RIP House Shows

[Jack-Hammer]

There are a number of reports about stating that WWE is going to be making big changes to its touring schedule. According to what I've read, WWE intends to stop doing house shows even when the Coronavirus pandemic is gotten under control. This decision comes about due to WWE raking in record profits and revenue this year despite the lack of touring. According to the third quarter financial report, WWE has pulled in in excess of $750 million in revenue and looks to do at least equal the roughly $950 million it pulled in last year.

One of the reasons for the change, allegedly, is WWE viewed house shows as a way of moving merchandise but orders of merch from WWE's website are said to have skyrocketed over the course of this year. Also, during the past year or two, house show attendance had been going down and there were some instances in which it cost WWE money to put on the shows instead of making them money.

I'm assuming WWE will still hold Raw and SmackDown in front of live audiences once the pandemic has gotten under control, same for NXT, but I haven't read anything about that though it seems logical.

If all this pans out, then the days of WWE talent being on the road 270 to 300 days out of the year are over and they'll be working 4 or 5 days a month most of the time. I wouldn't be surprised, however, if WWE does do occasional house shows in certain areas, like New York, Chicago or Los Angeles, though I'm also guessing this will put an end to international touring as well but that's just me guessing.

One potential problem, however, is that some of the lesser paid WWE wrestlers counted on house shows for additional revenue and as we all know by now, WWE is tightening up when it comes to talents earning additional revenue outside of the company. Zelina Vega was released due to her stance and refusal to give up her Twitch account and it's hard to blame her considering she was making as much, if not more money, with her Twitch account as she was via her WWE contract. I remember reading an story in which Paige said she was making over $100,000 a month via Twitch so it's hard to walk away from that.

[Alex]

For years people have said that WWE have done to many house shows and that's why wrestlers ended up burned out, hurt or having drug and alcohol problems so in regards to that its a good thing. But people will probably complain because it affects lower tier talent.

Regarding the lower tier talent not getting any additional income because of this I'm assuming that's what the supposed Twitch negotiation WWE is having may come to be lower tier talent working matches online or doing a video game session etc, allowing them to make some sort of additional income. Heck WWE could put it on YouTube or the network.

I highly doubt they'll stop touring altogether. There's something about live events that get people hyped up more than watching on a screen and WWE would be all in on that (see why Brock probably hasn't returned etc) But definitely see them doing a much reduced touring schedule and maybe incorporating the live events into specials. e.g. I could see them doing a Raw/Smackdown in the UK and then also recording a live special for the Network while they're at it.

[Storm Trooper]

I know a lot of people back in the day said that they wanted to work because you don't get better by not working. As such I doubt they'll eradicate live events entirely. They will likely reduce them though. I would think they'll run like one house show a week, in a major city relatively close to where they're doing TV. International tours will also likely still happen at the same rate, or even more.

If they don't do live events they won't ever get to a lot of towns. I see them doing the 2 TV shows, and each roster doing one live event a week. That's 4 dates a week (5 with PPVs). At that point you limit yourself to the bigger metropolis's, which is much easier for travel purposes.


Ideally my thought process would be the following:
Monday: RAW TV
Tuesday: RAW house show,
Thursday: SmackDown House Show
Friday: Smackdown TV

NXT will likely run similarly to what they were doing with occasional weekend live event tours and then the Florida loop for the non-television performers.

[Stone Cold Tea]

This seems like a good move for the well being and longetivity of the talent. On the flipside though I have heard talent say that taking regular bumps helps condition you to the grind so maybe it will have an adverse effect.

In terms of lower tier talent missing out financially, I doubt they will lose out on much if anything at all. The lower tier talent wont be on the marquee so they wont be the draw and they get a downside guarantee.

Now it is sad they're going as we hear some great stories from the wrestler regarding these tours.

Austin vs 'Taker in Kuwait. 'Taker flips his head up and tells his eyes in the back of his head. This cracks Austin up which in turn cracks 'Taker up

The Peoples Elbow was born at a house show.

Dead man 'Taker hypes the shit out the crowd in a tag match. Seriously, check it out.