WWE Q3 2011 results

WWE released its financial results from the 3rd quarter of 2011 on 11/3. Read on for more details (including Mr. McMahon's conference call) and my analysis.
On the surface, they didn't do too badly except in the films division. It's clear why they're going in a new direction with it!

Really as far as the core business goes, it really comes down to giving people what they want to see and things they want to buy. WWE still has work to do in that regard. That's pretty much the "CliffsNotes" version.

International tours continue to be a good moneymaker, though interestingly a lot of other international stats are down. The Latin American numbers are especially odd given the recent pushes for Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio.

The biggest thing here I think is the PPV numbers. Here are the cards and rosters compared:

MITB 2010 had a Smackdown MITB match with Kane, Big Show, Matt Hardy, Christian, Kofi Kingston, Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler. Kane and Big Show aren't being used as much lately as their careers presumably wind down. They've been pushed for over 10 years. Matt Hardy also had a good deal of tenure (and fans) and he's gone now, too. Christian's finally being put in an important position now. Kofi's kind of in Purgatory. Cody Rhodes is definitely higher now than he was a year ago, and I hope they continue pushing him. Ziggler could use help in the form of better booking.

This year's Smackdown MITB had Daniel Bryan (fairly new star), Kane (veteran), Sin Cara (possibly big star in the making), Wade Barrett (someone currently being pushed well), Cody Rhodes (mentioned above), Justin Gabriel (sort of pushed well at times), Heath Slater (off-on push) and Sheamus (big push).

The Divas' match then was Alicia vs. Eve. Hardly a barnburner, especially compared to the current run of matches we've seen for the title. There was also Layla vs. Kelly Kelly. Michelle McCool and Tiffany were the cornerwomen, and neither of them are in WWE anymore. McCool retired, and Tiffany's release was likely related to the Summerslam weekend incident. This year had Kelly Kelly (with Eve) vs. Brie Bella (with Nikki), which also probably isn't as good as what they're doing now, but they've got one title now so hopefully that's helping.

MITB 2010: Hart Dynasty vs. The Usos for the tag team titles. Solid tag team feud. DH Smith is gone after not being used, Kidd's putting on great matches no one's watching, and The Usos are doing solid work but aren't being pushed like they used to be. There was no tag team match this year.

The Raw MITB match went from The Miz (elevated a good deal in the past year), Ted DiBiase (needs rebuilding), Chris Jericho (no longer in the company for the time being), Edge (retired), Evan Bourne (sort of getting pushed now), John Morrison (ball possibly dropped now but he could be leaving), Randy Orton (being pushed pretty well), and Mark Henry (being used a LOT better) to Alberto Del Rio (being built pretty well), Rey Mysterio (can be used well at times), Kofi Kingston (already mentioned), Alex RIley (WAS being used well), R-Truth (great push now, not so much then), The Miz (already mentioned), and Jack Swagger (more on him in a minute).

The World Title picture then was Rey Mysterio vs. Jack Swagger. Swagger's now back in the midcard. Kane then beat Rey Mysterio to cash in MITB, which I don't think was good long-term planning. Although I enjoyed Taker/Kane, they needed to be building new stars then and they're paying the price to some degree now.

The World Title picture this year was Christian vs. Randy Orton, which was a solid feud with something important on the line. More feuds need to be like this.

The WWE Title picture then was Sheamus beating John Cena, which was a good step in building Sheamus. I think it's paying dividends now. This year was the HUGE C.M. Punk angle that had a lot of people talking, attending, and buying. They went from Punk/Cena headlining the shows to them taking a backseat to HHH/Nash. That might have worked in 2003, but the fans of today are clearly a lot more into Punk and Cena. The product should be booked accordingly.

As for Summerslam 2010, Melina defeated Alicia Fox for the Divas Title. This go 'round, we had Kelly Kelly beating Beth Phoenix. I doubt many people buy PPVs for Divas matches, but this feud was almost certainly better than whatever reason Melina and Fox were facing off.

Dolph Ziggler faced Kofi Kingston for the Intercontinental Championship last year. This year, Dolph was in a dark match and Kofi was in a 6-man tag with Morrison, Mysterio, Miz, Truth, and Del Rio. Honestly that's not bad for Kofi, but Dolph has really fallen booking-wise.

Last year, Big Show dominated C.M. Punk and the Straight Edge Society in a 3-on-1 handicap match in under 7 minutes. It shouldn't be any surprise that the WWE careers of Joey Mercury, Luke Gallows, and Serena have ended since then. Beating 3 people was great for Big Show. It wasn't so great for people who could have been good for the company (especially Gallows, who was solid in any role he was put in). This year, Punk was rushed back onto TV for the title unification match. Within a few months, the hottest character wrestling had seen in years took a backseat to KEVIN NASH. Almost all of that buzz dissipated when they tore through a storyline they should have built up for months.

Randy Orton and Sheamus fought to a DQ in 2010. This year, Orton faced Christian and Sheamus faced another hot character, Mark Henry. They've at least done well with all of them (for the most part). Sheamus isn't the force to reckon with on Raw, but hopefully he's being rebuilt now.

Last year, Kane beat Rey Mysterio for the World Championship. That one honestly had a good story going with it. This year, Kane was on the shelf recovering from all the bumps he's taken over the years and Mysterio was in the pre-mentioned tag match, which I seem to remember felt thrown together at the last minute. If you don't advertise your stars in advance, few are going to pay to see them.

Summerslam 2010 was headlined by one of the biggest angles in quite some time: Team Nexus vs. Team WWE. How do things stand a year after that hot ticket (which sold a lot of PPVs)? John Cena is of course still in main events, and was once again WWE Champion going into Summerslam 2011 when fans were frothing at the mouth for something new with the Punk angle. Edge retired after years of bumps. Jericho left. Morrison's on the fence about re-signing. Daniel Bryan's back in the undercard. At least R-Truh is still a big deal. As for the losers? Barrett, who was the leader of the hot faction and would later be in WWE Title matches, is in the midcard/upper midcard. Gabriel, Slater, and Otunga get on TV here and there. Sheffield's been injured for a long time, Darren Young's all the way back on NXT, and Tarver was released. I think Nexus was somewhat defanged here. Barrett tapped out to Cena in the final fall.

Then, Night of Champions. In 2010, we had another go-round of Dolph/Kofi. Both were in title matches again this year, so not bad there. Big Show beat C.M. Punk in under 5 minutes. If Punk hadn't resigned and was forever seen as a midcarder, this would have had something to do with it. Show was 38 then, and had been pushed for over a decade. He didn't have nearly as much to gain by winning that as Punk did. This kind of BS needs to stop. This year, we had Punk vs. HHH in a stellar main event that elevated Punk to a degree. But Punk lost because of Kevin Nash. Look at the priorities there and what they've done to PPV buys.

Daniel Bryan went from winning the U.S. Title from The Miz to working the dark match. THis despite his MITB win.

The Divas division went from Michelle McCool vs. Melina to Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix. Of course, neither of the former competitors are with the company for reasons not entirely up to WWE. There's still growth to be had with the division, though some early good signs are there. Sometimes they're only on NXT, though.

Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre won the tag team titles in 2010. Rhodes is higher up now, but McIntyre's lucky to get on Superstars these days.

Kane beat The Undertaker for the World Championship in 2010. Both men are now on the shelf and their careers are almost certainly winding down (especially Undertaker). This story headlined Smackdown then and didn't do much for anyone a year later. Don't get me wrong; I enjoyed it. It just doesn't look like the right move for business.

Orton beat Sheamus, Barrett, Cena, Edge, and Jericho to retain the WWE Title. Orton and Cena are still main eventers; Sheamus is getting back there. The others are either gone or depushed.

There were a few new names in the mix this year. They've done well with Del Rio, but A-Ry might as well be AWOL now.

All in all, the long-term booking needs to be looked at here. If it wasn't for the Punk angle and Rock, business would be noticeably down.

As for other areas of business, the neglect and misuse of NXT and Superstars when they were on the air continues to hurt them since they're not getting as much money from those shows being on TV. If they actually promoted them back then, they'd be looking at a different story now.

Maybe they should do an online subscription version of WWE Magazine. The content is good, but the target demo (and a lot of people in general) don't buy physical magazines and books nearly as much as they used to.

It looks like the WWE Network could be coming soon. That feels like something that will either be a great boon for business or a flop.

Update: Particularly soon. I didn't expect it until after Mania at the earliest.

Vince McMahon was pretty optimistic and upbeat about a number of topics despite the so-so business. Not going to lie; I'm concerned about this attitude. Not 100% drinking the Kool-Aid.

Finally, WWE's stock slightly increased after the higher-than-expected earnings. There are a number of important problems with the company, so they should be careful.

That's all for Thursday's financial news. The rest of the day's news will be up soon. Thanks for reading!