JoeDirt

CZW, PWG, NWA Wildside, IWA Mid-South ANY of those sound familiar? ...OK, ones that I'd care about if I had the money to buy the events on DVD. I heard of CZW and NWA Wildside, but other 2 I have no clue. PWG's really good - check 'em out at prowrestlingguerrilla.com and buy a DVD! *done shilling*

Didn't Invasion pop a monster buyrate even though the card sucked. Yep. Leading up to Invasion: Backlash 2001: .90 Judgment Day 2001: .84 KOTR 2001: .96 Invasion: 1.63 And after... Summerslam 2001: 1.32 Unforgiven 2001: .81

Other notes, because I'm bored! From Good Friends Better Enemies (4/96) to No Way Out of Texas (2/98), the WWF only had one PPV crack the 1.0 buyrate scale - Survivor Series 96, which got a 1.30, way more than anything else they got at the time. (Bret's return, I'm guessing?) That's 22 out of 23 PPV's under a 1.0 Conversely, from Royal Rumble 2000 - Wrestlemania 17, all WWF PPV's got over a 1.0 - that's 15 straight PPVs over 1.0. Not bad at all.

What was WM VII buyrate? I remember Monsoon saying it was the largest PPV Audience, so Im guessing more people had PPV access for the show than before. Yeah, the audience and number scale is different when you go back that far. The official number is 2.8...no idea what exactly that would corralate with "today's" buyrates. But in comparison, WM6 got a 3.8, and WM 5 a 5.9. The 91 Rumble got a 3.1, so I'm guessing the WM7 buyrate was slightly a disappointment.

Oh, and maybe the scariest buyrate of all. Wrestlemania 13 - .77 Yikes.

How good was the Rock/HHH Ironman match? How about that Judgment Day PPV as a whole?

Here's how the PPV's following them did: -------------- 12/95 - In Your House #5 - .30 - NEXT PPV: Royal Rumble 96 (Rumble, Bret vs. Taker) = 1.1 (Which is better than the 94, 95, 97, and 98 Royal Rumbles) 12/96 - WWF It's Time - .35 - NEXT PPV: Royal Rumble 97 - .70 7/96 - WWF International Incident - .37 - NEXT PPV: Summerslam 96 = .58 (Worst Summerslam buyrate ever, I believe) 12/03 - WWE Armageddon 2003 - .40 - NEXT PPV: Royal Rumble 2004 = .90 10/95 - WWF IYH #4 - .40 - NEXT PPV: Survivor Series 95 - .57 12/97 - WWF Degeneration X - .44 - NEXT PPV: Royal Rumble 98 = .97 9/97 - WWF Ground Zero - .45 - NEXT PPV: IYH Bad Blood = .60 10/96 - WWF Buried Alive - .45 - NEXT PPV: Survivor Series 96 = 1.30 5/96 - WWF Beware of Dog - .45 - NEXT PPV: KOTR 96 = .60 9/96 - WWF Mind Games - .48 - NEXT PPV: Buried Alive - .45 Vengeance in July of 2003 got a .49 buyrate...Summerslam 2003 a .94

They just hired that Grisham guy...who's leaving/left this time?

But he was a hoss. In the McMahon doctrine, a hoss = a prostitute. Why didn't they push him? IIRC correctly, people said he had a bad attitude, and they knew Rosey and Jamal weren't in good shape. At least Rosey was a nice guy backstage though, I guess.

How did he blow his big shot when they didn't put him on TV anymore after Piper left?

I believe he had a domestic violence issue as well as some other things.

Anyone know? Is he hurt, or just not getting booked?

www.steveswrestling.com/info/wwebuyrates.html

Yeah, the International Incident card pretty much sucked. There was a decent Austin/Mero match, and the main event was a good match, but just not enough to get anyone to buy it when the title wasn't even at stake. (And the tag team match at the start is non title, too!)

Yeah, the PPV was actually decent. Well, the PPV kind of sucked originally because of the satellite going out, but if you get the tape with the collected matches it's not too bad because there's a good Austin/Vega strap match, and everything is pretty decent. But I think it's safe to say that the British Bulldog never really drew. Of course he was in the main event scene in 95 and 96, so who knows.

How about before Unforgiven 2001, with the Austin/Angle/RVD main event. He comes out and does the most emphatic thumbs pointing and yelling "RVD!" ever. There's also a great thread in the old school section about all the dumb stuff he's said as announcer.

12/95 - In Your House #5 - Bret Hart vs. British Bulldog, Owen Hart vs. Diesel, HHH vs. Henry Godwin - .30 12/96 - WWF It's Time - Bret Hart vs. Sid, Undertaker vs. Executioner, Owen and Bulldog vs. Fake Diesel and Fake Razor - .35 7/96 - WWF International Incident - HBK/Sid/Ahmed vs. Vader/Owen/Bulldog - .37 12/03 - WWE Armageddon 2003 - Goldberg vs. HHH vs. Kane, RVD vs. Randy Orton - .40 10/95 - WWF IYH #4 - Diesel vs. British Bulldog, Goldust vs. Marty Jannetty, Razor vs Dean Douglas - .40 12/97 - WWF Degeneration X - HBK vs. Shamrock, HHH vs. Slaughter, Austin vs. Rock - .44 9/97 - WWF Ground Zero - HBK vs. Undertaker, Bret Hart vs. Patriot - .45 10/96 - WWF Buried Alive - Undertaker vs. Mankind, Vader vs. Sid - .45 5/96 - WWF Beware of Dog - HBK vs. Bulldog, Undertaker vs. Goldust - .45 9/96 - WWF Mind Games - HBK vs. Mankind, Undertaker vs. Goldust - .48 --------------- I guess it's safe to say that December PPV's don't draw well? Sheesh! Any thoughts about the list? It should be noted that #11 on the list would be the Smackdown PPV Vengeance from this past July. I'm not sure exactly what No Way Out got, but it'd probably be pretty close to that as well. So what can we take from this list? Just PPV's that were poorly built to? Times that nobody cared about the WWF or WWE? Hey, things may be bad now...but they're not as bad as they were from 95-97...right?

I liked when Vince was in handcuffs...Austin rubs his head. "He's a good kid."

Did the suits get pissed at Hawk for no selling Kane's tombstone not long after he debuted in 97? How many times did Undertaker pretend to be Kane, and then unmask to shock everybody? (Even though you knew it because he wore a two sleeved outfit to cover all his tattoos.)

Was this the end of HHH's streak? I think it was.

I actually loved the whole angle that led to Rock becoming champion, and the Shane heel turn on Austin. Vinnie Roo could really write some good stuff now and then.

I also believe the zamboni show is also the show where Rock pinned Taker in that tag match, and they did a good job of making it seem like a really big deal.

Bret faced Benoit in March of 99? Don't remember that match...

What were your favorite moments from the Austin/McMahon feud? Did you like the WWF at this time, or was there not enough good wrestling on the shows for you?

I'm actually surprised they gave this match away on an IYH and then had Taker vs. Farooq for the title at KOTR.