RRW Finance

## FINANCE

A question many of the RRW fans must have is - what does this all cost? The experts here at RRW.com have searched through all information outlets available and we're here to keep you updated on all the what's what of the finance in the RRW.

## Quarter Recaps

### **FIRST QUARTER (JANUARY - MARCH)**

Survival had the advantage in ratings when RRW first started out. Chaos took a gamble by investing heavily in top indie names like Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, Daniel Bryan, and Shinsuke Nakamura. Survival had the advantage of name recognition with superstars like John Cena, CM Punk, and Brock Lesnar. Survival beat Chaos for the first few weeks with extra emphasis on big names Brock Lesnar and Samoa Joe fighting for the title, while CM Punk's feud with Corey Graves and Roman Reigns gave the 'smark' edge which also caused some of the die-hard wrestling fans who favored Chaos to tune into Survival. Survival was smart to not go too far into overexposure with their bigger names, and resolved that issue by removing Brock Lesnar from active competition, and putting John Cena into a midcard feud which also helped to elevate one of Survival's future top guys, Dean Ambrose. With two heavy feuds in CM Punk vs Corey Graves and Roman Reigns vs Samoa Joe leading Survival into Dominion of Wrestling, Survival had no problem with their ratings, especially once Seth Rollins made his debut at DOW.

Chaos did struggle initially. None of Chaos's biggest names main evented until the third week, when Finn Balor vs Randy Orton went head to head. Balor vs Orton was the first show that helped Chaos match Survival in ratings. After another great match in Orton vs Nakamura at the first Chaos supershow, Chaos finally was able to go head to head with Survival. However Chaos took a gamble on the midcard and it paid off - 2 of the men who main evented the first ever Chaos for the International Championship are now two of their top players; Kazuchika Okada and Neville. Chaos received another small ratings boost when Royal Rumble winner Adam Cole debuted and brought more hype to the show, along with fans of the former show Rampage who were looking to see where their favorites would end up. Once we reached February, Chaos started consistenly beating Survival in ratings because of the bump they got from AJ Styles' debut and the reformation of The Bullet Club. With a great triple threat main event and the hot Bullet Club vs Wyatt Family feud, Chaos rode the momentum for a great performance at DOW, then ended the month great with the debut of Austin Aries.

 Revenue
 Average Crowd Attendance
 Fan Support

 February
 March

Survival swept Chaaos in viewership, revenue, and attendance. However because Chaos targeted the die-hard online demographic, their fan support was leaps and bounds better than Survivals. But fan support doesn't bring in the cash - and thus Survival dominated the first quarter.

**TOTAL GROSS: $108,974,000**

### **SECOND QUARTER (APRIL - JUNE)**

After having the main event spot at DOW and the hot debut of Austin Aries, along with the elevation of Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi into the World title scene, Chaos began the second quarter with six top talents all vying for the Chaos World Heavyweight Championship. Meanwhile, Survival ratings took a hit with Roman Reigns holding the top title, Dean Ambrose being MIA until Ladder to Glory, and Brock Lesnar being gone from action. Chaos ran with Aries as their top babyface against Kevin Owens, who was starting to gain major traction as the most dominant champion in the company. Ratings for Chaos were consistently rising at this point, while Survival went up and down. Chaos also benefited from the addition of AJ Styles as a top tier babyface against Bray Wyatt and the Wyatt Family. All Survival main events for the month of April were headed by a combination of Seth Rollins, Samoa Joe, or Roman Reigns. While the main event scene stagnated, Survival ratings were helped by the CM Punk vs Daniel Bryan feud. Fans were curious to see if Survival would actually let CM Punk leave, and the intrigue gave Survival a small ratings boost. Ladder to Glory proved to be a success both financially and wrestling-wise.

Ratings were boosted for both shows after a strong PPV. Both shows were benefitted by new arrivals - Triple H to Survival and the Demon Balor to Chaos. With both brands going head to head in the Civil War event, ratings reached new highs for both shows. Survival's lull was quickly rectified once Seth Rollins became the World Champion. Kevin Owens became an even stronger draw after a successful defense at LTG. Chaos had the edge in ratings but Survival was inadvertantly boosted at this time as well with the appearance of strong Chaos names like Kevin Owens and Hiroshi Tanahashi appearing, which caused many Chaos fans to tune into Survival. Chaos again began to strengthen some of their future big names like Neville, giving him back to back main events against Survival champions Cesaro and Seth Rollins. Meanwhile, Survival's 3 Hooded Men became the hottest thing in the RRW. Ratings were on the up and up because of the intrigue of who the hooded men were, but once they were announced to debut at ROTC, most of the hype stagnated until that date. With it's big 3 matches of Kevin Owens vs Seth Rollins, Shinsuke Nakamura vs Daniel Bryan, and the 5v5, Civil War turned out to be a successful event.

Chaos's ratings were further boosted at this time with the announcement of the World Tag Team Invitational, and the return of Jeff Hardy, the signings of Cien Almas, The Young Bucks, TM-61, and The Usos. Survival however began to take over Chaos once again with the announcement of the ROTC main event - Ambrose vs Rollins vs Reigns. Survival ratings yet again reached new highs. That isn't to say that Chaos suffered either. Fans were tuning in to see Shane McMahon's return to the ring, along with the long anticipated match-up of AJ Styles vs Finn Balor. Ratings were nearly head to head in June, with Survival gaining just a small edge because of the name recognition, as well as the return of Brock Lesnar. Again, ROTC met expectations and was regarded at the time as "the greatest wrestling show ever".

 Revenue
 Average Crowd Attendance
 Fan Support

 May
 March

Both shows remained head to head for the most part, with Chaos gaining a slight advantage. However the revenue was only off by a margin of $1.1 million, which isn't significant enough to declare any one show better than the other.

**TOTAL GROSS: $109,600,000**

### **THIRD QUARTER (JULY - SEPTEMBER)**

The arrival of the Fourth Reich on Survival and HYDRA on Chaos as the new governing entities created a new feeling of mystique and anticipation that was starting to wean off after Civil War. The three hooded men of Survival were unmasked to reveal Bobby Roode, Dolph Ziggler, Mr. Kennedy, and CM Punk. Although fans were let down by Mr. Kennedy, the return of the thought-to-be retired CM Punk brought back a huge ratings spike for Survival. The reformation of the Shield which officially happened the day after ROTC brought even more fans back. Fans quickly picked up on the direction of Survival headed into Summer Showdown, which would culminate in a huge main event of The Fourth Reich vs The Shield (and the debuting Chris Hero). In addition to a stacked main event scene, Survival benefitted from a strong undercard. Cesaro was gaining traction as the face (and top heel) of the Intercontinental Championship scene, pitted against long-time rival, the underdog Sami Zayn.