Death of the House Show?

By Scott Keith on 4 August 2020

Hey Scott—

So with running no live events and no fans in attendance, WWE just recorded its most profitable quarter ever.

Any chance this leads to a permanent change once (if…?) the U.S. gets COVID under control? I know Raw and Smackdown will tour the nation in front of fans ASAP, but I’m talking about your run of the mill house show. Couldn’t the company just pay talent a yearly salary, stop running non-televised events, and not take on the expense?

Could WWE become a TV-only company, or will the old carny promoter in Vince keep him from ever abandoning the house show concept?

I think there’s a pretty strong chance he’s done with house shows. They were losing money by the time the pandemic hit and really what’s the point now?

Ironic that he spent decades killing off the image of old time studio wrestling shows and now he just had his most profitable quarter in history by running exactly that.