Memorable wastes of money (excluding wrestlers)

[Guest Redhawk]

The Redneck Triathlon wheel on RAW was just one of those things I see on WWE TV and think "What a waste of money." Call me a penny-pincher, but stupid things like that (why couldn't they just say "We'll have a pie-eating contest" and leave it at that?) end up costing money in the long run.

 

I know whenever they bring out a brand-new car just to demolish it -- via pouring cement in it, having it run over by a monster truck, breaking the windows, etc. -- I wonder what the hell they're doing. For example, Goldberg's car last week. Why was that done? Wasn't there a better and free way to further the Jericho-Goldberg feud?

 

And a few weeks ago on Smackdown, either A-Train or John Cena smashed up a TV and VCR for no good reason.

 

What are some other memorable ones?

[Guest bob_barron]

When Triple H went ballastic and broke everything to build for KOTR

[Guest Hogan Made Wrestling]

I know whenever they bring out a brand-new car just to demolish it -- via pouring cement in it, having it run over by a monster truck, breaking the windows, etc. -- I wonder what the hell they're doing.

 

I've always wondered if those cars are freebies from the manufacturers. After all, they always make sure to get off the make and model (like when the Rock was talking about buying his new Lincoln - even dropped the pricetag - before Austin ran it over) before they wreck the car.

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

elimination chamber

[Guest AndrewTS]

Nash smashing the limo window, and stuff broken in the HHH-Nash brawl.

 

Vince's place in Boca Raton. Way to reward yourself, champ.

 

The World.

 

Smackdown Records.

 

The alleged "celebrities" for Mania XIX.

 

All of the breast implants.

 

The Chamber may be one of the biggest aside from Vince's new pad. A million dollars, wasn't it?

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

The excessive amounts of pyro.

 

I remember being amazed by the generic fireworks in the Skydome @ Wm 6, now pyro is just another "thing" like frills on boots, or kickpads (though I actually mark for those)

[Guest Hogan Made Wrestling]

Vince's place in Boca Raton. Way to reward yourself, champ.

 

The Chamber may be one of the biggest aside from Vince's new pad. A million dollars, wasn't it?

Who gives a shit, Vince isn't allowed to spend his own money on an expensive house? That's like saying Bill Gate's monster house is a waste of Microsoft's money.

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

Well Vince and Linda each got $1 mil. dollar bonus' IIRC when the WWE was at it's height... meanwhile, in terms of scale, the WWE wrestlers get paid a very small fraction of the companies revenue.

 

The chamber was half a mil.

[Guest Hogan Made Wrestling]

Well Vince and Linda each got $1 mil. dollar bonus' IIRC when the WWE was at it's height... meanwhile, in terms of scale, the WWE wrestlers get paid a very small fraction of the companies revenue.

 

The chamber was half a mil.

Execs make a killing while the workers get less. And that differs from any other big business in the US...how?

[Mecha Mummy 0]

The alleged "celebrities" for Mania XIX.

Hell yes. The Miller Lite Catfight Girls were the bane of my Wrestlemania experience.

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

In sports?

[Adam 0]

When they used to have celebrities at (the) WWF New York to help out Crash in his Hardcore Title quest.

[Guest Austin3164life]

Elimination Chamber

All of the broken tables

Brian Gerwitz

[Guest BifEverchad]

Three Letters: X-F-L

[Guest Austin3164life]

Heh, to quote Cena himself:

 

"He's just a baaad idea....

Like the X-F-L"

(cue in Seattle crowd "oooh"ing)

[Guest Kotzenjunge]

That Corvette that was filled with cement was actually a 1980s model, hardly new in 1998. Still, it was a crime against auto-kind and I share your anger at it being wasted.

[Guest BifEverchad]

What about the Million-Dollar Belt? Didnt't that cost a shitload of cash or was/is that me being dumb and naive?

[Guest Kotzenjunge]

I've seen the Million Dollar Belt valued at $115,000 or so when it was made on several sites, so I think that was fairly legit. I mean, it wasn't a million dollars, but it was still pretty friggin' expensive.

 

However, that wasn't really a waste.

[Guest Hogan Made Wrestling]

I think the cement-filled Corvette is the centerpiece of the lobby at Titan Towers.

[Guest BifEverchad]

I've seen the Million Dollar Belt valued at $115,000 or so when it was made on several sites, so I think that was fairly legit. I mean, it wasn't a million dollars, but it was still pretty friggin' expensive.

 

However, that wasn't really a waste.

I think spending SO MUCH on a belt, kinda is...

 

No matter what angle or gimmick it was used for.

[Guest EdwardKnoxII]

That Corvette that was filled with cement was actually a 1980s model, hardly new in 1998. Still, it was a crime against auto-kind and I share your anger at it being wasted.

 

Yeah no kidding I was mad at them wrecking that cool Vette and at the same time I did laugh at it. And here's the thing the Vette was really owned by Vince wasn't it? So I guess that shows just how much money had that he could throw around to wreck a Vette like that. Also, remember the HHH/Steph divorce fights leading the WM 18? There was one were Steph wanted her Vette back from HHH. Well he gave it to her only he cut it in half.

[Guest Redhawk]

Do they have to pay for the limos? I've never heard them plug a limo company, so I doubt they get constant freebies. Or maybe Vince owns a limo and they use that same one for every "Triple H/Bischoff/Steph/Goldberg/whoever is here" shot. But if that's the case, they have to pay to have it flown city-to-city, right?

 

Does anyone know the story behind the autos, i.e. the limos, Undertaker's bikes, Goldberg's cars/bikes, Eddie Guerreros' lowriders and all the Steve Austin vehicles (beer trucks, monster trucks, pickup trucks, zambonis, etc.)?

 

Oh, and the DX Express had to be expensive. Whether they paid for the bus itself or not, I know they had the front windows busted out of one, then blew up another another for no good reason.

 

And all that paint they used on Jeff Hardy couldn't have come cheap. Especially the special "glow in the blacklight" kind.

[Guest bravesfan]

Does anyone know the story behind the autos, i.e. the limos, Undertaker's bikes, Goldberg's cars/bikes, Eddie Guerreros' lowriders and all the Steve Austin vehicles (beer trucks, monster trucks, pickup trucks, zambonis, etc.)?

 

Taker's bikes were free from the manufacturers in the beginning, but after a while, he began the pimping of the "Titan" bike the WWE made for him (umm, the one with the excessive tire width, I believe).

 

The limos are local rentals.

 

Guerrero's LR's are paid favors from locals in town. I'd be surprised if any of them were severely harmed in any way.

 

And for Austin:

--beer truck; favor from supplier who works with Vince and arena owners for each show.

--monster truck; generic monster truck model, with detailed frame made by local professional

--pick-up trucks; either generic rentals with Austin's logo affixed to the doors, or those owned by Austin himself.

--zamboni; a favor from the arena they eminated from.

 

Oh, and the DX Express had to be expensive. Whether they paid for the bus itself or not, I know they had the front windows busted out of one, then blew up another another for no good reason.

 

I still cringe at the explosion of the DX Express. Lord knows, Vinnie Mac could not've been dumb enough to use one that was still operable.

[Guest Redhawk]

I wonder how much those nWo leaflets were costing WCW? But I'm sure of the things they wasted money is another thread on it's own.

[Guest OnlyMe]

WCW. For both Turner and McMahon.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

The biggest waste of all = Kevin Nash's surgery

[Guest The Tino Standard]

The Redneck Triathlon wheel on RAW was just one of those things I see on WWE TV and think "What a waste of money." Call me a penny-pincher, but stupid things like that (why couldn't they just say "We'll have a pie-eating contest" and leave it at that?) end up costing money in the long run.

 

I know whenever they bring out a brand-new car just to demolish it -- via pouring cement in it, having it run over by a monster truck, breaking the windows, etc. -- I wonder what the hell they're doing. For example, Goldberg's car last week. Why was that done? Wasn't there a better and free way to further the Jericho-Goldberg feud?

 

And a few weeks ago on Smackdown, either A-Train or John Cena smashed up a TV and VCR for no good reason.

 

What are some other memorable ones?

Besides the Redneck Triathlon wheel last night on Raw, how about bringing in the HIAC? They lowered it for two segments and it did... absolutely nothing. Even in the HHH-Foley brawl at the end of the show, there was not one use of the cage. What a waste.

[Guest evilhomer]

Guerrero's LR's are paid favors from locals in town. I'd be surprised if any of them were severely harmed in any way.

I would imagine that the local owners lend them pretty cheaply because it would give them some large bragging rights to be able to say that their car was featured on an international tv program.

 

The excessive amounts of pyro.

 

I remember being amazed by the generic fireworks in the Skydome @ Wm 6, now pyro is just another "thing" like frills on boots, or kickpads (though I actually mark for those)

It's sort of like the highspots or putting wrestlers through tables. They're great the first few times you see it but then they get overused and become just another thing. The problem is that through the overuse of them, fans become conditioned to expect them. So the use of them adds nothing to the show, but if the pyro wasn't there it would look bad, like their half-assing it.

 

And a few weeks ago on Smackdown, either A-Train or John Cena smashed up a TV and VCR for no good reason.

What I find really dumb is that they constantly destroy Sony tv's, one of the most expensive brands out there. Maybe they have a deal with Sony so that the tv's are donated in exchange for the brand placement, but if not, the effect they are going for could easily be done with a no-name brand tv that would cost hundreds less. It's penny pinching, but considering that it's a prop in a two minute skit, why not save money where you can.

[Guest Rob Edwards]

The car (not sure of the model as I know nothing about US cars, that they sawed in half for an HHH/Steph skit during the run up to Mania 18

[Guest bob_barron]

Guerrero's LR's are paid favors from locals in town. I'd be surprised if any of them were severely harmed in any way.

I would imagine that the local owners lend them pretty cheaply because it would give them some large bragging rights to be able to say that their car was featured on an international tv program.

 

The excessive amounts of pyro.

 

I remember being amazed by the generic fireworks in the Skydome @ Wm 6, now pyro is just another "thing" like frills on boots, or kickpads (though I actually mark for those)

It's sort of like the highspots or putting wrestlers through tables. They're great the first few times you see it but then they get overused and become just another thing. The problem is that through the overuse of them, fans become conditioned to expect them. So the use of them adds nothing to the show, but if the pyro wasn't there it would look bad, like their half-assing it.

 

And a few weeks ago on Smackdown, either A-Train or John Cena smashed up a TV and VCR for no good reason.

What I find really dumb is that they constantly destroy Sony tv's, one of the most expensive brands out there. Maybe they have a deal with Sony so that the tv's are donated in exchange for the brand placement, but if not, the effect they are going for could easily be done with a no-name brand tv that would cost hundreds less. It's penny pinching, but considering that it's a prop in a two minute skit, why not save money where you can.

I think they have some sort of deal with Sony. I noticed a lot of their DVDs plug Playstation 2.