We’ve all heard about the WWE’s financial problems in 2020, but have we heard the whole truth?
Anyone that’s followed professional wrestling, but especially the WWE, knows nothing is ever what it seems. It’s a business of smoke and mirrors. We all know this. But there are sometimes signs that things may not be what we think they are.
It could also mean we don’t know what’s going on. It’s all in how we see and interpret things.
More than spring cleaning
The rash of releases yesterday (April 16) was something we’ve been expecting as the WWE refreshes their roster every year around this time. But the cleaning probably isn’t done, and it means there’s more to it.
The main culprit behind the 30+ releasings of wrestlers, referees, and producers is the COVID-19 outbreak. It’s shut down everything to one extent or another. The biggest sports leagues have suspended or canceled their seasons, but some of the professional wrestling promotions have hung in there with crowdless shows.
The lack of a crowd and house shows the WWE is noted for in their grueling schedule, means a huge drop in income for the promotion in general.
Despite that, Vince McMahon has striven to continue putting his product out there for a couple of reasons that we feel are the main ones.
Visibility and escapism
The first is he didn’t want his product off TV and that makes sense. There’s an old adage in showbusiness about losing the audience’s interest if you’re out of sight too long, and that’s a legitimate concern. We’ve heard it a million times in interviews with former and current talent, and during a time when the WWE was already losing money, it was risky to go off air.
It keeps us talking about them while still giving us something worth watching. It allows us some sense of normalcy in a strange world at the moment, and that brings us to the second reason.
We all love our escapism. Whether it’s diving into a book, watching a movie or television show, we always want something we can disappear into.
Even without the live audience, the WWE has done everything they could to give us the best show possible, and it costs money.
They’ve cut costs as much as possible, and that’s where these releases come into play.
It doesn’t matter if they’re mid-card or legends, it sucks when we see some of our favorites go, but it’s a necessary evil.
As many have said, this isn’t the end but a pause in their working relationship.
WWE is paying for signing everybody
The WWE’s longstanding method of signing everybody and then burying them to prevent other promotions from becoming a threat is coming back to bite them.
While these releases are long overdue, they suck because they’re coming at a time when most of these wrestlers won’t be able to find other work.
This shows how much the WWE is trying to cut expenses, and they picked the perfect time to do so. For them.
Yes, professional wrestling is a business, but timing this so it’d help prevent others from picking up their former stars comes across as a tactical decision. And given some of the names and officials, it only adds weight to this belief.
The fact is, Vince McMahon needed to recoup the money he lost when the XFL went bankrupt (It’s currently for sale if anyone’s interested) and this was the easiest way to do so.
While this will add to the interest incoming days or weeks as other promotions, it’s important to note the lives this has affected beyond the names we’ve heard. For the last month, this has also affected the people behind the scenes from equipment people, truck drivers, caterers, and others that keep the shows going and on schedule. Our thoughts go out to everyone affected by the outbreak and subsequent lockdown. Hopefully, we’re nearing the end of it and things can return to normal.
SUBSCRIBE NOW: Get TheOvertimer’s Hottest Stories, Breaking News and Special Features in your email, CLICK HERE!
