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With the current issues facing Live Nation and Ticketmaster, do you think or know if TKO is watching closely?
I have no inside knowledge but I don’t think that there is any way that they aren’t closely monitoring what is going on there as it has a direct effect on TKO business.
There was talk that WWE would do a PLE in Saudi Arabia in June. Do you think that it will happen?
Formula 1 just canceled two April races in The Middle East. With the war in Iran ongoing, I think WWE would be insane to even consider running a show in Saudi Arabia in June. The area is just too volatile right now. I also wonder if WrestleMania will take place there next year. Even if The US and Israel get a full surrender from Iran, which I find highly doubtful as their mindset is to die before surrendering to either of those countries, I think attacks from Iranians who lost family members in the war or are “doing it for Allah” will be possible, hell probable, for years to come. We have seen how effectively they use drones over the last two weeks and the more that The US and Israel take away from them, the less that they have to lose by attacking and the more that they have to gain in their philosophy. If I was in charge at TKO I would have a deep concern that Iran or its proxies would look to make a big impact by talking out an American institution, which WWE and WrestleMania are. It’s a very ugly situation, obviously. It could change, but right now it’s really ugly.
I am glad Road Dogg quit. On Unreal, he had no answer to a basic question of, “So if we put the belt back on Chelsea, who’s she going to work with?” If Road Dogg did not realize Chelsea would be working the same talent again, he’s part of the problem of repetitive WWE booking. What RD should’ve asked was, “Why can’t Chelsea beat Alexa or Tiffany Stratton in a 2nd U.S. Title run?” That’s what diehard fans want to know! Your thoughts?
Road Dogg did not come across well there, for sure. I think it also points to a bigger problem, that too many in people in WWE make up their minds about things and aren’t willing to adjust. Chelsea is the perfect case in point. They saw her as a comedy character. She was/is great in that role. But that doesn’t mean she can’t go to the next level. She’s a great in-ring wrestler and the people are behind her. To me, it’s insane just keep her in a predetermined slot and not see how high she could go if she was given the chance. So, I am not glad Dogg quit but I wish more people with power there would change the way they look at some of the talents.
For the Cena/Rock match at WM 28, those competitors were 34 and 39, respectively. For WM 42, all four competitors in man events are over 40. Are we headed into a problem of making new stars? Or is this a byproduct of injuries and they had to run with the best possible card to sell tickets?
I think it’s a bit of a unique situation. CM Punk was away for a decade, so once they got him back he had to be at the top of the card. Cody Rhodes had to go away as a mid-carder to come back at the top. Roman Reigns is the man who got them on ESPN and Netflix, so you push him on big shows. And, Randy Orton is Randy Orton. With that said, new stars need to be built for the future and they have started doing that. I could see Bron Breakker, Trick Williams, Oba Femi and Jacob Fatu, among others, filling the void as we go forward. I do think Paul Levesque is looking to the future, but this year the older talent filled slots and let’s be honest, had a better chance of selling more tickets in his mind and since neither night is over 40,000 tickets yet, that is a focus for him.
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