WWE News & Notes from the 7/12 Observer

[Enigma 0]

Bad Blood, the first of the three WWE PPV shows over a six week period, headlined by HHH vs. Shawn Michaels in the Hell in a Cell match and Chris Benoit vs. Kane, did an estimated 255,000 buys and a 0.47 buy rate. Of shows in recent years, it would be ahead of only the prior month's Judgment Day show at 205,000 buys, headlined by Eddie Guerrero vs. John Bradshaw Layfield.

 

The prior low shows, which were Armageddon in December (HHH vs. Bill Goldberg vs. Kane), are listed at 260,000 buys, and the No Way Out show in February headlined by Guerrero vs. Brock Lesnar are estimated at 270,000 buys. Keep in mind that the final numbers usually increase, often significantly from the early estimates. The original Armageddon number was 225,000 buys, and the original No Way Out number was 248,000 buys, so all indications are Bad Blood could finish ahead of both of those shows. Original estimates for Wrestlemania were 825,000 buys, but at this point it is figured at 885,000 buys.

 

The number looks to end up down from the 290,000 buy estimate for the previous Raw PPV, Backlash, built around HHH vs. Michaels vs. Benoit and Cactus Jack vs. Randy Orton.

 

Overall, that would be another major drop of 35% from the Bad Blood Raw brand only PPV last June, which was headlined by HHH vs. Kevin Nash with Mick Foley as ref in a Hell in a Cell match.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 7/1 Smackdown show did a 3.17 rating (3.60 realistic rating; 4.81 million viewers).

 

The show did a 3.4 in New York (further erosion with the new people meters in place, and next week Los Angeles starts with the new system, followed by Chicago; it should be noted these changes only affect local and overnight ratings but not the national rating), 4.3 in Los Angeles (which is likely to take a major dive next week), 3.6 in Chicago, 4.2 in Philadelphia, 2.4 in SF, 3.2 in Boston, 4.3 in Dallas, 3.0 in DC, 2,8 in Detroit, 3.3 in Atlanta and 5.0 in Houston.

 

The show opened at 289,000 which are higher than in previous weeks. The Booker T vs. Renee Dupree vs. RVD triple threat match gained 115,000 viewers, which is weak for early in the show. Rey Mysterio vs. Mordecai gained 273,000 viewers, which is good for what it was. The Paul Heyman-Undertaker segment and the Torrie Wilson vs. Sable match gained 316,000 viewers. Luther Reigns vs. Charles Robinson and the Raw recap lost 293,000 viewers. The high point of the show was the John Cena-Kenzo Suzuki rap deal, which gained 458,000 viewers to a 3.46 rating, the high point of the show. The JBL vs. Spike Dudley title match, which the whole show was built around, lost 48,000 viewers. Among the target demo of Males 12-34, the show did a 2.9 (3.9 among teenagers. 2.6 18-34), and women 12-34 it did a 1.1 (1.5 among teenagers, 1.0 18-34).

 

The complete report on the 6/28 Raw show was a 3.67 rating, with a 3.37 first hour and 3.94 second hour and 4.62 million viewers (1.44 viewers per home)

 

As far as growth, Chris Jericho & Edge vs. Randy Orton & Batista gained 661,000 viewers over 17:00 which is good. Kane interview and Divas Search video lost 318,000 viewers, which is terrible for the time slot. HHH vs. William Regal with Eugene as ref gained 547,000 viewers, which is above normal for the time slot. La Resistance vs. Sgt. Slaughter & Rhyno lost 53,000 viewers, which isn't bad. Chris Benoit vs. Kane gained 390,000 viewers, peaking at 5.23 million viewers, which is about average for a main event.

 

An interesting note is how old the WWE programs skewed that week, as the median viewer (average) for heat was 45 years old, Velocity was 44, and Experience, which is supposed to draw a kids audience, averaged 39.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the final Raw before the show, they only announced five matches for Vengeance-Chris Benoit vs. HHH for the world title, Randy Orton vs. Edge for the IC title, Chris Jericho vs. Batista, Matt Hardy vs. Kane no DQ, and La Resistance vs. Ric Flair & Eugene for the tag titles.

 

The reason the Undertaker thing ended with him as a babyface and established immediately after killing off Paul Bearer is because he said it was important to establish him as a face immediately. There were those who wanted him to go heel, but they lost out in arguments. Even the arguments of doing a slow build for several weeks of mystery, since the Taker/Paul Heyman mystery has been the only thing not totally dead on Smackdown of late, was shot down.

 

Edge has been told by management that he needs a makeover. They've been asking him to cut his hair, but he's been refusing. There has been a feeling that the long blond hair stuff is outdated (hence the biggest star in the company still has it. what a rib) that they've told people like Test and Christian, and the new haircut sure changed their careers (Christian's rise was only due to Jericho including him in his storyline as without it, he'd probably be buried underground by this point; Test is all but fired right now). Edge himself has always joked about his appeal to women by saying if he cut off his hair, it would all be gone. They also want to change his ring entrance. HHH was so high on Edge that he got him off Smackdown specifically to work with him, and they had him beat Kane out of the chute, but it didn’t work. Many have noticed him getting booed in the more hardcore arenas like Madison Square Garden, but a lot of that is due to Orton always being put over and people liking him because they think he's cool. There is a legit problem, as fans simply don’t buy Edge as a tough guy, and that's been the role he's been trying to play since he came back.

 

While in England promoting the opening of "Walking Tall," Rock said he is not going to be doing any more high profile matches this year.

 

Paul Heyman worked the 6/28 house show in Winston-Salem because he was already on the road for the Bash PPV and had to be in Fayetteville the next night, but he's not going to be a regular house show character at this point. It almost appears right now that he's just temporary until Undertaker kills him off, as they haven’t put him with anyone else, and his managing Undertaker looks to not be in the cards.

 

When talking about diverticulitis last week that Vince had, I mentioned Billy Graham had it at one point. It was actually his wife Valerie, and not Billy.

 

The Raw brand house show in London, one of the Smackdown dates in Belfast (there are two) and the Smackdown Nottingham show, all in the October tour, are all already sold out.

 

Kurt Angle did an interview on the Rove McManus radio show in Australia and basically said he would be back wrestling when the tour comes to Australia in late August. He also said Big Show would be back by then.

 

It is expected that Larry Zbyszko, in his "Living Legend" lawsuit filed against WWE, will add more points since they've called Randy Orton "Living Legend" on some recent shows.

 

John Cena will be working the 7/23 OVW Six Flags show in Louisville.

 

It wasn’t just fans. Apparently at Raw on 6/28, most of the wrestlers were remarking about how bad the Great American Bash was and were very negative about the final angle.

 

Even though it was a WWE interview plugging the Smackdown show in Fayetteville, when Kurt Angle was asked, which was better, pro wrestling or amateur, he said, "The Olympics was the all-time best. If I had to trade in one or the other, I would give (pro wrestling) up in a minute. When you win at the Olympics, you're the best in the world." He said he was a celebrity coming off the Olympics, appearing on Jay Leno and Dave Letterman, but six months later, "I'd fallen off the face of the Earth."

 

There has been talk of doing a Eugene vs. Eric Bischoff match on PPV stemming from the good reactions the confrontations were getting at house shows. A Ric Flair vs. Eugene program has also been discussed and it wouldn't surprise me to see Vengeance end with Eugene costing HHH the match, turning back face, since they are teasing the opposite, since the dynamic is better to give Benoit another win, and have the switch at SummerSlam.

 

Dean Malenko did an interview for Weekly Pro Wrestling saying that he's in charge of picking the arenas the company runs in Japan, saying Budokan Hall is similar to Madison Square Garden. He said Sumo Hall doesn't fit in their plans. He also said WWE wants to do a PPV show from the Tokyo Dome.

 

Garrison Cade suffered a dislocated kneecap on 7/2 in Vancouver. However, he continued working the tour.

 

Ric Flair will be touring everywhere between now and the end of August promoting the book. I'm guessing he'll be working limited house shows, but all the TVs the next two months.

 

Trish Stratus will be off shows for four to six with a broken hand.

 

Matt Hardy may need surgery at some point for his MCL tear. They had been keeping his matches short to protect his knee, but it blew out on 7/4 in Regina.

 

Gail Kim was injured on 7/3 in Saskatoon.

 

Eddie Guerrero pulled his hamstring on 7/4 in Sudbury. But because he's the top babyface on the tour, he worked the next night.

 

A-Train suffered a torn rotator cuff and will be out three months.

 

Test is suffering from chronic neck problems, as he was hurt again as soon as he came back. There is nothing definitive, but fusion surgery under Dr. Lloyd Youngblood has been discussed.

 

Outsports, a Gay sports magazine, ripped on Brock Lesnar's anti-gay comments in an ESPN.com story, comparing him to John Rocker. "I don’t like gays. Write that down in your little notebook. I don’t like gays," it quoted Lesnar as saying, which made him look like a complete goof. The magazine wrote, "It's just too bad that guys like him have to be so insecure in their own sexuality that they need to say such negative things about gay people. So many of us, who have participated in this month's Gay Pride celebrations, have been there-done that. And we're not the ones prancing around on national television and jumping on sweaty men in our bikini briefs. Maybe someone should let this guy know-in the NFL, though, he'll get to jump on more guys more often, but he'll have to wear pants."

 

Those close to Eddie Guerrero say that while he wasn't happy about losing the title, he was in a sense relieved of not having the pressure that went with it, particularly in the sense that fingers wouldn't be pointed at him as much for the poor Smackdown business.

 

There is talk once again, and this has come and gone for probably a year, to turning Maven heel. They tried out a subtle turn on the road.

 

Paid attendance for 6/21 Raw TV in Miami was 8,000, and 6/22 Smackdown TV in Orlando was 3,900. 6/25 Raw house show crowd for Buffalo was actually 3,800.

 

This was the worst weekend in many years when it came to house show attendance. It was worse for the Raw crew, because they were working cities that are vacation towns, so road expenses were higher than expected and business, and thus the money, will end up far lower than expected. 7/2 Raw in Vancouver drew 1,500, which is horrible for the Raw crew in a city of that size. 7/3 Raw in Saskatoon was even worse, with 1,100. 7/3 Smackdown in North Bay, Ontario drew 1,300. 7/4 Smackdown in Sudbury, Ontario drew 2,300. 7/4 Raw in Regina, Saskatchewan drew 1,100. 7/5 Raw TV tapings in Winnipeg drew a near sellout estimated at around 10,000. 7/5 Smackdown house show in Kenora, Ontario drew 890 fans, which I believe is the smallest house show crowd of the year.

[Open the Muggy Gate 0]

7/5 Smackdown house show in Kenora, Ontario drew 890 fans, which I believe is the smallest house show crowd of the year.

 

DEAR GOD!

[algrim 0]

From what Meltzer said, it looks like they have Edge by the balls with the hair issue. I guess this would mean a heel turn, if no one's buying the tough guy act. If this were to occur, he could kiss his feud with HHH goodbye.

[haVoc 0]

It has been a slow news week. Last couple weeks, actually.

[Guest JericholicEdgeHead]

Kane interview and Divas Search video lost 318,000 viewers, which is terrible for the time slot

 

This doesn't suprise me...people watch RAW for wrestling and not lame Diva Search garbage, just when will WWE figure this out??

 

House show attendance and PPV buyrates are down but lets pump up a Diva Seach contest....yeah that's a good idea.

[Rob E Dangerously 0]

There is talk once again, and this has come and gone for probably a year, to turning Maven heel. They tried out a subtle turn on the road.

 

Evil Maven~!

 

Yeeeah.

[AndrewTS 0]

"Kane interview and Divas Search video lost 318,000 viewers, which is terrible for the time slot"

 

But...but...Matt Hardy said that the Kane-Lita angle has been one of the highest rated parts of the show!!

[DerangedHermit 0]

There is talk once again, and this has come and gone for probably a year, to turning Maven heel. They tried out a subtle turn on the road.

 

Evil Maven~!

 

Yeeeah.

Evil~~~~~! Dropkick~!

[CanadianChick 0]

Yes, let's let Edge cut his hair so he looks exactly like Christian, Test, Val Venis, and all the OVW guys. Smart plan guys!

 

For the record, cutting his hair won't make him more or less a badass. Why he's in that role in the first place is beyond me, but I guess that's another issue for another time.

[Guest TonyJaymzV1]

Experience, which is supposed to draw a kids audience, averaged 39.

This actually makes alot of sense. The dads, who are interested in wwe, can't watch it due to parenting, work, baby-making, so on the weekend, while reading the paper and eating a bagel, they can play catch. Most kids are asleep at 10 in the morning.

[Boner Kawanger 0]

"...until Undertaker kills him off..."

 

This company is saved.

[DerangedHermit 0]

"...until Undertaker kills him off..."

 

This company is saved.

The only thing that Undertaker is killing off right now is Smackdown viewers.

[AndrewTS 0]

Yes, let's let Edge cut his hair so he looks exactly like Christian, Test, Val Venis, and all the OVW guys. Smart plan guys!

 

For the record, cutting his hair won't make him more or less a badass.

Well, maybe half of that....

 

Edge with short hair I think would look really goofy...or kinda like The Joker. One of those.

[AndrewTS 0]

--I don’t like gays. Write that down in your little notebook. I don’t like gays," it quoted Lesnar as saying, which made him look like a complete goof. The magazine wrote, "It's just too bad that guys like him have to be so insecure in their own sexuality that they need to say such negative things about gay people.--

 

Such negative things...?

 

That shouldn't be the whole quote, since Lesnar doesn't say anything negative in that quote, just that he doesn't like them. *shrug*

[Guest Trivia247]

maybe they wouldn't lose so many people watching Raw if they didn't have the damn Diva search for 3/4 of the shows segments

[Guest Choken One]

The Fact Edge has been talking about this hair thing so long, you know he is uncomfortable about doing it.

 

They should do those Animated things and find the right look for him without the long hair before they hack it off and he becomes TEST/Xized.

[Guest TheArchiteck]

Haha, that magazine rep ripped on Lesnar.

[Kizzo 0]

Outsports, a Gay sports magazine, ripped on Brock Lesnar's anti-gay comments in an ESPN.com story, comparing him to John Rocker. "I don’t like gays. Write that down in your little notebook. I don’t like gays,"

 

I hate dumbass anti gay peeps..

[JN News 0]

You know, this is one of the reasons why I think Edge should jump over to TNA. At least, they wouldn't force him to lose the one remaining thing that makes him look good, if anything.

[Guest Choken One]

Yeah...Im sure his hair means that much to him that he'd sacrifice his dream, His cushy salary and high fame for a low rent TNA where he'd have to job to Jarrett anyways.

 

I'm SO sick of idiots like ^ thinking TNA is some great alternative for workers. It's Not. No Body save for Crackheads like Raven would perfer TNA over WWE. TNA; even with it's weak timeslot is still MINOR LEAUGE.

[Twisted Intestine 0]

You know, this is one of the reasons why I think Edge should jump over to TNA. At least, they wouldn't force him to lose the one remaining thing that makes him look good, if anything.

Are you sure? Look what they did to Raven!

 

God he was ugly bald.

[Guest JMA]

--I don’t like gays. Write that down in your little notebook. I don’t like gays," it quoted Lesnar as saying, which made him look like a complete goof. The magazine wrote, "It's just too bad that guys like him have to be so insecure in their own sexuality that they need to say such negative things about gay people.--

 

Such negative things...?

 

That shouldn't be the whole quote, since Lesnar doesn't say anything negative in that quote, just that he doesn't like them. *shrug*

It seems pretty negative to me.

 

Not liking someone based solely on their sexually IS negative.

[Placebo Effect 0]

"...until Undertaker kills him off..."

 

This company is saved.

The only thing that Undertaker is killing off right now is Smackdown viewers.

Uh huh.

 

95% of the marks I meet are hardcore Undertaker fans. They may not like how he's being handled now, but he's still a huge favorite.

 

That's why most smarks could never run a wrestling company.

[Guest Staravenger]

You know, this is one of the reasons why I think Edge should jump over to TNA. At least, they wouldn't force him to lose the one remaining thing that makes him look good, if anything.

Are you sure? Look what they did to Raven!

 

God he was ugly bald.

Newsflash: Raven WANTED to have a hair vs. hair storyline. I know its a hard concept to understand, but it's true unfortunately.

 

Why does everyone have a hard-on for workers cutting their hair? Look what it's doen for every other canadian: Shit. Molly Holly sure as hell got good angles when she cut her hair off...oh wait, no she didn't.

[Guest Wondermouse]

I think Christian is better off with his hair cut, but I don't want Edge doing it.

[AlaskanHero 0]

I don't know about everyone else, but when I see Edge, I feel a sorta bum vibe from him. I could honestly see him ask someone on the street for a quarter.

[Guest Nanks]

...

[Guest Nanks]

...

[Guest Nanks]

Newsflash: Raven WANTED to have a hair vs. hair storyline. I know its a hard concept to understand, but it's true unfortunately.

Why does everyone have a hard-on for workers cutting their hair? Look what it's doen for every other canadian: Shit. Molly Holly sure as hell got good angles when she cut her hair off...oh wait, no she didn't.

 

Why is your name not "Penis-Faced Loser" yet???

[Kizzo 0]

I'm SO sick of idiots like ^ thinking TNA is some great alternative for workers. It's Not. No Body save for Crackheads like Raven would perfer TNA over WWE. TNA; even with it's weak timeslot is still MINOR LEAUGE.

Exactly Choken One...

 

What dumbass would give an opportunity to work for WWE....in which...you will get payed more money.....and you have more security(finanically) for your family...

 

To be honest IMO...WWE wouldn't be a bad company to work for...I mean...yes they have politics...but what company doesn't...??