EIGHTY MILLION DOLLARS IS A LOT OF MONEY
EIGHTY MILLION DOLLARS IS A LOT OF MONEY
Recently, while looking through some news bits on a news board, I was staggered by the report that World Championship Wrestling is projected to lose eighty million dollars by the end of this calendar year. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever figure WCW was in that kind of trouble. As much as people mock the attendance figures, one would figure that WCW would at least be breaking even. However, after pondering over the situation some more I realized that it is not just about attendance. There are so many more factors that have, and are, playing a role in the digging of one of the biggest financial holes in history.
I wonder if wrestling fans realize
how much money is put into putting out Monday Nitro every week. The show
uses a lot of pyrotechnics and elaborate lighting effects. Then there is
the actual stage for the performers. The "Nitro-tron" is another huge expense.
Paying the production crew, paying for the rental of cars, limos, and whatever
arena Nitro happens to be originating from is another huge cost. Then there
is dealing with the payment of the wrestlers themselves. Some of the bigger
name stars are paid in the tens of thousands just for making a television
appearance. One Kevin Nash is paid around ten thousand dollars per Nitro
appearance. Back when Hulk Hogan was "working" for WCW, he was making around
thirty thousand dollars per Nitro appearance and sixty thousand dollars
per PPV appearance. These kinds of payouts are hardly necessary. No man
in his right mind would construct a contract that pays that kind of money.
At least no man who has the welfare of his business in mind would do such
a thing. Well… Eric Bischoff did create those kinds of contracts in his
right mind and now the company is suffering.
Back in 1996 when Hall and Nash
jumped to WCW, it dealt a crushing blow to the WWF. What people don’t realize
is that it also dealt a rather harsh blow to the finances of WCW. Scott
Hall takes in 1.6 million dollars per year on his WCW contract. Kevin Nash
takes in 1.8 million dollars per year on his WCW contract. Those were the
figures they signed on for back in 1996. Both of them have been through
contract renewals since that point in time. I don’t know the figures now
but you can rest assured that they are higher than what they signed on
for back when they first started in WCW. Eric Bischoff signed just about
everybody to oversized contracts during 1996 – 1999. The company is suffering
because of those decisions. The worst part of it is, a lot of wrestlers
are being paid to simply stay at home. Scott Hall is not being used on
WCW TV. At present, he is being paid twenty thousand dollars per week to
do absolutely nothing. That makes absolutely no sense; logically or financially.
If you have an employee that you’re not able to use, then terminate the
employment. Only recently, when Bill Busch took the reigns of WCW was an
initiative to that effect taken. I’m sure that many people remember the
vast firings that ran through WCW in the Busch era. For the most part,
those terminations were good ones. Personally, I would have kept some of
the stronger wrestling talent such as Blitzkrieg but that’s just me. Anyway,
Busch left after making one of the greatest mistakes in wrestling history
in letting "The Radicals" leave for the WWF and then resigned. As a result,
Eric Bischoff is asked to return, as is Vince Russo. So now they’re in
charge and nothing has really changed. The company is still losing lots
of money. However, through all of this garbage, a shining light has shone
through: The Time Warner/AOL Merger.
You see, Time Warner needs to make
itself look presentable. As a result, a lot of projects under is financial
umbrella are going to be reviewed and dealt with. One of those projects
is the bottomless financial pit that is WCW. The first order of business
is another string of terminations. This time around it’s not going to be
the little jobbers and mid carders. Plans are going to be set forth to
take out the big guns that are bleeding the company dry while contributing
very little. The names mentioned thus far are Hulk Hogan, Buff Bagwell,
Dallas Page, Scott Hall, Lex Luger, and Bill Goldberg. With the exception
of Buff Bagwell, all of these guys are making over one million dollars.
Furthermore, with the exception of Bill Goldberg, none of these guys has
contributed anything of relevance to the company in a good year. Hogan
is an old man that is trying to cling to a name that he made famous a decade
ago. Hall is a drunk who won’t shape up. Page is an aging man whose wife
gets more pops than he does. Luger is a crybaby who refuses to work a program
that doesn’t involve his girlfriend Elizabeth. Bagwell is an un-cooperative
hothead living in a permanent state of roid rage. Bill Goldberg is the
only man who I feel is worth the money that he is being paid. It is true
that he is a slow healer and is a little injury prone but without him,
WCW would be in great trouble. Not so much that the company could not do
without him, but if the WWF ever signed Bill Goldberg, that would be the
final nail in the "competition coffin." The first thing the WWF would do
is work a program with Bill Goldberg vs Steve Austin. That single feud
would bring in astronomical amounts of money, ratings and buy rates.
The Time Warner brass is on the
right track with the termination approach in order to save money. They
simply have to be very careful about who they show to the door. Getting
rid of those that can’t contribute while taking in big money is a good
step. Getting rid of a man like Goldberg because he makes big money is
not a good idea though. Assuming the upper brass approaches the situation
well, WCW could come out all the better. With a main event card consisting
of Booker T, Jeff Jarrett, Bill Goldberg and Scott Steiner, WCW could be
in good shape. Upper mid card could consist of Sting, Vampiro, Mike Awesome,
Shane Douglas, Billy Kidman, and Lance Storm. The rest should be left to
the bookers. Note that none of the men mentioned above with the exception
of Goldberg and Sting are making over one million dollars. Also note, that
with the exception of Scott Steiner out of the non-millionaires club, none
of these men is making more than five hundred thousand dollars per year.
Throwing money at a problem doesn’t necessarily make it better. In WCW’s
case, it’s made their situation far worse. It’s possible to run a profitable
company without having to pay an arm and a leg for it, just ask Vince McMahon
Jr.
Email me at crippler_crossface@hotmail.com