Real Talk Wrestling nag-retweet
Addressing the mind numbing “it’s a business. New Day don’t draw” comments that have popped up on some posts.
Is maintaining locker room morale not important for business? Is having two of the most talented, trustworthy, well respected stars in the industry at your disposal not good for business?
When stars like Kofi and Woods - who had been with WWE for 18 and 16 years respectively - are asked to restructure their deals only a year after signing them, what message does that send to your employees? Basically that the contracts they sign are worth nowhere near the amount that is written on them. That, despite TKO raking in BILLIONS of dollars, they will still cut costs when they could actually pay talent much more, while still being immensely profitable.
If you want to make new stars, it is good for business to have excellent, seasoned veterans of Kofi and Woods’ calibre to help nurture those stars into main event talents.
Not every wrestler is supposed to be ‘a draw’. There is an EXTREMELY finite amount of genuine top tier ‘draws’ who move numbers. Even in golden eras of wrestling. That being said, if New Day had stayed with WWE, turned babyface tomorrow and released a ton of new merch, they would have been selling like hot cakes immediately.
New Day’s heel run was a bust because there was no creative follow up to the stunningly executed turn on Big E. Basically, the entire thing was booked as one spectacular moment. Not the fault of Kofi or Woods. That is the fault of creative.
TKO believed Kofi and Woods were both worth new, seven-figure deals just last year. So what changed from then until now?
The “it’s a business/New Day don’t draw” crowd. Riddle us this: Was it good for business to book WrestleMania in Las Vegas twice in a row? Or to raise ticket prices so high, demand for them declined rapidly, forcing huge emergency discounts and special offers left, right and centre? How about tanking a long awaited main event by inserting……Pat McAfee and Jelly Roll in there? Their own broadcasts now have fans chanting “F**K TKO”. Does that sound like good business?
If only guaranteed draws are safe from the chopping block, then only roughly 1% of WWE’s roster is safe from being released or asked to restructure. Steady hands, seasoned vets, beloved older stars, they are all essential in making a wrestling promotion work to its full capabilities. Not everyone is Roman Reigns or John Cena or Steve Austin.
Sometimes, you let lifers be lifers. You let them keep spirits high backstage and on the road. You trust them with new talent or in emergencies when bigger stars go down with injuries. You keep them around because in a chaotic industry, they are rare, reliable commodities that will never let you down and can work up and down the card. That is worth so much more than any seven figure contract you could ever give them.
Thank God for the New Day.
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