Booking Glory-Chapter 113: Troubles At The Doorstep 2
"Mark Weathers, Luke Channing, Marshall Jones, Rictor Swole, Marie Dawson, Diana Wharton, Malcom Perry..."
"How come so many wrestlers have their contract ends coming up at the same time? I understand Marshall James. But, all these names... it is a disaster!"
Rob let out a weary sigh as he watched the list printed on the newspaper. The article had the bold title of <Contract Troubles At LWC>
"And I wasn’t even aware that Marie and Diana have their contracts coming up. Why didn’t anyone inform me of this?" Rob said a bit irked.
"That’s why I told you not to go in today. Apart from your contract issue, this will also be something they would want your comments on," Dacey shrugged.
"And I think I know the reason why these many wrestlers have their contract ends coming up at the same time," Dacey hummed, causing Rob to look at her.
"When Breeze deal came in, those who were in the main event and semi-main event scenes had their contracts renegotiated for a year. Marie and Diana were the ones at the top of the card then."
"I understand," Rob sighed and moved his eyes to the other two news.
Compared to LWC’s contract troubles, he was more interested in these two stories. The pictures of Steven Rush and Willy Wagner were forefront on these two news.
"What are your thoughts on this?" Dacey asked, looking a bit worried.
"Steven is out of AWF," Rob pointed to the news featuring Steven Rush’s photo. "That means, he is now free to move about in the open. He can’t be associated with rival promotions for the next 60 days. But, that doesn’t mean he can’t meet up with people. The next 60 days are going to be turbulent," Rob frowned.
"You think so,"
"Heh, I know a few things you aren’t aware of. The ambition of these guys are not small. With Steven’s name as a brand, they will be able to rope in a lot of wrestlers. In the next 60 days, the landscape of this industry is going to change. You don’t believe me? Look at this, Willy Wagner has started to throw money already," Rob pointed at the news featuring Willy Wagner front and center.
<Willy Wagner’s Impactful Entry Into Wrestling World>
Just looking at the title was enough to see Willy Wagner’s energy. And this news wasn’t from a newspaper that reported on pro wrestling. No, this was on Business Trek, a business newspaper that was circulated nationwide. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎
It was enough to show the impact of Willy Wagner’s entry into pro wrestling circle. The wily old man announced his entry into the pro wrestling circle by buying out one mid-tier and two low-tier promotions that were located around Longham City.
This was a statement.
Willy Wagner has announced to everyone that he was here to stay. By buying out these three promotions, he had effectively halved the competition in the entire Longham City region.
Due to Longham City being the mecca of pro wrestling, around 6 promotions of varying tiers operated around the city in the nearby areas. But, with AWF at the top, and PWP holding fort in the mid tier, four low tier promotions including LWC operated on different parts of region.
Unlike other regions, the region that Longham City was in boasted more than one wrestling promotion within it. Most regions only had one wrestling promotion in them.
It was both due to the Longham City’s status in the pro wrestling world and the popularity of the industry in the region. Most youths in this region grow up wanting to be pro wrestlers.
Now, Willy Wagner had bought PWP and two other low tier promotions that operated out of western parts of the region, effectively creating a stronghold for himself in the west.
Once Willy Wagner merged these three promotions together - Rob knew that was definitely on the cards, Willy Wagner will effectively have a single top promotion occupying the fan base in the western part of the region.
While AWF, LWC and one other low tier promotion named ZWP will have to split up the fans base in the eastern part of the region.
This was a brilliant business move.
Moreover, once the three promotions are merged together, Willy Wagner will have enough roster depth to contend with AWF right from the get go. Adding whatever stars Steven poaches from other promotions, that would make Willy Wagner’s promotion a true threat to all the top tier promotions in the country.
Typically, a low tier promotion had 15 to 20 wrestlers on their roster. A mid tier promotion had 20 to 30 wrestlers on their roster. And for a promotion to be considered top tier, it needed at least 70 wrestlers on its roster.
Top tier promotions put out two shows per week, with each lasting 2 hours long. Their PPVs last 3 to 4 hours typically. And not all wrestlers will be used in every show.
Even then, they need that much roster depth to rotate the wrestlers around to ensure they don’t overdraw a particular wrestler’s popularity. It would also avoid aesthetic fatigue among fans.
Right now, things have become a little delicate. AWF will need to respond to this. As a leader in the industry, AWF can’t remain idle. Rob was sure that AWF’s eyes would have now turned to LWC and ZWP.
AWF will either try to acquire them both or poach the top stars in LWC and ZWP, to consolidate their base in the region. It was a given.
LWC being an anamoly among low tier promotions will definitely be in AWF’s hitlist at this time. Moreover, LWC was located in the same city as well. That was a big red flag.
AWF can’t afford a mid tier promotion to pop up in the Longham City at this time. That would cause a massive impact to them - not with Steven Rush possibly heading to Wagner’s new promotion to take charge.
Everyone in the industry knew about the power struggle that occured inside AWF. If Steven Rush who was driven away turned around to run roughshod over AWF, then all the board members and the new CEO of AWF will have their faces slapped.
"LWC is in for a tough time," Rob muttered, causing Dacey to bite her lips in anxiety.
"Will it be bad?" Dacey asked softly.
"I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr. Gibson sold LWC to AWF," Rob said bitterly. "AWF will try not sit back and let Willy Wagner one up them. They will try to control the eastern fanbase completely. That is a no brainer."
"And this news about LWC’s major stars having contract issues was most likely thrown out to attract AWF’s attention. AWF will now definitely poach these stars from LWC at all costs. Not just from LWC, but from ZWP as well."
"With your top draws gone, it will be hard for a promotion to make money. Rather than slowly running into bankruptcy, it is better to sell the promotion and cash out," Rob sighed, massaging his brows.
"I don’t think Andy will sell LWC to AWF. He was chased out of AWF. He started this promotion to stand against AWF. He will definitely not sell it to them," Dacey said with blind belief.
"Dacey, the situation is different now. Did you know that just last week Mr. Gibson booked a bigger arena for our next PPV? If that PPV fails, then LWC will be facing huge losses," Rob said tiredly.
"In this situation, it will be hard for LWC to survive. If AWF offers some better deal, then Mr. Gibson might take it to avoid bankruptcy."
"Only if it fails," Dacey said stubbornly. "LWC also has Breeze deal going for it. Andy will pull through."
"Breeze?" Rob chuckled. "Don’t you know it was Steven who helped Mr. Gibson get the Breeze deal? Breeze had always wanted to have a deal with top tier promotion. I have always wondered why they settled for LWC, when they had PWP and other mid tier promotions out there. Now it makes sense."
"What do you mean?"
"With Steven starting his own promotion, I think Breeze will want to do the deal with him. So, the chances of Breeze renewing the deal is very low. They will simply switch and offer the deal to Willy Wagner’s promotion."
"LWC was a trial run for them. They wanted to see if there was enough interest in wrestling program. As for why they didn’t choose PWP or other mid tier promotion, I think Steven played a role in it."
"LWC was a low tier promotion. But, with Breeze deal, they were able to quickly climb to mid tier range in a year. What would happen if it was a mid tier promotion? While they might not become a top tier promotion, they would be very close to it."
"Steven didn’t want to create another competitor. So, he chose a low tier promotion. Steven must have known that his exit from AWF was coming as early as last year. He has been planning for his exit since then."
"His partnership with Willy Wagner, this buying of three promotions, all this news coming out at the right time to divert AWF’s attention from their actions, these are stuff that can’t be done in a month or so. That wily old man had outplayed everyone in the industry," Rob chuckled mirthlessly.
Dacey stood beside him with her mouth open on shock. She didn’t think there was this much drama involved behind the scenes. And she was also slightly in awe of Rob’s brain. He had quickly deduced the ins and outs from three news reports.
"Mark my words, when AWF is busy poaching the top draws of ZWP and LWC, Steven Rush and Willy Wagner will quickly combine the three promotions into one and consolidate their control. When AWF looks up, it will be too late to anything," Rob shook his head and sighed.
"And if I am not wrong, Steven would have buried some bombs backstage in AWF. If AWF tries to act before Steven is ready, these will cause chaos in AWF, making it hard for them to care about outside."
"Is there no way for LWC to survive?" Dacey asked anxiously.
*****
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