The WWE secured a lot of its core talent with new deals this year, as we’ve seen several performers across different companies test the free agent market, which is a very wise move, as it can allow them to maximize their value. Make no mistake about it, making the most money possible is the entire point of the pro wrestling business, and if the circumstances of the industry create an opportunity for a talent to up their asking prices then good for them. I’ll never knock a talent for taking the money on the table, even if the promoter might’ve been foolish enough to overpay what their value is on the market. That’s a management problem, not a talent problem.
Most recently, Daniel Garcia cut a promo on Dynamite that claimed that he was re-signed with All Elite Wrestling, presumably for a long-term deal that he keeps him under the AEW banner for a solid portion of his prime years. The rumor mill online suggested that there was interest from the WWE, although a number wasn’t revealed. However, it was mentioned in reports that Tony Khan offered Garcia a significantly higher amount to stay with his company. Some reports also said that Khan actually overpaid well above Garcia’s perceived value. The same was said about Swerve Strickland when he signed a new deal with the organization a few months ago.
The idea that Swerve would leave a featured spot in All Elite Wrestling for a return to the WWE, a much bigger pond that is well stocked with talent at the moment, wasn’t realistic. Still, Tony probably didn’t want another former AEW talent to surface on WWE television, giving the impression that the talent see a brighter future outside of All Elite so he offered Swerve a hefty amount of cash to remain where he was probably going to stay anyway. On the other hand, Daniel Garcia was seen as a prospect with talent, but wasn’t truly given the chance to run with it so it’s more realistic to expect that he might consider an exit if he saw the opportunity to breakout beyond just the role of a good utility worker. If he would’ve been more than that in WWE or NXT is a different discussion for a different time. Similar to Swerve, Tony probably didn’t want the optics of Garcia choosing to leave the company, based on the success that WWE has right now, while AEW numbers continue to slip on any given week.
However, this is the true difference when it comes to WWE and AEW in the most basic terms, WWE is a money machine, they will sign talent as an investment and then expect a return on that investment through ticket sales, merchandise etc. It’s not a perfect science, but the amount of money that is going to be offered to a talent is usually based on their ability to generate a return on the investment of the contract. It doesn’t matter if the TKO corporation is a media juggernaut worth billions of dollars with billions of dollars in revenue streams. the bottom line is, TKO, as in both the WWE and UFC, got in the position as a dominate conglomerate in the entertainment business because they typical maximized their return on investment.
As we’ve seen in the past few years, money is no object for Tony Khan, and taking into account that All Elite Wrestling is funded by a fraction of his family’s billionaire fortune, revenue and profit aren’t the top priority. The bottom line is, Tony doesn’t need AEW to make money to have financial security, and given the massive amount of wealth that his family’s current commodities generated outside of the pro wrestling industry just last year, his family can continue to fund the wrestling project indefinitely so ultimately, Tony doesn’t truly have to take a return on investment or the bottom line on the page into account for the decisions he makes as the promoter.
Fandom, not business sense, dictates the decisions of All Elite Wrestling.
As the typical disclaimer, yes, Tony is almost unanimously praised as a genuinely nice guy that cares about his roster, but that alone doesn’t make him qualified to be a successful sports entertainment promoter, especially on a national level. Just for the sake of discussion, let’s assume that he overpaid the perceived value of Swerve and Daniel Garcia. The other side of the equation is this simple, how does Tony plan to book Strickland and Garcia in ways that will draw more money for the company than they are paid for each contract? If he can achieve that then he will receive a return on the investment and thus it will be a successful business transaction.
That being said, is Daniel Garcia truly in the position to be a top draw for the company? You can make the argument that Swerve might be a realistic choice because he was already in the main event scene with fan support, but until Tony can book Garcia as a way that will generate numbers, you have to question if it was a wise decision to pay him the rumored amount to sign a new deal?
I mention this because WWE star, Kevin Owens will reportedly see his contract expire soon, and depending on what you read, his status is either unclear or his close to inking a new agreement with WWE. I will preface this by saying that the WWE could offer enough money to anyone that they truly wanted to keep on their roster, that’s one of the many perks of being a part of a massive merger with the UFC. At the same time, as mentioned earlier, there are very few that the WWE would do that for because return on investment is always the key. As a hypothetical, they would be more than willing to let Tony Khan double Randy Orton’s salary for the final few years of his career than make a foolish business decision. Let Randy go make the major money and after the duration of his AEW deal, the WWE can induct him into the Hall of Fame and monetize his value again for the company.
I’m not sure what any of those dynamics mean for Kevin Owens, because as rowdy as he was in Ring Of Honor before he arrived in WWE, he’s always been smart enough to be a businessman. He wasn’t going to get to pile drive someone off a ladder through a table to the floor in WWE, and he was smart enough to know that he would get paid exponentially more cash to work within the WWE environment. While I don’t think Owens truly got his due or opportunity as a main event star in the WWE, often being used in a role to make his opponents look good instead since that’s one of his strengths, the office knows the commodity that he is, it’s no coincidence that he was the performer chosen to work with Stone Cold for the comeback match 19 years after he retired from the ring.
It’s possible that Tony Khan makes Owens an offer he can’t refuse, and it’s well known that Kevin Owens has been friends with The Young Bucks and Adam Cole for several years from their days in PWG. Owens might opt to work a lighter schedule with his friends for a good offer, but at the same time, he also knows that his star power is significantly brighter making comparable money on the stage of the WWE. All things considered, I’d guess that Owens re-signs with WWE, but it will be interesting to see if AEW makes him an offer, which is why competition provides an intriguing aspect to the industry.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
