Tons of WWA news and rumors - Scott Steiner not signing with WWF?
    Submitted by Calvin Martin on Thursday, December 27, 2001 at 2:43 AM EST

    The following news and rumors come from the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter. Subscription information available at http://www.prowrestlingtorch.com

  • Andrew Macmanus, owner of the WWA, wants to promote a minimum of 75 live events in 2002, most of them overseas. Macmanus brings a different business plan to the table than any wrestling promoter in the past. His background is in promoting rock concerts. He signs performing acts, and then sells their concerts to local promoters for a guaranteed fee. The local promoters are in charge of local advertising and they keep anything above and beyond the guarantee paid to Macmanus. They also lose money if they can't at least generate the revenue they paid Macmanus. Macmanus is in a no-risk situation. He wants promoters to make money, though, because they come back for more shows in the future if they do.

  • Macmanus lost a nominal amount of money on the Australia tour this fall, although that included the up front expenses of setting up the wrestling wing of his business (rings, logos, trademarks, etc.). He is expecting to come out ahead when all the numbers from the Europe tour are tallied. Everyone who has worked with Macmanus up to this point say that he runs a smooth operation. Most importantly, his checks clear. He is offering his main event wrestlers guaranteed salaries in the $200,000 range and higher to work 75 dates in 2002, plus a percentage of the PPV revenues generated.

  • Scott Steiner is likely going to sign with the WWA rather than the WWF. Because of his physical condition, he doesn't necessarily know whether his body could handle a full-time WWF schedule. The more limited WWA demands is thus attractive, especially given that he could still make substantial money. Scott Steiner told friends on the WWA tour that he is planning to sign a contract with the promotion. Sources say Steiner has decided that his back and leg injuries wouldn't allow him to work a full-time WWF schedule. He had to heavily tape his foot before every match to keep it from flopping around since he has lost control of it due to nerve damage. Steiner is smaller now than during his WCW days.

  • Jeff Jarrett has been a consistent main eventer for the WWA thus far, and he has taken on an active role in helping Macmanus behind the scenes and recruiting talent. He is considered a lock to be signed with the WWA for at least 2002.

  • Bret Hart, who has been the figure-head commissioner of the WWA, will likely continue that role in 2002. Other free agents available to the WWA include Sting (his AOL-TW will expire on December 31), Lex Luger, Joanie Laurer, Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, and Goldberg. While Luger and Goldberg aren't options due to AOL Time Warner contract issues, the others are all fair game. Odds are against Hogan being part of the tour, but solid possibilities exist that the WWA could entice at least limited appearances from Sting, and Savage - who is already signed for the February 24 PPV from Las Vegas.

  • The WWA will be offering a taped PPV event in early January. In Demand, familiar with Macmanus in part because of the Dennis Rodman PPV experiment, asked if he could provide them with footage from the Australia tour for PPV. In Demand promised to promote the pre-taped show for him. He agreed. Since then, In Demand went back to Macmanus and asked if he'd be interested in promoting a live PPV. In Demand, without WCW and ECW, and with boxing failing to produce a steady stream of revenue, is desperate to fill that lost revenue gap. Unlike past start-up wrestling groups entering the PPV market, the WWA is going to receive unprecedented support from the PPV and cable industries in the form of local ads spots, PPV channel hype, and mailings. In Demand wants leverage with the WWF. Obviously, so does DirecTV, which at this point doesn't offer WWF PPVs due to a contract impasse over revenue splits.

  • Macmanus, who has built relationships with sponsors all over the world for previous tours he has promoted of various entertainment events, plans to aggressively sign sponsors for the Feb. 24 PPV. The WWA hopes that the PPV can draw similar numbers to what UFC has drawn recently, in the 75,000 buys range. The WWA will also be able to generate revenue from the Feb. 24 event beyond the U.S. PPV market. The event can be sold as a PPV in Australia (which is miniscule compared to the U.S.), as a pay-cable-channel special in Europe (on Europe's version of HBO and Showtime), and as a DVD and videotape release featuring top stars not in the WWF.

  • The PPV is not a make or break event for Macmanus, but instead a low risk way to test the marketplace at the urging of In Demand. Even if the PPV flops, he intends to continue to promote a minimum of 75 dates per year overseas with a crew of about 20 wrestlers, most of whom are signed to guaranteed contracts which pay them sustainable full-time salaries. That's the area where he's most familiar, has had the most success, and sees the best chances to make profits over the next several years.

  • Talks have taken place with European TV stations regarding a series of WWA specials next year, also. If a European station negotiates a deal for monthly specials, the WWA may end up taping many of their international tour dates. TV specials in the U.S., and even a weekly TV show, are not out of the question, but they aren't currently part of the Australian promoter's main business plan.

  • If the February 24 live PPV from Las Vegas draws enough buys to show promise, the WWA could end up offering up to eight PPVs in 2002.

  • Macmanus, whose homebase is still in Australia, will be in the U.S. this week (Los Angeles and Florida) to work on securing sponsors for the PPV and upcoming tours. He will return to the U.S. and base himself in Las Vegas in early February to prepare for the PPV.

  • It's possible that at the end of 2002, some wrestlers who work full time for the WWA will make more money than they did in their final year in WCW.

  • One source claims that Clear Channel Communications has invested in the WWA.

  • Macmanus only runs events that are pre-sold, so he never loses money on actual house shows. Unless he overpays talent, he can't lose money using his business plan. His business model, though, could fade out if he runs out of local promoters willing to purchase his events overseas.

  • During the final days of the tour, Macmanus met individually with the talent and offered most one year contracts requiring about 70 dates. Sources say Macmanus asked the wrestlers to sign the contracts within ten days of meeting with them.

  • The wrestlers loved going on the tour because they got to see landmarks in Europe, plus there was a lot of partying. At one point on the tour, Buff Bagwell issued a drinking challenge to anyone. Brian Christopher accepted the challenge. Ten shots later, Bagwell waved the white flag. Twenty minutes later he was puking in the bathroom.

  • The title belts being worn by the WWA Champions were the butt of different jokes. Wrestlers mocked the belt Jeff Jarrett is wearing as the WWA Champion because of its "embarrassing" look. Meanwhile, Juventud Guererra brought the belt he wore while WWA Cruiserweight Champion. The story going around the most recent tour is that Juvi borrowed the belt over six months ago from a promoter in California, but still hasn't returned it. When the word spread, the wrestlers ribbed Juvi by telling him that the promoter had placed a bounty on the belt. Juvi bought into the story and was said to be very protective of the belt for the remainder of the tour.

  • WWA wrestlers were happy that Danny Dominion and Adera did not work the most recent tour. The majority of the wrestlers who worked on the initial tour complained about their attitudes and suggested they were only invited to the tour because of Dominion's friendship with talent coordinator Jeremy Borash. The couple received an equally bad review from XWF wrestlers. At- the XWF TV tapings, Adera offended Dawn Marie by ripping Lita's in-ring ability. Apparently, Dawn and Lita are friends dating back to their days in ECW.

  • Bret Hart was said to be more sociable on the latest tour. "He was a lot cooler this time," one source reports. "He hung out with everyone in the locker room and joked around." Hart brought his daughter with him to the most recent tour.

  • Buff Bagwell's new wife travelled with him on the U.K. tour.

  • Wrestlers could not figure out why the promoter has been taping the majority of the shows. Although there is talk that the events will be released on home video, the problem is that the shows followed the same basic booking format on most nights.

  • NWA Wildside wrestler A.J. Styles was scheduled to appear with Jason Cross on the latest tour. Styles had to back out because he had problems obtaining a visa. A source reports that the government building which was supposed to supply Styles with his visa was closed the day before his scheduled meeting due to an anthrax scare.

  • Another strange story involving Juventud Guererra and a title belt: Some XWF officials are said to be down on Juvi because they believe he attempted to steal the group's cruiserweight title belt. After winning the strap at the group's initial TV tapings, Juvi asked someone in management if he could take the belt home with him so that he could take pictures of it. The management member denied Juvi's request. Minutes later, another XWF worker asked Juvi to hand over the belt, but Juvi claimed he didn't know where it was. Minutes later, the worker found the belt in Juvi's bag. Juvi later claimed that he forgot he put the belt in his bag. "He's a complete mark for title belts," one wrestler said of Juvi.

    Credit: Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter. Subscription information available at http://www.prowrestlingtorch.com


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