The world as a feeder system

Hi Scott,

While listening to Triple H talk about the upcoming Cruiserweight Series, I was really struck to hear him say he’s willing to work with anyone to improve his product (and being a Brit, it was amazing to hear him specifically call out two British promotions in PROGRESS and Revolution Pro). It took me back to the days of… well… maybe territory raids is the wrong phrase. But certainly to the days when WWE (and WCW) would treat the indies as one big feeder system, and happily and openly bring in their stars and make a big deal of them.

Do you see this as a glimpse of the future direction of WWE once Vince relinquishes power? Can you imagine a WWE that routinely showcases (and of course, monetizes) stars from all over the world, whether they’re products of the WWE system or not, or is that likely to remain an NXT thing?

​Seems like it’s something that HHH in particular is open to, especially when he’s poaching guys directly from New Japan right now. Years ago, when Shane was still with the company, there was a report in the Observer that one of the long-term plans for the brand extension was to expand internationally and set up offices in the various foreign markets (primarily the UK and Japan to start) where they could produce locally-branded WWE shows for the different countries, using local talent. Obviously that could never work today because they’re barely capable of filling their three-hour show despite having 30 writers and dozens of NXT workers at their disposal, but maybe once Vince is gone, it could be something they investigate again. ​