Promoter 0 Report post Posted July 7, 2004 A net writer has stated that tradition should come to an end with house shows since the wwe is hell bent on killing us with an overload of ppv shows. What do you guys think? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RepoMan 0 Report post Posted July 7, 2004 House shows have continued so far is that most of them still make money. I think they should just cut back a little, and announce some of the results on TV just so pepole who attend feel like the event matters. Seeing an event live would seem to make for more loyal fans than watching a ppv on tv if they make the effort to put on quaility house shows. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Placebo Effect 0 Report post Posted July 7, 2004 That net writer is an idiot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Staravenger Report post Posted July 7, 2004 That net writer is an idiot. What he said. Cutting off house shows is a big loss in the financial department, especially when it comes to merchandise sales. You think everyone buys crap out of the WWE Magazine thing to buy a $25 shirt with a picture of a cross on it? House shows also allow wrestlers to get crisper in matches with certain opponents and are good practice runs for a big PPV Match. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Promoter 0 Report post Posted July 7, 2004 I'll give you a clue who said this. He works with Scott Kieth The real problem I have with house shows is that the wwe doesn't make them feel important like the 80's. I remember seeing house show matches being shown from my hometown on the lesser shows such as the modern day Heat or Velocity. I mean it can't hurt. I do think they can improve on it with having results mean something such as using their website for rankings and such, but maybe that's too much work for this "creative team" to bother with. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest cobainwasmurdered Report post Posted July 7, 2004 House Shows are the true money makers for the WWE. and you can learn plenty from going to house shows since they test drive PPV matches and feuds on them all the time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kahran Ramsus 0 Report post Posted July 7, 2004 House shows I believe are the #2 money maker behind PPVs. It would be disasterous financially to get rid of them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deancoles 0 Report post Posted July 7, 2004 House shows I believe are the #2 money maker behind PPVs. It would be disasterous financially to get rid of them. The overseas ones make a ton of money for the company. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Staravenger Report post Posted July 7, 2004 House shows I believe are the #2 money maker behind PPVs. It would be disasterous financially to get rid of them. The overseas ones make a ton of money for the company. Yeah, silly Europeans will mark out for anything...which is good because I tend to enjoy UK PPV's that WWE puts on DVD, because the crowds are usually energetic for the whole show. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest krazykat72 Report post Posted July 7, 2004 The rights fees from SPIKE TV and UPN are a bigger money maker than house shows which are a distant third on the revenue generating ladder behind TV and PPV. -Paul Jacobi- Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Detox 0 Report post Posted July 7, 2004 I actually prefer going to a house show more than a RAW or Smackdown its easier to get seats the merchandise table has less of a line and you get to see matchups that may be a precursor to a ppv match and also young wrestlers who are about to be promoted to the main roster and im sure that the WWE makes a nice profit off the shows I think they may want to think of frequenting smaller venues and explore stops at cities which are not usually host for a RAW,SD or PPV Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Amazing Rando 0 Report post Posted July 7, 2004 They should definitely not lose house shows. Should they cut back on house shows? ~ Maybe, but the best way for guys to train and get better is to have that time in the ring, especially when going against opponents they aren't familiar with. I've always been an advocate of them taping small segments at every house show for airing on SD/Raw right before commercial breaks (or something) to show off the house shows and while maybe not airing results...it would make the shows seem that much more important and could definitely increase revenue. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Promoter 0 Report post Posted July 7, 2004 I really don't understand why they don't incorporate at least portions of the house shows into storylines. It can be done because they use to do it very well pre-1989. With the knowledge of fans today with access to results from the website I think it's a great tool they could use. I think it has to do with Vince more wrapped up in being a tv show instead of a touring pro wrestling unit. The belief of "if it didn't happen on tv it didn't happen at all" is wrong imo. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nl5xsk1 0 Report post Posted July 7, 2004 I really don't understand why they don't incorporate at least portions of the house shows into storylines. It can be done because they use to do it very well pre-1989. The NWA used to start almost every saturday night's telecast with a clip of something that either happened off TV or at a house show. I used to get so pissed off when I missed the start of World Championship Wrestling (the show, not the promotion) because it was almost always something that was cool to see happen. And I think that house shows are key because they give 2 wrestlers time to work together off-camera, which can only lead to better matches on TV or at a PPV. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Amazing Rando 0 Report post Posted July 7, 2004 Sometimes things that happen on TV don't even really happen. That's a big logic gap right there, is that the announcers can discuss, say, Lita talking with Stacy about the pregnancy, but somehow Matt doesn't find out until Lita tells him. Same thing with all the Eugene stuff. There is a week between shows, and we KNOW they tour, what would be stopping Benoit or any other good face from approaching Eugene with a video tape, unless Eugene is supposedly ALWAYS with Evolution now, meaning like a travel buddy...and if we are supposed to believe that...then by next week Ric Flair should be back in a mental home based on his delirium on Monday. He is trying too hard to make it into a SHOW and less like a SPORT. Sure, it's rigged...but it could be very convincing, to me at least, to see it taken as a touring sport. If something happens backstage and there isn't a microphone around, then there had better be a GOOD reason for a camera to be there. That way, at least that big logic gap would be closed. If they want to show Evolution scheming, it would be better if they ALLUDED to it, rather than did a five minute peice with them all talking. Example: Todd Grisham stands backstage, interviewing Matt Hardy for an upcoming match. Just as the interview gets going, Randy Orton and Batista pass through, say a few words to Matt... and then head to their lockerroom that is only a few feet down the hall. The camera momentarily follows, and the fans can hear Flair and HHH from inside the room being all "what took you guys! We have work to do tonight!" and then back to Matt to finish his interview... Sure, it may take away a little from Matt in the process, but it adds to the LIVE - ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN nature of the show. Then later the announcers can say "this must be the "work" Evolution was overheard talking about earlier!" as they attack Benoit and Edge or something. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Promoter 0 Report post Posted July 7, 2004 The Amazing Rando, I agree with you completely. When the wwe did kayfabe more heavily they would take those kind of things into account to keep the realism. Things on the main shows should effect the house show touring, but they seem to want to alienate certain aspects at one minute and then acknowledge it at another time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kizzo 0 Report post Posted July 7, 2004 I agree with you both..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Amazing Rando 0 Report post Posted July 7, 2004 That's how they've been for years. They edit to their liking. Realism is what they need the most. Right now things are so fake it's absurd. The things I've always wondered is what kind of presence would the Undertaker character have backstage. I mean, in kayfabe, he came back from the dead and has multiple times (or however they want to spin it). If i was a wrestler and saw THAT GUY walking around, I'd be freaked out. Same with Mordecai, Kane, etc. It's the little things that could mean the most in the long run and get characters more over. The interactions Eugene has had so far have gotten him over. What interactions did Mordecai have? None. He just defeated random guys. Stupid booking. JBL is even getting heat for the things he's done the past few weeks. He is so over-the-top it works to see him backstage, smile on his face, standing with the wrestlers around him or when he yells at the limo driver or whatever...it just works for his character. Doing things like that with Kenzo or even Kidman/London could get them really over. I could see K/L having a good "fan connection" relationship...ala DDP in WCW... coming out of the crowd or going into the crowd after a win or something....... or going so far as to hang out in the crowd for interviews... maybe have them being interviewed by Josh Matthews only for them to walk and talk their way to the crowd and spend a commercial break up there just having fun. Sure, Kidman isn't the most charismatic guy in the world, but if done right the fans would still react to them in a good way. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Dynamite Kido Report post Posted July 7, 2004 I thought about this the other day. Do you think if maybe the WWE would record and release one house show a month with matches that actually hold importance....that it would be a success? This way it would at least increase the interest in the shows, but then again the PPV market is sooooo saturated that this might flip.....but who knows. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheBigSwigg 0 Report post Posted July 7, 2004 I was thinking that they could tape Heat, Velocity and matches for the syndicated shows on Friday & Saturday to give the house shows a bit of legitimacy, but I also like the ideas previously stated. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Promoter 0 Report post Posted July 7, 2004 I think the wwe actually got it in late 1997(summer time it actually started). The wwe got so fake with the gimmicks in the mid 90's they turned people off. The wwe saw what the Canada/USA angle did for business and got more realistic. Vince came out as the real boss. They showed that there were things beyond just the wrestlers having matches. They incorporated the politics. The wwe from the Austin/Bret saga from Royal Rumble 1997 all the way up to Survivor Series 1998 got it I believe. Just look at the Attitude commercials back then. 1999 they threw it all out the window with the "get it" campaign in which they didn't get it. We like the illusion. A big reason for the initial success of the nWo was that it seemed like the wwe really set up this group to take down wcw. After that initial storyline tool the nWo got stupid past I believe March 1997. WCW did the same mistake the wwe did. I find it ironic that the wwe did the exact same thing a decade before in the 80's. They exploded from 1984-1988 with realism and then went Walt Disney and cartoonish and turned people away. I like the ideas being thrown to make the lesser shows seem more important. I don't understand why they accept those crappy ratings for those shows. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Amazing Rando 0 Report post Posted July 7, 2004 Hmmm... they could do it as "the first 10,000 people" to send in proof of purchase of SD/RAW PPV recieves a __certain month__ house show DVD!" or some other silly shit. Or they could sell them for really cheap at Shopzone. like 10 bucks for an SD one, 10 bucks for a Raw one...or 15 for both. But it would also mean they would have to have more important matches at house shows. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tekcop 0 Report post Posted July 7, 2004 Aren't house shows the way most lower carders like London, Richards, Jordan, Moore and the like make most of their money? I'm pretty sure Meltzer has mentioned that, like, a million billion times. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Staravenger Report post Posted July 7, 2004 Well they do get paid per appearence, so thats probably the only way Orlando Jordan makes money. Does WWE ever plan on doing something with the guy? He's been doing pretty much nothing on Velocity since last spring/summer, and has 2 appearences on SD!....jobbing to Cena & Brock. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spaceman Spiff 0 Report post Posted July 7, 2004 I guess they've run out of buy-out guys to job to him. Hell, Kanyon made up approx. 50% of his wins. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Staravenger Report post Posted July 7, 2004 The other 50% was Shannon Moore...and Moore's actually won a few times I think. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MarvinisaLunatic 0 Report post Posted July 8, 2004 Hmmm... they could do it as "the first 10,000 people" to send in proof of purchase of SD/RAW PPV recieves a __certain month__ house show DVD!" or some other silly shit. Or they could sell them for really cheap at Shopzone. like 10 bucks for an SD one, 10 bucks for a Raw one...or 15 for both. But it would also mean they would have to have more important matches at house shows. The RAW show I went to 2 weeks ago or so was basically a preview of Vengance with HHH/Benoit, Orton/Edge, Hardy/Kane and Jericho/Batista. It was probably better than anything thats been on RAW in a while although I've noticed, especially with Orton/Edge that they do the same finish for the match in each city. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Reservoir_Kitty Report post Posted July 8, 2004 House shows have a unique and fun environment to them. Security is a little more lax; the last time I went to a house show we were able to run around for pictures and the chance to slap hands with someone as they were making their entrance. The attendance wasn't huge, but the people there were having a lot of fun, and I think that's really something the WWE should take advantage of. They should make the house shows more relevant to what's going on, and more important than just "oh, it's (city name), let's not do too much". I think that's one thing they're definitely lacking, it would make it more interesting if say, something that happened at a house show was made mention of the next night on Smackdown or RAW. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UZI Suicide 0 Report post Posted July 8, 2004 House Shows are a great way for fans who can't afford the big shows to stay close to the action. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest INXS Report post Posted July 8, 2004 House shows make money, not only for the company but for the workers. A phenomenal amount of merchandise gets sold at these events as well. Sure, house show attendance is down compared to say four years ago but they are running more house shows now, up to 6 a week in some cases, as opposed to the old 2 or 3. House shows also give creative a chance to test things out such as crowd reactions to new gimmicks and gives workers a chance to "dry run" matches. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
