Vince McMahon Is Not Trying To Kill Independent Wrestling

So, one of the topics that seems to come out of the success of All In is WWE’s relationship with the indys and it seems that a lot of people think that Vince McMahon and WWE are trying to kill off the indys because they’re afraid of competition. That’s right, Vince McMahon, owner of the largest wrestling company in the United States, if not the world, broker of billion dollar TV deals, and creative genius behind WrestleMania, Monday Night RAW, and hundreds of iconic characters, is scared of competition from promotions like Ring of Honor and TNA and that All In shows that indy wrestlers don’t need WWE to be a success.

Well, if you believe that, I’ve got some property in Arizona with a lovely ocean view for sale. Yes, All In was very successful, no one’s arguing that, but the ideas that WWE is afraid of competition or that any wrestler on that card wouldn’t jump at the chance to wrestle in WWE is so ridiculous, it’s laughable, as is the overused comments about WWE raiding other companies for talent or ‘stealing’ talent.

This idea that WWE is afraid of competition goes back to the Monday Night Wars between WWE and WCW, though it has its roots in the expansion of the WWF in the 80s, and it’s total nonsense. Vince didn’t want to put the territories out of business, he wanted to compete because that is the essence of capitalism, for better or worse. This narrative that everything in the territories was great until mean old Vince destroyed everything has some basis in truth, but the idea that Vince didn’t want to compete is not true.

According to Jericho, Vince’s first reaction to All In was express regret that Cody and the Bucks hadn’t come to him for advice because he would’ve told them that September was awful for promoting, which it is. He wasn’t worried or scared, he wanted it to succeed. He helped Paul Heyman keep ECW afloat because he could see that there was a lot of potential in it and that they were producing great stars.

Here’s what people don’t get about Vince McMahon: Vince McMahon is HYPER-competitive. He competes with anyone and there are plenty of stories about this need to compete to go around. Vince isn’t afraid of competition, he LOVES competition. This is a man who, by his own admission, used to pick fights with Marine recruits on weekends as a teenager. The situation with during the Monday Night Wars was about surviving on Vince’s end. He had no issue with Nitro until they started threatening to put WWF out of business. He’s not worried about Ring of Honor or TNA hurting his business because A. They aren’t an actual threat to WWE. and B. He loves competition. A good chunk of WWE’s young talent has worked Ring of Honor, TNA, or both.

As for ‘talent raiding’ or ‘talent stealing’, you can’t steal someone who wants to go. If the talent WWE is signing didn’t want to go, they wouldn’t be signing. Going to WWE has always been the goal of professional wrestlers since the sixties and while it is possible to have a great career without performing for WWE, it’s also true that working for WWE, even for a year, can help an indy performer’s career and pay.

One of the most absurd things I’ve heard is how indy guys don’t need to go to WWE because they make enough money in the indys and/or money isn’t as important to them as performing. Anyone who tells you that they’re doing something for the love of performing either has someone else bankrolling them or isn’t very good at what they’re doing. Making money has always been one of the chief considerations of any professional wrestler or performer, for that matter. Listen to all the old-timers talk about the territory days, being champion was not as important as making money, and that’s still true. Yes, the top guys can make a pretty good living, but they are also working for several different promotions at the same time to make that money. Also, many wrestlers have real life considerations, like a family, a house, and paying their bills. It’s part of the reason why guys with families will stay in WWE, even if they aren’t on top like they were in the indys, because they can support their families and be home more often than working for several promotions at a time allows.

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