The Hamilton Ave Journal 09.24.09: Volume 2 – Issue 105

Posted by JP Prag on 09.24.2009

Is the WWE finally done with the Ultimate Warrior? Who will get a contract with FCW? What big award did the WWE just win? Has Jeff Hardy returned to the WWE’s top selling list? What has Dixie Carter said in the past that isn’t completely true? All this and more is answered in this week’s edition of the Hamilton Ave Journal!

THE HAMILTON AVE JOURNAL
By JP Prag

Volume 2 – Issue 105

ABOUT THE JOURNAL

The Hamilton Ave Journal is the only wrestling news report focused solely on the business of wrestling. Here in the Journal we not only look at the stories that are important to the investor and business-minded person, but also delve deeper into stories that most fans of wrestling would overlook. That is because the Journal is about getting the heart of the matters that affect the companies and outlooks of the wrestling world.

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.






The Journal's front page area known as What's News isn't just about telling you what has happened. The stories in this section are about what will have an effect on the wrestling industry, individual federations, and the wallets of the fans.

LEAD STORY: One suit end, one begins

In 1996 and 1998, the man formerly known as Jim Hellwig (by then having legally changed his name to "Warrior") engaged in legal battles with his former employer: the then WWF. At the time, both parties claimed they owned the character of "The Ultimate Warrior", the likeness, the mannerisms, and the video history. Unlike today where WWE contracts specifically state that the WWE owns the characters and everything seen on television, in those days it was much more nebulous. The courts ruled in favor of Warrior, saying that he owned the character, likeness, mannerisms, and everything associated with it, save for the video library the WWE owned.

Over the next few years, the WWE began to realize the value of their video library and negotiated with Warrior. In March of 2000 the two parties agreed (through Warrior's "Ultimate Creations, Inc") that the WWE could use footage of the Ultimate Warrior and that Warrior definitively owned the character and trademarks and could use them anyway he saw fit. Also as part of this settlement, the WWE paid "Ultimate Creations, Inc" $890,000 and both parties agreed to "not disparage each other".

Thus, in 2005 the WWE wanted to create a career retrospective on the Ultimate Warrior and asked Warrior to be involved. Mr. Warrior refused, and the WWE decided to trek on without him. This gave birth to a DVD in September 2005 entitled "The Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior". Given the unflattering remarks against him, Warrior felt the entire DVD violated the March 2000 agreement and launched a case against the WWE in January 2006.

The case has languished in the courts for some time, as there are actually two going on simultaneously—a federal and a state claim one. The Federal one continues onward, but the State one has been completely dismissed. The reason for this? The courts found that Warrior himself had written disparaging remarks against the WWE before the DVD came out on his website, and thus he was in violation of the contract. On top of this, the courts now say that Warrior has to pay the WWE's legal fees to the tune of $18,967.46. While the Federal case lingers, one would have to assume that the courts will find the same situation.

Mr. Warrior had this to say on the situation:

What helps me handle it is that I am realist about things I cannot control and an optimist about all the incredible opportunity that always lies ahead, every day, every hour, every minute. I mean, from the moment you decide in your head that the past is done and gone, that it is a fact of reality you can't change, and you put your time and energy into moving forward, right then and there positive things begin to happen. Only when you change the world of your mind will things in world outside of you change.
There is no reason for hesitation except that you choose to stay stuck. The only force is your mind. I don't choose to remain stuck. I'm not good at whining and complaining about what I, myself, can, will and must do. I still have the rest of today to make the most out of myself and my life. I'm going to get at it.

While one case has come to an end, another one has come to the forefront. As threatened, Muscle Flex Inc. of Canada has gone through with their lawsuit against he WWE. Earlier this year, the courts ruled that WWE's trademark of "RAW" violated Muscle Flex's earlier trademark of "In the Raw". Now, Muscle Flex sees the big fish with nearly $500 million in revenue and wants a piece of it. Muscle Flex feels that the WWE violated their ability to make money off of the "Raw" terminology for the past ten years and that they are due for lost revenues.

Says Danny Alex, CEO of Muscle Flex:

"If someone steals your car and decides to drive it for 15 years knowing it was yours, how would you react? Now that the appeal process has concluded, Muscle Flex has begun the process to fully monetize all elements of its 'In the Raw' trademark including all infringement and potential damages caused by the WWE in its unauthorized use of 'Raw' in Canada. This has been a very long process and I fully intend to bring full and complete restitution to Muscle Flex shareholders... full stop."

Muscle Flex would best learn from the example set by the World Wildlife Fund. The Fund successfully sued the WWE for infringement over the use of the initials "WWF". After winning that case, they tried to sue the WWE for millions in damages, but that case went nowhere.

It is one thing to prove a violation of a trademark; it is another entirely to prove damages because of that violation. Muscle Flex is now in for a long, expensive case that could end up with them getting absolutely nothing.


Newsbites

Some items of note in the rest of the wrestling business world:

WWE Development territory FCW will once again be holding an open casting call from December 4, 2009 to December 7, 2009. The cost will be $1,000 for those wishing to apply and nothing save the clinic and lunch is included. Anyone traveling to Florida will have to cover their own expenses, which should be expected from a tryout and learning perspective. Those selected from the class can earn a WWE Developmental Contract, which is usually about $500 a week and training at the FCW facility.

TNA continues to reshape their creative focus as they have brought back this week Pat Kenney and D'lo Brown as agents and Ed Ferrara to the creative team, as well as adding Jeremy Borash back to the creative team. Jim Cornette had the Sun UK correct the article about him that was also posted in the Journal last week as he did not—apparently—throw a backstage fit. Mr. Cornette instead said that he is not 100% behind the creative direction of TNA and that TNA President Dixie Carter only wants those 100% behind the vision right now to be in creative.

One can argue either way for that decision. A singular creative vision gives the product focus and direction that it would not have otherwise. But without dissenting opinions, the product can stagnate or go in directions that do not make sense. For now, Ms. Carter wants a specific vision to be carried out, so dissenters are gone for the time being.

After a hiatus of development, WWE Studios looks to launch their next project with "Suckerpunch" starring The Big Show. The movie is slated to go direct to DVD with a budget of $5 to $6 million.

From WWE Corporate:

WWE's 'Legends of Wrestling: Soul of Wrestling' won for Best Video On Demand Program/Special beating out such entries as Carolina on Demand: High School Sports - Time Warner Cable and NCAA VOD: The Best of March Madness - CBS College Sports Network.

Ten Sports out of India has announced they will add WWE SuperStars to their already packed lineup of WWE programming. Although TNA has been trying to get ESPNstars to pick up TNA Epics, it would appear that the WWE was quicker to strike in the fast growing nation. Being no cost of translation, the WWE can consider this deployment of SuperStars to be almost pure profit.




In the Marketplace we look at the trends in television ratings. This section is less for critical analysis by the Journal but more for the reader to see what is really going on and to draw their own conclusions.

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.

For the week ending Wednesday September 23, 2009, here are the current standings of our shows:





RAW
Close (This Week's Rating): 3.4
Open (Last Week's Rating): 3.4
Percentage Change: UNCH
52-Week High: 4.5
52-Week Low: 2.9
All Time High: 8.1
All Time Low: 1.8

SmackDown*
Close (This Week's Rating): 2.0
Open (Last Week's Rating): 1.8
Percentage Change: ▲ 11.1%
52-Week High: 2.3
52-Week Low: 1.6
All Time High: 5.8
All Time Low: 1.0

* SmackDown! ratings may include fast overnight if final ratings are not posted. Also, SmackDown! ratings are for the prior week as overnights are not available before this article goes to print.

ECW
Close (This Week's Rating): 1.2
Open (Last Week's Rating): 1.2
Percentage Change: UNCH
52-Week High: 1.4
52-Week Low: 0.7
All Time High: 2.3
All Time Low: 0.6

TNA iMPACT**
Close (This Week's Rating): 1.2
Open (Last Week's Rating): 0.9
Percentage Change: ▲ 33.3%
52-Week High: 1.3
52-Week Low: 0.9
All Time High: 1.3
All Time Low: 0.6

** TNA iMPACT's are for the prior week as ratings may not be available at the time of the Journal's posting

SuperStars***
Close (This Week's Rating): 0.7
Open (Last Week's Rating): 0.8
Percentage Change: ▼ 12.5%
52-Week High: 1.0
52-Week Low: 0.7
All Time High: 1.0
All Time Low: 0.7

*** SuperStars ratings may include fast overnight if final ratings are not posted. Also, SuperStars ratings are for the prior week as overnights are not available before this article goes to print.

Analysis:

It looks like RAW's main problem this fall is not going to be the caliber of guest hosts, but the pure competition of Monday Night Football. RAW stayed at a 3.4 this week while Monday Night Football on ESPN did an 11.0. Comparatively at this time last year RAW was scoring a 2.9 average rating, so they are far ahead of the game in that respect. Of course, in September 2007 and 2006 RAW had an average 3.6 rating, so there is still plenty of ground to make up. But an increase of 17% year over year is nothing to sneeze at.

Also on the comeback trail is SmackDown which got its first 2.0 rating since July 31, 2009. iMPACT also took a giant leap back to a 1.2, up 33.3% from the prior week and ending a seven week near straight decline streak. Because of last week's number, iMPACT is actually trending down against last year (1.1 in September 2008 compared to 1.0 in September 2009), but tonight's rating could easily put them back in line with last year's numbers.




We all know that wrestling is a business, but we don't often pay attention to what sells and makes money. Money and Investing looks into the top selling items in the world of wrestling and any interesting figures that may have come out this week.

What are the top selling items for the WWE? WWEShopZone.com releases a list of varying numbers to show what is selling for them:

1. D Generation X Worlds Biggest Member T-Shirt ($25)
2. John Cena 2009 YOUTH Halloween Package ($70.75, on sale $36.99)
3. Hardys Green Pendant ($10)
4. John Cena 2009 Halloween Package ($39.99)
5. Hardys Purple Logo Skull Cap ($20, on sale $5.98)
6. WWE Superstars Party Pack ($27.99)
7. D Generation X Basics YOUTH T-Shirt ($9.99)
8. Best of SmackDown 10th Anniversary DVD/T-Shirt Package ($54.95, on sale $25.99)
9. Triple H Fear No Man T-Shirt ($25)
10. D Generation X Camo Hat ($20)
11. Rey Mysterio 2009 YOUTH Halloween Package ($61.75, on sale $33.99)
12. D Generation X Air Freshener ($2.49, on sale $0.98)
13. Jeff Hardy 2009 YOUTH Halloween Package ($70, on sale $36.99)
14. Jeff Hardy Basics YOUTH T-Shirt ($9.99)
15. Jeff Hardy 2009 Halloween Package ($39.99)
16. Hardys Purple Logo Pendant ($10)
17. Best of SmackDown 10th Anniversary DVD ($34.95, on sale $18.90)
18. WWE White Gift Bag ($3)
19. D Generation X 2009 Halloween Package ($39.99)
20. D Generation X 2009 YOUTH Halloween Package ($68, on sale $36.99)

WWEShopZone.com made some huge changes to their site for the first time in years. Included in the revamped site is an expanded top selling list. This week it takes us to 20 items, bringing far greater depth to what is selling. One of the big standouts is just the sheet number of DX products available that are selling. DX has done exactly what they were designed to do: sell more merchandise. Jeff Hardy also made his return this week showing up 6 of the 20 spots. The remainder of the list went to John Cena, Rey Mysterio, and Smackdown. One could not say there is great diversity here, but it does show a more interesting peak into the buying habits of WWE customers.


TNA sometimes releases a list of top selling items on ShopTNA.com. According to the site the top selling items were:

1. Slammiversary 2009 DVD ($17.99, on sale $14.99)
2. Sting "Discharge" T-shirt ($19.99)
3. Sacrifice 2009 DVD ($19.99, on sale $9.99)
4. TAZ "FTW" Shirt ($19.99)
5. TNA Stars 8 X 10 Extravaganza ($29.99)
6. TNA Logo T-Shirt Special ($24.99)
7. X Division Special ($120, on sale $24.99)
8. Bound for Glory Fan Interaction General Admission ($55)
9. The British Invasion T-shirt ($19.99, on sale $17.99)
10. Beer Money - Daily Buzz Shirt ($19.99)

After a quick hiatus, TNA is back with a new list that looks much like the ones we've seen in the past couple of months. Specials dominate the list, this time with the X-Division DVD set helping to clear much of the inventory. Older stars continue to outsell homemade talent, but not as much as before. Both perennial tag teams of the British Invasion and Beer Money cracked the bottom of the list again, showing some hope for the younger generation to completely take over this list.




Wrestling isn't just about watching and reading. The best way to be a wrestling fan is to experience it live. Where is wrestling coming to in the next 2 weeks? The Personal Journal answers that question.

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
27 (Sep) SmackDown / ECW Live (Paris, France)	28 RAW (Albany, NY)	29 SmackDown / ECW (Boston, MA) TNA Live (Dortmund, Germany)	30 TNA Live (Hanover, Germany)	1 (Oct)	2 TNA Live (Zurich, Switzerland)	3 TNA Live (Dublin, Ireland)
4 WWE Hell in a Cell (Newark, NJ)	5 RAW (Wilkes-Barre, PA) TNA iMPACT (Orlando, FL)	6 SmackDown / ECW (Trenton, NJ) TNA iMPACT (Orlando, FL)	7	8	9 TNA Live (La Crosse, WI) ROH Live (St. Louis, MO)	10 RAW Live (Terre Haute, IN) SmackDown / ECW Live (Bristol, TN) TNA Live (St. Cloud, MN) ROH Live (Indianapolis, IN)

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.




The Editorials section is designed for you, the readers, to respond to the views presented in the Journal, send an important news item, or talk about another overlooked business related item in wrestling. Just beware: the Journal reserves the right to respond back.

From the commentary section last week, JUSTINW postulates on the future of the WWE without two of their top people:

WWE can easily survive without Linda and Carl, but what is most important is that Bret Hart is very good friends with Carl, meaning we just lost another percentage point in ever seeing Bret Hart return in some fashion to the WWE.

Most likely we have seen all that we will out of Bret Hart: a DVD of his career, a Hall of Fame induction, and a book. Mr. Hart can no longer wrestle and cannot travel regularly, so one would wonder what he would do for the company?

Of course, there are others the WWE could see back in the future, but the short term looks bleak. Puff Hardy wants to talk about one of those persons:

Regarding the lack of Jeff merch in the Top 10, could it be that WWE is taking a (temporary?) "Benoit approach" to Jeff Hardy until this thing blows over (assuming it DOES blow over)?

For at least a day that seemed to be the case, but August reported a change right away:

The lack of Hardy on the top ten was probably just an anomaly and unlikely to be an erasing of Hardy from their list. I just looked at the list at 10:40 central, Thursday, and there are three Hardy items on there. The new Halloween stuff combined with two popular DVD's are probably what pushed Hardy out, for that one day anyways.

And as we can see in this week's expanded listing, Hardy is all over the place. So whatever moratorium may or may not have existed is definitely gone.

Sticking in merchandise but moving on to TNA, Byzdalmyt states:

"We released our first video game in September 2008 with Midway Games which to-date has sold close to 1.5 million units. We are currently evaluating our options for our next video game partner due to the Warner acquisition of Midway and expect to make an announcement soon"

Good, I'm glad to at least see hope that the sequel isn't dead. While the first one sucked bad enough that I didn't even buy a new copy the other day for $7, I think it was a good starting point.

There's always room for growth, but the companies to work with have been dwindling. There is a large amount of consolidation in the video game industry right now, so TNA should be moving very quickly to get a new partner in line. With Midway, TNA paid no expense while Midway itself did all the upfront labor and costs. One has to doubt that TNA (now profitable) will get that treatment again.

Speaking of TNA President Dixie Carter and the things she says, Krispy challenges:

"Ms. Carter knew she was manipulating words while remaining "true to fact", a tactic that she often uses. "

Quite a statement. Back it up.

Have you not read the Journal when an interview with Ms. Carter is covered? Let's do a small sampling:

In Issue #102 Ms. Carter had TNA's audience grow from 30% higher to 200% higher in the same week. In that same issue, she also said that she "booked" wrestling shows while in college, inferring that she actually "booked" them in the traditional wrestling sense. Upon further investigation it was learned that she actually just did advertising for shows.

In Issue #93, Ms. Carter said that TNA was the industry leader because TNA was pro-wrestling while the WWE was entertainment in general. In that same issue, she said she wanted everyone ratings to go up at the same time she put over how iMPACT was beating ECW. The 90% driving force behind iMPACT beating ECW in the ratings was because ECW's ratings dropped, not the increase from iMPACT. She also said SmackDown was "in striking distance" and this, too, was because of SmackDown's shrinking ratings, not iMPACT's growth.

In Issue #88 Ms. Carter put all the blame of the "Denver Fiasco" on the WWE and tried to take advantage of it by saying TNA would support the fans in those areas. She pretended the TNA shows coming to Colorado were in the same area for a press release when many of them were hours away.

In Issue #85 Ms. Carter said the WWE having a "family friendly" image helps them as a whole, while at the same time presenting her product totally differently.

In Issue #80, when asked about Vince McMahon's comments on her organization Ms. Carter stated that she was glad Mr. McMahon watches iMPACT.

In Issue #70 Ms. Carter said she wanted to keep TNA shows having an intimate feel but was booking 12,000 seat arenas in the UK. Also, she used unfair comparison to make TNA's ratings in the UK look better by comparing TNA's first airing during prime time on a free station to WWE's 2am live airing on a premium station.

In Issue #69, while testifying to Congress Ms. Carter in the same paragraph said the company was focused on the 18-34 year old demo and the entire family friendly spectrum. She also said the toys they sold were often for the type of guy like the one from "The 40-Year-Old Virgin". In the same testimony, she said the average age of the audience was 39 while 10-15% of the audience were between 12-17 years old. She also said that her product (in comparison with the WWE's) was more about in-ring product than about storylines, yet in the year following the interview in-ring time decreased in favor of storyline development.

Hope that helps!

And if you want to debate politics and which political party is more corrupt, be sure to chime in to last week's conversation with the rest of the folks.


Plenty more was written, so be sure to take a look. And if you enjoy the Journal, why not bookmark 411mania.com and make it your home page? You can do that by clicking here.




This concludes Issue #105 (Volume 2) of THE HAMILTON AVE JOURNAL. Join us next week as we get ready to ring the bell again.

Till then!