Finn "Prince Devitt" Bálor Thread (Raw Spoilers ahoy!)

Insect Overlord wrote: »

He'd hardly screw up and fail Wellness, would he?

What I meant was that he probably wouldn't get passed the midcard. I know this is probably blasphemy on this forum but thats how I feel. He doesn't have a unique image like Sheamus and even hes faded a lot over the years.

Pretty interesting response from Fergal as in he gave any response at all as traditionally he keeps his cards close to his chest. As I said above I don't there is any fresh interest in him. I think reports are simply echos of other reports a month earlier. He is under New Japan contract for how long I don't know

Triple H asked NXT Creative's Rob Naylor a year and a good bit ago for list of potential signees from the Indies so to speak. Rob submitted a list of 20-25 names the results can be seen in WWE's raid on the independents. Anyone who signed went willingly by all reports however Rob said he and William Regal begged him to come to NXT strongly multiple times and Fergal each time politely said no.

WWE is some people's dreams and for other's it is not:

That's a legitimate story and wasn't for public consumption. Kevin Steen one of his closest friends spoke about it too here at 15:20 mark:


However there's people in WWE who would switch places with Fergal in a heartbeat. The New Japan locker room is full of people who had a hard time in WWE and TNA too who made the jump.

Not to over do it on the WWE discussion. But Devitt is a prominent part of a seriously growing company:


Observer:

The company announced its new officers after Takaaki Kidani resigned as Chairman of the Board. Naoki Sugabayashi, the longtime company president, is now the Chairman. Kaname Tezuka, an executive from Bushiroad, is the new company president. Kaoru Migumo and Michiaki Nishizawa are Directors and Jyunjy Iwasaki is the financial officer. It’s notable that not one former wrestler is in senior management and Sugabayashi is the only one with years of experience in wrestling. Nishizawa was a translator for the company. Tezuka, like Kidani, are trying to expand the brand overseas, which is going to be very difficult because Japanese culture doesn’t export well. The two markets they are looking at is the U.S., where they have no chance, and Singapore, where they already have their TV broadcast in English. They are also looking at getting into Europe and Southeast Asia. He said their goal is to increase revenue to $100 million annually, and to run shows not only at the Tokyo Dome, but at every major Dome in Japan in 2015. For the first three quarters of the year, New Japan’s profits are up 500% from 2012.

I asked the lads:



Worth noting he is wrestling in Bray tonight:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=86741927&postcount=1116

Nody wrote: »

Well 500% profit increase may sound good but if that's going from 1 EUR to 5 EUR profit it's still a poor profit With out having some relevant numbers to put next to is (such as net profit, total spend etc.) it's really a meaningless fluff number.

New Japan went from about 2001 to 2008 without turning a profit due the Japanese economy and booking and talents decisions that genuinely nearly destroyed the company. $4-5 million was the likely profit range in 2012. The addition of iPPV is what is driving the increase. There is no tradition of Pay Per View in America and cable penetration is rather low in the country (meaning people only have the basic channels). So there was an unknown level of demand for Wrestling iPPVs which turned out to be large.

There's also the social factor which I am not entirely sure exists in October 2013 of people not wanting to be seen out in enjoying themselves or on TV doing it while other people were suffering due to the Fukushima nuclear disaster. I guess it is kind of like when it was kind of vulgar to be seen having a new car reg in Ireland a few years ago when the economy was its worst.

Andy_rse wrote: »

Seen him in Belfast last night, he wrestled 3 matches, he looks the business! Him and Duncan Disorderly put on a good match in the main event!

Duncan's really good. Looks the part, can talk and wrestle.

You forgot to mention this:

Mike Johnson reported today WWE and Devitt ARE in discussions.

Mike acknowledged the joke Tweets from the weekend the report isn't based off them rather something he was actually told my source.