About four months ago, when asked about how to make the WWE Network succeed, Paul Heyman had some fascinating comments. Here is a transcript of his thoughts on the Network from back in the Summer 2014:
I think a lot of people are too concerned with the business plan of the Network. I don’t think inherently – from what little I know about the rollout and the 2 year plan, the 5 year plan, the 10 year plan – but from what I can ascertain. I don’t see anything wrong with the current business plan that’s in play. What I think a lot of people are missing is that much like anything else in the entertainment world, this network is going to be product-driven. And at the moment, there is room for a great expansion of the audience.
We have one absolute, blow away, can’t miss super-show of the year. Its name is Wrestlemania. We have the legendary and famous four big shows: Mania, Summer Slam, Survivor Series, Royal Rumble. Perhaps the next step in the evolution of this industry is to brand Summer Slam, Survivor Series, Royal Rumble or perhaps a new show to be equally as can’t miss as Wrestlemania. And at the same time, understanding any product-driven industry is also a star-driven industry.
We have John Cena as the top star for over ten years, we have Daniel Bryan having caught fire in the past couple of years, Roman Reigns is obviously ascending to the top tier. There’s Triple H who works very select dates, there’s Brock Lesnar who works select dates, there is Randy Orton who works a full schedule and who’s a top star. But after you have that top tier, there is a fall off to the second tier.
And what there will need to be in WWE is at least two more, if not four more, top tier talents that are bankable and marketable and get across to the general public. In other words, the term ‘get over’, so that they become can’t miss stars, that the audience has a vested interest in their stories, that an audience has a vested interest in their pursuit of the title, their defense of the title and the personal issues that surround their existence and their character and their personas and their storylines.
You wanna sell the WWE Network? Okay, what’s the main event of the next pay-per-view that I can’t afford to miss? And if there’s only the same top stars on there mixed together instead of new top stars mixed in with the established top stars, then new people won’t be inclined to buy. We have now a core audience and it’s not a bad number to build on. But from that core audience, we obviously need to expand. And expansion happens when new stars, therefore new content, new product is created.
The whole interview is up on video fightnetwork.com and the whole interview at the 68-minute mark.
