Chapter 255: WWE appearance fee of $1 million, one on three
In an atmosphere of superheroes, the 2004/05 regular season of the NBA league began.

On November 2004, 11, the Knicks opened their season at home against the Los Angeles Lakers.

In the evening, the stars in Madison Square Garden are particularly bright.

There were at least twenty first-tier stars who came to watch the game, and even more second-tier and third-tier stars. It seemed as if all the stars in New York were there.

To celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, all the celebrity friends in Hollywood will show up as long as they have time and schedule.

David Stern and Los Angeles Lakers star David Stern also attended the event. One was to attend the Knicks' opening game, and the other was to present the Knicks with championship rings.

The circle of billboards on the sidelines are mostly filled with advertisements in Chinese characters, and are basically occupied by Chinese advertising endorsements.

Madison Square Garden is decorated with many decorations with Chinese elements, and is filled with the atmosphere of Chinese culture.

Chinese people can be seen everywhere in the audience.

At eight o'clock, both sides announced their starting lineups.

Lakers: Chris Mihm, Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Kobe Bryant, Chucky Akinster

Knicks: He Zhongqiu, Karl Malone, Shane Battier, Josh Howard, Nash
Rick Carlisle arranged a three-two zone defense tactic, with Battier mainly defending Kobe, Josh Howard guarding the middle and also responsible for assisting in defending Kobe.

In terms of lineup, this Lakers team is not even in the playoffs, but the Knicks did not ignore this opening game, and they must get off to a good start.

The game was broadcast live by TNT, which also broadcast the finals a few months ago. Barkley and Kenny Smith were on the commentary desk.

In the live studio at TNT's headquarters in Los Angeles, Barkley joked: "The league is going to cause trouble by arranging the Knicks and Lakers for the opening game!"

"That way it'll be more of a topic of conversation," Kenny Smith said with a smile.

"NONONO..."

Barkley shook his big head with a smile and said, "Tonight's game doesn't need any other topics, because our superhero, Kung Fu King Wolverine, is the most popular topic in the world, haha!"

Kenny Smith nodded immediately and said, “Yes, I really can’t understand why Wolverine didn’t say it until now.

He is really too low-key, too low-key. If he had said it earlier, he would have been a superhero, haha!"

In the CCTV live studio, Zhang Heli said: "A new season has begun. This season, the Knicks' goal is of course to defend their title.

But the Knicks' roster has changed a lot. Only five players remain from last season's championship team, and the rest are all newcomers."

Yu Jia went on to say: "So defending the title is still very difficult. In the regular season, the first thing the Knicks need to do is to re-formulate tactics and adjust the lineup."

Zhang Heli nodded and said, "The Knicks' luck is not very good either. Many players' contracts have expired, and some of them have short one-year contracts.

After they won the championship, their value increased, which led to the loss of most of the championship members, making it more difficult to defend the title. "

Yu Jia said: "But as long as Zhongqiu is still there and Nash is there, the core lineup will not change, and there is still hope for defending the title."

In the player tunnel, when He Zhongqiu and his teammates came out, the five starting players of the Lakers were already standing in front.

"Hey, Wolverine."

"Hey, Kung Fu King."

"Hey, superhero."

As he appeared, the five starting players of the Lakers greeted him hurriedly. Even Kobe, who did not have a good relationship with him, nodded politely.

Nodding to the others, He Zhongqiu jokingly said, "Kobe, it seems that your management has sold O'Neal at a low price. Can we still make it to the playoffs this season?"

Kobe's face twitched and he said coldly: "We will make it to the playoffs."

He Zhongqiu was idle, so he continued to tease, "It's useless to be tough, otherwise your face will get swollen."

Kobe snorted angrily, but the lineup was too bad and he was unable to refute, so he had to pretend he didn't hear it.

"By the way, I haven't congratulated you yet. The lawsuit is settled. You are free now, right?" He Zhongqiu continued to tease.

Kobe was like a thorn exploded, and said angrily: "Wolverine, don't be so arrogant. You may not have the strength to defend the title this season."

Hehe, He Zhongqiu laughed and said, "Anyway, you Lakers are not qualified to be the Knicks' opponent. I can be sure of that."

"Humph!"

Kobe turned his head away angrily.

At this time, the visiting team started to play, first, then the home team, and He Zhongqiu was the last to appear.

The host's passionate voice rang out: "Ladies and gentlemen, now, let us welcome the Kung Fu King from China, the Hollywood action star, the world-renowned fighter, the NBA scoring champion, the regular season MVP, the champion and the finals FMVP winner, the leader of the New York Knicks..."

"Oh oh oh……"

Following the host's voice, the cheers of the Madison Square Garden fans swept up like a tide, growing louder and louder until it was earth-shaking.

The host on the scene shouted heartbreakingly: "Great superhero, King! Gang! Wolf! Happy! Mid! Autumn!!"

"boom!"

Madison Square Garden seemed to explode, and the cheers of more than 20,000 people suddenly reached a peak.

The shock wave of the sound swept through everyone's hearts and eardrums, causing everyone at the scene to lose their hearing and leaving only the madly burning adrenaline.

Amidst such extreme cheers, He Zhongqiu walked out of the aisle and waved, raising the cheers to a higher level.

On both sides of the tunnel, all the way to the court, his teammates, management, and friends lined up in two rows to welcome his appearance.

A little further away on the sidelines, there were fireworks blooming.

"God bless you, our super hero." Spike Lee sent his blessings sincerely.

"Old Li, I'm still waiting for your movie." He Zhongqiu said.

"You can't blame me for this. The NBA wants to invest in a kung fu basketball movie, and my original script is scrapped," Spike Lee said helplessly.

"Hey, superhero, you did a great job." Johnson punched He Zhongqiu.

"Of course." He Zhongqiu responded with a smile.

"Superhero, how did you save more than a hundred people in the fire?" Statham said with admiration.

"As long as you try your best, you are a superhero," he replied.

"Wolverine, you are my superhero, I am waiting for you to save me." Jessica Alba gave him a hug with admiration and whispered in his ear.

"Wait."

"Wolverine, you got me drunk that day and left me there, why didn't you take me away?" Scarlett Johansson asked gritting her teeth.

He Zhongqiu was also speechless. At the celebration banquet after the fighting match that day, the short girl Scarlett pestered him for a drink, but he was in a hurry to save nine Japanese female stars, so he had no choice but to get her drunk.

He couldn't help but complain in his heart: "No, you are so angry. After I left that day, you wouldn't be picked up by someone, right?"

Finally, He Zhongqiu came to David Stern and Loshua Daley, shook hands and hugged them.

"Wolverine, our superhero, you are awesome!" Daly said excitedly.

"Wolverine, at such a young age of sixteen, you bravely saved more than a hundred people. It is a heroic feat. The entire NBA should take you as a role model, and the NBA is proud of you." David Stern said with emotion.

Next, the Knicks received the Finals ring.

In addition to the coaching staff, there were only five players, starting with James Dolan, who lined up to greet the fans first and then receive the rings.

The envy, jealousy and regret in Karl Malone and Gary Payton's eyes were so thick that they seemed to be dripping out.

The ring for celebrating Zhongqiu was made according to his wishes. The ring is shaped like a dragon with 108 sparkling diamonds. It has his Chinese name, the year of the championship, the name and logo of his team, and is very gorgeous, giving it a high-end feel.

Luo Sihua handed the ring to David Stern, who then gave it to He Zhongqiu. He couldn't wait to put it on his left index finger, then raised his left hand to the fans and showed them his ring.

"Superhero! Superhero! Superhero..."

The whole audience roared with excitement, and the shouts of superheroes resounded in every corner of Madison Square Garden.

After receiving the ring, the competition could not continue immediately because a group of big stars from Hollywood came up to take photos with He Zhongqiu.

接下来的比赛，贺中秋上场35分钟，轰下了37分11篮板2助攻2抢断4盖帽的豪华数据。

He easily destroyed the Lakers' inside line, 79:109, and led the team to a good start and a 30-point victory.

The postman played the main power forward position and played for 30 minutes, scoring 11 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal. His performance was not worse than last season, and his condition was indeed good. Rick Carlisle's requirements for him were mainly to control rebounds and defend. He did not have many tasks on the offensive end, mainly to open up and create singles opportunities for He Zhongqiu.

佩顿替补上场打了20分钟，拿到8分2篮板5助攻1抢断的数据，状态也还可以。

贾马尔克劳福德替补上场25分钟，轰下13分2篮板3助攻1抢断的数据，命中率40%。

As a substitute for the No. 2 position, this efficiency is pretty good. According to Rick Carlisle, he is very suitable to play as the sixth man.

As for his own thoughts, he naturally wants to be a starter. He was the Bulls' leading scorer last season.

But this is the Knicks, and there is a superhero above them. Just like Bonzi Wells last season, he dares not have any extra thoughts.

As for the Lakers, Kobe scored 25 points with a shooting percentage of 40.4% under the three-two zone defense. His condition was not bad, but not hot either, and his performance was average.

The illegal hand-guarding rule was implemented this season, but the league has some control over the scale of the whistle and will only be strictly enforced from next season. For now, outside players do not benefit much from this rule.

On the morning of the 3rd, Frank Zhang came over.

In 5 days, the number of clicks on "Sky Arc Tornado Kill" has exceeded 5 million, and the number of downloads has exceeded 7000 million.

"Boss, there has been a problem with the negotiations with WWE."

"What's going on?" He Zhongqiu asked.

"McMahon wants to arrange three people to fight you. He said it's too dangerous for one person to fight you." Frank Zhang said.

"Script or actual combat?" He Zhongqiu asked.

Frank Zhang said, "Boss, you are a superhero, so from now on, no matter what the script is, you can't play the villain."

"Oh, that's it, that's not bad.
He Zhongqiu was stunned. He had not considered this, but it seemed that Frank Zhang was right to think so.

Frank Zhang continued: “McMahon said that if it’s one against three, in the script, who wins and who loses depends on their own ability.

He Zhongqiu laughed and said, "This Vince McMahon is very interesting. Does he think that WWE will definitely win in a one-on-three situation?"

Frank Zhang said with some concern: “Boss, although you have done something like KOing thirteen people by yourself, these are three top masters after all. If you don’t agree, we can reject his conditions.

Even if we reject his offer, WWE will agree to it, and McMahon will not be able to resist the temptation to compete with you."

"Why not? Tell him, actual combat, one on three." He Zhongqiu said without hesitation.

"Really?" Frank Zhang asked quickly.

"of course it's true."

He Zhongqiu nodded, but suddenly he remembered something and asked quickly: "What are the rules for actual combat? Aren't they wrestling rules?"

Frank Zhang shook his head and said, “Although WWE is a wrestling league, we cannot use wrestling rules when fighting you. We have already determined this.

McMahon's idea was to design a challenge-type subplot, with WWE challenging the Kung Fu King, using MMA rules."

He Zhongqiu said: "Unrestricted fighting is fine, but what about PPV income?"

"In terms of PPV revenue share, WWE wants 30%"

After Frank Zhang said this, he explained: "Boss, WWE has become more and more well-known in the United States in recent years, and wrestling has a very long history in the United States, which is much more influential than Pride in Japan.

Then they sent three top wrestlers who were much more famous in the United States than Fedor, so they wanted a 30% share. "

"Seventy percent is fine." He nodded.

Frank was stunned and said quickly, "Boss, I refuse."

"What?" He Zhongqiu was stunned.

Frank Zhang quickly said: "WWE's previous highest PPV sales were only 600,000, which is one-tenth of yours, so I think they can only get 10%."

He Zhongqiu nodded quickly and said, "Frank, you are right, I should take 90%."

Frank Zhang said: "But McMahon believes that even if this match can reach 600 million sales, if they only take 20%, then if they share it among three people, each person will only get , which is not in their interest."

"Don't keep us in suspense, Frank. Just tell me, what is the final number?" He Zhongqiu asked.

Frank Zhang laughed and said, "In the end, they take 1.5% and you take 8.5%."

"Beautiful! Don't worry, Frank, your bonus will be very generous." He Zhongqiu said happily.

"I know that. Boss is always generous."

Frank Zhang smiled and said, "Boss, because it was a one-on-three fight, the appearance fee was negotiated to 4000 million US dollars. McMahon said that it can't be increased any more. WWE is still far less popular than professional boxing, and WWE doesn't have that much money."

He Zhongqiu shook his head and said, “If I fight one, it’s 2000 million. If I fight three at the same time, the difficulty will increase by at least ten times.

Not to mention 6000 million, at least 4000 million, right? million, how can I beat three people? "

"No, no, Boss, 322 million PPV sales, that's 3 million US dollars in profit, 6000 million appearance fee is too low." Frank Zhang said hurriedly.

"You only negotiated $4000 million," He Zhongqiu reminded.

Frank Zhang said: “So we agreed that the TV broadcaster would support the rest of the appearance fee.

My request is one-on-three, and at least $1 million in appearance fee.”

"$1 billion?"

He Zhongqiu was startled, but asked doubtfully, "Is it possible that the TV station would be willing to pay me an appearance fee?"

"Boss, you should know how much ESPN made from the match in Japan. Excluding the copyright fee, they made a profit of $1.3 million. They made a fortune."

Frank Zhang shrugged his shoulders and said, "So there is nothing wrong with them. As long as they can make money, they will spend it happily.

This is also a common practice in boxing matches, and TV broadcasters may also be one of the sponsors.

Otherwise, do you think that the tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars in boxing promotion fees are all paid by the promoters?

Of course not, they will look for sponsors and advertisers, just like we do with the commercials for our movies.”

"Where do you fight?"

He Zhongqiu nodded and asked again.

WWE's performance headquarters is located in Madison Square Garden, but there are more than 70,000 people in Japan. WWE may arrange a large stadium with a capacity of 100,000 people, such as the home stadium of the Giants or Jets.

"Madison Square Garden, of course," said Frank Zhang.

"Won't McMahon choose a big stadium?" He Zhongqiu asked in surprise.

Frank Zhang said: "Boston, we are New York, the world's financial center, and our spending power is not comparable to that of Tokyo. At Madison Square Garden, tickets will be sold at a high price, so we don't have to worry about no one watching.

WWE saw this point and set up its performance headquarters in Madison Square Garden. At least 60% to 70% of PPV matches are held in Madison Square Garden every year.

He Zhongqiu then realized that the target audience for this match were the wealthy New York financiers, and those who could not afford tickets could only watch it on TV through PPV.

"Boss, we will play the Hawks at home on November 11rd, play the Raptors on the road on the 23th, and then play the Raptors again at home on the 24th. What do you think about scheduling the game against WWE on the 27th?" Frank asked.

He Zhongqiu thought for a while and said, "That means two consecutive back-to-backs. That's fine. To make money, it doesn't matter if I work a little harder. My physical fitness is now level 95, so I can handle it, hehe."

"What level 95?" Frank was stunned.

He Zhongqiu realized that he had let something slip, so he laughed and explained, "It's quantification and data. If the highest level is 100, I think my physical fitness has reached level 95 now. What do you think?"

Frank Zhang laughed and said, "Boss, if there is no problem, then I will go to sign the contract?"

"You haven't told me who my three opponents are."

Frank Zhang said: "McMahon has not yet decided, I think it should be Goldberg, The Undertaker, Broke, Johnson, and John Cena.

Johnson is planning to retire from WWE, John Cena is a rising star, and I think the most likely candidates are Goldberg, The Undertaker and Bradley Cooper."

"Okay, I'm fine."

Frank Zhang reminded: "Boss, the way WWE plays is entertainment, so even if it is a real fight, there will be a loose script and a certain degree of performance. It will not be as formal as the last fight."

"I know that. I've watched their games at Madison Square Garden several times." He Zhongqiu nodded.

(End of this chapter)