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Since merchandise sells make or break a wrestler

3K views 38 replies 28 participants last post by  THANOS 
#1 ·
All talks are useless
You are not paying WWE enough for your favourite wrestler to get better treatment.
:vince$
 
#12 · (Edited)
Its not merch. Punk outsold Cena in 2011 and Bryan even though he had the ugliest shirt in the world sold more merch then anyone in 2013. Its about DA LOOK and what Vince thinks makes money. Btw Punks bitw t-shirt is the 9th best selling wrestling t-shirt of all time and became so in only 1 or 2 years. Guess who isnt in the top 10? Cena. As a matter of s fact Punk is the only one from this era to be on that list so yeah.
 
#28 ·
It doesn't make or break ANYTHING.

1) It's one of WWE's lowest revenue streams

2) Zach Ryder was in the top 3 merch sellers for years and was never used much more than as a part-time jobber

3) John Cena is the leading seller because a) he has the widest and most diverse merch offering, b) he's promoted with everything WWE has, and c) the guy's been the top guy for over a decade.

Fact is, WWE can make anyone a decent merch seller, but if they truly wanted to make a lot of money with wrestlers they would choose better styles than they choose. Bryan's assortment of bearded hats, shirts, and towels say all that needs to be said.
 
#29 · (Edited)
I'd like to add to number 3 that Cena also has a GENIUS marketing ploy. The wrist bands, the shirt, the hat, the towel, I mean children can literally BE John Cena if they buy those things since he's made all of that is part of his actual wrestling attire/image. It's the same marketing ploy that the NWO had in WCW with the "nWo" t-shirts(anybody can FEEL like they're "part" of the NWO if you buy a shirt) and what Austin had with the 3:16 t-shirts and so on.

Guys like Bryan today don't really have this. This IMO doesn't mean however that they shouldn't be pushed and are less of a "draw". I mean the Rock was never truly able to accomplish this(you can maybe argue his "just bring it" shirt) but there's no way in hell anybody can tell me he wasn't more over than Austin in late 1999-2000.
 
#3 ·
I don't see people walking around in Wrestling shirts unless it's one of Cena's 999,999 t-shirts. Most of the shirts they make look like shit. Get more shirts out there at supermarkets, and stop with this $25 a shirt BS. I can get a shirt just like them for 8 bucks and put my own design on it cheaper than that.

But I agree. If people want to really support a Wrestler they claim to be a fan of, buy their shit. I want a hat that says Jobber. They can hand them out to Wrestlers after they lose. Charge people $50 to kick any Wrestler or character in the shin. $100 BOOM no more Ascension, and Vince made $100 that's more money than they have ever drawn.
 
#4 ·
TBH buying their shit won't do any good since Vince will push who he wants, EVEN if you've shown the ability to out sell Cena(guys like Christian, Punk, and Ambrose have).

All that really matters in the company is you if you got "da look".

And yes many people may be tired of hearing that but it's only said all the time because it's freakin true.
 
#6 ·
The only one who actually outsold Cena was Punk. Ambrose had the no. 1 selling item for one weekend black friday. The last concrete numbers released by the observer back in October had Ambrose at No. 9 in arena sales and No. 2 in online sales (For comparison Cena was #1 in both while Reigns was No. 2 in arena and No. 3 online). I get what you are stating but let's not make things up.
 
#14 ·
I respect you for that, but I'm going to drag my feet until the last minute before I get a Roman shirt or anyone else's. 99% are so generic or just ugly. But supporting one's favorite wrestler through is one way to get the WWE's attention. It may not be why someone gets pushed but it's a factor IMO.
 
#34 ·
Hence the ugly Bryan merchandise, and lurid colors for Ziggler when he was a heel....Mind you, they changed it to black when he became face - since Vince did not like seeing all the T shirts in the audience for him.
 
#7 · (Edited)
do not agree to the thread.
I understand that a wrestling promo should treat their wrestlers according to their merchandise.
But in my view WWE do not treats Wrestler according to their merchandise or potential to sell T-shirts.
BNB title, Sheamus is prospected to return strong.

Ziggi,Ryback-held to midcard even though they are totally in touch with the casual audience?
What about ambrose, that dude is great in each aspect. To me he is one of the only wrestlers of the roster i would wear a t-shirt because he is cool. maybe he has to do looney stuff but i still think he is a sign to be a nerd
 
#8 ·
They don't make many good shirts. CM Punk had some good shirts, Lesnar has good shirts but everyone else's look pretty shit. Bryan has some of the most garbage designs for T-shirts that I've seen. His current one isn't too bad though, one of his better ones.
 
#13 ·
Selling a lot of merchandise means nothing if you aren't hand picked by Vince sadly. If you're Ziggler and sell a lot of merch , Vince see's it as "oh, great our mid carder is selling a lot of merchandise" . They'll make any excuse to discredit anyone if they aren't their golden boy
 
#15 ·
Merchandise doesn't make or break a wrestler, for example CM Punk at one time sold more merchandise than John Cena and Rock, yet CM Punk never outdrew John Cena and Rock.
 
#20 ·
outdrawing is a bullshit term, its the card as a whole. I always laugh at how people claim that oh Cena is the draw because he happened to be in the main event on that PPV.
The funny thing is even when Punk was champion for over a year Cena was main eventing over him and people blame Punk for "not drawing" even though it was Cena still be pushing as THE GUY.


Punk was always NEVER booked as strongly as Cena or the Rock.
 
#17 · (Edited)
LOL, complaining about the merch now. If you pay $25/shirt, you deserve what you get. They run sales almost every day, the best ones being on Mondays. They also have a massive "SALE" section where the older shirts are $5-$10/shirt.

The designs may not be the best, but if it's what your favorite wrestler is wearing (i.e. their "official" shirt), and you're paying to support them, isn't that all that matters? I don't know anymore than wears WWE shirts as a fashion statement.

With that said, I don't think their shirts are half bad. I like Owens' and Balor's new shirts, as well as all the NXT Takeover event shirts, which I have gotten them all for less than $10 each. They practically give that stuff away once the event is 1+ month in the books.

Their thin hoodies (Dean Ambrose's, for example) are also probably the most comfortable pieces of clothing I've ever had.
 
#27 · (Edited)
I can hardly ever find WWE merch when I'm out shopping, aside from action figures and toys for kids. The only time's I can think of when I have are when I found a generic WWE hoodie I found once at Wal-mart (not for any wrestler, it was just a black hoodie with the WWE logo on it), and a couple old school "Macho Man" T-shirts. I would have bought one of those, but I was Christmas shopping at the time, and I'd feel a little guilty buying something for myself when I'm supposed to be shopping for others. I looked yesterday and I couldn't find any. :(

And yes, I know you can buy them online and at their shows, but WWE hardly ever comes to my neck of the woods, and I'm a little leery of online shopping.

Edit: I've also found DVDs of their PPVs and Documentaries. I almost bought Ladies and Gentleman, my Name is Paul Heyman, but I decided not to. I'm not an impulse buyer. :p
 
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