Kemo
02-10-2017, 04:43 PM
During Thursday’s fourth-quarter earnings call, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon discussed his company’s brand extension, which saw WWE’s roster split between RAW and SmackDown in July. McMahon believes the brand extension has been a big success, and he teased more talent jumping from one brand to the other.
“It’s working extremely well, it’s working exactly like we thought it would,” McMahon said. “There is some crossover, which is what we wanted. But at the same time, we’re introducing new viewers.
“You have fresh talent coming from one brand to the next,” he continued. “So in essence, if you haven’t seen a Roman Reigns on SmackDown, then when he does – if and when he does – then that’s really a big thing. It freshens up talent, and it gives us a much longer range in terms of the use of those talents and the IP that goes with them.”
On the topic of creating new stars, McMahon says the company runs more live events under the brand extension and that gives them more time to groom talent.
“If you have only one show, or two shows with the same talent, it’s difficult to create new stars because the tendency is to keep the larger talent on top all the time,” McMahon said. “So it allows other stars to climb the ladder of success.”
“It’s working extremely well, it’s working exactly like we thought it would,” McMahon said. “There is some crossover, which is what we wanted. But at the same time, we’re introducing new viewers.
“You have fresh talent coming from one brand to the next,” he continued. “So in essence, if you haven’t seen a Roman Reigns on SmackDown, then when he does – if and when he does – then that’s really a big thing. It freshens up talent, and it gives us a much longer range in terms of the use of those talents and the IP that goes with them.”
On the topic of creating new stars, McMahon says the company runs more live events under the brand extension and that gives them more time to groom talent.
“If you have only one show, or two shows with the same talent, it’s difficult to create new stars because the tendency is to keep the larger talent on top all the time,” McMahon said. “So it allows other stars to climb the ladder of success.”