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« | Home | »

Floyd Mayweather jobs to the IRS

By Zach Arnold | September 22, 2009

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How bad are things for Mr. Money? How about a $5.6M USD bill from the IRS. That means over half his ‘guarantee’ for the Marquez fight goes to the IRS — before taxes. So, when it’s all said and done, Mayweather better hope the PPV buyrate is high for his fight. The way Mayweather’s tax attorney made it sound today, his client loves the IRS and is the best American tax-payer citizen in the country.

Meanwhile, Marquez wants to fight Ricky Hatton. Why not, I guess…

Speaking of the IRS, one fighter who may not be paying as much as expected to Uncle Sam is Rampage Jackson if he goes through and stops fighting in MMA. Yeah, OK. We know Jackson goes off on tirades and tangents and has made questionable career decisions in the past, but his biggest crime is that he’s a lousy politician in an industry that requires and respects people who are good at it. As I’ve said before, Dana White has every right to be upset at Jackson. Furthermore, I stand by an earlier proclamation that Jackson’s erratic behavior justifies UFC being wary of ever giving him another hard sell after the current push on The Ultimate Fighter.

Topics: Boxing, Media, Zach Arnold | 45 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

45 Responses to “Floyd Mayweather jobs to the IRS”

  1. Alan Conceicao says:

    Iole mentioned in his mail bag today that Mayweather/Marquez is trending around a million buys. Just an FYI.

  2. 45 Huddle says:

    After taxes and fighting fees, he would have to make easily over $10 Million to make any money on that fight….. Not good.

  3. Deathexplosion says:

    fight that shit Floyd.the IRS has no right to take your hard-earned income or the income of any American citizen.

  4. 45 Huddle says:

    Rampage is being a crybaby and saying he is quitting the UFC and MMA. It’s from his own website (unless it was hacked)….

    I give it under 6 months before he already has a fight signed in the UFC and ready to go…

    The best part of Rampage’s little tirade…. Is that he is blaming White for talking smack. You mean the same Dana White that basically backed him up after he hit somebody else and potentially causes a miscarriage?

    Rampage has some serious issues…. The tirade is an example of that. It is something you would expect writen from a 19 year old kid who just broke up with his girlfriend and is sending her a nasty letter. Not the type of stuff a 30ish year old guy writes to his “former” boss.

    Like I said, I think he will be fighting in the UFC again in 6 months….

    On a side note…. Should be interesting to see how Josh Gross defends Rampage on this one. He is his glorified press agent. While White does have a big mouth, Rampage is being a complete idiot once again.

    One last post…. Didn’t mean to do 3 in a row…

    http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/huerta-not-calling-it-quits-19875

    And Roger Huerta might be fighting again after all. This is turning into one big joke. When are fighters going to learn that Hollywood is not a good option? Even Hulk Hogan failed in Hollywood….

  5. MK says:

    Iole is saying that it might be as high as 1.6 million buys. Anything over 750k is a huge success.

    http://twitter.com/kevini

  6. Dave2 says:

    What about Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) 45? Obviously Hollywood has been good to The Rock ever since he branched out of the WWE to pursue his movie career. Thing is, Rampage doesn’t have that movie star aura about him like The Rock does. Neither does Roger Huerta. Huerta is a very good looking man but he’s not a true “star” in the way that someone like The Rock is. Hulk Hogan, John Cena, Stone Cold all failed to branch out successfully but The Rock had all the tools I guess.

  7. The Gaijin says:

    Love seeing how quickly 45 changes his tune re a fighter as soon as there’s any friction with the mothership. Now he caused the miscarriage and it was such a huge deal?!?!?

    Also – you’ll all enjoy this (especially Ivan) – read the insane comments from self proclaimed “Zuffa insider/employee” mmalogic! Such gems include “only two black actors in Hollywood make money” and countless other dribble too ridiculous to describe.!

  8. 45 Huddle says:

    1) Hollywood is still a white person’s world. It might be more then 2 black actors, but the number of roles available to them is definitely limited.

    2) How did I change my tune on this again on Rampage? Ivan has harped on the fact that Zuffa was making too little of an issue of Rampage’s problems. And after the UFC basically protected him, this is how they repay them? He has screwed them over every step of the way since he signed on to do TUF 10 instead of fighting Machida. I was vocal against Rampage for signing onto the movie. Which means me being vocal against Rampage for now pulling this is right in line with that logic. And his complaints that he needs to pay his family are absolutely comical. He is likely in the Top 1% of money earners in this country. To cry poverty is just the icing on the cake for his temper tantrums.

    3) As for The Rock…. He is like Arnold. A one of a kind from his industry that was able to make the cross over. Nobody from boxing has been able to do it so far. And nobody in MMA has that movie star quality either. It might happen someday, but who knows….

  9. Mr. Roadblock says:

    I wonder if with Rampage being out they’ll switch Couture/Vera to Couture/Evans. That would seem like a better and more marketable fight.

    There are several interesting angles to sell on it: two great wrestlers facing off, Randy trying to avenge his student/teammate’s loss in Forrest, and Rashad looking to beat another 205lb legend.

    The Vera/Couture fight is really nothing special and has ugly fight written all over it. Rashad/Randy would be a lot of fun and could cash in the big season of TUF in the middle of the season which is pretty cool.

  10. ultmma says:

    At this point if (when) Page comes back he will have to jump over a lot of hurdles to get any kind of promotional push from the UFC again after leaving them high and dry w/ UFC 107

    and

    having a whole season of TUF play out without the fans getting the reward at the end they expect …a coach vs. coach showdown

  11. jr says:

    Maybe Floyd Sr. can accuse Douglas Shulman of taking steroids

  12. 45 Huddle says:

    Potential (rumored) bad news for Strikeforce:

    http://www.minyanville.com/articles/games-video-thq-erts-activision-microsoft-wwe-intuit-dell-perot-deal-gaming/index/a/24608/from/yahoo

    The EA Game was a way for them to get some name recognition out of their fighters, especially Fedor…. Off the name value of Randy Couture. If EA purchases THQ…. There is no doubt they will use the UFC game license instead of the random fighters they are starting to work with now.

  13. Chuck says:

    45;

    Even if EA acquires THQ, that doesn’t mean they can’t do BOTH games. They could still use the THQ name and release the next UFC game like that, and release the EA MMA game with the EA name on it. When Enix bought out Square Soft they didn’t kill off either Final Fantasy (Square) nor Dragon Quest (Enix) did they? They were major competitors until the merger in 2003. They can still do both. It’s not as black and white as you may think it is.

  14. Fluyid says:

    “After I signed the contract Dana then changes his mind & says I have to fight Rashad & even told me what to say in the press…”

    -Rampage

    I seriously doubt that he was given a script to go by.

  15. 45 Huddle says:

    So you really think they would purchase THQ and then make two MMA games? Could happen, but highly unlikely.

  16. Ivan Trembow says:

    Hmm… you mean to tell me that people don’t like it when their boss publicly calls them stupid and mocks their Hollywood career aspirations after they just landed a big movie role? Jackson was wrong to back out of a pre-existing commitment to fight in December, but the UFC was wrong to publicly mock him the way they have. It shouldn’t be a surprise that two people with very little self-control are feuding.

  17. EJ says:

    You know it never ceases to amaze me hot time after time these fighter never seem to learn the most basic lessons ever. Don’t fuck with the UFC, everyone of the fighter that has been made to look like a dumbass afterwards from Tito to Randy to Huerta yet here comes another guy Rampage who’s going to find out the hardway this very same lesson.

  18. liger05 says:

    JMM wanting Hatton is smart. Make that fight in the UK and u will get a huge live gate and plenty of domestic PPV buys. Not sure Hatton would be up for it though.

    Whats the deal with IRS in the States. I mean PBF isnt the first celebrity who has avoidied his tax obligations. Do people just think they can beat the system or do they just not care?

  19. Alan Conceicao says:

    Blah blah blah Rampage says he’s quitting, Dana White is right, UFC UFC UFC blah blah. It sounds to me like there’s more than just a movie deal up in the air. My guess is the same as before; money. Rampage probably wants to renegotiate his contract since he’s in a position of theorized power having a film deal and this season of TUF, and he knows he could be getting a bigger cut. Dana, naturally, refuses, and we have a war of words now.

    Meanwhile, Huerta’s “acting career” never existed. Bargaining tactic while his contract was up. If they really thought he would quit fighting, they would have given him his last fight and been done with it.

  20. Reese says:

    I just don’t see how anyone can take Rampages side in this. To me Rampage is coming off as an ingrate after all Dana’s done for him. I mean Dana made him a millionaire, helped him out when he had his accident/arrest, and made him in to an actual star in the US. Does anyone really believe he would have been picked to play BA Baracuas in a movie if he wasn’t in the UFC?

  21. Mark says:

    Shouldn’t you keep up your racism by saying Hollywood is run by Jews, 45?

    I don’t think Rampage will have nearly the same success as The Rock. Rampage is funny and charismatic for a typically boring MMA fighter, but is he good enough for Hollywood? The Rock did more to prove his natural starpower than make bad breath jokes endlessly and dry hump internet reporters. I wish him the best and fully support his decision to find a strong income beyond being used and tossed away by Zuffa. But I don’t think he’ll do anything but make slightly more respectable dumb action flicks than Bas Rutten. But hey, he’ll make 6 figures doing that without getting punched in the head, so good for him.

    You know it never ceases to amaze me hot time after time these fighter never seem to learn the most basic lessons ever. Don’t fuck with the UFC, everyone of the fighter that has been made to look like a dumbass afterwards from Tito to Randy to Huerta yet here comes another guy Rampage who’s going to find out the hardway this very same lesson.

    Oh, you mean the same Randy and Tito who Dana welcomed back with open arms, gave a bigger contract to when they left, and heavily promoted them? Man, that Dana knows how to stick to his guns and ruin people!

  22. Preach says:

    Rampage will be back in the game rather sooner than later, cause quite frankly – he just doesn’t have it to make it in acting. Everyone who has seen Page’s recent forays into movies will tell you one thing – he can’t act for shit! He just can’t play it straight, heck, he’s not even hamming it up, he’s as stiff as they come, and the only expression he’s able to convincingly do is being the googly-eyed wildman.

    Him being cast in the “A-Team”-adaption is nothing but stunt-casting, pure and simple. They needed someone who’s “in”, someone who’s “hip” with the young crowd, and so they settled for Rampage cause he fits the profile and the character – big, black, and known through the “sport du jour”, the UFC. It’s the same as with Hollywood casting a bunch of Rappers to high profile roles in the past. They didn’t cast DMX in “Exit Wounds” because he’s a great martial artist, they didn’t cast 50 Cent in “Get rich or die tryin” because he’s a great thespian. They cast them to attract the young “urban” audience, to get a few more butts in the seats. Did it work? Not really, no. Their first films barely broke even and both are now being relegated to doing S2DVD-fare, cause people realized that they were all hype, and couldn’t act their way out of a paper bag.

    And this is exactly what will happen to Rampage. Might he enjoy (moderate) success with “The A-Team”? Probably. It’s a franchise that’s still beloved by most who grew up in the 80s and early 90s, so there’s at least some kind of “retro-attraction” attached to it. But it means nothing to those who make up such a films core audience – the 13-26 year olds – who weren’t even born when the tv-series was on the air.
    They need other incentives to go and see the film – and so the producers brought in two of hollywoods “it-guys”, namely Bradley Cooper of “The Hangover” (which is the most lucrative film of ’09) and Sharlto Copley of “District 9” (that’s your usual bit of nerd pleasing right there) and one of Hollywoods hottest women in Jessica Biel. Add to that a respected veteran actor in Liam Neeson and an action-savy director in Joe Carnahan, and you should have all the right ingredients of a hit. But the emphasis lies on “should”. If they decide to play it for camp and novelty, it could work (and would surely benefit Page’s “acting”), but if they decide to play it mostly straight, it’ll be flopping to the ground faster than Sean Gannon.

    And there’s another factor for Rampage’s “hollywood career” that we shouldn’t leave out – Quinton Jackson the person. You know, the guy who goes without food for days or weeks, who talks to god, who insults other people, who gropes reporters, who went on a vehicular rampage. That’s stuff that could seriously derail and destroy ALL of Rampages ambitions. Hollywood, and the general public, isn’t as forgetting and forgiving as the MMA fans. (And let’s not forget, there’s only enough space for one totally batshit insane guy in tinseltown – and that’s Gary Busey.)

    Quinton should make sure to stay friends with Hector Ecchevarria. I’m sure he’ll be in need of a job in “Never Surrender 2”, come this time next year…

  23. Alan Conceicao says:

    Rampage made Rampage a millionaire by winning fights and being a marketable personality that made him important enough to the UFC to basically buy a defunct promotion for his contract. If he wants to make more money and he thinks this bargaining tactic will work in the long run, its not my problem. Its not like I need to compulsively spend money on the UFC or have some emotional attraction to how Frank Fertitta’s bank account fills up after a show. That line about “thinking about his future” tells me what I need to know. Rampage thinks he isn’t getting enough money, and he’ll hold out until he gets it. Oddly, that tactic seemed to have worked for Tito, and that dude didn’t even have an action movie to fall back on.

  24. Mark says:

    And there’s another factor for Rampage’s “hollywood career” that we shouldn’t leave out – Quinton Jackson the person. You know, the guy who goes without food for days or weeks, who talks to god, who insults other people, who gropes reporters, who went on a vehicular rampage. That’s stuff that could seriously derail and destroy ALL of Rampages ambitions. Hollywood, and the general public, isn’t as forgetting and forgiving as the MMA fans.

    Yes, the same community who supports Tom Cruise’s Scientology insanity, Megan Fox calling her director “Hitler”, and welcomed back Martin Lawrence after he attempted to rape his co-star and had several road rage incidents involving nudity and firearms…..would actually tell Rampage he needs to step up his game if he wants to stand out.

  25. Preach says:

    Of course there are a lot of idiots and crooks in Hollywood, no doubt about that. But there’s a difference between the cases that you listed and Rampage – he’s not “one of them”.

    Hollywood’s inner circle is able to forgive and forget – but only if it concerns people who “belong”. If you’re an “outsider”, be it from the music industry, professional sports, or simply being a foreigner, you’ll have it much, much harder to overcome a scandal. If you’re an actor, and have a DUI and ramble about “sugar tits” and the “jews”, the media will say that you’ve “fallen from grace” and that you “have a problem with alcoholism”. You lay low for a while, donate money to charities and deliver a “heartfelt apology” to those you offended – and Hollywood welcomes you back with open arms. After all, you’re one of them.

    But if you’re say a former wrestler, and you call a reporter a “fag” in front of the camera or punch him, then you’re just “the wrestler”, and “a disgrace”, and it’s no wonder that you behave that way, given “where you’re coming from”. And 9 times out of 10 that’s it for your Hollywood career. You may be able to etch out a career in b-movies or abroad (or if you’re lucky TV), but other than that it’s pretty much over.

  26. Reese says:

    “Rampage made Rampage a millionaire by winning fights and being a marketable personality that made him important enough to the UFC to basically buy a defunct promotion for his contract. If he wants to make more money and he thinks this bargaining tactic will work in the long run, its not my problem. Its not like I need to compulsively spend money on the UFC or have some emotional attraction to how Frank Fertitta’s bank account fills up after a show. That line about “thinking about his future” tells me what I need to know. Rampage thinks he isn’t getting enough money, and he’ll hold out until he gets it. Oddly, that tactic seemed to have worked for Tito, and that dude didn’t even have an action movie to fall back on.”

    So if Rampage made Rampage a millionaire than how come he wasn’t one before the UFC? Same with Tito, Chuck, and Randy. Before the UFC the were making nothing, with Dana White they are millionaires and celebrities. Where was the movie offers for Rampage before he was in the UFC?

    Truth is if Rampage didn’t sign with the UFC he would have never been a star like he is now. And If Dana didn’t sign Rampage the UFC would still be doing great.

  27. Alan Conceicao says:

    So if Rampage made Rampage a millionaire than how come he wasn’t one before the UFC?

    Completely irrelevant. Obviously the UFC saw great potential in Rampage and gave him some opportunities (though my gut says they didn’t want him to beat Liddell). Its up to Rampage to capitalize on them for himself. He did that more often than not. Dana White isn’t running a charity and its facetious to pretend that he is.

  28. Mark says:

    Star making is a combination effort. UFC has the stage, but if Rampage had no fighting skill or star quality all the marketing in the world couldn’t make people pay to see him. If the UFC simply saying “watch this fight” was possible for big buy rates, they’d have nothing but TUF fighters they pay chump change to like Fight Night cards as PPVs and triple their gross.

  29. Mr. Dream says:

    In his blog post, Rampage expresses that he has paid whatever debt he owes to Dana and the UFC. Ok, but that’s very debatable.

    From his post – the theme throughout his UFC career is that he has always gone along grudgingly. He complains about essentially every fight he has had to do which has gotten him to the point he has. He even complains about fighting Chuck Liddell too soon because he didn’t think he was popular enough with the fans.

    All the UFC did for him was take him from a fledgling organization and build him into a world champion and famous multi-millionaire. Yet, Rampage has regrets about the way everything has gone.

    It makes you wonder – would Rampage be an even greater star or a nobody if he had gotten his own way?

  30. Alan Conceicao says:

    In his blog post, Rampage expresses that he has paid whatever debt he owes to Dana and the UFC. Ok, but that’s very debatable.

    He took a fight for them on 5 weeks notice, saved a PPV, and probably made them a couple million dollars. When does he get to stop being an indentured servant?

  31. Reese says:

    “Completely irrelevant. Obviously the UFC saw great potential in Rampage and gave him some opportunities (though my gut says they didn’t want him to beat Liddell). Its up to Rampage to capitalize on them for himself. He did that more often than not. Dana White isn’t running a charity and its facetious to pretend that he is.”

    Of course its relevant, if he himself was responsible for becoming a star than he should have become a star in Pride with out the UFC’s help. But he never did because he couldn’t with out the UFC’s help. Lets be honest worse fighters with less charisma have become stars with the UFC’s help.

  32. Reese says:

    “He took a fight for them on 5 weeks notice, saved a PPV, and probably made them a couple million dollars. When does he get to stop being an indentured servant?”

    WTF? He got paid, and he fought Keith Jardine! He didn’t do anthing charitable.

  33. Mark says:

    Jardine is ranked #9 on the World MMA Rankings. He also beat two former UFC champions, including one that beat Rampage.

  34. Mark says:

    Of course its relevant, if he himself was responsible for becoming a star than he should have become a star in Pride with out the UFC’s help. But he never did because he couldn’t with out the UFC’s help. Lets be honest worse fighters with less charisma have become stars with the UFC’s help.

    He was a very popular fighter in PRIDE. He became one of their most popular stars his first fight in with the great showing against Sakuraba on 2 weeks notice. He also headlined 2 shows against Wanderlei Silva, both of which were FOTY candidates. Rampage was as popular as you can get without being a champion there. Failed argument.

  35. Alan Conceicao says:

    Of course its relevant, if he himself was responsible for becoming a star than he should have become a star in Pride with out the UFC’s help.

    He was a star in PRIDE? He made good money in PRIDE? Better money than the UFC could offer at that point in time? That’s what attracted the UFC to Rampage; his success there.

    But he never did because he couldn’t with out the UFC’s help. Lets be honest worse fighters with less charisma have become stars with the UFC’s help.

    Who became a star at the level of Rampage who was a worse fighter with less charisma? Not even Bisping was.

    WTF? He got paid, and he fought Keith Jardine! He didn’t do anthing charitable.

    True, and you can argue that helping out Rampage’s legal problems wasn’t so much about charity as it was keeping one of their biggest stars and draws out of jail and in the active roster. Point is, Rampage has paid them back by fighting. He’s done his job for them. He clearly now wants more money, and since no one is going to look out for him on that end but himself, he’s doing what he’s got to do. History says he’ll be back in the UFC in 9 months with a contract for more money because the UFC will recognize the need for Rampage and pay him for a big fight with Machida (who presently has almost no one he’s realistically gonna make money with).

  36. Alan Conceicao says:

    Actually, I take back the “9 months”. I’ll be shocked if it goes on that long. Probably more like 9 days.

  37. Mark says:

    History says he’ll be back in the UFC in 9 months with a contract for more money because the UFC will recognize the need for Rampage and pay him for a big fight with Machida (who presently has almost no one he’s realistically gonna make money with).

    That is a very good point I missed. The LHW roster is by far their least interesting division. It’s so bad a 47 year old fighter who could be given a title shot with a 1-2 comeback record. They need Rampage right now.

    I predict they’ll run Vera-Evans or or Couture-Evans in February for Machida’s next challenger. That, or hope Coleman beats Ortiz.

  38. jj says:

    “Meanwhile, Huerta’s “acting career” never existed. Bargaining tactic while his contract was up. If they really thought he would quit fighting, they would have given him his last fight and been done with it.”

    Do you have special insider contacts with the Huerta camp and Lions Gate? If not you may want to do a quick google search and you just might find the press release from Lionsgate where they mention they signed Huerta to a five picture deal.

  39. Mr. Dream says:

    “When does he get to stop being an indentured servant?”

    I’d like to think that he’d finish up his business with Rashad as the wheels had clearly been set in motion.

    Would you like your barber to give you half of a haircut for half of the money?

  40. Alan Conceicao says:

    Do you have special insider contacts with the Huerta camp and Lions Gate?

    No. The answer is that I’m not gullible. Why do you think these guys all talk about money on their way out the door? Coincidence?

    Would you like your barber to give you half of a haircut for half of the money?

    Maybe if that was applicable. But I bet if my stylist was bringing in hella dough for the salon through repeat upscale customers, she’d want to see her income rise along with the increases in business. I’d be sad that she was gone since she does a pretty good job but I wouldn’t be pissed at her. I’d move on or see where she shows up to style hair next.

  41. Preach says:

    “Do you have special insider contacts with the Huerta camp and Lions Gate? If not you may want to do a quick google search and you just might find the press release from Lionsgate where they mention they signed Huerta to a five picture deal.”

    Huerta never signed a five picture deal. He was signed to a three picture DEVELOPMENT deal, a deal that does NOT necessarily mean that Huerta would get three starring roles, a deal Lionsgate could end at any given date.

    And given the absolute lackluster performances of all Lionsgate films this year (apart from the Tyler Perry films) and the state of the filmbusiness in general (even UNIVERSAL has put the development of further projects on hold for the rest of the year!), i’d guess that Lionsgate simply didn’t have anything for him in the forseeable future and cut him.

  42. Mark says:

    Well, they do have a new Saw coming out and that always does well.

    I missed your response earlier, Preach. To which I’ll say, it doesn’t matter where you’re from if you can make them money. He already has the A-Team movie so he’s in. If it does well, he has the advantage of not only hitting a homerun his first time out, but also having a built-in fanbase, like when they hire a rapper or rock star for a movie. Even if he’s not with the UFC, people are going to watch to see what Rampage is up to. He’s not going to be vying for Oscar-worthy roles, he’ll be doing dumb action movies.

  43. Preach says:

    Yes, “Saw VI” is coming, but it won’t be that big of a hit for them. The films are getting more expensive to produce (though they’re still laughable cheap compared to what the usual Major film costs), yet perform worse at the box office than it’s predecessor (it’s usually a drop of around 10 mio $). The early estimates of “Saw VI” are 40 million $, which means that they will barely break even when you include advertising. Right now it’s really the Tyler Perry films and the TV-division (Mad Men, Weeds) that keep Lionsgate floating. They’ve got a few “big” films in the pipeline (including “The Expendables”), so hopefully they’ll be able to turn business around.

    But back on topic – sure, if YOU make them money. But how are you going to measure it, when he’s starring in an ensemble movie? The stars of the A-Team film are Neeson, Cooper, Biel, Copley. If the film does well, it’ll be attributed to the value of the franchise and then to the actors name value, and exactly in the order that i listed them.

    And having a built-in fanbase doesn’t necessarily mean that you can do well in another field. Just ask WWE’s John Cena. He had the fanbase, and FOX/WWE Films did not one, but TWO films that were entirely centered around him, geared towards making him the next big thing in actionmovies. And they were also HEAVILY advertised, but – failed miserably at the box office.

    Or take Randy. He’s got a bigger fanbase than Rampage, has a much better public image, but i think we all remember “The Scorpion King – Rise of the Warrior” and how his further career in the filmbusiness turned out, don’t we?

  44. Mark says:

    Mr. T’s B.A. was the star of the A-Team. Ask any number of people who starred on the A-Team and 100% will say Mr. T. He won’t get the most lines, or the highest billing, but he’ll get all the jokes and steal the movie unless its a total Golden Raspberry contender.

    And speaking of which, all the WWE’s movies (and Scorpion King 2 and that Rich Franklin movie) were the drizzling shits, that’s why they didn’t gross huge money. A built in audience doesn’t mean they’re going to sit through awful films out of loyalty, you’ve got to give them something halfway decent. The WWE’s B-movies do gross back their budget to break even, so imagine what they’d do if they were actually good. But still, when you look at statistics, Raw gets around 4 million viewers and The Marine was seen in theaters by half of that audience plus more who rented/bought the DVD, those aren’t bad numbers (the only thing involving that movie that’s not bad.)

  45. Alan Conceicao says:

    You guys talking about movies are rubes. Randy Couture didn’t leave the UFC to make movies. He wanted out of his contract because Mark Cuban was going to pay him ridiculous money to fight Fedor, and he wanted ridiculous money. Instead, after a long time away, he resigned to the UFC for a big fat contract and fought Lesnar (and has since resigned for a bigger guaranteed money deal).

    It had nothing to do with him wanting to be a movie star. The UFC loves to engage on that level because its an emotional argument they can win with fans (i.e. “THIS DUDE DOESN’T WANT TO BE A FIGHTER, HE’S A CHUMP”) as opposed to the alternative: “Hey, look, I know Frank’s building a $20 million dollar house and we’re always talking about how we’re killing boxing money wise. But you know, Rampage might be selling this event and being in this event and fighting in the main event of this event, but why does he deserve any more than 6-7% of the gross income from it? We’re building for the future, maaaaaaan. And we can’t build without another G5.”

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