Slammys 2016: Raw 12-21-2015 (my notes)

I was there. Of course, we immediately noticed the Cage! I was sitting near Curtis Axel's family & friends. They were handing out "Where is Axel?" flyers and taking pictures in the crowd with them. Dark match was Lucha Dragons vs. Ascension. I know it's cliche, but up close some of the dudes - like Viktor & Konnor - are so much bigger than they appear on TV. LD won. They had Steph's voice SO loud in the Arena. It was intolerable. Her shoes were very shiny. Sample commercial fare. I would agree that Neville did not seem to be the person they thought would win the award because it looked silly in his trunks getting a Slammy when others were in Tuxes. In between the Kane/Bray match, Erick Rowan managed to get busted open during the melee. He was bleeding near the beard and I believe he got a staple after the show. (It was not a fortuitous night for Minnesota-based wrestlers.) I was so excited that Harper won a televised match. That made my day. They would have people do their intros and walk into the ring during commercial breaks, so the wrestlers would have to stand there, sometimes with their opponent in the ring, and grimace menacingly at each other for several minutes while someone would accept a Slammy. Neville just stood on the middle rope the whole time, for instance. Most hilariously, was Kevin Owens burying his head in a turnbuckle during Kalisto's speech: The crowd really wasn't that hot for KO's match until towards the end. However, all night long (and into this morning), I'm still getting retweets and favorites for the pic. He's certainly internet famous. Not sure if the live crowd cared nearly as much though. Let's talk New Day. Before the show, there was lots of New Day chants. They were over. Many people had the light-up unicorn horns. Including the whole row of people right behind me. Kofi's boots light up and Xavier had Elf-shoes. As for my prediction that they'd mention WM in MN, instead they just announced a house show on March 4. Very disappointing on that front. Ambrose elbow off the cage. So many disappointed kids that Cena wasn't there. That Sting wasn't coming. That Brock wasn't showing up.  Swagger/ADR was so much longer live. The League of Nations are such goofy cheerleaders. The show was surprisingly full.  I saw lots of people on the top-most decks. I know at home, it was probably pretty dull but I enjoyed it live. It wasn't great, but it was okay. I was in a good mood.

What I wrote (2015)

In November, I was nominated for "Best Columnist" and "Writer of the Year" in the 2015 Sheety Awards.

I was surprised. As I later told a friend (who had encouraged me to "not sell myself short"), I felt like I had a strong and most consistent presence in 2014 as I wrote for a variety of outlets. Also, this year I gave up on my Kickstarter project in June. It feel odd to be nominated (in a niche of a niche of a website) for your writing skills in the same year as you publicly admitting that you couldn't finish a writing project. But it's all neither here nor there. I'm excited that I'm still doing something that interests other people.

I went through a list of all of the pieces I wrote this year and together it forms a much wider picture than I originally remembered. I wrote articles for Bleacher Report, Voices of Wrestling, Wrestling Observer website, Seeking Alpha, WhatCulture, wrestlenomics.com and indeedwrestling.com.

ARTICLES/BLOGS/ANALYSIS

Jan 5, 2015 WWE Again Announces Plans to Launch the WWE Network in UK and Ireland
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2319610-wwe-again-announces-plans-to-launch-the-wwe-network-in-uk-ireland

Jan 8, 2015 WWE Bringing WrestleMania to Minneapolis?
http://whatculture.com/wwe/wwe-bringing-wrestlemania-to-minneapolis.php

Jan 22, 2015 Five Keys for WWE's Success in 2015
http://seekingalpha.com/article/2841926-five-keys-for-wwes-success-in-2015

Jan 27, 2015 OCELOT Ratings (The Build to WWE WrestleMania 31) – Update #1
http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2015/01/27/ocelot-ratings-the-build-to-wwe-wrestlemania-31-update-1/

Feb 1, 2015 Chapter 1 - The annual report - and what underlies it (The Economist's Guide to Analysing Companies) $WWE
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.ca/2015/02/chapter-1-annual-report-and-what.html

Feb 2, 2015 Wrestlenomics Radio: WWE Network hits 1 million subscribers
http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2015/02/02/wrestlenomics-radio-wwe-network-hits-1-million-subscribers/

Feb 5, 2015 WWE Network Conjures Memories Of Internet Stock Bubbles
http://seekingalpha.com/article/2890066-wwe-network-conjures-memories-of-internet-stock-bubbles

Feb 13, 2015 WWE 4th-Quarter Conference Call Announces Record Annual Revenue Numbers
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2363520-wwe-4th-quarter-conference-calls-announces-record-annual-revenue-numbers

Feb 23, 2015 Evaluating the WWE Network 1 Year After Its Launch
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2373461-evaluating-the-wwe-network-1-year-after-its-launch

Feb 26, 2015 Key takeaways from WWE 2014’s Annual Report
https://web.archive.org/web/20150228133216/http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/96-wwe-news/41368-key-takeaways-from-wwe-2014s-annual-report

March 2, 2015 The relevance of Reddit
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.ca/2015/03/the-relevance-of-reddit.html

March 4, 2015 Assessing Potential WWE Network Subscribership
http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2015/03/04/assessing-potential-wwe-network-subscribership/

April 29, 2015        Before $WWE releases Q1 Results tomorrow, some thoughts..
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.ca/2015/04/before-wwe-releases-q1-results-tomorrow.html

May 1, 2015 WWE 1st-Quarter Conference Call Announces Record Quarterly Revenue
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2448946-wwe-1st-quarter-conference-call-announces-record-quarterly-revenue

April 13, 2015 A Dozen Things To Watch For In Those News Attitude Era Raws
http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2015/04/13/dozen-things-about-those-new-attitude-raws/

April 16, 2015 WWE House Shows Percentages (Wrestlenomics)
http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2015/04/16/wwe-house-shows-percentages-wrestlenomics/

May 1, 2015 Wrestlenomics Radio: WWE Q1 Results & WWE Business Partner Summit
http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2015/05/01/wrestlenomics-radio-wwe-q1-results-wwe-business-partner-summit/

May 4, 2015 Commentary on WWE Q1 Results
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.ca/2015/05/commentary-on-wwe-q1-results.html

June 17, 2015 On BTIG Research initiating BUY/$25 price target for $WWE (analysis)
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.ca/2015/06/on-btig-research-initiating-buy25-price.html

July 9, 2015 Breaking Down the Nuances of WWE Network's $9.99 Price Tag
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2519174-breaking-down-the-nuances-of-wwe-networks-999-price-tag

July 29, 2015 Reviewing the WWE Network Accounting and preparing for WWE's Q2 results
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.ca/2015/07/reviewing-wwe-network-accounting-and.html

August 2, 2015 Key Takeaways from WWE’s 2nd-Quarter Results
http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2015/08/02/key-takeaways-from-wwes-2nd-quarter-results/

August 5, 2015 WWE Q2 Analysis and WWE Wrestler Pay
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.ca/2015/08/wwe-q2-analysis-and-wwe-wrestler-pay.html

August 10, 2015 Heels, Babyfaces and Graph Theory
https://payhip.com/b/dmpT

August 12, 2015 Hypothetical financials of WrestleMania 32 as a PPV-exclusive
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.ca/2015/08/hypothetical-financials-of-wrestlemania.html

September 28, 2015 How much does it cost WWE to run a house show?
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.ca/2015/09/how-much-does-it-cost-wwe-to-run-house.html

September 30, 2015 Preliminary thoughts on WWE's Q3 2015
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.ca/2015/09/preliminary-thoughts-on-wwes-q3-2015.html

October 1, 2015 Preliminary Thoughts on WWE Q3 2015 Results
http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2015/10/01/preliminary-thoughts-on-wwe-q3-2015-results/

October 25, 2015 Questions to ask WWE on the Q3 2015 conference call?
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.ca/2015/10/questions-to-ask-wwe-on-q3-2015.html

October 29, 2015 Everything you need to know from today's WWE Q3 Financial Call
http://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/everything-you-need-know-todays-wwe-q3-financial-call-200681

Nov 2, 2015 Narratives Coming Out of WWE’s Q3 Earnings Call
http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2015/11/02/narratives-coming-out-of-wwes-q3-earnings-call/

Nov 12, 2015 Wrestlenomics Radio: WWE Q3 Results
http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2015/11/12/wrestlenomics-radio-wwe-q3-results/

November 24, 2015 How many WWE Network subscriptions are needed to achieve PPV-level profitability?
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.ca/2015/11/how-many-wwe-network-subscriptions-are.html

December 1, 2015 Will the WWE exist in ten years?
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.ca/2015/12/will-wwe-exist-in-ten-years.html

December 2, 2015 WWE 2015: The financial update
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.ca/2015/12/wwe-2015-financial-update.html

December 15, 2015 WWE/NJPW Goodness/Badness - Allocating BEST/WORST WON Match Voting
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.com/2015/12/wwenjpw-goodnessbadness-allocating.html

OTHER

I also published some pretty interesting pro-wrestling documents this year - largely from lawsuits.
These would prove to be FAR more popular than any of the articles - particularly the WWE Schedule and the 1998 WCW Hogan contract.

April 10, 2015 WWE Schedule (April 2015-March 2016)
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.com/2015/04/wwe-schedule-april-2015-march-2016.html

April 22, 2015 RECAP Lawsuits with Pro-wrestling Companies
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.com/2015/04/world-wrestling-entertainment-recap.html

October 2, 2015 World Wrestling Entertainment - USPTO - trademarks
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.com/2015/10/world-wrestling-entertainment-uspto.html

October 10, 2015 WCW Contracts, Payrolls and Lawsuits (1996-2000)
https://sites.google.com/site/chrisharrington/wcw_contracts

October 26, 2015 Hulk Hogan's 1998 WCW Contract
https://www.scribd.com/doc/287131780/1998-Hulk-Hogan-contract-with-WCW

November 27, 2015 Additional WWE Contracts
https://sites.google.com/site/chrisharrington/mookieghana-prowrestlingstatistics/wwe_contracts

COVERAGE OF WWE CORPORATE SPEECHES

Lastly, I tried to add value to the casual investor interested in WWE but not my opinion by covering many of the speeches and Q&A sessions that WWE executives (usually George Barrios) did throughout the year.

January 13, 2015 Stephanie McMahon & George Barrios present at the Needham Growth Conference (1/13/15)
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.com/2015/01/stephanie-mcmahon-george-barrios.html

March 11, 2015 WWE CFO George Barrios at the Deutsche Bank 23rd Annual Media, Internet and Telecom Conference
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.com/2015/03/wwe-cfo-george-barrios-at-deutsche-bank.html

April 9, 2015 WWE 2015 Business Partner Summit
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.com/2015/04/wwe-2015-business-partner-summit.html

May 19, 2015 Barrios @ JPM Global Tech, Media, Telecom Conf.
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.com/2015/05/george-barrios-did-short-q-session-at.html

May 28, 2015 Barrios @ Cowen & Company 43rd Annual Technology, Media & Telecom Conference
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.com/2015_05_01_archive.html

June 3, 2015 The Adventures of George Barrios in London & Buzzwords, wrestlenomics.com and Sky Italia
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.com/2015/06/barrios-in-london.html

June 24, 2015 Barrios at the Bernstein Future of Media Conference [transcript of remarks]
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.com/2015_06_01_archive.html

November 10, 2015 Barrios at Wells Fargo Securities Technology, Media & Telecom - November 2015
http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.com/2015/11/barrios-at-wells-fargo-securities.html

Presented this way, I suddenly feel a lot better about the year. I was an active analyst and writer and I looked at everything from Network financials to the WON Hall of Fame to Shamrockmania to WWE House Show Draws to who is on the WWE Board of Directors. I appeared on the Sheet Sandwich Podcast and kept Wrestlenomics Radio alive. It was a fine year.

WWE/NJPW Goodness/Badness - Allocating BEST/WORST WON Match Voting

Here are the 55 events with poll results that were published in the Wrestling Observer between December 1, 2014 and November 30, 2015 (in order of most to least votes):

• 04/06/15: WWE WRESTLEMANIA 31 -- 465 UP / 25 MIDDLE / 8 DOWN
• 02/02/15: WWE ROYAL RUMBLE -- 91 UP / 152 MIDDLE / 219 DOWN
• 01/12/15: NEW JAPAN WRESTLE KINGDOM 9 -- 373 UP / 0 DOWN
• 07/27/15: WWE BATTLEGROUND -- 173 UP / 57 MIDDLE / 78 DOWN
• 05/04/15: WWE EXTREME RULES -- 114 UP / 89 MIDDLE / 46 DOWN
• 12/22/14: WWE TLC -- 60 UP / 78 MIDDLE / 101 DOWN
• 03/02/15: WWE FAST LANE -- 50 UP / 92 MIDDLE / 96 DOWN
• 11/30/15: WWE SURVIVOR SERIES -- 71 UP / 71 MIDDLE / 82 DOWN
• 08/31/15: WWE SUMMERSLAM -- 175 UP / 41 MIDDLE / 8 DOWN
• 06/22/15: WWE MONEY IN THE BANK -- 160 UP / 20 MIDDLE / 38 DOWN
• 08/31/15: WWE NXT TAKEOVER -- 206 UP / 1 MIDDLE / 0 DOWN
• 02/23/15: WWE NXT TAKEOVER RIVALS -- 191 UP / 7 MIDDLE / 0 DOWN
• 06/08/15: WWE ELIMINATION CHAMBER -- 128 UP / 44 MIDDLE / 16 DOWN
• 12/22/14: NXT R EVOLUTION -- 182 UP / 0 DOWN
• 09/28/15: WWE NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS -- 130 UP / 39 MIDDLE / 10 DOWN
• 05/25/15: WWE PAYBACK -- 101 UP / 52 MIDDLE / 16 DOWN
• 11/02/15: WWE HELL IN A CELL -- 148 UP / 18 MIDDLE / 0 DOWN
• 10/12/15: WWE IN MADISON SQUARE GARDEN -- 82 UP / 53 MIDDLE / 19 DOWN
• 07/13/15: WWE BEAST FROM THE EAST -- 132 UP / 14 MIDDLE / 0 DOWN
• 04/13/15: NEW JAPAN INVASION ATTACK -- 146 UP / 0 DOWN
• 07/13/15: NEW JAPAN DOMINION -- 141 UP / 2 MIDDLE / 0 DOWN
• 06/01/15: NXT UNSTOPPABLE -- 101 UP / 30 MIDDLE / 11 DOWN
• 10/19/15: NXT TAKEOVER RESPECT -- 138 UP / 2 MIDDLE / 0 DOWN
• 02/23/15: NJPW NEW BEGINNING IN OSAKA -- 101 UP / 24 MIDDLE / 4 DOWN
• 07/27/15: NEW JAPAN G-1 FIRST NIGHT -- 84 UP / 29 MIDDLE / 5 DOWN
• 08/17/15: AAA TRIPLEMANIA -- 6 UP / 4 MIDDLE / 96 DOWN
• 02/23/15: NJPW NEW BEGINNING IN SENDAI -- 94 UP / 4 MIDDLE / 0 DOWN
• 06/29/15: ROH BEST IN THE WORLD PPV -- 96 UP / 0 DOWN
• 09/28/15: ROH ALL-STAR EXTRAVAGANZA -- 74 UP / 6 MIDDLE / 5 DOWN
• 03/09/15: ROH 13TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW -- 78 UP / 7 MIDDLE / 0 DOWN
• 10/19/15: NEW JAPAN KING OF PRO WRESTLING -- 73 UP / 12 MIDDLE / 0 DOWN
• 08/24/15: G-1 CLIMAX A BLOCK FINALS -- 76 UP / 7 MIDDLE / 1 DOWN
• 05/25/15: ROH GLOBAL WARS -- 66 UP / 18 MIDDLE / 0 DOWN
• 12/15/14: ROH FINAL BATTLE -- 68 UP / 6 MIDDLE / 5 DOWN
• 08/24/15: G-1 CLIMAX FINALS -- 77 UP / 0 DOWN
• 03/23/15: NEW JAPAN CUP FINALS -- 70 UP / 0 DOWN
• 06/15/15: NEW JAPAN BEST OF SUPER JUNIORS FINALS -- 70 UP / 0 DOWN
• 11/16/15: NEW JAPAN POWER STRUGGLE -- 68 UP / 0 DOWN
• 10/06/15: NEW JAPAN DESTRUCTION IN KOBE -- 66 UP / 1 MIDDLE / 0 DOWN
• 08/03/15: NEW JAPAN G-1 FROM HIROSHIMA -- 67 UP / 0 DOWN
• 05/11/15: NEW JAPAN DONTAKU -- 59 UP / 4 MIDDLE / 0 DOWN
• 08/17/15: NEW JAPAN G-1 AT KORAKUEN HALL 8/9 -- 60 UP / 1 MIDDLE / 0 DOWN
• 08/24/15: G-1 CLIMAX B BLOCK FINALS -- 57 UP / 0 DOWN
• 08/10/15: G-1 IN NAGOYA -- 27 UP / 19 MIDDLE / 4 DOWN
• 09/28/15: CMLL ANNIVERSARY SHOW -- 49 UP / 1 MIDDLE / 0 DOWN
• 08/03/15: ROH DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR -- 46 UP / 3 MIDDLE / 0 DOWN
• 01/26/15: NEW JAPAN FANTASTICA MANIA FIRST KORAKUEN HALL SHOW -- 26 UP / 21 MIDDLE / 0 DOWN
• 01/26/15: NEW JAPAN FANTASTICA MANIA SECOND KORAKUEN HALL -- 41 UP / 0 DOWN
• 03/16/15: NEW JAPAN CUP QUARTERFINALS -- 41 UP / 0 DOWN
• 10/12/15: TNA BOUND FOR GLORY -- 13 UP / 14 MIDDLE / 13 DOWN
• 12/15/14: NEW JAPAN TAG TOURNEY FINALS -- 15 UP / 21 MIDDLE / 3 DOWN
• 08/17/15: NEW JAPAN G-1 IN NAGOYA 8/8 -- 15 UP / 19 MIDDLE / 3 DOWN
• 08/10/15: G-1 IN OSAKA -- 37 UP / 0 DOWN
• 03/16/15: NEW JAPAN CUP FIRST ROUND -- 35 UP / 0 DOWN
• 07/06/15: TNA SLAMMIVERSARY -- 8 UP / 14 MIDDLE / 4 DOWN

Next, we can look at which matches were voted "BEST MATCH" and "WORST MATCH" on each event. And specifically, who wrestled in those matches.

For instance:

WWE FAST LANE POLL RESULTS
Thumbs up 50 (21.0%) / In the middle 92 (38.7%) / Thumbs down 96 (40.3%)
BEST MATCH POLL: Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan 200; Rusev vs. John Cena 10; Kidd & Cesaro vs. Usos 8 (218 positive votes)
WORST MATCH POLL: Nikki Bella vs. Paige 99; Bad News Barrett vs. Dean Ambrose 78; Goldust vs. Stardust 50 (227 negative votes)

This event had 14 people involved in the matches receiving best/worst match votes. Let's allocate out of 100 positive points and 100 negative points based on number of votes.

Roman Reigns & Daniel Bryan get 100*(200/218)=91.7 points while Rusev & Cena get 4.6 points and Tyson Kidd/Cesaro/Usos get 3.7 points.
Nikki & Paige get -100*(99/227)=-43.6 points while Barrett & Ambrose get -34.4 points and Rhodes brothers get -22.0 points.

Next, we want to adjust for the quality of the event. In this case, Fast Lane had 50 thumbs up, 92 thumbs in the middle and 96 thumbs down. We'll count the "thumbs in the middle" as half-votes for each thumbs up and thumbs down. That leaves us with 96 adjusted thumbs up and 142 adjusted thumbs down. For each wrestler, we'll multiply the "adjusted thumbs up" x "positive points" and "adjusted thumbs down" x "negative points".

The idea is that if you're in the best match at WrestleMania, that's worth more than being in the best match in Payback. What determines which events are more important than others? The number of overall votes. Likewise, if you were in a bad match, but overall the PPV was mostly enjoyed, you're not punished greatly.

So, for Fastlane, Roman & Bryan would end up with 8,803 adjusted positive thumb points (91.7 x 96) and Nikki & Paige would have 6,191 adjusted negative thumb points (43.6 x 142).

We can do this across all of the shows for a single company. Then, if we divide by total points in each bucket, we can allocate what percentage of "goodness" or "badness" in that company was driven by each wrestler.

Goodness
Top 80% WWE
Seth Rollins 13.8%
John Cena 12.8%
Brock Lesnar 9.9%
Kevin Owens 9.1%
Roman Reigns 8.8%
Sasha Banks 6.1%
Bayley 4.5%
Neville 4.2%
Finn Balor 3.5%
Dean Ambrose 2.7%
Sami Zayn 2.6%
Undertaker 2.4%

Top 80% NJPW
Kota Ibushi 15.3%
Shinsuke Nakamura 11.8%
Hiroshi Tanahashi 11.4%
AJ Styles 10.5%
Kazuchika Okada 8.3%
Tomohiro Ishii 6.3%
Hirooki Goto 5.8%
Tomoaki Honma 5.3%
Tetsuya Naito 2.7%
Kyle O’Reilly 2.4%

Top 80% ROH
Young Bucks 23.6%
Jay Briscoe 7.0%
Kyle O’Reilly 6.3%
Bobby Fish 5.6%
Roderick Strong 5.6%
AJ Styles 5.6%
Jay Lethal 5.4%
Adam Cole 4.0%
Matt Taven 3.9%
Michael Bennett 3.9%
Hanson 3.1%
Mark Briscoe 3.1%

Badness
Bottom 80% of WWE
Nikki Bella 10.2%
Paige 7.8%
Brie Bella 5.4%
Rumble/Battle Royal 5.4%
Ryback 5.0%
Bad News Barrett 3.2%
Naomi 2.9%
Natalya 2.8%
Kane 2.6%
The Big Show 2.5%
Dean Ambrose 2.4%
Konnor 2.2%
Viktor 2.2%
Charlotte 2.1%
Rusev 2.0%
Seth Rollins 1.8%
Stardust 1.7%
Big E 1.7%
Kofi Kingston 1.7%
Billy Gunn 1.7%
The Road Dogg 1.7%
John Cena 1.6%
Brock Lesnar 1.3%
Tamina 1.3%
Dolph Ziggler 1.3%
Goldust 1.2%
Sheamus 1.2%
Erick Rowan 1.2%
R-Truth 1.2%

Bottom 80% of NJPWHiroyoshi Tenzan 7.8%
Doc Gallows 5.7%
Toru Yano 4.8%
Rob Conway 4.8%
Satoshi Kojima 4.5%
Bad Luck Fale 4.2%
Yujiro Takahashi 3.9%
Tetsuya Naito 3.4%
Cody Hall 3.3%
Captain New Japan 2.9%
Shinsuke Nakamura 2.8%
Jushin Liger 2.7%
Mascara Dorada 2.6%
Jax Dane 2.5%
Jay White 2.5%
Tiger Mask 2.4%
Chase Owens 2.4%
Kazuchika Okada 2.3%
Michael Elgin 2.2%
Ryusuke Taguchi 1.9%
Manabu Nakanishi 1.8%
Karl Anderson 1.8%
Polvora 1.7%
Hiroshi Tanahashi 1.7%
Stigma 1.7%

Bottom 80% of ROHMoose 22.8%
Silas Young 22.6%
Gedo 11.3%
Takaaki Watanabe 11.3%
RD Evans 10.0%

As with anything that's wrestlenomics, it's hardly science. The best matches for one company on a single show might pale in comparison to a mid-card match on another company's show. We're not using star ratings or anything else.

Being in the majority-voted best match at WrestleMania is going to drive Roman/Seth/Brock significantly. Perhaps there would be a need to add a logarithm in there somewhere to normalize that a bit. It's possible I should just group ROH/NJPW together or separate NXT/WWE. There's a lot of options for improvement.

WWE StatsSeth Rollins: BEST (10 matches / 108,775 pts) -- WORST (4 matches / -5,533 pts)
John Cena: BEST (10 matches / 100,802 pts) -- WORST (7 matches / -4,769 pts)
Brock Lesnar: BEST (5 matches / 78,077 pts) -- WORST (1 match / -3,915 pts)
Kevin Owens: BEST (9 matches / 71,932 pts) -- WORST (3 matches / -1,558 pts)
Roman Reigns: BEST (8 matches / 68,937 pts) -- WORST (2 matches / -1,724 pts)
Sasha Banks: BEST (5 matches / 47,924 pts) -- WORST (2 matches / -1,721 pts)
Bayley: BEST (3 matches / 35,736 pts) -- WORST (1 match / -578 pts)
Neville: BEST (4 matches / 32,947 pts) -- WORST (4 matches / -2,164 pts)
Finn Balor: BEST (3 matches / 27,830 pts) -- WORST (2 matches / -58 pts)
Sami Zayn: BEST (2 matches / 20,668 pts) -- WORST ( matches / pts)
Undertaker: BEST (2 matches / 18,721 pts) -- WORST (2 matches / -918 pts)
Cesaro: BEST (4 matches / 13,933 pts) -- WORST (1 match / -164 pts)
Dean Ambrose: BEST (7 matches / 20,923 pts) -- WORST (2 matches / -7,328 pts)
Becky Lynch: BEST (2 matches / 15,549 pts) -- WORST (2 matches / -3,562 pts)
Tyson Kidd: BEST (3 matches / 11,889 pts) -- WORST (1 match / -164 pts)
Randy Orton: BEST (4 matches / 13,124 pts) -- WORST (3 matches / -1,522 pts)
Daniel Bryan: BEST (2 matches / 10,705 pts) -- WORST ( matches / pts)
Big E: BEST (3 matches / 12,425 pts) -- WORST (7 matches / -5,120 pts)
Kofi Kingston: BEST (3 matches / 12,425 pts) -- WORST (7 matches / -5,120 pts)
Luke Harper: BEST (3 matches / 8,707 pts) -- WORST (2 matches / -3,198 pts)
Dolph Ziggler: BEST (4 matches / 8,942 pts) -- WORST (5 matches / -3,841 pts)
Chris Jericho: BEST (3 matches / 4,976 pts) -- WORST ( matches / pts)
Bray Wyatt: BEST (3 matches / 6,425 pts) -- WORST (4 matches / -1,909 pts)
Alberto Del Rio: BEST (1 match / 1,810 pts) -- WORST (1 match / -62 pts)
Chad Gable: BEST (1 match / 812 pts) -- WORST (1 match / -14 pts)
Jason Jordan: BEST (1 match / 812 pts) -- WORST (1 match / -14 pts)
Diego: BEST (1 match / 889 pts) -- WORST (1 match / -164 pts)
Fernando: BEST (1 match / 889 pts) -- WORST (1 match / -164 pts)
Braun Strowman: BEST (1 match / 1,384 pts) -- WORST (1 match / -749 pts)
Sting: BEST (1 match / 999 pts) -- WORST (1 match / -568 pts)
Triple H: BEST (1 match / 999 pts) -- WORST (1 match / -568 pts)
Jushin Liger: WORST (1 match / -7 pts)
Aiden English: WORST (2 matches / -17 pts)
Simon Gotch: WORST (2 matches / -17 pts)
Tye Dillinger: WORST (2 matches / -18 pts)
Dash Wilder: WORST (1 match / -29 pts)
Scott Dawson: WORST (1 match / -29 pts)
Apollo Crews: WORST (2 matches / -46 pts)
Samoa Joe: WORST (3 matches / -66 pts)
Bull Dempsey: WORST (1 match / -209 pts)
Enzo Amore: WORST (1 match / -481 pts)
Colin Cassady: WORST (1 match / -481 pts)
Curtis Axel: WORST (1 match / -574 pts)
Brooke: WORST (1 match / -578 pts)
Emma: WORST (1 match / -578 pts)
Wesley Blake: WORST (3 matches / -640 pts)
Buddy Murphy: WORST (3 matches / -640 pts)
Sin Cara: BEST (1 match / 889 pts) -- WORST (5 matches / -1,602 pts)
Kalisto: BEST (1 match / 889 pts) -- WORST (5 matches / -1,602 pts)
Rhyno: BEST (1 match / 812 pts) -- WORST (3 matches / -1,584 pts)
Mark Henry: WORST (1 match / -863 pts)
Bo Dallas: WORST (2 matches / -979 pts)
Baron Corbin: BEST (1 match / 812 pts) -- WORST (6 matches / -1,800 pts)
Jack Swagger: WORST (1 match / -1,044 pts)
Tyler Breeze: WORST (3 matches / -1,144 pts)
Xavier Woods: WORST (2 matches / -1,273 pts)
Sheamus: BEST (3 matches / 2,355 pts) -- WORST (5 matches / -3,682 pts)
Darren Young: BEST (1 match / 889 pts) -- WORST (3 matches / -2,368 pts)

Damien Sandow: WORST (2 matches / -1,434 pts)
Jimmy Uso: BEST (1 match / 352 pts) -- WORST (2 matches / -1,969 pts)
Jey Uso: BEST (1 match / 352 pts) -- WORST (2 matches / -1,969 pts)
R-Truth: BEST (1 match / 1,898 pts) -- WORST (3 matches / -3,577 pts)
Charlotte: BEST (2 matches / 4,538 pts) -- WORST (7 matches / -6,413 pts)
Titus O'Neil: BEST (1 match / 889 pts) -- WORST (4 matches / -2,998 pts)
D-von Dudley: WORST (4 matches / -2,272 pts)
Bubba Ray Dudley: WORST (4 matches / -2,272 pts)
The Big Show: BEST (2 matches / 5,191 pts) -- WORST (3 matches / -7,649 pts)
The Miz: WORST (3 matches / -2,486 pts)
AJ Lee: WORST (2 matches / -2,834 pts)
Stardust: BEST (1 match / 1,898 pts) -- WORST (5 matches / -5,230 pts)
Alicia Fox: WORST (2 matches / -3,562 pts)
Erick Rowan: WORST (2 matches / -3,635 pts)
Goldust: WORST (2 matches / -3,757 pts)
Tamina: WORST (3 matches / -3,842 pts)
Rusev: BEST (2 matches / 1,192 pts) -- WORST (5 matches / -5,894 pts)
Billy Gunn: WORST (1 match / -5,118 pts)
The Road Dogg: WORST (1 match / -5,118 pts)
Viktor: WORST (5 matches / -6,672 pts)
Konnor: WORST (5 matches / -6,672 pts)
Bad News Barrett: BEST (2 matches / 2,558 pts) -- WORST (5 matches / -9,592 pts)
Kane: WORST (3 matches / -7,878 pts)
Natalya: WORST (1 match / -8,459 pts)
Naomi: WORST (4 matches / -8,852 pts)
Ryback: WORST (8 matches / -15,082 pts)
Brie Bella: BEST (1 match / 588 pts) -- WORST (6 matches / -16,330 pts)
Rumble/Battle Royal: WORST (2 matches / -16,307 pts)
Paige: WORST (9 matches / -23,672 pts)
Nikki Bella: WORST (13 matches / -30,698 pts)

WON voters aren't big fans of Nikki Bella's matches on the card (as compared to the rest of the matches).

She had 13 different matches nominated for "WORST MATCH" this voting year:

WWE WRESTLEMANIA 31 WORST A.J. & Paige vs. Bella Twins 177
WWE TLC POLL RESULTS WORST Nikki Bella vs. A.J. Lee 31
WWE SUMMERSLAM POLL RESULTS WORST Divas three-team match 64
WWE ROYAL RUMBLE POLL RESULTS WORST Bellas vs. Paige & Natalya 119
WWE PAYBACK POLL RESULTS WORST Snuka & Naomi vs. Bellas 98
WWE NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS POLL RESULTS WORST Charlotte vs. Nikki Bella 24
WWE MONEY IN THE BANK POLL RESULTS WORST Nikki Bella vs. Paige 32
WWE IN MADISON SQUARE GARDEN WORST Team Bellas vs. Team PCB 72
WWE HELL IN A CELL POLL RESULTS WORST Charlotte vs. Nikki Bella 13
WWE FAST LANE POLL RESULTS WORST Nikki Bella vs. Paige 99
WWE EXTREME RULES POLL WORST Nikki Bella vs. Naomi 68
WWE ELIMINATION CHAMBER POLL RESULTS WORST Nikki Bella vs. Paige vs. Naomi 118
WWE BEAST FROM THE EAST POLL RESULTS WORST Nikki vs. Paige vs. Snuka 73The Bella army will not be pleased with this.

Conversly, Sasha Banks fared well:

WWE NXT TAKEOVER RIVALS POLL RESULTS BEST Women’s four-way 40
WWE NXT TAKEOVER POLL RESULTS BEST Bayley vs. Sasha Banks 182
WWE BATTLEGROUND POLL RESULTS BEST Charlotte vs. Banks vs. Brie Bella 8
NXT UNSTOPPABLE POLL RESULTS BEST Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch 134
NXT TAKEOVER RESPECT POLL RESULTS BEST Bayley vs. Sasha Banks 129
The most middle-of-the-road guys? Probably Luke Harper, Dolph Ziggler and Sheamus.

NJPW Stats
Kota Ibushi: BEST (8 matches / 66,085 pts) -- WORST (2 matches / -115 pts)
Shinsuke Nakamura: BEST (8 matches / 50,753 pts) -- WORST (2 matches / -1,071 pts)
Hiroshi Tanahashi: BEST (9 matches / 49,141 pts) -- WORST (3 matches / -665 pts)
AJ Styles: BEST (6 matches / 45,081 pts) -- WORST (1 match / 0 pts)
Kazuchika Okada: BEST (7 matches / 35,983 pts) -- WORST (3 matches / -886 pts)
Tomohiro Ishii: BEST (6 matches / 27,035 pts) -- WORST (1 match / 0 pts)
Hirooki Goto: BEST (8 matches / 25,009 pts) -- WORST (3 matches / -531 pts)
Tomoaki Honma: BEST (4 matches / 22,722 pts) -- WORST (5 matches / -536 pts)
Kyle O’Reilly: BEST (3 matches / 10,452 pts) -- WORST (1 match / -9 pts)
Tetsuya Naito: BEST (4 matches / 11,524 pts) -- WORST (4 matches / -1,302 pts)
Kushida: BEST (3 matches / 10,327 pts) -- WORST (3 matches / -599 pts)
Katsuyori Shibata: BEST (4 matches / 9,261 pts) -- WORST (2 matches / -115 pts)
Nick Jackson: BEST (3 matches / 5,075 pts) -- WORST (1 match / -9 pts)
Matt Jackson: BEST (3 matches / 5,075 pts) -- WORST (1 match / -9 pts)
La Sombra: BEST (2 matches / 4,157 pts)
Michael Elgin: BEST (3 matches / 4,880 pts) -- WORST (1 match / -831 pts)
Togi Makabe: BEST (2 matches / 4,169 pts) -- WORST (2 matches / -469 pts)
Atlantis: BEST (1 match / 3,650 pts)
Ultimo Guerrero: BEST (1 match / 3,650 pts)
Bobby Fish: BEST (2 matches / 3,452 pts) -- WORST (1 match / -9 pts)
Yuji Nagata: BEST (2 matches / 3,337 pts) -- WORST (4 matches / -165 pts)
Trent Baretta: BEST (2 matches / 2,922 pts) -- WORST (1 match / -9 pts)
Rocky Romero: BEST (2 matches / 2,922 pts) -- WORST (1 match / -9 pts)
Kenny Omega: BEST (2 matches / 2,695 pts) -- WORST (1 match / -140 pts)
Volador Jr: BEST (1 match / 2,392 pts)
Karl Anderson: BEST (3 matches / 2,985 pts) -- WORST (5 matches / -679 pts)
Kazushi Sakuraba: BEST (1 match / 2,883 pts) -- WORST (5 matches / -608 pts)
Alex Shelley: BEST (1 match / 2,152 pts) -- WORST (1 match / 0 pts)
Yoshi-Hashi: BEST (1 match / 1,765 pts) -- WORST (1 match / 0 pts)
Rey Cometa: BEST (1 match / 1,708 pts)
Cavernario Barbaro: BEST (1 match / 1,708 pts)
Sho Tanaka: BEST (1 match / 957 pts) -- WORST (3 matches / -79 pts)
Yohei Komatsu: BEST (1 match / 957 pts) -- WORST (4 matches / -209 pts)
Mascara Dorada: BEST (1 match / 1,521 pts) -- WORST (3 matches / -1,003 pts)
Shelton Benjamin: WORST (1 match / 0 pts)
Davey Boy Smith Jr: WORST (1 match / 0 pts)
Takashi Iizuka: WORST (1 match / 0 pts)
Takaaki Watanabe: WORST (1 match / 0 pts)
Triton: WORST (1 match / 0 pts)
Lance Archer: WORST (1 match / 0 pts)
Jeff Jarrett: WORST (1 match / 0 pts)
Mikey Nicholls: WORST (1 match / 0 pts)
Naomichi Marufuji: WORST (1 match / 0 pts)
Shane Haste: WORST (1 match / 0 pts)
Rumble/Battle Royal: WORST (1 match / 0 pts)
Juice Robinson: WORST (3 matches / -129 pts)
Amber Gallows: WORST (1 match / -200 pts)
Maria Kanellis: WORST (1 match / -200 pts)
Tama Tonga: WORST (7 matches / -233 pts)
Michael Bennett: WORST (4 matches / -274 pts)
Matt Taven: WORST (4 matches / -274 pts)
Mephisto: WORST (1 match / -385 pts)
Stuka Jr: WORST (1 match / -385 pts)
Desperado: WORST (1 match / -394 pts)
BUSHI: WORST (1 match / -394 pts)
Taichi: WORST (1 match / -394 pts)
David Finlay: WORST (4 matches / -629 pts)
Stigma: WORST (1 match / -665 pts)
Polvora: WORST (2 matches / -665 pts)
Mistico: WORST (2 matches / -665 pts)
Bad Luck Fale: BEST (1 match / 913 pts) -- WORST (10 matches / -1,610 pts)
Manabu Nakanishi: WORST (6 matches / -698 pts)
Ryusuke Taguchi: WORST (6 matches / -738 pts)
Chase Owens: WORST (3 matches / -901 pts)
Tiger Mask: WORST (6 matches / -927 pts)
Jay White: WORST (5 matches / -941 pts)
Jax Dane: WORST (1 match / -956 pts)
Jushin Liger: WORST (6 matches / -1,031 pts)
Captain New Japan: WORST (10 matches / -1,114 pts)
Cody Hall: WORST (7 matches / -1,247 pts)
Doc Gallows: BEST (1 match / 785 pts) -- WORST (10 matches / -2,178 pts)
Yujiro Takahashi: WORST (8 matches / -1,485 pts)
Satoshi Kojima: WORST (8 matches / -1,720 pts)
Hiroyoshi Tenzan: BEST (1 match / 1,246 pts) -- WORST (9 matches / -2,979 pts)
Rob Conway: WORST (3 matches / -1,834 pts)
Toru Yano: WORST (11 matches / -1,839 pts)

I expected Yano would fare poorly with 11 nominated matches.

NJPW NEW BEGINNING IN OSAKA WORST Okada & Sakuraba & Yano vs. Fale & Tonga & Yujiro 13
NEW JAPAN WRESTLE KINGDOM 9 POLL RESULTS WORST Eight man tag 97
NEW JAPAN KING OF PRO WRESTLING POLL RESULTS WORST Nakamura & Yano & Sakuraba vs. Bullet Club 46
NEW JAPAN G-1 IN NAGOYA 8/8 WORST Tetsuya Naito vs. Toru Yano 15
NEW JAPAN G-1 FROM HIROSHIMA POLL RESULTS WORST Toru Yano vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan 8
NEW JAPAN CUP QUARTERFINALS WORST Kota Ibushi vs. Toru Yano 16
NEW JAPAN CUP FIRST ROUND WORST Toru Yano vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi 18
NEW JAPAN CUP FINALS WORST Sakuraba & Yano vs. Tanahashi & Captain 16
G-1 CLIMAX FINALS POLL RESULTS WORST Yano & Ishii & Sakuraba vs. Fale & Yujiro & Tonga 42
G-1 CLIMAX B BLOCK FINALS POLL RESULTS WORST Bullet Club 10 man tag 22
G-1 CLIMAX A BLOCK FINALS POLL RESULTS WORST Toru Yano vs. Bad Luck Fale 36
However, I was surprised to see Tenzan actually had more points.

NJPW NEW BEGINNING IN SENDAI WORST Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Rob Conway 8
NJPW NEW BEGINNING IN OSAKA WORST Conway & Owens vs. Liger & Tenzan 55
NEW JAPAN WRESTLE KINGDOM 9 POLL RESULTS WORST Six man tag 66
NEW JAPAN TAG TOURNEY FINALS WORST Tenzan & Kojima vs. Conway & Dane 17
NEW JAPAN KING OF PRO WRESTLING POLL RESULTS WORST Eight man tag match 13
NEW JAPAN INVASION ATTACK POLL RESULTS WORST Honma & Tenzan & Kojima vs. Hall & Tonga & Yujiro 8
NEW JAPAN G-1 FROM HIROSHIMA POLL RESULTS WORST Toru Yano vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan 8
NEW JAPAN G-1 FIRST NIGHT POLL RESULTS WORST Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Doc Gallows 47
G-1 CLIMAX FINALS POLL RESULTS WORST TenCozy & Captain vs. White & Nagata & Nakanishi 17
Kota Ibushi really stands out and it helps he and Nakamura were in a huge match at the biggest NJPW event Wrestle Kingdom 9 (worth 23,957 points).

NJPW NEW BEGINNING IN OSAKA BEST Kota Ibushi vs. Tomoaki Honma 56
NEW JAPAN WRESTLE KINGDOM 9 POLL RESULTS BEST Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi 237
NEW JAPAN TAG TOURNEY FINALS BEST Eight-man tag 27
NEW JAPAN INVASION ATTACK POLL RESULTS BEST A.J. Styles vs. Kota Ibushi 104
NEW JAPAN G-1 FROM HIROSHIMA POLL RESULTS BEST Kota Ibushi vs. A.J. Styles 63
NEW JAPAN G-1 FIRST NIGHT POLL RESULTS BEST Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi 117
NEW JAPAN CUP FINALS BEST Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito 67
G-1 IN NAGOYA POLL RESULTS BEST Kota Ibushi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan 14

Model says WWE Network at 9.99 should have 1.1M in subs; it does.

WWE Statistics

START	END	ATTENDANCE	EVENTS	PPV BUYS	RAW RATING	PPV REV
1/1/2014	12/31/2014	1,931,000	318	2,292,000	3.4	45.2
1/1/2013	12/31/2013	1,924,100	321	3,838,000	3.4	82.5
1/1/2012	12/31/2012	1,854,100	314	4,023,000	3.3	83.6
1/1/2011	12/31/2011	1,976,500	321	3,842,100	3.6	78.3
1/1/2010	12/31/2010	2,155,700	327	3,631,100	3.5	70.2
1/1/2009	12/31/2009	2,383,800	342	4,490,200	3.7	80.0
1/1/2008	12/31/2008	2,203,300	319	5,034,400	3.4	91.4
1/1/2007	12/31/2007	2,115,300	308	5,200,800	3.7	94.3
5/1/2006	12/31/2006	1,312,180	246	3,287,300	3.9	53.4
5/1/2005	4/30/2006	1,713,840	300	6,241,100	4.0	94.8
5/1/2004	4/30/2005	1,616,875	325	5,280,800	3.7	85.5
5/1/2003	4/30/2004	1,646,974	329	5,604,000	3.8	95.3
5/1/2002	4/30/2003	1,815,177	327	5,378,100	3.7	91.1
5/1/2001	4/30/2002	2,032,754	237	7,135,464	4.6	112.0
5/1/2000	4/30/2001	2,449,800	212	8,010,400	5.0	128.2
5/1/1999	4/30/2000	2,485,100	206	6,884,600	6.2	106.4
5/1/1998	4/30/1999	2,273,701	199	5,365,100	5.0	81.0
5/1/1997	4/30/1998	1,576,112	218	2,936,100	3.1
5/1/1996	4/30/1997	1,060,740	199	2,252,200	2.4
5/1/1995	4/30/1996	931,954	247	2,831,700	3.0
5/1/1994	4/30/1995	1,163,259	347	1,868,900	3.0

WWE Attendance per Event

Average Revenue per PPV Buy

Essentially, WWE was getting about half of the PPV revenue prior to the WWE Network launch.

From a monthly basis, WWE PPVs stats were:

START	RATING	PRICE	AVG	MONTHLY
1/1/2013	3.4	$42.99	5,994	319,833
1/1/2012	3.3	$41.56	5,905	335,250
1/1/2011	3.6	$40.76	6,157	320,175
1/1/2010	3.5	$38.67	6,592	302,592
1/1/2009	3.7	$35.63	6,970	374,183
1/1/2008	3.4	$36.31	6,907	419,533
1/1/2007	3.7	$36.26	6,868	433,400
5/1/2006	3.9	$32.49	5,334	410,913
5/1/2005	4.0	$30.38	5,713	520,092
5/1/2004	3.7	$32.38	4,975	440,067
5/1/2003	3.8	$34.01	5,006	467,000
5/1/2002	3.7	$33.88	5,551	448,175
5/1/2001	4.6	$31.39	8,577	594,622
5/1/2000	5.0	$32.01	11,556	667,533
5/1/1999	6.2	$30.91	12,064	573,717
5/1/1998	5.0	$30.20	11,426	447,092

If we look at these variables, we can regress on Rating, ln(price), avg attendance and estimate average monthly PPV buys.

2015 Stats

Rating = 3.3 (first 9 months of 2015)

ln(Price) = ln($9.99) = 2.30

Avg Attendance = 5,770 (first 10 months of 2015)

Estimated Monthly PPV Buys at $9.99 = 1,057,840

Actual average paid subscribers for WWE Network in 2015? 1,106,000.

Error? -4.3%.

The concept of 3M to 4M monthly paid subscribers for WWE Network seems very difficult without a huge increase in the event attendance and Raw ratings.

WWE 2015: The financial update

Last year, I wrote a piece for the "Cubed Circle Newsletter" looking at the WWE's 2014 financials. (See pages 8-10 here: http://www.cubedcirclewrestling.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/cubed_circle_newsletter_2014_yearbook.pdf )

I started working on the 2015 article. Here's the current draft:

Financially speaking, the story of WWE in 2015 was how it wasn’t 2014. Thank god.

Between Q4’13 and Q4’14, WWE posted five consecutive negative quarters of operating income.

Things turned around in Q1’15 for a variety of reasons. There was a first quarter WrestleMania. WWE started receiving new revenue from a bevy of domestic and international television rights agreements. WWE finally expanded the WWE Network distribution to the U.K. marketplace.

In the parlance of business, 2014 was a “transition year” for World Wrestling Entertainment.

Already, WWE has posted three quarters of positive double-digit OIBDA for 2015. Final OIBDA (operating income before depreciation & amortization – a sort of “profit” calculation) for 2015 should be somewhere north of $60 million. That’s a huge improvement over 2013 and 2014 numbers.

While that may sound terrific, it’s worth reminding readers that from 2007 to 2010 adjusted OIBDA bounced between $78 million and $94 million. WWE started investing in what would eventually become the WWE Network in 2011.

Simply put, 2015 is a positive development. It is certainly not close to record WWE profits.

Digging deeper, let’s examine what is propelling the turn-around for WWE.

First of all, WWE is driving more revenue from their live events.

This is mostly in the form of extracting more revenue per person (higher ticket prices, new travel and VIP packages) rather than actually expanding the overall number of people attending each show.

However, it is worth commenting on how NXT has emerged as a notable live event highlight for 2015. The ascension of NXT as an independent event capable of drawing large crowds when they piggy-back on major WWE PPV event weekends is among WWE’s most noteworthy achievements this year.

WWE Network paid subscriptions in 2015 are much higher than they were in 2014.

It helps that WWE cut-costs in Q3’14, hastily rolled out the WWE Network internationally in August 2014 and added UK/Ireland to the mix in January 2015 (at a 50% price premium). Using WWE’s numbers, they would need to achieve an average of 1.36M paid subscribers for 2016 to return to the levels of profitability that WWE had in the late 2000s under their traditional PPV model. As it stands, WWE will probably end 2015 at an average of 1.1M paid subscribers. It’s a respectable number. However, the company seems to be crawling closer and closer to the artificial interest ceiling for subscribers. Breaking beyond two million paid monthly subscribers still seems like quite a reach.

WrestleMania 32 will undoubtedly attract new subscribers in 2016. The decision in November 2015 to finally add multitude of archival territorial footage (NWA, SMW, AWA) should please many fans. Yet, it’s difficult to assess the ultimate WWE Network growth potential.

Most of the accounts are still registered domestically (80% of WWE Network accounts have U.S. billing addresses) and this year has seen a wild decline with live Raw ratings. Can WWE really expect to keep growing the WWE Network when their best promotional vehicle, Monday Night Raw, is losing traction?

The surprise of 2015 has been the continued moderate success of pay-per-view. WWE generates about the same amount of revenue from PPV that they do from segments such as Venue Merchandise or WWEShop (about $21 million). PPV business is larger than established divisions such as Home Entertainment (DVDs/BluRays - a long-shrinking business) or Digital Media (WWE’s golden calf; big social media numbers but tiny revenue now that webcast PPV aren’t available). PPV is still profitable, even though the majority of the buys are through international distributors at a much lower price than historic US prices.

Television rights continue to fuel the WWE’s growth. That’s how it is. That’s unlike to change in the near future.

The bundle of deals that WWE negotiated in 2013/2014 have built-in escalators. WWE will take home more revenue every year regardless of whether ratings grow or ratings shrink. It’s a pretty sweet deal.

The only hitch is when partners don’t pay.

That was the issue with Thailand’s CTH. In that situation, WWE took the company to court to demand their $23 million in TV fees. Extracting such a bounty from an international corporation can be a lengthy and exhausting process. While the Thai deal only represents a small portion of the overall throng of new TV deals (US, Canada, UK, UAE, Mexico, India), the precedent is unnerving.

The WWE Network was recently rolled out in India at a $9.99 price-point. WWE didn’t include any special mobile-phone support and live PPVs are blacked out for 24 hours. It doesn’t appear WWE is making much effort to gain huge traction in some of these markets.

In January 2016, WWE Network will expand into Japan and Germany. Moving into Deutschland is a worthwhile venture, but it is unclear how many consumers will be join the WWE Network fresh and how many customers will merely switch over existing “domestic” accounts.

There’s only a handful of markets left for the WWE Network to launch. They include the Philippines (where WWE had to sue their TV partner Solar in 2013 over missed TV rights fees), Thailand (where WWE is suing TV partner CTH) and China.

One of WWE Chief Financial Officer George Barrios’ favorite narratives has been how India is the future. In 2016, I expect that tune will switch to talking about the endless possibility of China.

Yet, navigating the Chinese media landscape requires precise dealings in a bureaucratic albatross. Media providers must agree to state oversight (some say outright censorship) to gain licenses and distribution.

There is a family connection. Shane McMahon left WWE to join a media company called “You on Demand”. YOD touts themselves as a “leading multi-platform entertainment service company delivering premium content, including leading Hollywood movie titles, to customers across China via subscription and transactional streaming services.”

It’s completely fathomable that WWE will end up partnering with YOD or possibly even outright buying the company in order to pursue their dreams of achieving WWE Network distribution in China. It’s a noble mission, but my assessment is that will more remain an aspirational talking point for WWE conference calls rather than an executed 2016 project.

With television negotiations locked up and television ratings slipping, WWE’s motive in 2015 was to focus investors on their year-over-year WWE Network subscription growth (an easy target when you’re moving around WrestleMania timing, comparing domestic-only to internationally-distributed platforms) and bragging about their Twitter followers, YouTube video views and FaceBook fans.

The vague but omnipresent “monetize digital and social media presence” objective remains a company mantra.

By adding together all of the accounts for each of the WWE’s superstars, the company loves to brag about their half-billion followers. Obviously, the true number of unique people with a ‘WWE-affinity' (to use the company’s phraseology) is certainly far lower.

The underlying thesis is solid – WWE will figure out a way to turn those eyeballs into dollars.

While they insist they aren’t rushing the initiatives, one wonders who exactly is leading this initiative.

WWE’s last Chief Digital Officer (Lou Schwartz) only lasted 5 months and left quietly in February 2015. Before him, we had Matthew Singerman, Lisa Fox Lee and Perkins Miller. With the WWE Network still in their infant phase, that’s a lot of leaders who have come and gone. What WWE needs is a steady, dedicated, knowledgeable hand leading the WWE Network initiative and separate guidance for their entire social media strategy.

The glory of the WWE business model is that they’ve got guaranteed revenue streams that won’t dip even when interest wanes. And they have a loyal fanbase which will continue to support their large event initiatives (such as WrestleMania and SummerSlam). It’s an environment where the company can afford some mistakes, and carry some unprofitable divisions (WWE Films, for instance).

However, a pat hand isn’t going to satisfy investors. WWE has been talking about reaching lofty subscriber goals of three to four million monthly paid subscribers. Meanwhile, the organic limit of steady-state demand seems to be more like 1.5M worldwide. Will new international markets fuel the demand? Will over-the-top streaming culture carry the service to record levels? Will targeting initiatives and innovative programming connect with the fanbase? Questions abound.

The last major narrative for 2015 is WWE’s legal conundrums.

The company has faced an onslaught of lawsuits from jilted investors (claiming WWE misrepresented NBCU television rights negotiations), to past performers over concussion-related injuries, to so-called “patent trolls” over technology used by the WWE.

So far, the company has dealt with the proceeding deftly. They were able to squash the “confidential informant” in the shareholder lawsuit. They were able to consolidate the concussion-claims and wrongful death lawsuits into a single case in the friendlier state of Connecticut. The hyperbolic nature of wrestlers mixed with lawyers inexperienced with the realm of sports entertainment has left a multitude of legal holes in many of the concussion-lawsuit filings.

While these lawsuits can be time-consuming and expensive, the latest developments indicate that WWE has firmly retained the upper-hand. WWE will not allow any case precedence to be set which would invalidate their “independent-contractor” relationship with their performers. They’ll settle long before things reach a courtroom. The company also does not want to be on the hook for any long-term medical liability due to wrestling-related injuries. The company will fight the concussion suits tough and nail. And thus far, WWE has outmaneuvered the plaintiffs.

WWE is willing to fight these cases for years. They will and they have grinded the proceeding to a halt. There are significant and far-reaching legal questions being discussed. However, as it stands, the assortment of wrestlers bringing these charges don’t have the legal counsel or the substantive standing that is necessary to affect far-reaching change in the pro-wrestling world. The risk to WWE is too high for the company not to dedicate serious resources to dismissing these cases.

WWE’s financial situation is strengthening. The WWE Network appears to be viable platform. While there have been some significant financial sacrifices to get to this point, WWE finally has locked down more guaranteed revenue (from TV rights contracts) than at any point in their history.

The dismal slide of live Raw ratings is alarming, but until we see the 2016 trends, it’s difficult to alarm investors in the wake of a changing television landscape.

WWE’s goal is to expand internationally. WWE wants to generate more and more revenue outside of North America. We’ve seen this strategy before with expansions in Europe and Latin America which didn’t fully take. Perhaps, the situation and leadership has evolved sufficiently that we’ll see a true fundamental shift.

If WWE can focus on growing the WWE Network, minimizing lawsuit burdens and monetizing their digital footprint, there is a rosy future awaiting the company.

Chris Harrington

chris.harrington@gmail.com

@mookieghana

Will the WWE exist in ten years?

Someone on the F4W/WON message board asked,

"Will the WWE Exist in Ten Years Based on Their Current Product?"

Here was my response:

WWE has set themselves up for a strong revenue generation from TV rights through 2018. They've rolled out their OTT network and keeping up with that element of the evolution of media consumption. They're dedicating themselves to having a strong social media presence and trying to "own" that space. I review their financials as closely as anyone and while I'm still largely pessimistic that they're under delivering what they could have, they're a long ways away from showing signs of the bottom falling out.

What are the five "trouble-spots" that I would see on the horizon? (This is not talking about the more general, "make new stars" advice.)

#1 - TV rights fees dry up and new markets don't emerge. CTH in Thailand was just a small deal, but WWE trumpeted the hell out of it when they signed in January 2014. It was seen as a harbinger of the massive fees WWE was going to get with their NBCU deal. Instead, the NBCU deal came in much lower than WWE had hinted it would and CTH has thus far not paid a cent of their 2014 or 2015 rights fees. While the TV rights money is "guaranteed" in theory, there's always the risk that people just don't pay and when it comes to getting money from companies based internationally, that can be a difficult battle. Likewise, if WWE pisses off marketplaces like India (where they just launched a stripped-down version of the WWE Network), they could endanger the renewal of their 3rd largest TV deal. When it comes to 2018, everyone can speculate but no one really knows what the landscape will look like. It's expensive running the WWE train and without TV rights fees and the corresponding global exposure, the ability of WWE to survive at its current size would be endangered. If WWE lost television coverage, that would obviously be an enormous blow.

#2 - WWE Network never takes off and instead subscription levels stagnate. After a year, having a million steady-state subscribers isn't an insignificant feat. However, after five years, WWE had better hope they can move far beyond that. Will fans grow weary of the back catalogue and disinterested in the current product? Will WWE manage to launch in a marketplace such as China? Will WWE Network subscriptions move beyond the 80/20 split (Domestic/Intl) to 50-50? WWE could always sell the Network operations to a third-party and instead just collect a licensing fee, so it's not like the WWE Network subscription stagnation (as a stand-alone product) instantly equals WWE doom. The service could be bundled with other offerings to make it a viable offering. Yet, that would require WWE to give up some control and this is their baby.

#3 - Leadership chaos post-VKM. Stephanie McMahon is gaining seasoning and experience as a corporate ambassador/executive. It's most likely that Wall Street would be happiest with a McMahon family at the helm into the next era. Shane might even come back if WWE decides to buy his company (You on Demand) for the purposes of securing Chinese Media Marketplace distribution. In many ways, George Barrios is truly the face of the WWE to the investors and analysts. It's clear he's angling for as much power & control over corporate strategy. Paul Levesque might understand how to run talent relations or creative, but he's still got a ways to go before he'd be a suitable head of the company. That said, he & Stephanie joined the WWE board of directors this year, so he's moving up the ranks and charming the right people.

#4 - Wacky Entertainment Projects break the bank. The WWE Films division has been mostly a money-losing venture with the occasional break-even project (like Miz's made-for-TV movies, Scooby Doo films) and a single hit (The Marine). Obviously, there's the cautionary tales of the WBF, The World Restaurant and XFL. Stubbornness can cloud judgment and expenses can balloon. Things such as the Performance Center are great (in theory), especially if they produce a new line of future superstars. However, there can be a significant cost associated, and eventually it comes time to reconcile your exploding "Corporate & Other" expense line with your diminishing profits.

#5 - WWE loses lawsuits. If WWE were to lose their shareholder TV rights lawsuit (which name many prominent executives in WWE as individual defendants) or the concussion lawsuit (or end up having to pay hefty fees to patent trolls), there could be a material financial impact on the WWE. Would it cripple the company? Unlikely. However, for a company as litigious and trial-adverse as WWE, it would be a significant blow and could really muddy the waters.

In almost every scenario, I don't see the development as a death-blow, but possible a severe wound. WWE could survive by taking on more partners and giving up some of their absolute control. The company needs to be careful they're not too reliant on borrowing money (for corporate aircraft, for WWE films division) when they're barely covering their dividend and spending so much on content production.

Yes, they'll exist. I don't see them dying in the next decade.

-Chris Harrington

chris.harrington@gmail.com