10 Questions WWE Shareholders Should Be Asking Vince McMahon

8. Why Are You Signing So Much More Talent Than Is Required?

TV Vince McMahon
WWE.com

WWE's Performance Center is over-supplied with talent that cannot repay the investment because they do not have the opportunity to do so. TV time is at a premium.

This has created a strange pattern on NXT TV, in which talent pushed as potential game-changers are cycled out so quickly that their appearances feel pointless. Isiah 'Swerve' Scott; Cameron Grimes; Bronson Reed; KUSHIDA; Taynara; Xia Li; Mansoor; Austin Theory: all have scored wins on NXT on USA that amounted to nothing because their momentum was squandered through their subsequent disappearance. These aren't enhancement talents. They are prospective stars NXT is unable to maintain, and yet the company still saw fit to sign Killer Kross and Timothy Thatcher recently.

If I'm an investor, and watched a typical of SmackDown in 2020, I'd be astonished that WWE has offered north of $700,000pa apiece to the Revival, given their low position on the card. The top stars earn the money, or at least they used to, before WWE shattered the paradigm with my money.

We know the answer - it's a combination of spite and greed - but to an investor, it's profligate and nonsensical business practise, particularly since Vince otherwise waves away the threat of AEW on conference calls.

"AEW hasn't changed our business at all," he said last week.

If they aren't a threat, why sign every performer, to huge expense, that the little "blood and guts" league may hold interest in?

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!