The Wrasslin Thread

In Roman's defense, his title run was at least interesting compared with Cody who has just coasted for such a long time now that the belt feels kind of pointless. The fact that none title matches have been more interesting than the main title says it all really.

Cody really needs a run as a heel just to freshen him up a bit.

I’m probably one of a few that doesn’t really get Cody. Absolutely bores me to tears.

AEW not going for the Cody / Homelander turn when the audience were ready to flip was such a big miss from them.

I think he’s still got mileage as a face in WWE. I’d say he should go into Mania as a face and retains against a heel Orton then the cracks start to appear and its a slow turn through spring and maybe into the summer.

It's a surprising take - as far as I know AEWs number have never been published because it's not a public company.

Wouldn't surprise me if TK shares his numbers with Meltzer though.

Kinda hope it's true as AEW in a strong position is good for the business as a whole, particularly the fans and wrestlers.

WCW was losing money toward the end and WWF had some rough periods in the mid 90s so I wouldn’t be shocked given how much money there is in the business at the moment.

I would question whether he’s adjusting for inflation though, because Meltzer seeing dollar amounts and running with them as the headline wouldn’t shock me either.

Is that a bad take? WCW famously ran at a huge operating loss propped up by Ted Turner and his need to stick it to Vince.

No idea about that particular WWE era in terms of financials but I don't look at that tweet and think "impossible". Plus despite his many failings, Meltzer is very well sourced.

Turner was but not for that whole period. Also back then TV rights deals were nowhere near as lucrative and wcw contracts were insanely well paid as laid in various shoot interviews since.

I don't find it ridiculous or a hot take to state that AEW as a business in 2024 is more profitable than WCW was in the 90s or WWE from 2011+ era. It doesn't sound far fetched to me based on waaaaay too many hours listening to podcasts/reading books/shoot interviews from that 90s era.

Adjusted for inflation (which he should have done) it may be less cut and dry but still I just don't consider it to be a crazy take given the increase in media rights values.

In fact in the early 90s wasn't it the case that promotions got zero or very little money from a Network, they made their money from ppv and show gates, which the TV was then the vehicle for driving up.

I’m more interested in what the numbers are because of course with WCW you’re looking at a company paying Lanny Poffo a guaranteed $1m in 90s money to stay at home which is probably a multi-million dollar deal now (and a dozen + more guys the same) so AEW being more profitable makes perfect sense.

WWF in the 90s is a bit hazier as the numbers aren’t as public and its impossible to tell if the “Bret’s salary would have put us out of business” narrative is remotely true. But I wouldn’t be surprised given what TV and merch revenue is these days and how small the houses got in the mid-90s if AEW was beating them too. The inflation calculation here is probably more about how big the gap is.

The WWE 2011-17 is more unclear to me. I know this one is for individual years but these are the start of the Fed’s stadium years. People might grumble about the product but they were doing excellent business with big houses, big tv deals, merch, the Network.

Maybe AEW has an enormous tv deal or something, and I know they won’t have the outgoings of paying Lesnar, Cena, Rock, Orton massive wages (or Vince’s hush money), but I would raise an eyebrow and want to see the evidence that AEW is more profitable now than WWE was then.

Which isn’t to say WWE is better than AEW or that AEW is badly run or secretly losing money or anything. Its more just to do with WWE being enormous and still growing while AEW is still a bit of an insurgent company.

Someone could tell me mid 90s WWF was more profitable than aew and I'd believe them.

Someone could tell me mid 2010s WWE was more profitable than aew and I'd believe them.

Someone could tell me that 2024 AEW is more profitable than both those WWE eras and I'd believe them.

WCW is a whole different kettle o' fish...just look at the Hogan contract alone.

My point is that the notion that what Meltzer posted is somehow an unthinkable scenario seems ridiculous to me.

Well he needs to clarify before making these wild statements. I’ve read the Nitro book, and I’m sure he has as well.

He comes across as a massive AEW mark by posting this.

A discussion is me being upset?

It's in no way a wild statement though?! It's totally "fair enough" and believable as per my previous posts. The fact he's perceived as an AEW mark and derided for posting it at all speaks volumes about wrestling fandom unfortunately. The guy is a wrestling historian and despite getting things wrong, ultimately he is well sourced and does know his shit.

He rags on AEW and TK all the time but still has this weird rep as being an AEW shill, as per this thread.

Apparently he breaks it down in the newsletter itself.

Given the value of the TV deal AEW just struck and what we know about the business in the 90s (let alone what Dave knows), I'm more stuck on the fact you think it's a wild statement to make.

It might be inaccurate, probably built on some assumptions, but to imply it's totally inconceivable doesn't make sense to me.