Jim Cornette was the former lead booker for Ohio Valley Wrestling, WWE’s former developmental promotion, so he has a keen interest in the company’s current developmental territory NXT. On recent episode of The Jim Cornette Experience, Cornette made some revelations about how much money NXT is losing.
Cornette said he was sent the yearly and quarterly reports that are available because the WWE is a publicly-traded company. He revealed that NXT lost way more many than it made in the last two years, a luxury he wishes he had when he was at the helm of OVW.
“NXT in 2016 sold $7 million in tickets and had $20 million in expenses. In 2017, NXT had let’s say $6 million in ticket sales and $25 million in expenses… In all honesty, 2016 they lost $13 million, 2017 they lost $19 million and that’s not a ton of money for that whole company and organization up there. But can you imagine what me and Danny Davis could’ve done with Ohio Valley Wrestling if they said, ‘OK guys, you can bring in anybody that you want that’s not on the main roster or signed to New Japan and you can lose $32 million over the next two years.’ Holy f**k!”
Cornette said OVW never was in that position even though it didn’t generate a lot of money on its own. Still, he believes OVW was successful in its own right and says it was never in a bad monetary situation.
“We already had the highest rated show on the station’s Saturday schedule we were on… We had numerous events that drew large houses at the Gardens and we drew at Six Flags and we produced a ton of talent. I don’t know what the percentages would be but I guarantee we didn’t lose $32 million,” he said. “That’s the thing, Ohio Valley Wrestling never lost money since it’s been in operation. There have been a few years it may not have made much, but at that point in time it was the only full-time company with television running regular events in the United States besides the WWE that was profitable.”
Cornette said he understands the WWE’s need to develop their future superstars, so it’s necessary for them to put a lot of money towards NXT. Still, he thinks the losses are very monumental, so he was surprised by the numbers.
“I understand they’re making the investment in training the future superstars and they have to, they’ve figured out that they have to because they’re not getting them from anywhere else,” he said. “So they have to train their own, but my God!”
Source: The Jim Cornette Experience
