Dave Meltzer has posted a breakdown of where WWE’s profit margins came from through the most recent quarter, April to June. The list goes as follows, with profit amounts rounded to the nearest million and percentage share in brackets:
– DVDs, $11 million profit (21%)
– PPVs, $10 million profit (19%)
– House shows, $10 million profit (19%)
– Licensing, $7 million profit (13%)
– TV production, $5 million profit (9%)
– House show merchandise, $3 million profit (5%)
– WWE.com, $2 million profit (4%)
– TV advertising, $2 million profit (3%)
– WWE.com merchandise, $1 million profit (3%)
– WWE 24/7, $1 million profit (2%)
– Magazines, $1 million profit (2%)
The importance of house shows has grown tremendously in recent years owing to the substantial increase in overseas touring, which had raised the average attendances and tends to involve higher ticket prices. The cost of TV production itself has also increased due to the switch to High Definition, reaching an average of $765,000 up from $500,000. The average cost of producing each PPV is now up to $1.95 million, which means that WWE requires at least 118,000 buys to break even.
Some more information on the latest batch of WWE cuts… Stevie Richards (Mike Manna) tended to get good reviews from road agents for his work on the house shows but did rub some people the wrong way for coming across as being overly aggressive when pitching the many creative ideas he had. Although he was often used to help train Shane McMahon whenever he had a match coming up, Richards was never particularly good at playing the backstage political game and so many people simply dismissed him as an ECW also-ran… The Highlanders were on borrowed time ever since Rory (Derek Graham-Couch) was shown on TNA Impact during the WrestleMania 24 weekend, with the company waiting until Robbie (Russell Murray) had returned from injury before making the cut. A number of agents were keen on them at first, especially when they made their own ring costumes on just 48 hours notice, including Ed Koskey and Dave Finlay, who wanted to give them a big heel push as this generations Sheepherders. Brian Gerwitz, however, was only familiar with the Bushwhackers and so they became a comedy act… Cherry (Kara Drew) was always on borrowed time as a number of people thought she was not thin or glamorous enough to be a Diva. She was called up from OVW with Deuce & Domino, for who she handled business with the office like an old-school wrestling manager would, but once they ended that gimmick there was nothing left for her… Referee Wes Adams was cut due to the botched finish of the Miz & Morrison vs Hardy & Henry match on ECW on the 12th August, yet a lot of people in the company are unhappy with the decision to let him go. Adams was a well-liked guy backstage who got to shows early, stayed late and did his job well. Counting the pinfall during the match even though Miz was meant to break up the cover was in keeping with the recent company directive for referees, to treat matches as though they were a shoot. Having been made into the scapegoat, he is now taking indie bookings as a wrestler.
On the other hand, Sid Vicious, 48, is apparently finalising a deal to return to WWE for one last run. John Laurinaitis has been extolling Sid’s virtues to the creative team and is keen to bring him in.
John Cena is a big fan of Ted Dibiase’s work since he was brought up from developmental. During an interview with IGN.com, Cena said that, with the exception of Randy Orton, Dibiase was the best young wrestler in WWE. When asked who he saw headlining WrestleMania in five years time, he went with Dibiase.
Umaga and Charlie Haas have opened a store called Custom Muscle in Frisco, TX. It is a health food and smoothies shop.
Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, 25 August 2008 (subscribe here)
