JBL: Movie Star

In the 11 years I have been with the World Wresting Entertainment (WWE), I have seen a lot. I have seen Hulk Hogan leave for WCW, our rival. I have seen Vince McMahon buy WCW and Hulk Hogan come back. I saw Hulk Hogan retire. I saw Hulk Hogan come back. I saw Hulk Hogan come back again.

I have seen the rise of Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. I have also seen both retire. I have seen Mick Foley keep retiring. I have seen Bret Hart, Diesel, Razor Ramon and the Ultimate Warrior come and go. I have seen my character, JBL, come and go. I have seen Undertaker continue to be called upon to put people in seats.

I have learned a lot. "Sports entertainment" -- a term Vince coined to describe pro wrestling -- is an attraction-oriented business. When the WWE lost Stone Cold and The Rock, it took a long time to recover. Such is the case in an attraction-oriented business.

The key to investing in an attraction-oriented business is knowing that the machine that created the attraction is still in place. If you had bought WWE in late 2002/early 2003 when there were no attractions to speak of, you would be very happy now.

I have another business that is based on attractions, the death of which is also greatly exaggerated. That would be Regal Entertainment Group (RGC), the world's largest theater chain; RGC owns 542 theaters (6,383 screens) in 40 states.