WWE Hall of Fame to Universal?

[ThemeParks4Life]

Neither of those restaurants are controlled by Universal, they're third parties renting space. You guys probably know that already though.

[video=youtube;4zwHCx54mIM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zwHCx54mIM&sns=em[/video]

 

[DK745]

I actually think that's a good idea. I don't know how great it would do but I would welcome it. I'm not sure if it would happen though with TNA still doing most of their shows in the park every week.

 

[Jakemeister]

Just because they're 3rd party does not mean Universal doesn't get final say in the tenant.

Video responses like the one above contribute nothing to the topic. We're all guilty of the occasional post of the sort but when that is all you're posting it becomes an issue.

 

[derekburgan]

I'm not sure there's any evidence wrestling fans would support this, financially, at all. There's a reason a show like Raw that has dominated cable ratings for over a decade gets fractions of ad revenue that much less successful shows do. All the data points to the fact that wrestling fans are generally low income and only want their wrestling, nothing else. It's frustrating for cable companies because viewers come on to watch RAW, Smackdown and even TNA Impact, but they (as a general rule) don't watch anything else on the channel.

I love wrestling probably more than most people here, and spent a decade writing about it for the PWTorch and Wrestling Observer/F4Wonline sites, but I think putting a physical Hall of Fame in Universal Citywalk, or in any theme park setting, will be a disaster.

 

[DK745]

I'm not sure there's any evidence wrestling fans would support this, financially, at all. There's a reason a show like Raw that has dominated cable ratings for over a decade gets fractions of ad revenue that much less successful shows do. All the data points to the fact that wrestling fans are generally low income and only want their wrestling, nothing else. It's frustrating for cable companies because viewers come on to watch RAW, Smackdown and even TNA Impact, but they (as a general rule) don't watch anything else on the channel.

I love wrestling probably more than most people here, and spent a decade writing about it for the PWTorch and Wrestling Observer/F4Wonline sites, but I think putting a physical Hall of Fame in Universal Citywalk, or in any theme park setting, will be a disaster.

Really? I'm not sure I believe that..

If they had more special events there then maybe it would get more people to come. I know they like doing the HOF inductions the night before Wrestlemania in the host city of WM but if they had it at Orlando every year, and made a multi-day event out of it, they would get people. Granted that would mean they have to probably have events in Orlando (or nearby areas) more often. They could tie it in to the week for Wrestlemania.

Anyway, would it be THE reason people go to visit Orlando and UOR? No. But what on CityWalk is? Definitely not as big as it was during the Monday Night Wars and the Attitude Era, but now they're more family oriented anyway so being at a theme park/resort might help. But for all the people that go to Disney, and the increasing number of people going to Universal (thanks Potter), they might do ok if they decided to have a place in Orlando.

 

[King_K.]

All the data points to the fact that wrestling fans are generally low income and only want their wrestling, nothing else.

I'd love to see that data, cause that's a pretty bold statement to put out there without anything to back it up. I watch Raw on USA, and Smackdown on Syfy, but they're not the only shows I watch on those channels or any channels for that matter, and I've been watching wrestling since the mid-nineties. Plus, i'm also not low income. I know i'm speaking for myself, but I do have a majority of friends who are also in the same income range and are also avid watchers like I am.

Only reason I'm mentioning it is because your statement kind of comes off as, only (excuse the term) "trailer trash" people watch wrestling. Even if it's not intended to.

 

[derekburgan]

I'd have to go through issues of the printed Observer, but Dave Meltzer has been tracking this stuff for 20+ years now and nothing has changed. From the low points of the early 90s, to the red hot late 90s/early 2000s, wrestling fans stick with wrestling. It's the reason all the "B" shows (the most recent being for WGN) end up getting cancelled. Stations see these incredible (at least as they can be in today's marketplace) numbers wrestling gets on USA/Spike and think getting a wrestling show will up their entire station. That's not what happens. The wrestling fans come in, watch their wrestling show, and leave. Of course there's going to be exceptions, and a lot of them, but this is one of the reasons pro wrestling shows get one of the lowest, if not the lowest, rate of advertising dollars.

A quck search of Meltzer's tweets reveal this quickie: "Dave Meltzer ‏@davemeltzerWON
@alexdgreenfield Yeah, I've seen studies. Heavy minority and low income. WWE & WNBA lean most left of any sports fan bases."

I googled this and "Last year Meltzer had a a chart showing how many wrestling fans there are in various demographics (in the US). African-Americans are 3 times more likely to be fans than whites, which means they could be 30-40% of the total fanbase. Also, the very poorest households are far more likely to be fans than anyone else, even compared to other below-average households. Thus the low ad revenue per capita. A lot of that has to do with young, single men being a core group, and "young single person" is always by far the poorest group in society."

I can't even explain what an authority on wrestling Dave Meltzer is. I guess the closest person to compare him to in the theme park world would be Jim Hill, but I think a better description would be "Jim Hill combined with the next three top guys you think are the top of the field." The wrestling observer newsletter (and website F4Wonline.com) is a must read if you have even a passing interest in the world of wrestling. It's amazing.


Then there's other areas to consider like, what kind of Hall of Fame are we talking about? This isn't the type of Hall of Fame most people are used to, where people get in on merit. People, even the biggest stars, are left out of WWE Hall of Fame because of things like personal vendettas. The WWE Hall of Fame has Vince McMahon's father's limo driver in it. It's a cartoon version of a real wrestling Hall of Fame.

 

[tcman]

I visited WWE Niagara Falls once, it basically became a sparsely stocked retail shop thats sold a few t-shirts and replica belts. Like everything WWE has done in recent years, it was hot out of the gate with Superstar signings and lots of press events so it was a busy destination in the heart of Clifton Hill (it has several attractions like CIty Walk like Wax Museums and Ripley's Believe it or Not). Eventually the company forgot about it and all that was left was a store. They actually had a ride on the roof called the Piledriver, not unlike Dr Dooms Fearfall. It was used for the first few years and then sat idle until the store finally closed. I think the ride sits unused to this day. As long as it is maintained it could have a novelty for visitors. If done correctly, like the FAN AXXESS events, it could garner some interest but I am not confident that the company would maintain the property given their track record with WWE NEW YORK and WWE NIAGARA.

 

[Nick]

A WWE place could do well, especially with Uni having TNA tapings on property. I know TNA and WWE are technically different (who are we kidding, they're both staged), but there are many fans who like both.

 

[USO92]

I watch RAW every week and Im certainly not a part of that statistic. Would I pay to go into this hall of fame? If my dad and I were going heck yea, and possibly for my (future) son but other than that those would be the only 2 times I would deem it worth visiting

 

[DK745]

I'd have to go through issues of the printed Observer, but Dave Meltzer has been tracking this stuff for 20+ years now and nothing has changed. From the low points of the early 90s, to the red hot late 90s/early 2000s, wrestling fans stick with wrestling. It's the reason all the "B" shows (the most recent being for WGN) end up getting cancelled. Stations see these incredible (at least as they can be in today's marketplace) numbers wrestling gets on USA/Spike and think getting a wrestling show will up their entire station. That's not what happens. The wrestling fans come in, watch their wrestling show, and leave. Of course there's going to be exceptions, and a lot of them, but this is one of the reasons pro wrestling shows get one of the lowest, if not the lowest, rate of advertising dollars.

A quck search of Meltzer's tweets reveal this quickie: "Dave Meltzer ‏@davemeltzerWON
@alexdgreenfield Yeah, I've seen studies. Heavy minority and low income. WWE & WNBA lean most left of any sports fan bases."

I googled this and "Last year Meltzer had a a chart showing how many wrestling fans there are in various demographics (in the US). African-Americans are 3 times more likely to be fans than whites, which means they could be 30-40% of the total fanbase. Also, the very poorest households are far more likely to be fans than anyone else, even compared to other below-average households. Thus the low ad revenue per capita. A lot of that has to do with young, single men being a core group, and "young single person" is always by far the poorest group in society."

I can't even explain what an authority on wrestling Dave Meltzer is. I guess the closest person to compare him to in the theme park world would be Jim Hill, but I think a better description would be "Jim Hill combined with the next three top guys you think are the top of the field." The wrestling observer newsletter (and website F4Wonline.com) is a must read if you have even a passing interest in the world of wrestling. It's amazing.


Then there's other areas to consider like, what kind of Hall of Fame are we talking about? This isn't the type of Hall of Fame most people are used to, where people get in on merit. People, even the biggest stars, are left out of WWE Hall of Fame because of things like personal vendettas. The WWE Hall of Fame has Vince McMahon's father's limo driver in it. It's a cartoon version of a real wrestling Hall of Fame.

The reason the "B" shows bomb is because they're "B" shows. They tell the main stuff on Raw, some stuff on SD (which is also part Raw recap), and the B shows feature some jobbers they almost never use on Raw or SD and occasionally a top person people want to see, then spend part of the show recapping Raw as well. They're just not worth watching so they bomb.

I would like it, and it could do well initially, but it might be like you said and not have staying power after they just stop caring about it. But if it's a HOF they should be paying attention to it at least annually. But with the number of people visiting Orlando and UOR I'm sure they could draw people just for the hell of it since it's there.

 

[Hatetofly]

I'm not a fan of this stuff but two of my superiors are and they clear 150k a piece...

 

[derekburgan]

The reason the "B" shows bomb is because they're "B" shows. They tell the main stuff on Raw, some stuff on SD (which is also part Raw recap), and the B shows feature some jobbers they almost never use on Raw or SD and occasionally a top person people want to see, then spend part of the show recapping Raw as well. They're just not worth watching so they bomb.

Have to disagree with your comment on the TV shows. Regardless of quality (and they've almost all been bad) the ratings for WWE shows have almost always been well above whatever station that has been airing them's average. The problem is that the viewers that come to watch the show don't stick around to watch what's after it, don't watch the shows that are advertised during the wrestling show, and the commercials that air during the show get much less money from advertisers than lower rated shows on the network.

Long story short, the WWE fans are watching and the shows don't "bomb," just everyone outside of wrestling finally realizes wrestling fans as a whole are just not a desirable audience if you want to make a lot of money.

Kids are one thing, and that's why WWE toys and videogames do fantastic numbers. But once you get to teenagers and adults (and half of WWE's audience is over the age of 35) that "loyalty" stops. They didn't buy CDs from any of WWE's music labels, they don't go to movies made by WWE Films, they didn't go to WWE's restaurant, they didn't support the XFL or WBL (competition to the NFL and bodybuilding shows) etc.

I certainly apologize to everyone if I offended them by implying wrestling fans are "white trash." I stated right up front I'm a long time wrestling fan and this Hall of Fame would be the marriage of two things I love, wrestling and theme parks. But the reality is that those of us here are the exception, not the rule. The vast majority of wrestling fans are low income and that type of demographic isn't the one being targeted by Disney or Universal. I consider myself a relatively sane and intelligent person, but living in Florida I can't take it personal every four years when the John Stewarts and SNLs of the world mock Floridians for being absolute morons during elections. It comes with the territory.

 

[Matpez]

Then there's other areas to consider like, what kind of Hall of Fame are we talking about? This isn't the type of Hall of Fame most people are used to, where people get in on merit. People, even the biggest stars, are left out of WWE Hall of Fame because of things like personal vendettas. The WWE Hall of Fame has Vince McMahon's father's limo driver in it. It's a cartoon version of a real wrestling Hall of Fame.

This is the reason a real, non wwe run Hall of Fame has been established: http://www.pwhf.org/

 

[Cliff]

Hogan and Jeff Jarrett dislikes this.

 

[Nick]

I'm not someone who would go out of my way to see this (although I know people that would), however, if it did replace NBA City and had a sort of Hard Rock/Planet Hollywood feel to it, i'd probably go to there more than I currently do (which is never).

 

[Brian G.]

Apparently the WWE will have a major announcement tomorrow in regards to something coming to Orlando.

 

[Hockeyman55]

WWE the ride . . . in 4D. The sights . . . the smells . . . . the baby oil!

 

[General Specific]

Quick note. The WWE has requested the City of Orlando to make a bid to host Wrestlemania 31 or 32, occuring in 2015 and 2016, respectively. A tie-in perhaps?

 

[JungleSkip]

Apparently it has to do with WWE opening a training center in Orlando.