WWE is already the king of pro wrestling, but Vince McMahon's company is taking every possible step to ensure it continues to run the wrestling world.
It all started with NXT's transformation from a developmental territory to a full-fledged third brand, which over the last several years has caused WWE to scour the indies and scoop up as many big names as possible, ranging from Kevin Owens to Sami Zayn to Ricochet to Adam Cole. WWE's trend of restocking NXT talent continued with the recent signings of independent wrestling standouts like Keith Lee and Deonna Purrazzo, who, in the latest blow to the indie wrestling scene, are now NXT bound as well.
As if taking over the indies in the US wasn't enough, WWE has also ensured that it will have a vice grip on the UK scene for the foreseeable future. According to the Wrestling Observer (h/t WrestlingInc), WWE recently signed a boatload of top UK talents to "UK-exclusive contracts" essentially as a series of moves that "keeps the talents from ITV's World of Sport promotion," which is widely viewed to be WWE's biggest competition in the UK. WWE isn't exactly breaking the bank to pay these talents, either. It's just keeping them away from the competition.
Indeed, WWE seems intent on establishing a firm stranglehold on the pro wrestling world, and the effects of the company's hostile takeover are being felt throughout the industry.
The belief is that WWE's new pair of landmark TV deals for Raw and SmackDown, worth a total of $2.3 billion over five years beginning in October 2019, have tightened WWE's grip on an industry in which the company hasn't had serious competition in nearly two decades. With WWE's stock price soaring, revenue likely to increase every year for the foreseeable future and those TV deals giving the company a waterfall of cash, that will make the company able to do, well, just about whatever it wants in terms of signing new talent and preventing other companies from thriving.
In an interview with The New York Post (h/t SEScoops), former WCW President Eric Bischoff recently pointed out how SmackDown's move to FOX, combined with Raw staying on USA Network, could be bad for the pro wrestling industry as a whole:
Anybody who comes along and wants to sell a wrestling show, guess who you are not gonna sell it to? You are not going to sell it to FOX and any of its affiliates and, oh by the way, you are not going to sell it to NBC Universal or any of its affiliates...So the world in terms of one’s ability to sell a traditional [wrestling] television show to a traditional television or broadcast partner has just collapsed.
The fact that WWE's two flagship shows will air both on FOX and NBCUniversal's USA Network doesn't bode well for any wrestling company hoping to secure a TV deal with any FOX affiliate. Likewise, WWE appears to be hellbent on pursuing talents from any company that does manage to land a national TV deal. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WhatCulture), "American independent promotion Major League Wrestling recently secured a TV contract with beIN Sports," and as a result, "WWE are currently aggressively chasing independent talent in reaction to the TV deal, with MLW wrestlers directly in their crosshairs."
WWE is apparently interested in prying away top independent talents, including Maxwell Jacob Friedman, from the budding promotion, which has been making waves as a quality WWE alternative. But McMahon and company aren't stopping there. His latest target? According to the Observer (h/t WrestlingInc), that would be New Japan Pro-Wrestling and the "All In" mega-event, which will be held in September and sold out a 10,000-seat arena in less than 30 minutes:
There has been a lot of talk about WWE making moves on opening lines of communication with wrestlers that are working for New Japan Pro Wrestling, and wrestlers who have been announced for the big All In event from Chicago later this year...No confirmation yet on who WWE may be interested in but there's speculation on WWE wanting to make a play for IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega and IWGP Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks.
Indeed, WWE is apparently ready to offer "big money deals" to NJPW and ROH's Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks as well as Kenny Omega when their contracts expire in late 2018 or early 2019, even showcasing Omega on the WWE Network presumably as a way to open the lines of communication between the two sides.
News of WWE's apparent interest in NJPW's top stars comes amidst reports that WWE isn't thrilled with NJPW running shows in the US (or the success of any major indie shows, for that matter) and recently blocked Ring of Honor, which has a working relationship with New Japan, from running a show at Madison Square Garden, which is reportedly upset with WWE for not taping television from "The World's Most Famous Arena."
In other words, WWE is, pun intended, all in on going all out to stifle top independent wrestling promotions across the world.
Some of those companies just happen to have talents that WWE apparently wants. Other promotions are simply thriving as a product, which may make WWE feel somewhat threatened as the quality of its product continues to diminish. Meanwhile, major promotions such as ROH and NJPW, are "invading WWE's turf," and even though their is no maliciousness behind the expansion of those organizations, if it conflicts with WWE's plans, then rest assured McMahon and company won't be happy about it.
In turn, WWE has ramped up its pursuit of the world's top independent talents (at a time when the indies are thriving more than ever before) and has secured a pair of TV deals that will likely prevent many other promotions from doing the same. If you're purely a fan of WWE, that's good news for you because, at this rate, the company could soon boast most of the industry's most talented performers, but if you're a fan of pro wrestling in general, you can see the potential industry-wide effect WWE's recent endeavors will have.
Right now, WWE is no longer the be-all, end-all of pro wrestling, and the company is making every possible effort to change that, which means every non-WWE promotion in the world better be on the lookout.
Why? Because WWE may be coming for you.
Blake Oestriecher is an elementary school teacher by day and a sports writer by night. He’s a contributor to the Forbes @SportsMoneyBlog, where he primarily covers WWE. You can follow him on Twitter @BOestriecher.