10 Major Lessons WWE Must Learn From 2017
1. Localisation Will Not Work
Localisation is the next major ploy of WWE's wider strategy. In an ideal world, WWE in the not-too distant future will promote a bespoke, local territory in each major or emerging market. The embryonic deployment of the strategy launched with all the success of a North Korean missile this year.
The United Kingdom Championship tournament drew good reviews, but seemed to exist as a defensive reaction to the growing 'BritWres' scene - a suspicion confirmed when the teased weekly show did not materialise. The real strategy - snapping up talent out of spite - was more successful. It's a d*mn shame that Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne aren't fixtures on television, but, in reality, they were signed to also limit the appearances for other promotions.
WWE pushed Jinder Mahal - Jinder Mahal! - with much more conviction in a thoroughly mystifying move. He was a jobber. He looked like and was thus received as a self-indulgent Vince McMahon pet project. He was marketed for a market WWE was unable to monetise for several, brain-frying reasons: locked-in TV deals precluding PPV revenue, the lack of a streaming culture, a descendent nation unwilling to accept him...
We have reached peak WWE content, as streaming figures for original Network content should have indicated. George Barrios must devise a new buzzword, for his "content ecosystem" is doomed by a disproportionate imbalance of existing content.