News from Prag’s Place 11.18.10: Second and Final Edition

News from Prag’s Place
By JP Prag

Issue #2

Intro

Hi everybody! Welcome to News from Prag’s Place for the second and last time. Here’s a little fun fact (and Hidden Highlight) for you: The Hamilton Ave Journal was not my first foray into the news column writing world as waaaaaaay back on December 4, 2005 I filled in for Steve Cook for a week. I know some of you weren’t even alive then, but I thought it would bring some perspective in how long I’ve been doing this. More on all of that later. For now, let’s get on with the Hidden Highlights!

Hidden Highlights are about the little things that make the product great. They are about showing the positive motions all those involved in wrestling do to make a better show. The Miz may hold his opponents hands down to make a pin attempt better. Charles Robinson may let a little tear shed from his eye every time someone mentions Ric Flair. Mike Tenay may tell you about the 17 year history of a visiting wrestler and make them sound huge in one sentence. These are all examples of little things that make the product far better.

For 201 weeks, this article spotlighted the top Hidden Highlights around the wrestling world, whether they be from television, the past, small shows, tapes, or the indy scene.

What did I see in the past week? Well, here are a few:

(5) TNA iMPACT: Be a gentleman!

JP: On TNA iMPACT last week, new X-Division Champion Robbie E and Cookie made their way down to ring to have a mixed tag match with Jay Lethal and “Evil Clown” Taylor Wilde. As the Shore duo was getting in the ring, they were arguing the whole way. Mike Tenay and Taz thought it was because Cookie did not want to wrestle, being that she had “no experience”, which was part of the equation. However, when they got to the ropes you could just make out Cookie demanding Robbie E hold open the ropes for her. Of course Cookie would expect her boyfriend to be a gentleman despite all of the evidence to the contrary, playing perfectly to her character. To top it all off, Robbie E responded with exactly what his character would say: “No way, bro!”

Say what you will about the Shore gimmick, these two do all of the little touches to make the characters as believable as possible.

(4) TNA iMPACT: Feeling the future

JP: Later in the evening on iMPACT, Television Champion AJ Styles was defending his title against Stevie Richards (still wearing his Dr. Stevie RX-tights). We all know how the match ended with that disgusting bump on Stevie’s legitimately fused neck. However, the entire match had a great bit by Stevie throughout. After hitting high impact moves that caused a ricochet, Stevie would hold the back of his neck. Those little reminders let everyone know that (a) Stevie has existing neck problems, (b) AJ Styles said he was going for Stevie’s neck, and (c) it foreshadowed the end of the match.

(3) WWE SmackDown: One last shot

JP: Over on SmackDown, David Otunga fought for his position within Nexus in a lumberjack match against Edge. As would happen, he was able to win that match with a little assistance by Kane. After winning the match, his Nexus brethren quickly pulled Otunga out of the ring to make the quick escape. But they were not quick enough as Finlay, MVP, and Rey Mysterio all tried to take a quick punch or kick at the Nexus. Nice work by those three for not just standing there looking silly and actually reacting to the moment.

(2) WWE RAW: Not getting through here

JP: In your main event of the evening for Old School RAW, United States Champion Daniel Bryan defeated former World Heavyweight Champion Jack Swagger. To get the win, Bryan ended up hitting Swagger with a roundhouse kick to the back of the head. But did you catch what he did after that? Instead of just going for a cover, Bryan dove to the other side of Swagger, locked Swagger’s arm in place, and used his (Bryan’s) entire body as a barricade between Swagger and the ropes. That was quick thinking on Daniel Bryan’s part to make sure Swagger wouldn’t be able to reach the ropes no matter what.

(1) WWE RAW: Hear me?

JP: No issue of Hidden Highlights would be complete with a nod to the hard working production crews and everything they do to make the shows better looking and more enjoyable. And there were so many things the crews did to make the show look “Old School”, from the logos to the ring ropes to the classic barricades to the folding chairs at the announce table, but there was one that really got to me. You may have noticed that everyone was using older style metal-head microphones throughout the night instead of the modern ones that have a foam filter on them. While the look was one thing, the sound was something totally else. These microphones not only appeared to work in the old style, but there were a few that actually did. Specifically, when Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler were standing up and talking at ringside, they were using a microphone that had a tinnier sound that picked up a log of ambient noise. That’s right: the production crew went so far as to replicate the sound of the past to create the authenticity. Now that is paying attention to the details!

Commentator With Hidden Highlights wrapped up, it’s now time to move on to the news with…

The Hamilton Ave Journal was the only wrestling news report focused solely on the business of wrestling. For 163 weeks, the Journal not only looked at the stories that are important to the investor and business-minded person, but also delved deeper into stories that most fans of wrestling would overlook. That is because the Journal was about getting the heart of the matters that affect the companies and outlooks of the wrestling world.

TOP STORY: WWE Year To Date

Last week, the Journal took a look at how the WWE did in their Q3 results compared to last year. But that brings to question just how is the WWE doing year to date? A year-over-year analysis may not always be accurate since certain revenue streams and cost benefits shift during the year, so an overall analysis should smooth out many of those idiosyncrasies.

Total Revenue has dropped 0.8% from $357.9 million to $355.1 million. Despite that, the WWE has done well in controlling costs and gaining more legal benefits resulting in an EBITDA increase of 5.7% from $70.3 million to $74.3 million. After depreciation and amortization those numbers become even better as Operating Income increased 11.0% from $59.3 million to $65.8 million. Although this came from a difference in the depreciation model, it does help increase the WWE’s bottom line results. But how did the WWE get there? Let’s investigate:

The big winners from Revenue side came in Television, Licensing, and WWE Studios. Television rights fees have already increased nearly $10 million (12.0%) to $91.3 million. This has mostly come from contract raises domestically and internationally as well as additional programming. What has helped as well is that the margin for Television has gone from 38% to 43%. In reality, the cost of producing television only increased 2.8% to $52.2 million, yielding $39.1 million in profit contributions—an increase of 27.4%.

Licensing also took a similar path, helped greatly by the Mattel deal that has gotten he WWE products in stores all around the world while also increasing sale domestically. Revenues increased 7.4% to $39.4 million and yielded a 5.4% increase in the profit contribution to $29.2 million. Why not an equal increase on the bottom line? Well, some areas like the video game contracts have actually raised the licensing costs for the WWE, so the costs of production rose from 25% of revenue to 26%. While a small difference, that 1% does equal out to a couple of million dollars.

WWE Studios’ new strategy looked to be paying off with a revenue increase of 181.6% from $3.8 million to $10.7 million. However, under the old model the WWE did not book revenue until the movies broke even and all of the partners were paid. This led to low revenues, but low costs. Now, the WWE sees almost all of the revenue but has taken on the costs themselves. As such, profit contributions actually dropped 73.0% from $3.7 million to $1.0 million. To be fair, the WWE is still in the adjustment phase of having the two models overlap, so it most likely will be another full year before it is clear just how much WWE Studios is making.

On the other end of the spectrum, traditional areas like Live Events and Venue Merchandise, Pay Per View, Digital Media, and Home Video all took hits at the top line. First up, Live Events and Venue Merchandise dropped 2.2% to $92.7 million. A lot of this has to do with the fact the WWE has thus far run fewer events this year, but there is also a lower attendance figure and a lower per capita spending by those attending. The average ticket prices have increased, though, offsetting those losses. On the other hand, COGS as a percentage of revenue increased from 66% to 70%, meaning that it is costing the WWE more to put on those shows, most likely because of additional advertising. In other words, the WWE is spending more to make less. This has led the way to Live Events and Venue Merchandise being the fourth highest profit contribution area after (1) Television, (2) Pay Per View, and (3) Licensing. Last year the order went (1) Pay Per View, (2) Live Events and Venue Merchandise, (3) Television, and (4) Licensing. This highly demonstrates the shifting strategy at the WWE for their revenue streams.

The former number one Pay Per View dropped 11.5% in revenue from $63.8 million to $56.4 million. Last year the WWE benefitted by the themed PPVs, but this year that has not helped and buyrates have plummeted in the past six months. At the same time the costs to produce those shows has gone up from 42% of revenue to 44% of revenue—another reversing of the trend of cost cutting measures. Those factors together led to profit contribution drop of 15.4% to $31.4 million. While PPV for the WWE is too important to drop right now (20% of profit contributions), it is suffering by large amounts. The longer the WWE denies that the UFC and all other PPV programming is in competition with them, the longer this drop will go on. When it comes to dollars and eyeballs, everything is competition for the WWE.

Digital Media took a 16.2% hit to $18.6 million and Home Video soured 9.3% to $26.3 million. Digital Media saw its costs percentages stay the same resulting in $7.7 million in profit contributions, but Home Video cost percentages rose from 44% to 48%. This yielded a 15.3% drop in profit contributions to $13.8 million. What isn’t clear from this, though, is that the WWE actually books their film credits to their “Other” revenue and cost stream. So even though those film credits were for the production of Home Videos done in the State of Connecticut (as well as the On Demand programming and clips on WWE.com and elsewhere), the Home Video division itself does not see the benefit.

Total Profit Contributions dropped 5.4% to $156.6 million. This drop, however, could have been smaller if costs were kept in line. Profit Contribution as a percentage of revenue dropped from 46% to 44%, reflecting that additional cost. But if Profit Contributions were smaller, how did EBITDA end up being higher? Well, “Selling, General, and Administrative” costs dropped 13.6% from $95.3 million to $82.3 million. That means that the bulk of the WWE’s savings came from cuts in the front office, whether that was supplies or people. SG&A as a percentage of revenue dropped from 27% to 23%, demonstrating that the WWE has successfully used less front end resources in order to generate dollars. That said, those working against Linda McMahon’s campaign would have loved to have had these numbers to demonstrate how the WWE got most of their growth this year by the elimination of jobs and benefits.

Overall, despite hard economic times the WWE is one of the most profitable companies in the world. With an EBITDA margin of 21% (up from 20% in the prior year), the WWE makes a very large return on the revenue they generate. For all intents and purposes, the WWE should be able to remain incredibly strong and powerful for years to come.

That said, there are still issues to contend with. Rising costs in various segments have again hurt potential profits. These costs have not been in the people department, but instead come from advertisement, bureaucracy, and resource shifting. On top of that, the cash generated from operations does not even come close to the amount being paid out in dividends. The WWE is doing a lot of balance sheet games to make the cash available and that is not a good position for the company.

But these are all fixable and not endemic to a broken organization. The WWE has all of the tools, talent, and resources to fix these issues and many more. Right now they are in a transition not just of audience member, but of revenue streams and competition. As such, many areas of the company are going to look bad (PPV) while others will look outstanding (Television and Licensing). In time, this will iron out to a more predictable model until the point comes when they need to change again. So long as the WWE is willing to change, they will have many more millions of dollars to earn.

Newsbites

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

Lucha Libre USA has proved more staying power than expected as the company has put together an action figure line with Playmates, due out before the second season begins.

After Orlando put out notice that they were interested in having a physical WWE Hall of Fame, the WWE has decided to take the idea to the rest of the country. The WWE has now sent out letters to cities (many of which have or are interested in hosting WrestleMania) to let them know that they can put in a bid to host the Hall of Fame. As was noted in the letter, the WWE is looking for a partner in this project who will help offset the costs of building and maintaining the Hall of Fame. Having run unprofitable destination centers before like WWE New York/The World, the WWE would want to make sure that any destination at least breaks even after help from the city. Still, there is no rush as the WWE would not be looking to open such a venue until at least 2012.

Should the Justice Department and FCC approve Comcast’s purchase of 51% of NBC-Universal from General Electric, the WWE looks to have already gained favor. Current USA and SyFy President Bonnie Hammer has already been told that she will add E! and G4 to her direct portfolio. While the merger in general will give the WWE access to more potential cable networks to air their programming on (as the NBC-Universal deal stipulates the WWE can only be on cable stations in the NBC-Universal family unless they want to go to a network or superstation), having Ms. Hammer in charge is a particular boom. Ms. Hammer has been a strong supporter of the WWE and is responsible for the synergies seen between her networks and shows, including having WWE wrestlers guest star on other USA and SyFy programs. After the merger, expect more of the same from Ms. Hammer as well as potential homes for WWE programming.

Former WWE CEO Linda McMahon told the Associated Press that she will not be returning to the company following her unsuccessful bid for Senate. Says Mrs. McMahon:

“It was a wonderful career. I thoroughly loved it. It will always be in my blood, always be a part of me, that’s for sure… But stepping back into an administrative role would just not be the right thing for me now.”

Stenographer: That’s the news for now, so it’s time for one more…

In Defense of…
By JP Prag

Now, perhaps you didn’t read all 64 issues of In Defense Of…? Maybe you didn’t read about Chyna Winning the Intercontinental Championship, Jeff Jarrett, the nWo Split, the European Championship, Jeff Hardy, DDP, Hulk Hogan, the World Heavyweight Championship, Scott Steiner, the Ultimate Warrior, Vince McMahon in the Death of Owen Hart, Larry Zbyszko, Scott Hall, New Jack, the McMahon-Helmsley Era, Mike Awesome Leaving ECW, Sid Vicious, the Undertaker, the Sport of Professional Wrestling, Lex Luger, WCW Thunder, the Brand Extension, Goldberg, Vince not buying out WCW’s contracts, Earl Hebner Screwing Bret Hart, Dusty Rhodes: Head Booker, The Finger Poke of Doom, Kevin Nash, the Elimination Chamber, or even Eric Bischoff. Well, for those new to the concept, this article has a pretty simple premise:

Certain people, events, organizations, and storylines in wrestling history have gotten a bum rap. Some writers have presented overtly critical comments and outright lies as fact, and others have followed suit. Well no more! “In Defense of…” has one reason: to bring the truth to the wrestling fan!

And that’s what I did.

Some dame walked into my office and said…

Officially, In Defense Of… has been on hiatus since August 3, 2006 so I never got to finish off the articles I wanted to do. Below was the plan:

Issue 67-68: The Bushwackers

Issue 69-70: Marty Jannetty

Issue 71: Steve “Mongo” McMichael

Issue 72-74: Sean Waltman

Issue 75: SPECIAL – Different Styles of Pro Wresting

Issue 76-77: Shane Douglas

Issue 78-79: Kane

Issue 80: Coliseum Home Video

Issue 81-83: Vince Russo

Issue 84: Women’s Wrestling

Issue 85-86: Brian Pillman

Issue 87-88: Tito Santana

Issue 89: The Diva Search

Issue 90-91: Billy Gunn / Kip James

Issue 92: The Hardcore Title

Issue 93-94: Bob Holly

Issue 95-99: WCW

Issue 100: SPECIAL – TBD

And there were another fourteen that were accepted and not booked, not to mention dozens of others that were under consideration or not accepted. I hope this is a lesson for theme writers today and the future of how far in advance I was planning things out and how it translated into the work.

The only one I regret not being able to do is the five part WCW one. Growing up a NWA/WCW fan, it saddens me to see how people talk about the promotion today. Of course, 95% of all NWA/WCW fans stopped watching wrestling all together ten years ago (WWE’s rating did not go up when they bought WCW), so I’m the last of a dying breed there as well. Heck, I wrote the first In Defense Of… for Eric Bischoff because there was pretty much nothing but pure WWE smarks left by the time 2005 rolled around and they had no sense of what really transpired in that company. Even today I read people say how Eric Bischoff put WCW out of business. No, Eric Bischoff led the company to their only profitable time in history. When things started to sour, he was sent home and others took over the reins leading to major losses and the eventual backroom deal to sell the company by a former WWE employee who was part of the AOL-Time Warner merger. But you can read all of that in the archives, therefore there is no need to rehash that here.

In any case, what are we going to defend today? Well nothing as these articles take way too long to put together. Instead let’s move into our next segment…

THE GREAT POSITIVITY DEBATE

JP: To remind everyone what this was all about, here’s a man who will not die and the last host of the Great Positivity Debate: Andy Clark!

Ghost of Andy Clark: Holly mackerel kiddies, I am alive!

Ghost of JT: Actually you are a gh—

Real JT: Didn’t I put you in a ghost trap like a year and a half ago?

Ghost of JT: The EPA let me out!

Ghost of Andy Clark: Enough of you two. You haven’t been relevant in years while Andy Clark… WILL… NOT… DIE!!!!

Stenographer: Nobody gets that joke anymore.

Ghost of Andy Clark: And nobody remembers who you are anymore!

Mathew Sforcina: Oh I do. Roooooaaaaarrrrr!

JP: Oh why did I let this gimmick come back in here? Andy, please just tell them what they missed so we can move on to the next thing.

Ghost of Andy Clark: Fine, fine. Here were the (abbreviated) rules to the ten Great Positivity Debates!

• A number of topics were listed
• The response to the topic had to be the most positive thing a side could think up
• The positive response had to be something that side believed in (honor code in effect)
• At the end, the readers voted on who the winner was
• Neither of these two competitors were fighting for who was more positive. Instead, they are fighting over who has more writing skill in the confines of positivity.

And then there was the prize…

Oh wait, there was no prize.

JP: Thanks! I’m pretty sure I’m more loved than Stephen Randle now, but ah well. Randle, with me retiring and Meehan long gone, you really can pretend you are the most positive columnist around here.

Stephen Randle: Yes! I win again!

There were plenty of other things I did like Fact or Fiction, Roundtables, movie reviews, video game reviews, Pro-Wrestling Pilot, Countdown to WrestleMania, live reports, and everything that happened with Midway, TNA, and the iMPACT video game (by far the peak of my “career” as a wrestling journalist). Sadly, we are running short on time and can’t go into all of that, so I want to hear from all of you and see what I can answer.

A lot of you wrote some very nice things that you can rewrite here. Instead, I’m just going to take some of the questions and comments that were just silly.

He’s just taking his 90 days before going to TNA, I know it!
Best wishes in your other pursuits.

Will there be another business writer here?
– Guest#9966

Hahaha, well there was a point when I would have considered working for TNA, but I no longer think I can make effective change there. Check out my comments below to another question for more on that one. As for another business writer, no one in the current crop probably has the complete skill set, but there are always other people out there. Judging by the comments I’ve received in the Journal over the years, I’m not the only businessman who is a wrestling fan. I encourage any of the people who used to comment in the Journal to apply for the job. Writing for 411mania is rewarding in so many ways and worth giving it a shot for at least half a decade.

Retiring before TNA goes out of business I see?!?! I knew you would bail once financial problems hit Dixie, and you have no defense.
– Max

Oh, Max, what proof do you have that TNA is having financial problems? Should they be more profitable? There is no doubt in my mind that they make mistakes every day that cost them long term growth. However, TNA is not in any particular trouble right now outside of the ones they create for themselves. With years of television contracts around the world signed, TNA has a steady source of income even if they had to let go three quarters of their roster and employees.

“The WWE completely revamped their site for the second time this year. TNA? Not so much.”

They probably don’t have that big of budget or staff… GET OVER IT!
– Guest#4107

Here’s an example of someone with no reading comprehension who drives me bonkers. I’m not upset that TNA has not redesigned their site; I’m upset that they don’t bother to update their top selling list more than once every six weeks (at most). And for the last time, it is not because it makes my column look bad or some other nonsense, but the fact that it demonstrates a lack of commitment and focus by the company and destroys a very easy marketing opportunity. Remember when Christian Cage was on the top selling list for three months after he left the company because they refused to do an update? And an update shouldn’t be hard with basic inventory questions that they should be doing anyway. The extra work of subtracting the numbers from one week to the next and ordering them should take all of five minutes, but that five minutes could translate into thousands of dollars for the company. It is these type of small gestures that demonstrate to me where TNA often misses the point as a savvy business. More on that in a minute, though…

Sad to see you go. It was always interesting to ask you question esp. as regards to Marketing Wrestling as a product. It seems like an age has passed 🙂 (you gone, Small gone)

One Final Question would be a multipart question:

A. Is the Wrestling product at the end of a life cycle – shrinking markets (thanks to end of kayfabe, stars retired) or is it just facing another trough in the business cycle?

B. Do you think the Wrestling Channel is a right move for WWE? How much material do they have for Organic programming?

C. I want to see them succeed but can you give us your thoughts on TNA both from a fan’s perspective and from a business perspective. (FYI I don’t find them lean at all anymore)

I know a lot of questions but your last article thing caught all of us off guard… didnt expect this!

Well have fun in whatever you are pursuing! You have a very sound biz brain 🙂
– IndianGuy

It should feel like an age has passed as because Small and I were the last of our generation. Believe me, knowing about Small’s impending retirement for two years weighed pretty heavily on me. Seeing all the others like Meehan go, as well, took their toll on my psyche before I realized that I needed to leave as well.

As for your questions:

A. Wrestling is not dying, just changing. Kayfabe has been dead for fifteen years and yet wrestling had its largest audience ever during the peak of the Attitude Era/nWo and is in its most profitable period ever now. As the world grows smaller, North America will become a smaller part of the total picture and the rest of the world will eventually outpace it. North American is pretty much saturated for now so the only place to grow is everywhere else, especially China and India. This is a time of transition and wrestling will find its balance again. If there is money to be made, wrestling will exist. And if there is anything the Journal has shown is that there is a lot of money to make!

B. With over 75,000 hour of tape on hand, the WWE certainly has more than enough content to fill a wrestling channel. There are only 8,760 hours in a year and that wouldn’t even cover Nitro and Thunder if they ran back-to-back. You must remember how channels make money nowadays. Cable companies pay a station a pre subscriber fee to have the channel, and that is the cost that is passed on to consumers. Commercials are just dollars stations make on top of that to cover production costs. Stations like ESPN change a large premium at $4.08 per subscriber. The lowest end comes in at $0.01-0.02 per subscriber. There are about 98.8 million cable, satellite, and other digital subscribers in the United States alone. At even just $0.05 a subscriber (which is what CSPAN, LOGO, and VH1 Soul charge) we are talking about nearly $5 million. Let’s say the WWE is more in line with the Game Show Network which brings in $0.12 a subscriber. At that amount, the WWE is looking at nearly $12 million. Since the WWE is just sitting on this film, doing anything with it is worth more than nothing, and $12 million is quite a bit of something that really will not cost them that much.

What is interesting, though, is that the pay television industry lost subscribers for the first time ever in Q3. In Q2, cable lost but satellite and other companies gained, so it was overall a net up (though it was the first time cable lost). But in Q3 cable shed far more viewers than satellite and other companies picked up resulting in a net loss of subscribers of over 200,000. This is the first indication that people are leaving television and moving on to a purely internet and subscription (re: Netflix) related model. While the death of television is still at least a generation or two away, this is officially the turning point. As such, over time the WWE would most likely get fewer dollars for just a pure cable network. If they can combine the cable network with an additional internet delivery stream, then the WWE could be set up for the long term.

C. Much like you, as a fan I desperately want TNA to be successful and become a true threat. In all honesty, I have never been a hardcore WWE fan as I grew up watching NWA/WCW. I have enjoyed the WWE at various points, but I don’t have the connection to the Attitude Era and guys like Steve Austin and the Rock that other people do. Because of that, I want my NWA/WCW-style of wrestling from TNA, but they have not been able to deliver in a long time.

About a year before Eric Bischoff came to TNA, he said he would not go there because the company lacked a unique value proposition. That is, what makes TNA different that you would want to watch it? How does it differentiate itself from the competition? This is a view I full hearted agree with. TNA used to have unique value proposition as they were the place to see excellent wrestling that was taken seriously.

My favorite era of TNA was on Fox Sports Net when they did things like the Fox Box that counted down the time remaining in a match; declaring every match had to have a winner, even by decision; making titles change hands on DQ; making a cage match not have an escape rule; and plenty more. TNA made their product different by having their own set of rules and presenting a very different way of viewing wrestling compared to the WWE’s cartoon. And let’s be honest—even the Attitude Era was a bunch of cartoons, they were just teenage cartoons.

That image of wrestling all changed with the move to Spike and continues to be more cookie cutter today. I challenge Eric Bischoff to tell me what is so unique about TNA now because he has not made that vision happen. While I enjoy how they have changed backstage segments to the ReACTION-style dirty cameras, they still do so many silly things. For instance, this whole Winter as a ghost in a mirror (which I didn’t enjoy it when WCW did it with Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior) or Abyss kidnapping someone and branding them with no repercussions drives me insane. I would love to see TNA go for the more sports/realistic side and present the product in a truly different way.

But that is endemic to the culture there. It starts right at the top of the company with how it is organized. Above I mentioned that I would not want to go work for TNA because I do not think I can make effective change there. That is because the company refuses to follow a simple rule of picking a few effective strategies and implementing them fully. Instead, they are trying to do about four thousand different things and doing all of them mediocre at best. Direction changes so quickly in the company that is impossible to make anything happen.

TNA should be a lean, mean organization that is blazing not only a new way to present professional wrestling, but a new way of making a profit model. While they have effectively done so by accident with television rights fees, they have not abandoned the traditional pieces of the model that simply do not work for them. Instead, they emulate the WWE and try to grow in the same categories as that company. They are not the WWE and will not be so. Instead, TNA should be looking to create profitability in any way that works for TNA. Forget what the WWE does; do what makes TNA work!

The organization as a whole, though, is completely top heavy. There are far too many executives for an organization of TNA’s size and it creates a bureaucracy that slows them down. As a public company, the WWE is required to have many of their positions for need of public reporting. They are also managing nearly $500 million in revenue and that does require more heads (though not all of the C-level, SVP-level, VP-level people that company has, either). TNA, on the other hand, has seemed to create positions not out of need, but out the sheer fact that they can get certain individuals.

The same can be said for how they sign on talent. There are nearly 65 people on the active roster and that is far too many for a company that has two hours of wrestling television a week (three if you count Xplosion). If TNA limited their roster count to a more reasonable number like 45 or 50 they could then pay their talent more. Since the wrestlers are the revenue generators, they should be getting a fair share of the revenue they help bring in. Instead, so much of that money gets sucked into TNA’s unnecessary bureaucracy and paying executives and excessive front office.

Now, I am not against signing older talent. People like Hulk Hogan do open up doors as advertisers and distributers are more likely to talk to you if you have a name they know. As an ambassador, Hulk Hogan can provide value to the organization. On the same, end, older guys that can still wrestle well enough like Sting and Jeff Jarrett can be fine, but only if they are mixing with younger talent and helping to elevate them. Why would I want to watch Mick Foley vs. Kevin Nash in 2010? There is a role for veteran talent, but TNA does not know how to implement that role. More than that, they need to learn how to pass on talent and say no because the quota is full. Bobby Lashley never should have been signed to the company just because he was available. And as much as I personally love Booker T, there was no need for him to come to TNA when he did because they were already full of top level veteran talent.

TNA does not help the situation in how they present their product to the world. While names like Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan open doors, that does not mean they need to be the only names on a press release. How hard is it to say, “Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Mick Foley, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Beer Money, and more!” Instead, these press releases are ending just with the older names. I get it; the older names help draw interest. But what is stopping TNA from pairing those names with newer names on their press releases, advertisements, and matches so that people become familiar with them? If you keep saying “Hulk Hogan and AJ Style” eventually AJ Styles becomes a name you expect to hear alongside Hulk Hogan.

I’m not saying any of these things will happen immediately. They all take a good amount of time, but TNA refuses to have patience. If something does not work in just a couple of weeks it is often scrapped for the next thing. TNA President Dixie Carter said when she brought on Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan that the company was going for broke. They were either going to grow tremendously in the next year or two or fall apart. That, to me, is a terrible strategy for long term grown. While in the short term TNA has gained in many areas, most are not replicable over even three years, nonetheless ten.

Much like Paul Heyman, I’d want an extreme level of control over TNA’s direction. The company needs cuts top to bottom. The objective should be profitability and making sure your revenue generators (re: wrestlers) and key office employees are making a fair living. Instead, TNA focuses on figures that do not equate to profitability: ratings, number of shows, revenue from anywhere. TNA needs to do some serious managerial accounting (allocation of overhead costs to revenue streams) to see what is actually profitable. Eliminating non- and low-profit streams and expanding high-profit ones will yield a company with a greater long term health perspective.

Will that mean fewer viewers? Yes it will, and that is something I am more willing to accept than TNA. TNA thinks they have to have every potential fan in order to be successful. I believe success can be achieved with the goals I stated above with lower revenues, greater margins, and an acceptance of where you are in the world.

TNA’s path as a company does lead to a type of success which makes them hard to argue with. TNA is profitable today so why would they listen to this? The bottom line is what I consider a success and what TNA does are completely disparate, and as such how their company is run perturbs me on a regular basis.

Thanks for your hard work JP!!!

I’m just curious as to why so many fans bemoan WWE going PG. I’m of the opinion wrestling can still be done well in a PG format. After all, it’s been done well in the past.

I do however think the quality of WWE programming over the last 2-3 years can be directly attributed to Linda’s senate run and the fear that the slightest mistep (Daniel Bryan, accidental blood) would be used against her campaign.

The campaign strategy of fending off Attitude Era attacks by saying that was years ago, offers proof that WWE was stridently trying to avoid controversy.

If I’m wrong, then that means WWE has not been handcuffed by politics, which means this is actually the best they have to offer, which means WWE seems very likely to continue a severe downward trend.
– Ronnie

One thing I’ve always wanted to know was why Mattel would have any power over the WWE being PG.

They should have no power since 1) they have a contract that I am sure would be very expensive to break because they don’t like the content, and 2) there’d be a ton of companies who would JUMP on the contract.

So, is the Mattel excuse for TV-PG just that, an excuse, by the apologists? I’m not saying there aren’t good reasons to be PG, I’m just saying I can’t see how Mattel can have any power over it.
– Jimbo

Mattell made action figures for the Dark Knight movie…refresh my memory – was that PG?
– No

I am of the opinion that anything can be done well in PG or even G format. The first Shrek is the perfect example where it worked on one layer for kids and entirely different layer for adults. As an avid reader, I’ve been through books made hundreds of years ago that would be considered PG by today’s standards (although some were XXX by the standards of those days) and yet are considered great works of art and literature. You can have successful storytelling and displaying of athletic ability in any rating environment.

The WWE just has poor storytelling and characterization, which is not something new. They are in the same rut creatively today as they were in 2005 and as they were in 2000 before that. As mentioned above, even 1998 WWE really did not do it for me, but obviously a lot of people enjoyed it. What’s really funny is at that time the WWE was doing advertisements to prove how edgy and modern they were compared to their “for children” shows of the past. When the WWE finds something that works, they stick with the formula forever until they are forced to change.

At the end of the day, WWE PG is a cycle. The company realized that their audience was aging and going away. To advertisers, the 35+ crowd is not that interesting. As a business, the WWE needed a way to bring down the average age of their audience while creating a group of people for the future. When the kids of today become teenagers, the WWE will change to meet their tastes and say they’ve grown up again.

TV-PG is about one thing: money. There is money to be made today by catering to children instead of adults and there are better advertisers and corporate partners to be had. At some point in time that will change and so will the WWE. Being PG has not hampered them creatively; being creatively bankrupt has done that all on its own.

It’s not that Mattel has power over the WWE, it’s that the WWE wants to use Mattel to make more money. Look at the licensing figures from this week and last week: Mattel is bringing a ton of money into the company while video games and home videos are slipping. What’s the difference? The latter two work with the older crowd while Mattel is a gateway to the younger crowd. This deal with Mattel is just part of the greater circle of things that make money through PG content. Mattel doesn’t care about content either, but being PG probably makes it easier as they don’t have to answer hard questions like how they can support the WWE; the same way the WWE doesn’t have to answer hard questions like how they can support Mattel’s labor in China making their figures.

Good luck JP.

One more parting question. Any chance you could review the top advertisers with WWE during its various periods. I think it would provide an interesting (but simple) way of understanding who the WWE is targeting as far as sponsors (or more importantly, which ones were the only ones who wanted to partner with the WWE).
– SpankyHamm

That is a research project unto itself. Let’s just say they’ve been much happier with their current advertisers and how much they are willing to pay.

What a shame and a surprise. I can only guess that the criticism and constant trolling finally got to the guy. I mean why bother?

Bye JP, it’s been fun.
– Sam Q

Well, those were not the primary reasons, but they did weigh in on my decision. As a successful adult with a career, home, and life it is hard to take too much criticism from twelve year olds with the grammar and cognitive skills of two year olds. Nevertheless, that only got to me from time to time. People telling me I’m arrogant and “always have to be right” did get under my skin because they were usually saying it about things I was right about! There were plenty of times I made errors and corrected them or was swayed by someone else’s argument, but I’m not going to admit that TNA will be dead in a year or that if the WWE had only four PPVs a year that everything would be fine. The numbers do not support such notions and that means neither do I. Business is a complex set of variables and I look at pictures in the whole, not believing one small change will suddenly make everything perfect.

The real bottom line is that I’ve said what I’ve needed to say. As conceited as this sounds, I am artist and an entrepreneur so I always need to be creating something new. The past half year this article has felt less like I was creating something new and more like something I did from wrought. Writing here has stopped being a unique expression and has instead become a habit or a job I do. How many times are we going to go through the same subjects of TNA not focusing on the details of their organization, the WWE PPV model, how TV-PG affects the profit margins, etc, etc, etc…. In other words, it is no longer that much fun and is just work.

The other part is I do have a life of my own and I now feel this is interfering with that. A lot has changed for me personally and professionally in the last year and a half and I have decided I want to dedicate this time to other pursuits. And while this will most likely mean watching less wrestling and slowly detaching myself from the everyday news here, I think this is an important part of my cycle in life.

Will Cook be taking over Thursday’s too?
– Jai ho

Funny you should ask because I offered Cook the Thursday slot. He said:

I’m getting enough feedback questioning my sanity already. If I did that, somebody would probably have me committed.

While it’s fun hearing from the readers, my colleagues here have meant a great deal to me as well. So here’s what some of them had to say:

Dear 411 readers,

I have been JP Prag all these years.

Love,

Larry Csonka

PS: Fooled You!
– Larry Csonka

Like I’d be caught dead being a Steelers fan. Ugh! I’ve spent a great deal of time out in Oxford, OH where Ben Roethlisberger went to school (Miami University) and he is a God in that town. Being in Pittsburgh is bad enough, especially after the Steelers won the SuperBowl, but Oxford is another story all together. Go Pats!

Suuuuuuwerrrrve!
– Nick Bazar

That’s right, I drove the hummer!

Is that the guy that did Hidden Highlights? Man, I loved that column. And I always used to get my reader write-in highlights featured whenever I’d submit them. So simply for including me, thanks JP. I really miss HH and still to this day, it’s made me watch wrestling a little differently (in a good way). On my recently developed ~DRAGON RATING SCALE~, I can safely say that Hidden Highlights got at over 4 Dragons.

Thanks for all your contributions to 411 over the years and….sigh…I wish you the best in all future endeavors.
– Michael “Why Didn’t You Include Super Dragon???” Ornelas

If you really missed Hidden Highlights, you’d know I never allowed them to be abbreviated as HH. It’s all about branding, baby! But in all honesty, I do realize that Hidden Highlights changed how many people watched wrestling and I hope it become endemic and continues to be spread.

Oh what the hell. Seriously, I feel old already, everyone’s leaving, now you too? Dammit all to hell, am I gonna have to leave now too?

…

NO! I WILL NOT GO QUIETLY INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT!!! SCREW YOU ALL!!!
– Mathew “Massive Q” “Why do I only have one ‘T’ in my first name?” “How the hell do you pronounce my last name?” Sforcina

You should feel old since you were an inspiration for me when I began writing In Defense Of…. The idea of an in depth, multi-part article that could be entertaining and consistently stick to a theme helped me become the writer I am today, so I have to thank you. Of course, you have taken time off which probably helped your longevity in the long run (although Ask411 should have countered all of that by now). Either way you and Cook are the last of that generation and I am the last of mine.

Who the fuck is JP Prag?
– Scott Slimmer

The guy who had to listen to Small in the real world lay out his plots against you! Readers, if you thought reading Small and Slimmer was painful enough, imagine hearing about the planning stages of it from the man himself.

What’s that? You have more to say? Slimmer, with more words? Never! Readers, I want you to know Slimmer’s late recantation required me to make huge cuts to other parts of the article to make room for this.

I was going to take the low road. I was going to let this moment pass with nothing more than a flippant quip that only a small handful of people might find amusing. And so when JP asked for contributions to this final edition of the Hamilton Ave Journal, I merely replied with one simple question. “Who the fuck is JP Prag?” It was terse, pithy, and totally unsuitable for an occasion such as this. And so I realized that I couldn’t let JP ride off into the sunset without contributing my true last thoughts on one of my favorite writers.

JP Prag has been writing for 411Mania for more than five years. That alone is an accomplishment that should be commended. But the real story of JP’s tenure at 411 is told in the three columns that define his legacy: In Defense Of…, Hidden Highlights, and The Hamilton Ave Journal. As I began to think about these three seemingly disparate columns, I realized that in many ways they are more similar than they are different. In fact, there are two cohesive threads that run through virtually every word that JP has ever written for this site.

The first tie that will forever bind these three columns together is that JP Prag was the only man (or, in the case of Hidden Highlights, half of the only team) that ever could have written them. Live Reports and Wrestler of the Week and Fact or Fiction and Ask 411 are great columns, but they take on a life and an identity that outlast individual writers. Extremely talented and supremely dedicated writers have contributed to those sorts of columns, but those columns can all be handed down from one generation of writers to the next. The same simply cannot be said of In Defense Of…, Hidden Highlights, and The Hamilton Ave Journal. These were columns that were defined by JP’s unique talent and distinctive point of view. These were extremely popular columns that simply could not be handed to any other writer, because no other writer could possibly raise them to the heights that JP had. And so by writing those three columns, JP didn’t just fill space and generate hits. He carved out his own unique legacy by simply being himself.

And that brings us to the second constant throughout JP’s work. In every column that JP has ever written, he consistently challenged us to look at professional wrestling in a new way. In Defense Of… made us reconsider some if the most controversial wrestlers, matches, and moments in the history of the industry. The IWC is notoriously for making snap judgments and then dogmatically refusing to budge, but In Defense Of… was never afraid to raise the questions that the rest of us had long since stopped asking. Hidden Highlights made us open our eyes and appreciate all of the details that make professional wrestling so enjoyable. We fans of professional wrestling often tend to dwell on the perceived negatives in the industry, but Hidden Highlights consistently reminded us to appreciate the talent, dedication, intelligence, and skill that we see each week. The Hamilton Ave Journal took an entirely new approach to reporting wrestling news. Professional wrestling is entertainment, art, and business, and The Hamilton Ave Journal continually helped us form a more complete and educated view of the business.

The bottom line is that anyone who read JP’s work was forced to wake up and actually think about professional wrestling. It’s easy to be a lazy fan. It’s easy to watch week after week of programming and simply let it all flow together into a blurry haze. But JP never wanted us to take the easy way out. He never wanted us to simply use professional wrestling as a way to burn time. He wanted us to actually process what we saw, to actually evaluate what we watched, and to actually form our own opinions of the industry. JP forced us to find new ways to appreciate professional wrestling, and in the process he allowed us to remember why we love professional wrestling.

JP, you and I don’t know each other very well. We’ve both written for this site for more than five years, and I’m pretty sure that we’ve never even exchanged emails. But despite your somewhat questionable choice in friends, I’ve always respected you and your work to the highest degree. You’ve made me a more thoughtful, more respectful, and more passionate fan of the industry that I love. We’ll miss you.

Damn, now I almost feel bad again. Someone cheer me up with something ridiculous and stupid.

For a little while, JP had the toughest job with 411 wrestling, running the Year End Awards. It’s a thankless job, that involves more yelling at people and pleading for people to meet deadlines than any other spot on the site has. I’ve come to know this from when I took over the awards last year, as will the next person after I hand it off down the line. $11 will miss his sense of humor and dedication.
– Michael Bauer

Ummmmm… that was JT, not me. Thanks for knowing who I am!

Unfortunately, I don’t have anything funny to say. This has been one of my favorite columns for a while. JP offers insight into a different side of the wrestling business–the business side. It is a phenomenal column that I looked forward to each week.

I don’t have much to add to your retirement, either. Tell you what, you pick the “&1” model of the week for the next 5&1. Anyone you want.

You’ll be missed. Was it something I said?
– Greg DeMarco

Hmmmm… this is a tough one. I’ve always liked Gail Kim, but she has lost a lot of luster in her latest WWE run. Maryse is nice, but I’ve seen all of her pictures already (and I do mean all!). Alicia Fox is very hot when she is doing her skip around the ring thing, and Layla El is amazing both in looks and in Hidden Highlights.

Can I use this opportunity to say I do not find Angelina Love that attractive? While the excessive makeup just does not do it for me, it is really about how she climbs over the second rope. She is a cold fish and going through the motions, not actually enjoying it. Velvet Sky makes love to the middle rope and it makes a huge difference. Angelina Love may be a far better wrestler, but Velvet Sky holds my attention because of her passion.

Anyway, can I pick the Jumping Bomb Angels? Kidding… maybe. Let’s go with a modern wrestler that we have not seen in a while: Daffney!

When I started reading 411mania around 2005, one of the columns I would regularly read was “In Defense Of”. I thought it was a great concept and was one of reasons I became a 411 “addict”, and eventually a writer. JP Prag has always delivered 100% on everything he writes, and the site will be a little less intelligent with him leaving.

Of course, the whole “Hamilton Avenue Journal” undid all the good will. Who cares about “BUSINESS?” IT’S STILL REAL TO ME DAMMIT!

….

But no, seriously, the first paragraph is more important. We’ll miss you JP. I think, in many ways, you were 411’s true “hidden highlight”.
– Aaron Hubbard

Awwww… you make me want to unretired… until I read that second paragraph again.

For a long time, I read every news report except the Hamilton Ave Journal. I don’t really care about the business side of wrestling, movies, TV, comics, and everything else I enjoy for fun and entertainment. I’ve always thought it doesn’t really concern me; I’m interested in the content. But, then, one Thursday morning five or six months ago, I was really bored and decided to give it a look in an effort to kill five minutes, and it was a damn good column. I’ve been a regular reader ever since and, now, he’s retiring only a short time after I discovered how good it is. That’s just not fair. Thanks for the quality writing, JP.
– Chad Nevett

That was like the guy who wrote in on my last week of Hidden Highlights who said he just discovered the article the prior week. Lucky for you 411mania has an excellent archiving system, so there is years worth of content to catch up on!

JP is the Hidden Highlight of 411Mania.com.
– Ari Berenstein

Well, I would lambast you for being redundant, but I can never turn against a fellow member of the Tribe.

I remember when Young Joseph Percival Prag made his debut with 411wrestling.com. He had this column called “In Defense Of”, where he used typical lawyer nonsense to defend various wrestling personalities against charges. I asked him to do a column on Dusty Rhodes as a booker. If I remember correctly, his main argument was that the Bionic Elbow was pretty cool. Somehow the readers voted that he won the case. Weird stuff.

Then he teamed up with one of my many protégés, Young James Thomlison. They did the Hidden Highlights column, which really did a lot to push the “positivity” trend that swept the IWC a few years back. Thanks to the work of Prag, Thomlison, John Meehan and others, I can’t make fun of anything or anybody in my writing without people whining and complaining that I’m too negative. Thanks a lot, jerks!

After JT got fired for one too many Wellness violations, JP moved on to produce the Hamilton Avenue News Journal, which pioneered the coverage of actual business in wrestling. The great thing about this was that it meant I didn’t have to do any research on stuff like how WWE did in the third quarter, who was suing who over what, or if TNA sold any merchandise. I’d just tell people to read Prag’s column. Now that he’s leaving, I don’t know what I’m going to tell people. Maybe I’ll have them Ask Sforcina.

And now, JP heads off into the quiet night. Seems like that’s been happening a lot lately. Small & Meehan have stepped aside, JD Dunn’s cut back his workrate to dedicate his efforts to the Tea Party movement, and I’ve even heard Greg DeMarco telling people about his big retirement party he’s setting up for late December. Times are a changin’ here at the 411.

JP, good luck in your future endeavors. And should you venture to the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area, perhaps an anti-social shut-in will let you buy him a beer.

What? Dude’s a lawyer and rolling in the dough, you think I’m gonna pay? Hell no.
– Steve Cook

Joseph Percival? Hahaha, that’s a new guess, even for me! But I enjoyed the summary of my life the past five and half years. Accurate until the end I see, Cook. And you all will now be able to enjoy that type of writing twice a week, maybe three times if you ask enough!

Dammit JP, last week, I swore off writing for 411 and already I am back. God, that retirement lasted shorter than Mick Foley’s! Damn you JP, damn you.

I’m just kidding. I really had to write something seeing as how you and I have had many adventures. So I asked myself whether I should talk about our trip to see Lockdown or one of our WrestleMania adventures, or even our behind the scenes look at TNA Impact with the makers from Midway. Nah, I’d rather talk about that time we went to a strip club in Lowell. Then again, I don’t remember anything from that night. You got off easy, JP.

Anyway, I don’t need to write a goodbye to you since I’ll be seeing you at the Rumble. Perhaps I’ll even pay you in advance.
– Jeff Small

How do you not remember anything from that strip club? It was a BYOB strip club and we were not prepared for that one! Who ever heard of a strip club that lost its liquor license? How many sentences in a row can I use the words “strip club” in?

Ah well, I’ll see you in a few weeks. As for the rest of you… stop being such shut-ins!

Was anything else not covered in the sections above?

Well, I just want to thank all of the readers over the past five and half years for coming in with open minds and hopefully learning something or just getting a different perspective. Thanks to Ashish and Larry for hiring me on and giving me a platform to say whatever I’ve wanted to. And thanks to all the writers out there who have been an influence on me or worked with me over time, and the generations that have been spawned from my work.

If it wasn’t for 411mania and writing about wrestling I probably would have given up watching long ago. In 2005 when I came aboard I was actually pretty much done with the product. Being a writer here reinvigorated my love of professional wrestling and I hope that came across in everything I wrote.

What’s next for me and wrestling? I can honestly say that my passion for the product has waned and I now look forward to watching less. While I still love professional wrestling, the things I love about it are harder to find. I’ll most likely still get through RAW and iMPACT most weeks, but that will really be the extent of it.

While the product as a whole doesn’t hold a ton of interest for me right now, there are wrestlers and talent I like to watch and listen to. Off the top of my head, CM Punk, John Morrison (I work with his Uncle), The Miz, Wade Barrett, Alicia Fox, Michael Cole, Edge, Jack Swagger, Layla El, Vickie Guerrero, Josh Matthews, AJ Styles (the nicest guy you will ever meet in person), The Pope, Hernandez (very humble), Beer Money, Kurt Angle, Matt Morgan, RVD, Samoa Joe, Sting, Daffney, Mickie James, Tara, Velvet Sky, Eric Bischoff (sometimes I agree with him, sometimes I despise him, either way I wonder what he is up to), Mike Tenay, SoCal Val, and Taz are all folks I’m interested in following today. In that, there is some hope yet! Overall, though, my attendance and thoughtfulness is going to decrease.

As a reporter, I know it would not be fair to write on a product I’m not fully watching, so that is another reason to leave. Yet of course I’ll be going to big shows when I can make it—like the Royal Rumble that I’m attending with Jeff Small. Unfortunately, I have to miss WrestleMania this year because it kind of overlaps with my brother’s wedding (whoops!), but I think I’ll be back for the following year.

But I digress…

This has been a real blast and I’ve had a great time!

Final Thought

That’s it everyone. No more thoughts as I am officially retired!