WWE Planning More Cutbacks In 2018?
Vince pinching the pennies again?
Radical cost-cutting measures are to be introduced by WWE next year in a bid to reduce production expenditure, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
The company is said to be exploring the option of taping both Raw and SmackDown in the same venue on back to back nights.
This, so it is reported, will allow them to reduce their weekly outlay - for example, by only having to set up (and pack away) the ring and surrounding set once.
It has also been suggested that WWE plans to sell tickets to these events as "packages", whereby fans can attend both shows at a discounted fee.
Other cost-cutting measures, including the reduced use of pyro, were introduced earlier in the year amid a reported drop in profit.
Network shows, among them Renee Young's Talking Smack, were also either culled or placed on a reduced schedule as a result.
At the time, this was blamed on the short-term effects of holding the UK Championship tournament, an expensive undertaking which yielded little by way of return.
However, the fact that yet more penny-pinching is on the horizon perhaps now points to a deeper trend, putting in doubt the long-term future of some of WWE's less profitable vehicles such as 205 Live.