WWE: Bringing back the territories?

The following idea is going to fall under the category of fantasy, partially filled with reminiscing about he “good ol’ days”. Whatever.

Since WWE is the clear and undisputed king of wrestling/sports entertainment (whatever terminology you prefer to use), they have an impressive influence on everyone else. At least, this is going to be true in North America. For most wrestlers, I would suspect a large majority of them would like to get into WWE at some point in their career.

After all, WWE is one of the few places you can go to anymore and make some serious bank. Closest alternative would be what? NJPW? That’s the first place I think of when it comes to serious competition. Considering that most of NJPW’s fan base is Japanese or “smart marks”, WWE hardly has anything to worry about.

The casual fan might be familiar with NJPW, but how many of them are buying DVDs, merch, or paying for any pay-per-views? NJPW is going to have a fan base that likely wants an alternative to WWE.

With that mentioned, I think WWE could find a way of catching the attention of fans who crave something different and potentially make money off of it. My idea? Simply put, I think it could be beneficial if they ran a territory system, much like the NWA of old.

Since most people are tech savvy, I won’t waste anyone’s time rehashing things about the old territory system. What I want to suggest is that WWE try to develop it’s own territory system, of sorts. I don’t want it to be confused with a developmental system, such as NXT. This would work in conjunction with NXT.

Allow me to explain.

Currently, WWE uses NXT to help develop wrestlers prior to joining the main roster. While a few people have been able to go straight to the main roster, most of them end up in NXT first. From my perspective, NXT is looking more like a third brand due to its increasing popularity as well as its exposure on the WWE Network.

Since NXT has been gaining more and more popularity over time, perhaps this would be a good time to capitalize on this by expanding business. I’d like to start by suggesting WWE use some of the trademarks they already own. Since WWE already has the intellectual property from WCW, ECW, and AWA (WCCW as well?), this would be the first area I’d start in.

What WWE could do is work these territories like promoters would do in the old days. Shows could be run in different towns in certain areas. The AWA, for example, could be run in places like Minnesota, the Dakotas, Montana, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Shows would be run in communities that wouldn’t otherwise get Raw, Smackdown or NXT. Any tapings could be held at smaller venues, much like many territories did back then….or as many Indys do now.  

Occasionally, larger show could be held at larger venues. I wouldn’t necessarily go with venues that are freakin’ huge, not like MSG or anything like that. Maybe a college campus with a mid-sized gym would be one possible idea. Anything like a civic center or small stadium would be sufficient.

If WWE doesn’t want to use up space on The Network, have small tapings to be aired on YouTube. They could be 45-60 minute shows airing once a week. If any of the wrestlers are marketable enough, merch could be sold. I’d wouldn’t clutter up WWE’s website with merch from the smaller territories, as that should be used for the main roster, IMO.

While I’m at it, I would even add shows, similar to you’d see on Superstars or Prime Time Wrestling used to do. Have a few segments to hype storylines, interview segments and other such stuff. Maybe have a match or two taped during different house shows that could be aired on shows like this.

Any of the larger events would have DVD sales available, much like WWE pay-per-views.

I would even do random DVD sales, much like the old Coliseum Home Videos. They could be on the same line as the straight to DVD movies. Perhaps some of the best matches from the YouTube/Network tapings could be used or best matches from various house shows.

I’d bring in wrestlers that WWE that could be groomed for advancement to NXT or the main roster. This would be a testing grounds to see what talents could be groomed at a slower pace. Personally, I’d like to see wrestlers have more time to hone their talents longer before being hurried to the main roster. In the “good old days”, wrestlers often had more time to gain experience before making it on a larger stage. If done again, this would be a good way of helping the younger wrestlers to have that same opportunity.

Instead of having people learn how to be spot monkeys, they could develop more psychology, chain wrestling, and so on. Since different wrestlers would have different styles, that could be developed properly as well. If you have guys that are brawlers, as an example, they could better develop brawling skills.

I’d make sure many shows are held in front of smaller crowds. Do this in markets that’s typically not visited by companies like WWE, TNA, ROH or other large promoters. When fans realize that the territories are owned & operated by WWE, this could be good pr for them. They’ll realize, hopefully, that WWE is trying to bring more wrestling to fans who might not otherwise get regular shows in their town.

This would allow WWE to also invest in the future of the business, giving people opportunities that they might now otherwise get. Plus, if anyone on the main roster is injured or needs a lighter schedule (for any possible reason), there would be more people that could be called up.

At the same time, if any wrestler wants a lighter, easier schedule, they could go to one of the territories. If used in one of the territories, they could bring instant cred to that territory. Some of the more experienced wrestlers could even be used as trainers for the younger wrestlers.

If any of the talent is coming back from a major injury, they could work off any ring rust in a smaller environment. It would also give fans more incentive to go to the smaller shows, as well. This could even be an opportunity for wrestlers who have nothing going on as part of the main roster. Instead of not getting any TV time, they could be moved to one of the territories. Again, this would be a major selling point for fans to buy tickets to the events.

Each territory would have it’s own set of titles. There would be the Heavyweight title, a secondary title of some sort, maybe a Cruiserweight title, tag team titles, and a woman’s title.

At the very least, I’d bring back certain promotions, starting off with the AWA, WCCW (assuming WWE has the appropriate trademarks), WCW, and ECW. Each territory would have it’s own style of doing things. ECW, for example, could be a faster paced territory where athleticism can be displayed far more readily. Due to the dangers of the extreme-style they used to have, I would back off stuff like that. WCW could incorporate family friendly shows that displays more storytelling without the goofiness that WCW frequently had. With a company like the old AWA, I would want to avoid the insanely boring style that the original AWA had.

A few territories could be spread out in different parts of the country. Developing wrestlers to potentially make it to the main roster would be the ultimate goal. This could be used as another source of revenue for WWE, as well. Even if the performers don’t make it to the main roster, if this gives them a better shot at making it big elsewhere, that would also be great.

The big downside? It would over saturate many markets, making it harder for smaller promoters to compete. Since this is only a fantasy scenario, it doesn’t really matter.