The Hamilton Ave Journal 10.20.07: Volume 1 – Issue 4

And where is Hamilton Ave? That is the location of the WWE Production Studio in Stamford, CT, and thus the most powerful place in the wrestling world. Besides, The East Main Street Journal just does not have the right ring to it.

Who am I? I am JP Prag: consultant, entrepreneur, businessman, journalist, and wrestling fan.

Now, ring the bell because the market is open.

Lead Story: The End of a Brand?
The big story coming out of Titan Towers this week is that the future of the ECW brand is in peril.

On June 7, 2006, ECW premiered on the SciFi network with an impressive 2.79 rating—this highest of any cable program that night. Originally, SciFi only ordered 12 episodes, but consistent ratings performance gave SciFi the reason to renew the show through the end of 2007. In the year 2007, though, ratings have not progressed quite as well. As seen in the chart below, only once have ratings been over a 2.0 in the past 52 weeks, and ECW has been trending downward for month.

Now, SciFi has not committed to a new season of ECW, and the WWE has not prepared a contingency for a new television home for the brand. Originally, Shane McMahon had envisioned ECW as an online-only brand with steaming video much like HEaT except with its own roster. Now it seems that that may end up being the case. On Wednesday, the WWE announced that ECW would also begin streaming online.

Should ECW no longer have a television home, the WWE will be stuck with a large cost burden to handle. Like RAW and SmackDown!, the WWE sells their program to the network for a fixed fee and then the network picks up the cost by selling advertising space. By going online only, the WWE will only have their own less lucrative online advertising to cover the costs, while meanwhile adding overhead in the bandwidth need for a full show at WWE standards.

That is why the WWE has begun to “merge” the SmackDown! and ECW brands together. Although the purported idea is to share talent and increase ECW ratings, the truth is this is the beginning of a larger cost-cutting measure. Already talks say that Michael Hayes will become the head writer for ECW in addition to his SmackDown! duties. The official reason is for “consistently in storylines”, but the real reason is to cut overhead. Many more ECW staff members, both behind the scenes and on camera, can expect to have their jobs eliminated in the months ahead. Even if ECW manages to get renewed for another season, the brand has never been profitable if broken out of SmackDown!. In order to cover up these costs and protect the interests of stock holders, the WWE is burying the burden of ECW deep inside of SmackDown!, which is turn buried in the general figures of “televised events”.

A continual look at HR in the WWE
This week marked more troubling news from the HR department in Titan Towers. Again Kissy Vaine and Ryan O’Rielly were on the talk circuit explaining why the WWE lifestyle was no longer for them. This was in the midst of the WWE being on a ten-day whirlwind tour of Europe, showing once again how grueling the WWE schedule is. Her point was proven in that these people are forever separated from their families and cannot get home if the need be. This is a common feeling among people that travel for a living, and the WWE has done nothing to assuage that fear. Instead, the past three years has seen vast expansions in international events. If wrestlers can make a decent living by working less days and traveling closer to home, than many more talented individuals will be willing to take that path. It is almost as if the wrestlers themselves are re-creating the regional system seen before the rise of the Rock ‘n’ Wrestling Era.

Also this week, the WWE release Krital Marshall for unknown reasons and Shawn Daivari. JR hinted in his blog that Daivari may have asked for his release. This would be another talented wrestler in a long line of people who have asked for their release, despite the financially better pastures of the WWE. Again, the WWE is failing to give their contractors the environment they are looking for to grow their skills and work. The WWE needs to take a large look at their HR function and the role of contracted wrestlers. They are working on an outdated model that is not in line with the desires of workers in this generation.

Of course, the biggest news is that Booker T and Sharmell opted not to renew their contracts and came to an agreement of a slightly early release. The former King Booker posted on his website that this was a long time coming:

I had been unhappy for quite some time with the direction that the Company was going in. In fact, I asked for my release back in July for that very reason. However, after further contemplation, I decided to continue on with WWE because of my passion for this industry and my desire to entertain the fans. Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that my unhappiness with my work environment was beginning to take a great toll on other aspects of my life.

I knew that it was time to make some extremely tough decisions. Therefore, in the interest of my mental, physical, and spiritual well being, I along with my wife, asked for our release from World Wrestling Entertainment for the second time within months. We were graciously granted our release and we have since amicably parted ways.

Booker T is another in a long line of workers who saved their money and decided to leave when they decided the WWE was no longer for them. Christian Cage, the Big Show, Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam, and Kurt Angle (to an extent) all made the same decision. Others, who do not feel the WWE is addressing their needs and no longer agree with the future of the company are leaving. The WWE has decided to ignore the root cause of these departures and continue to go on that they are the best option, period.

Although the WWE’s days are far from numbered, they have to realize that the ways a wrestler can make a living are changing, and that the work environment they created is being commoditized. In other words, working for the WWE is less special and important than it used to be, and the WWE is the largest contributing factor to that fact.

TNA finds a new partner in Japan
In a brief note, TNA quietly worked out a new talent exchange program New Japan Pro Wrestling. Rhino, Christopher Daniels, Senshi, and Ron Killings are all being sent to the Orient on November 11th to start a TNA vs. New Japan angle. Just a couple of weeks ago, TNA also showed video footage of Tomko in Japan. Look for video footage from Japanese companies be added to the “career spanning” DVD releases.

Regulation in store for wrestling ?
The Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission announced that it is seeking move oversight of professional wrestling. Should the motion pass, Georgia would join Missouri, Maryland, and Virginia to have some type of regulation on pro-wrestling. As has happened in those states, fewer and fewer wrestling events are held there, especially by independent organizations. The costs of maintaining the regulations generally make it too high for smaller organizations and less desirable for a large organization like the WWE.

As with stocks, here in the Journal we track the progress of television ratings. If ratings are the barometer by which we judge the product, then over the course of 52 weeks we should be able to see patterns, trends, and anomalies. Please note that gaps in the chart below are due to data not being released/available.

For the week ending Friday October 12, 2007, here are the current standings of our shows:

RAW
Close (This Week’s Rating): 3.3
Open (Last Week’s Rating): 2.8
Percentage Change: ▲ 17.9%
52-Week High: 4.3
52-Week Low: 2.5
All Time High: 8.1
All Time Low: 1.8

SmackDown!*
Close (This Week’s Rating): 2.6
Open (Last Week’s Rating): 2.5
Percentage Change: ▲ 4.0%
52-Week High: 3.3
52-Week Low: 2.2
All Time High: 5.8
All Time Low: 1.0

What are the top ten selling items for the WWE? From WWEShopZone.com:

1. Triple H the Conqueror T-shirt
2. Triple H Grey Skull T-shirt
3. WWE Action Trading Cards
4. WWE Superstar Stocking
5. John Cena Beware of Dog T-shirt
6. WWE Black Gift Bag
7. John Cena Youth Halloween 2007 Package
8. John Cena Studio Fathead
9. Hulk Hogan Red Hulkamania Bandanna
10. Undertaker Fathead

This week makes an interesting turn from last week. It looked like the WWE was going to benefit from the release of its video game, but the sales stayed high only for one week. Instead, Triple H gained a new shirt to end John Cena’s steak of being the only WWE Superstar with more than one item on the list. Fortunately or unfortunately, John Cena also added a new item this week. The fact that a man not being featured on TV can still outsell the rest of the roster (as well as a retired wrestler not featured in a year in one Hulk Hogan) still leaves much to be concerned. Also, two of the new items are Fathead images, which are much lower margin items for the WWE.

TNA requires a little bit more research. Their website does not release Top Ten lists, so the Journal does a general search for a space and sorted by most popular. They came up in order as:

1. The Original 3 DVD Set
2. Bound for Glory Best of Special DVD Set
3. Against All Odds 2007
4. TNA Tryout Tickets
5. Sacrifice 2007
6. Special Edition Bound for Glory Autographed Poster
7. Christian Cage Instant Classic T-shirt
8. Best of the Bloodiest Brawls 2003
9. Against All Odds 2006
10. Sting Crawl T-shirt

Another week of shakeups on the TNA charts as well. Of particular note is the Bound for Glory Best of Special DVD Set. The twelve DVD set is selling for just shy of $70, well below the original $240 charged the DVDs included. At first glance, this would appear to be an error as these DVDs may still be able to sell at their original price target. But that is not TNA’s strategy. TNA sees that there is a limited initial shelf life for their products. Once it has been out for some time, the price will naturally decline, as will orders. It does not coast TNA much to take already created content and re-release it in a new packaging. Because of that, they find new ways to use existing material and continue to move inventory.

Do you know a wrestling event coming up? Send one in to The Hamilton Ave Journal and we’ll be sure to add it to the list.

No critical pieces were written this issue, so instead worth your read this week is: