No matter who you are or what you’re into, this affects everyone and to ignore this issue of our economy is to be blind to the tidal wave that’s looking to crash upon your head and leave you in the wake of its ensuing destruction. Even if this doesn’t affect your status in the work force as your job is still secured it does affect the way we live and spend our money and the industries that’ll take the brunt of this issue are those that can be looked upon by consumers as expendable. Of all the luxuries we take advantage of the one that we tend to cheat out and hurt is the entertainment industry, from the record industry right on down to theatre and wrestling, of course.

As I’ve already discussed before, when it comes to this community we tend to be more a band of thieves than a community that stands as the foundation and base of strength for this industry. As fans, we seem more interested in cutting all corners to get our intake of entertainment from these companies without ever spending a dime. The technological advances we hold today put these industries all at risk of taking huge financial hits, weakening their structure and the longevity of the way they current practice business.

To some degree the fans have a legitimate complaint to levy against the wrestling industry. With fans demanding more action of their product with less emphasis upon acting and talking segments we are directed towards specialty showcases that charge you for the exact product you wish to view more of, and they happen so often on a monthly basis that you’re cutting heavy into your bank account to maintain your viewership of these showings.

Every month the WWE and TNA compete to gain your dollar with monthly events that charge as much as $50 to give you, the consumer, the very product you ask of them – a more athletic product that delivers what the company is grounded in, wrestling.

The market is oversaturated with product today as you have monthly pay-per-view events from both the WWE and TNA each and every month with the occasional addition from ROH. This oversaturation didn’t just occur overnight, either, as WCW was the promotion that began this campaign of extra televised showings to bully around the WWE‘s product. It was their claim to superiority over the WWE brand of wrestling and was the contributing factor to the model of business we see in [media] wrestling today. The demand was there and all WCW did was deliver unto it and then some by supplying more product for the crowds, to which WWE responded by adding to their calendar these extra showings. As far as the model is concerned the demand hasn’t rescinded, though it hasn’t exactly expanded either.

What really drives this argument from the community is the point in time that the WWE was over saturating the market themselves with as many as 14, or more, pay-per-view events a year with the only pitch to the fans being that each pay-per-view was hosted by one brand or a conjoined brand showing. The model was functionally broken as far as the fans were concerned. That many obligations to keep up with the flow of the product and to view the very thing they wanted more of was seen as too big a burden due to its nature of being too costly. As a means to cut down on spending many fans stuck to the ideology of only purchasing the big 4 pay-per-view events that make up the history of the WWE product and were vital in launching it successfully onto the media platform. To their credit, fans began to realize how wasteful some of these events were as it grew apparent that missing some of these shows didn’t harm or hinder anyone’s ability to keep track of the product and its direction.

Many fans of the company complained that devotion of $40, or more, every month, and in some cases twice a month, was a costly financial burden that fans were uninterested in carrying upon their backs. It was an unrealistic expectation for fans to purchase and view every monthly extravaganza especially when the shows, themselves, were viewed as expendable.

The business model of the WWE had expanded to such a degree that fans felt they were being given too much product. This maneuver of producing more shows diluted the product to the point that fans believed the product wasn’t as enjoyable and that the value of these pay-per-views had dropped despite remaining constant in its cost. What fans didn’t take into account was that the WWE‘s business model then (2003-2006) didn’t change much from their business model during the Monday Night Wars in that they provided an alternative from their own product with each brand supposedly trying to be as different from the other as possible. It also never occurred to them that the WWE never really expected their fans to carry the burden of buying every pay-per-view in the year only the ones that appealed to them through the brand they most support.

The WWE had decidedly maintained the model of business that catapulted them into the role of a monopoly by expanding their role on television and pay-per-view. The brand split was to be their revival of the lost Monday Night War atmosphere that fans had fallen in love with as WWE had created their own brand of competition that gave the fans that very atmosphere while reaping all of the rewards. The idea of this competition being that their fan base be split amongst the two factions of RAW and SmackDown!, and for a while it was working well despite weaker looking buy rate figures compared to those of 1997 through 2001. Despite many of the fans upholding their own silent strike to the WWE‘s continual of pushing more product than needed the company continued to make strives on a financial front that made these cries seem less justified than they actually were. Eventually the model needed changing as the figures around these events, while satisfactory, needed revitalizing as the cost to produce the shows was hindering the ability to make bigger profits out of these smaller figures.

Beyond all of this there is no actual excuse for the theft committed upon TNA and their product as every month they suffer thousands of their fans watching [their pay-per-views] through other means that, in no way, places money into the product. What hurts this company the most is their live gates and merchandise sales slumping, and with the condition the economy is and still headed for it could appear that TNA will be bleeding out even further for the next four years, should they actually survive this recession. The way things seem to look I wouldn’t expect even ROH to last 2 more years let alone outlast TNA in this race to comfort.

I don’t say this with malice or dissent for TNA, and I certainly wouldn’t wish this type of fate upon ROH which is far more than just well documented as being my personal favorite amongst all other American based products. It has nothing to do with the status of Panda Energy and the long struggles TNA has with recouping the loss of investment made by the Carter owned company, nor is this based on Silken’s decision to part ways with Gabe Sapolsky, replacing him with Adam Pearce and a more 70’s style of wrestling product. What worries me to believe that these companies, along with every other small wrestling company ranging from the CHIKARA‘s right on down to the International Wrestling Cartel (IWC) who would suffer the most due to their smaller budgets, is the Bureau of Economic Accounts and their current findings on Personal Income and Outlays report (National Economic Accounts: EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 A.M. EDT, FRIDAY, October 31, 2008).

Again, I won’t profess to be an expert upon any subject matter and while [the Bureau of Economic Accounts report] may seem a bit over my head I am sort of grasping at the general theme of this report, as well as others that tend to show signs of the topic I’m speaking up on here.

From what I gather on the BEA report, personal income increased $24.5 billion (0.2 percent), disposable personal income (DPI) increased $25.7 billion (0.2 percent), and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) decreased $33.6 billion (0.3 percent) in the month of September due in part to Hurricane Ike’s affects in the Gulf Coast region. This after stagnate PCE figures from the previous two months that saw August gain less than 0.1 percent. So what does this really mean? The PCE is the component statistic for consumption in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that is collected by the BEA and consists of the actual and imputed expenditures of households [Personal Consumption Expenditure: Wikipedia.org]. The GDP or Gross Domestic Income (GDI) is a measure of income and output for a country’s economy and is most commonly approached with the expenditure method in order to measure and understand the GDP which breaks down to the equation of GDP equals the sum of Consumption (C), Gross Investment (I), and Government Spending (G) added to the difference between Exports (X) and Imports (M) [Gross Domestic Product: Wikipedia.org].

This added to the news of video game companies stocks taking hits when the first government $700 billion bailout bill failed to pass the House back in late September, as was reported by the Associated Press (AP) back on Monday September 29.

	Sector Snap: Video game stocks fall Monday September 29, 3:22 pm ET Video game stocks tumble as Wall Street sinks after House defeats bailout plan NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of video game companies tumbled with the broader market Monday afternoon after the House defeated a $700 billion financial bailout package. The Dow Jones industrial average fell as much as 705 points before regaining some ground. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 146.66, or 6.72 percent, to 2,036.68. Shares of Electronic Arts Inc. fell $2.76, or 7 percent, to $36.87. Earlier, the stock hit a 52-week low of $36.60. Shares of Activision Blizzard Inc. fell $1.88, or 11 percent, to $14.50. Shares of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. fell $1.07, or 6.6 percent, to $15.09, even after a Cowen analyst upgraded the stock. Shares of THQ Inc. fell 90 cents, or 7.3 percent, to $11.45. Shares of Gamestop Corp., the world’s largest video game retailer, fell $2.13, or 5.9 percent, to $34.03. Earlier, the stock hit a 52-week low of $32.80. Source: Yahoo! Finance: News & Opinions

Add to this the current light of news of Electronic Arts Inc. laying off six percent of their work force after a wider quarterly net loss on the eve of the industry’s most lucrative season, as reported by Barbara Ortutay of AP [Video game publisher Electronic Arts posts larger loss, cuts jobs].

With the way the economy has been going, the promises of tax breaks has been a hot button topic this political season much like the Iraq war trumpeted up big debate in the 2004 electoral season. With Obama originally promising that those making under $250,000 getting tax relief and McCain promising to continue the Bush tax cuts from 2001 to 03 [Source: The Tax Foundation], it seems as though the economy is even beginning to change the shape of the Democrats promises. In Obama’s 30 minute national ad last Wednesday that original figure was noted to have slipped down to $200,000 but in no way contradicted what the original message was as The Washington Post illustrated in their comparisons of the two candidates tax proposals [Obama and McCain Tax Proposals]. What is contradictory is Joe Biden’s comments during a televised interview in Scranton, Pennsylvania where he stated, “It should go to middle-class people, people who make $150,000 a year.” [Source: Biden Blows Fuzzy Tax Math: Undercuts O on $$ Benefit] That is a huge contradiction to Obama’s previous talking point figure and actually brings about the fear that perhaps McCain is right about his opponent wanting to raise taxes across the boards.

All of this talk about taxes on the media pertains to personal incomes rather than corporate incomes and how they would be taxed under each candidate’s plan. McCain has the only visible plan I can see that would hold an immediate effect on the independent wrestling promotions as he would propose a reduced maximum of corporate income taxes from 35% to 25% which would be phased in by 2015. Most of this would require information about how these companies structure themselves and how they can benefit from the full tax plan rather than just the one aspect that would watch over their company’s best interest.

From where I personally stand, I don’t see this economic turmoil really placing the WWE in any true danger as they have enough resources to make up any lost revenue they would suffer in this troubling time. TNA, however, will suffer tremendously in that their road to gaining profits to pay off their debts to Panda Energy will be stunted tremendously leaving them to further be dependent upon their financial backer. For other American based companies who lack the strength of a financial backer, much like ROH and PWG, the consequences would be grave as odds are they’ll either have to adapt and make relationships with other companies to help them financially or will just up and die. This will have the same affect that the WWE had upon the territory scene back in the late 1980’s as companies are forced to close up shop because they are incapable of recouping the losses sustained in a time when business isn’t good to them.

For a company like Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW) who has been around for almost 12 years now this situation could be the only means to break their backs, financially, and send them on the extinction list along with the Jim Crocket Promotions, Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), and Eastern/Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW).

From my perspective, companies such as FIP and PWU will have to go the way of the dodo while companies like ROH and PWG will have to forge relationships to carry them through these times. The fans are already having to look out for their best interests and that means cutting back on spending of items that aren’t of a direct necessity, and these dollars are what these smaller companies live and die by as most of these smaller promotions are only making enough to pay their workers for the night’s work they put in and to run the next show. Expect a lot of the NWA territories to drop off and fade away, as they rightfully should have years ago, as well as various other promotions that are only striving on a local level but not really all that strong in their presence there.

So what can be done about all of this? Is there going to be a strong environment for wrestling in America next year, regardless of who we elect into office? Is this financial collapse imminent and unavoidable? Well, one of my friends believes these effects have been rolling along, the motions setback years ago before the signs of Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac crumbled before our very eyes and says we’re going to hit a depression regardless of what we try to do now. The signs are there for us to relive the nightmares once shared with our former generations in the 1930’s and the state of wrestling survived those troubling times once before. The landscape of American wrestling should be fine as we’ve seen the death of the territory scene before, and we witnessed the revival of the independent scene upon two occasions. The sacrifice the first time around was ECW which launched the WWE product into an era of great fame and notoriety as they connected with millions of viewers on a weekly basis thanks to the contributions of Paul Heyman’s brain child. The consequences this time around could be something of great value to most of us all for the greater good of benefitting the company with the most to learn from their now faded example.

If ROH is to be this greatest loss then perhaps its loss could be TNA‘s greatest gain as they take the working model of a super indy company and apply it to themselves to appeal to those fans that are hungry for a true wrestling alternative to the WWE‘s model. What could come of this is that greater, and seriously lacking sense of less is more while still providing unto us all this great athletic display in the ring. If TNA is truly to succeed in these times, refocusing and remodeling their product to capture those fans who were lost by the consumption of WCW under the McMahon umbrella. The fans that recall the great wrestling action of WCW‘s Cruiserweight division and the strength of their edgy and appealing storylines and characters spread throughout their higher ranks.

Perhaps the big gain for TNA could be getting Gabe Sapolsky and actually using his strengths to help their promotion stand out while, like with Vince Russo, concealing as much of his imperfections and faults along the way. The duo of Sapolsky and Russo could actually improve TNA to unknown heights as Gabe has always been more of a wrestling guy while Russo has been more of a story structured mind. It’s certainly worth a thought as TNA has their issues with appealing to that winder arch of fans that seems to always remain allusive to them. After all, how many years have TNA fans been crying out for the company to lure in Paul Heyman to aide them in their woes? Certainly couldn’t hurt to get his old coffee boy who’s become the beloved darling of many “diehard” wrestling fans.

While I’m not a big believer in Gabe’s approach as for years it has seemed that he’s too strong on some of his darling prospects and seems a bit lost in his continuity issues, he does get wrestling right. Every year there’s always a catalog of shows that bolsters a true wrestling fans environment as the crowds are loud and lively and big into what they’re seeing and Gabe offers that to the table. I know many will cite that TNA has a hot crowd at every show they attend but for me with the notes of their tactics at the iMPACT! zone being that of bribery, and with notes like that hanging around resembling the old tactics of WCW in the early 90’s. Tactics of actually reshooting entrances if the crowd gave a worker the wrong kind of heat walking onto the ramp were a felonious act of the then newly run Turner company, and that’s the type of stigma that lingers around TNA when reports of this nature are made public. It’s also hard to buy into the enthusiasm of their crowds when you’re always reminded of their bitter hatred of all things Russo every so often, and when you hear so many complaints amongst their fan base when charging the company of irresponsibly giving us items we don’t care for in place of the items we do care for.