D16NJD16;206412]No way in the world of this happening.[/QUOTE] agreed. Somebody's been "hanging out" with RVD a little too much...

[AfRoMaN36]

[QUOTE=KevBone;206425]If by "terrible" you mean "potentially awesome", then I agree![/QUOTE] No, potentially, this could be the biggest thing on earth. But this is a hit or miss situation. They're really playing with suicide here. If its a hit, then the WWE becomes more of an empire than it is. But if it fails, the WWE is crippled. And Im hoping this doesnt mean the normal RAW, SD and ECW shows wont be effected.

[NickC13573]

I think it might. What it is saying is that Smackdown might be off USA television and it will only be on in Mexico.

[Wallbanger]

In a sense, it's Death of the Territories on a global scale. (Not a perfect metaphor, I realize, but it's as close as I can come up with.)

[Int. Champion. 101]

[QUOTE=NickC13573;206454]I think it might. What it is saying is that Smackdown might be off USA television and it will only be on in Mexico.[/QUOTE] Wow WWE is killing themselves, I know tens of thousands of people that I know who would die if they couldn't watch smackdown.

[PoisonedSuperman]

How many people do you know? With cable and satelites the way it is now a days, theres always a way for you to get mexican stations.

[MightyDavidson]

[QUOTE=AfRoMaN36;206435]No, potentially, this could be the biggest thing on earth. But this is a hit or miss situation. They're really playing with suicide here. If its a hit, then the WWE becomes more of an empire than it is. But if it fails, the WWE is crippled. And Im hoping this doesnt mean the normal RAW, SD and ECW shows wont be effected.[/QUOTE] With the amount of money this plan will cost the attempt might cripple them anyway. After all hiring enough workers to run viable brands in Japan, Mexico and Europe is not going to be cheap, even for a company with pockets as deep as the WWE's and that doesn't include costs for producing shows and such.

[AfRoMaN36]

[QUOTE=Int. Champion. 101;206461]Wow WWE is killing themselves, I know tens of thousands of people that I know who would die if they couldn't watch smackdown.[/QUOTE] I say if Smackdown gets taken off, we riot. If any of this is true, Im personally starting a petition to stop them.

[tristram]

God knows Australia needs some sort of popular wrestling organisation. I don't think anything of any major note has happened here long term since WCW under Jim Barnett was done out of here in the 60s/70s. Seriously, wrestling is very popular down here, you only have to see the mayhem of the hype that happens everytime WWE bring an average card to play. Every man and his dog whose ever had any interest in wrestling gets the buzz. I think there's a very big market to tap into in the Pacific region, the cost structure will be the key, and how to integrate it all amongst the different nationalities - IE something that works well in Japan might not work well in Australia. In terms of flights, there are a number of cut cost operators who have set up out of Australia flying into Asia so it could work.

[djthefunkchris]

Naw................... If it happens, hit or miss, the WWE will seemingly be not be affected by it. It's like the Football thing, if it don't work they will pull the plug, and they will always have that option. Vince has always said that "If I go too far I can always just pull the plug on it, back off, and regroup". IT's what will happen if it fails. If it doesn't fail, then I aggree... IF you thought that DOTT was good, what about the DOGT (Death of the Global Territories). Hmm, Maybe that one will be my Niche for when I decide to make a "Real" world Mod. LOL.

[AfRoMaN36]

Im hoping that this is just a separate operation. Like Vince is just gunna hire a bunch of local guys and build promotions there. I wouldnt mind that, in fact I suggest it. But to strip Americans of wrestling and some of their favorite wrestlers for the sake of making more money elsewhere would be suicide in the place that made you who you are.

[djthefunkchris]

[QUOTE=AfRoMaN36;206523]Im hoping that this is just a separate operation. Like Vince is just gunna hire a bunch of local guys and build promotions there. I wouldnt mind that, in fact I suggest it. But to strip Americans of wrestling and some of their favorite wrestlers for the sake of making more money elsewhere would be suicide in the place that made you who you are.[/QUOTE] Look at the names dropped though, talking about people like Regal, Burchhill, etc. I know Mysterio leaving would be a bummer, but I don't see mexico being totally off limits for the US, especially "Smackdown". I do not see it as totally different companie's though. I see it more like Brands under brands... Like WWE Europe brand, with Heat and Smoking as sub brands (example). Same anywhere else, but still the main brands will just change to USA, Mexico, Europe, Japan, etc.. instead of being Raw, Ecw, Smackdown, heat. I do think they will definately hire local talent, as well as get some type of training promotions for each area. Probably won't see much local talent in the main cards for a couple of years in each respective area though.

[AfRoMaN36]

That would suck. I was getting used to the brand split... I dont know about some of you, but I'm really hoping this doesnt work.

[NickC13573]

IDK, I think this could be great for the industry, ya sure their will be several more WWE brands with writers in Hollywood, but I think that if in a couple years they can bring all american wrestlers back to america and keep local guys in the respected areas, that would be cool.

[djthefunkchris]

[QUOTE=NickC13573;206541]IDK, I think this could be great for the industry, ya sure their will be several more WWE brands with writers in Hollywood, but I think that if in a couple years they can bring all american wrestlers back to america and keep local guys in the respected areas, that would be cool.[/QUOTE] I think that's exactly what would happen, with small exceptions, but probably would be totally up to the wrestler's after a couple of years... Want to stay, or want to come back to the USA? Kind of like an Oversea's assignment, you do your tour, then get back home after your two years are up.

[mystic]

I hope that does not happen because if it does, vince might as well buy the contracts for TNA, and maybe even ROH because that who would fill the rosters outside of the top WWE stars doing random events once and a while. It would provide wrestlers for the overseas market and at the same time it would keep the "current TNA and ROH" guys out of view in the U.S. until people forgot about them being in TNA or ROH. (the out of sight out of mind idea)

[djthefunkchris]

[QUOTE=mystic;206609]I hope that does not happen because if it does, vince might as well buy the contracts for TNA, and maybe even ROH because that who would fill the rosters outside of the top WWE stars doing random events once and a while. It would provide wrestlers for the overseas market and at the same time it would keep the "current TNA and ROH" guys out of view in the U.S. until people forgot about them being in TNA or ROH. (the out of sight out of mind idea)[/QUOTE] Sure some of them, but I really don't think WWE want ROH out of bussiness, number one because they are the one Promotion that the WWE actually respects, makes exceptions for, etc. TNA has not felt any kind of rath by the WWE, so I doubt they have any plans to do so... All they really are talking about here is going to the next level, becoming TRULY Global. That's not necessarily a bad thing for other promotions, unless they try to fight the WWE. If that happens, it could mean bad news in some area's, or they might actually win the first few battle's, it's been done before. The thing I notice most about these forums is the bad perception of what is reality, and what is NOT reality. I always felt it funny when we start comparing TNA or ROH etc.. With a company like WWE. To me it's like taking the corner supermarket and comparing it to Walton Enterprise's. Or a governor of a state's resume, and stating that it would apply to being the President of the united states... It's just not a real comparison. Let's take it on another level.... You have your name brand "George Foreman" and your generic "Indoor Griller"... The generic one does the same thing, has the same options, and is alot of times bigger, yet costs a fraction of the cost... Yet the George Foreman out sells the generic versions by far... Why is this? Because depending on what store your at, the generic label could be totally different, it's the same, but made by someone else. The Foreman on the other hand is everywhere, and is made by the SAME people. Does it actually hurt the generic sales? Of course not, probably wouldn't have them if George didn't do it first (Would have had something, but nothing quite as similar till after the original come out). I believe this to be true about the WWE vs. Indie, regional, or anything less then International/Global companies. TNA is not a "Foreman", yet since it costs less, does alot of the same things, and emulates them... There is for sure a place for them as long as they can keep it up and not go overboard. The same with ROH, or any of the indies... They are not going to hurt WWE, and WWE is not going to try and hurt them "Just because they can". IT would not benefit WWE in anyway to hurt either of them. They will not all the sudden get better ratings if everyone left. It's the competition other then wrestlin' that they are up against that matters now (unless someone really wants to try to go head to head with them). The only big time people that were defeated by WWE (ran out of bussiness), was people trying to stop them, or position themselve's to go head to head for some insane reason. Why would you want to have your Wrestling show on at the same time as another is beside me, outside of the networks trying to take something away from each other. WWE could have easily put ECW on at the same time as TNA, but they didn't even think about it. WSX thought they should, but died probably the fastest I have ever heard of one dieing. All three brands are number one on their respective networks (that means they draw more then any other show on their networks). They are at the top of what those networks are capable of so far, and when they get better ratings, it will be WWE breaking their records for them. Just don't understand the "fear" that a bigger WWE will hurt other promotions. I think it might actually enhance some of them.