Comments which don't warrant a thread

[Black Lushus 0]

define irony: Lita not liking the fact that the backstage area is turning into a whorehouse.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Good move by Vince, take away the drugs and bring in some more tail.

[geniusMoment 0]

A few more notes from the torch:

 

 

Ric Flair being beaten down and bloodied Edge and Randy Orton and then taken away in an ambulance on Monday's Raw was an angle designed to write Flair off of TV indefinitely. Friends of Flair say that the finalization of his divorce will be preoccupying Flair in coming months. There has even been talk that the legal proceedings dividing his assets could end up on Court TV. Flair got emotional after his tag match with DX on Raw on Monday, and Shawn Michaels and Triple H consoled him. Flair is not one to hide his emotions on television, and it was clear that he saw Monday's show as a symbolic end of a certain part of his career and the start of a personal chapter that he'd like to get past as quickly as possible.

 

FIVE WEEK RATINGS OVERVIEW

 

WWE Raw: Oct. 23 - Nov. 20 ... 3.7 overall rating (same with 10-week average) with 4,650,000 overall viewers.

 

ECW: Oct. 24 - Nov. 21 ... 1.7 overall rating (same with 10-week average) with 1,754,000 overall viewers.

 

WWE Smackdown: Oct. 27 - Nov. 24 ... 2.7 overall rating (up 0.1 with 10-week average) with 4,300,000 overall viewers.

 

TNA Impact: Oct. 19 - Nov. 16 ... 0.83 overall rating (down 0.2 with 20-week average) with 1,000,000 overall viewers.

 

Over the past five weeks, Smackdown has tightened the gap against Raw in terms of average viewers per show. Over a ten-week average, Raw is averaging approximately 500,000 more viewers. Over the past five weeks, the difference has shrunk to less than 200,000 average viewers. Although the rating was down to a 2.5 for the Friday-after-Thanksgiving Smackdown, the show drew strong numbers the previous four weeks.

 

WWE NOTEBOOK

 

Through 12 dates in the current third quarter, WWE is averaging 3,700 fans per domestic live event. That's down from the 5,300 average in the first quarter and 4,000 average in the second quarter. Excluding small ECW events, the average third quarter attendance is 5,100, which is down from 5,700 in the first quarter and 5,200 in the second quarter. The current quarter attendance is also down from the previous year third quarter, which averaged 5,200 fans per event. WWE has not released international numbers for the current third quarter yet... Although he hasn't addressed it on his blog, Jim Ross has told people in recent weeks that he doesn't feel that Vince McMahon or anyone else was trying to get rid of him, despite persistent rumors of that being the case. Ross remains one of the many people on staff who receives Raw scripts before they're finalized and is among the few who consistently writes critiques in return, sent to everyone. Kevin Dunn does the same. The creative team and agents who also receive the preliminary scripts are more timid about attaching their name to any criticism of the drafts. Says one insider: "I honestly think Vince (McMahon) would prefer more would speak up," but says that nobody wants to be known as that one dissenter who thinks he knows more than everyone else... Current writing set-up: Raw is written by Brian Gewirtz and Ed Koskey, ECW by Paul Heyman and Dave Lagana, and Smackdown by Michael Hayes and Dusty Rhodes (with Rhodes being the least involved of the secondary bookers on staff). Rhodes may prefer to be working in the developmental system where he could be a big fish in a smaller sea, says one source... WWE.com followed Lita around the Wachovia Center to document her final PPV appearance. They have photos of her talking to Edge before and after her match, and hugging her mom after losing to Mickie James... Sabu is in hot water with WWE, which was one reason for why he was squashed by Umaga on Raw last week. Sabu looked disinterested in the match, and he has been reportedly disinterested in being with the company the last few weeks at TV tapings. He is still booked for the Elimination Chamber match at next Sunday's December to Dismember PPV. Says one source: "(Management) has said Sabu is useless in a regular match, and can only do a match with stunts and tables, and they don't respect him because of that," but added that the squash had more to do with Umaga being set up as Cena's challenger than any kind of statement to Sabu. "Vince just sees Sabu as being way beneath Umaga," says the source. "And that's why he was booked that way"...

 

Big Show will be needing time off soon, most likely right after the Elimination Chamber match. He already turned down a long-term contract extension, but WWE would like to use him at WrestleMania 23 in April. Show is in poor shape, and Triple H's "Twinkie" reference at Show this past Monday was one of those messages that WWE publicly sends to wrestlers who they are unhappy with. Says one source: "I like Big Show, but his problems are because he's lazy, not anything else. He won't diet, he'll want some magic pill or radical surgery to lose the weight he needs to lose"... Randy Orton was interviewed in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review to promote the live Raw taping Monday night at the Mellon Arena. The interview was about Bob Orton wrestling in Pittsburgh years ago and whether wrestling is "entertainment". Orton played the "I've had surgeries and I get beat up to entertain" card to answer the age old question...Although Triple H is blamed for having a big ego when he's overexposed on TV, Hunter has indicated to people that he just goes with the plan because Vince doesn't care what anyone else thinks, including family, once he gets his mind set on something... The cartoon version of Mr. McMahon's back side made another appearance on WWE's website. The absurdity continues with Vince's alter ego slicing up turkey as a blown up Bobby Lashley and Rey Mysterio watched with a cartoon version of Maria and Torrie Wilson... Steve Austin has been telling friends that he really enjoyed the process of shooting the WWE Films movie in Australia and is already in the process of finalizing a second movie. Early buzz on his first movie, "The Condemned," is that it will surprise people as the best movie starring a wrestler in years, with the possible exception of one or two Rock movies. "But it's said to be better than some of Rock's movies, too," says a source whose heard good things about it from people who have screened it... Austin's main reason for not showing any interest in wrestling Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania - or at any point, for that matter - is that he "doesn't want his return match to suck," says one source familiar with Austin's attitude. Austin isn't said to be worried about being booed or Hogan's gamesmanship, but rather is determined that if he had a return match, it's a good one, not one that looks like broken down old-timers going through the motions. He's also concerned about being dropped on his head by accident. He may be busy filming his second WWE Films movie as soon as February and March 2007...

 

New ECW interviewer Rebecca is dating Batista, and one informed source says Batista recommended her for the job. In fact, the dating among the male and female wrestlers is said to be at an all-time high lately, with some moving from one to another "like it's high school now; week to week it's different," says one source. "First it was Maria and Carlito, then Maria and C.M. Punk. That's just one of several examples." Torrie Wilson, who is separated from Billy Kidman, is dating a member of the Spirit Squad... One longtime WWE talent believes that Lita got upset with the chauvinistic attitude in WWE. "It's a men's club, even with Steph around. The men are all knights in shining armour and the women are all seen as whores"... There are differing stories on why Shelton Benjamin has been off TV. One source says he asked for time off to move from Minneapolis to Houston (to be closer to his best friends Charlie Haas and Jackie Gayda), while another says he's being punished on general principles for not being committed enough to improving. Says one source: "Shelton is one of those guys who is too content making a good six-figure income, and figures his time will come if he just coasts. Management wants to see him show signs of wanting it more, and until then, he's going to be sent message after message. Problem is, he doesn't seem to care since the checks keep coming." Another source says Carlito had the same rep as Shelton not long ago and had to be talked out of that comfort zone he was in... Victoria asked for some time off because she was exhausted from the travel, and the belief among colleagues is that her push went down after that. "They say it's okay to ask for time off if you need it, but they look down on you for it and it costs you," says one veteran talent... The Nov. 22 ECW on Sci Fi jumped in the ratings to a 1.8 from a 1.6 on Nov. 14. The quarter hours are interesting. The show started with a pedestrian 1.6 for the Lashley-Striker match. The second quarter, with the Hardys match and Punk-Thorn jumped to 1.9 rating and stayed at 1.9 for the finish of Punk-Thorn and Big Show's promo. The rating usually increases as the show goes on, but the fourth quarter dropped to a 1.6 rating for the start of Holly-RVD, then grew to a 1.8 for the overrun. The over-run usually gives the overall rating a boost, but the end of Holly-RVD scored a 1.8 rating. Clearly, the Hardys were a draw on the show and helped give the show the 0.2 rating boost. It's the closest ECW has sniffed the 2.0 rating since a 1.9 rating on September 12... The Nov. 17 Smackdown drew a 2.6 rating with quarter hours of 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6; 2.7, 2.7, 2.7, 2.8...

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

Big Show will be needing time off soon, most likely right after the Elimination Chamber match. He already turned down a long-term contract extension, but WWE would like to use him at WrestleMania 23 in April. Show is in poor shape, and Triple H's "Twinkie" reference at Show this past Monday was one of those messages that WWE publicly sends to wrestlers who they are unhappy with. Says one source: "I like Big Show, but his problems are because he's lazy, not anything else. He won't diet, he'll want some magic pill or radical surgery to lose the weight he needs to lose"...

 

I'm going to go on record say that when Big Show does leave the fed in 6 months to a year later he's going to weigh in at least 600lbs or more the next time we see him on TV. Like Yoko back in the day.

[The Niggardly King 0]

I'm gonna say that he's going to end up being one of those fat people who can't move.

[Hawk 34 0]

What do you expect a 7'4 guy with chronic injuries to do? He can't lose weight when he can't move because of the injuries he suffered over the years. It's not like I blame TBS for not losing weight anyways. Time and time again, WWE gave massive pushes to big fat boys. They told Henry to lose weight and he did (over 100 lbs) and he was benched. They told him to put the weight back on and he was on TV again at 425+.

 

Does that mean he'll slim down to his 1995 form? Who knows but he isn't going to get healthy by taking bumps every night when his body is already a wreck.

 

The man needs to take a long break, or just never come back at all (which I doubt he'll do). He has fears of dying very young like Andre.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Big Show needs some of Buddy Rose's blow away diet.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

Vince is the best boss ever, I can see the locker room as some sort of FOX teen drama. Didn't Meltzer say he ordered 15 more models to be hired? Niice.

[Hawk 34 0]

Vince is the best boss ever, I can see the locker room as some sort of FOX teen drama. Didn't Meltzer say he ordered 15 more models to be hired? Niice.

 

Punk is totally Ryan Atwood to Michaels's Steve Sanders.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

I'm sure Vince sees Stephanie as the prettiest.

[Hawk 34 0]

I'm sure Vince sees Stephanie as the prettiest.

 

The Tori Spelling/Stephanie McMahon comparisons are too obvious though.

[Broward83 0]

I'm sure Vince sees Stephanie as the prettiest.

 

*rimshot*

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

They need to do an episode opening where Hunter sleeps with a cardboard cutout of Shawn under his bed.

[milliondollarchamp 0]

I wonder how much of the locker room has really changed within so many years regarding the boy/girl thing. Before Trish's announcement, there were rumors about her being a lesbian because she never dated a fellow WWE locker room dude.

[Human Fly 0]

When do you think they are going to redesign the ECW title?

 

Also, isn't the one they are using a just a replica belt?

[Dobbs 3K 0]

From what I had heard, the whole "Trish is a lesbian" thing started because her and Lillian Garcia always traveled together. People started talking, so Trish and Lillian walked around holding each other's hands and stuff just to play into the joke.

[Black Lushus 0]

From what I had heard, the whole "Trish is a lesbian" thing started because her and Lillian Garcia always traveled together. People started talking, so Trish and Lillian walked around holding each other's hands and stuff just to play into the joke.

 

I could get into that

[Wyld Cannon 0]

How come you pretty much NEVER see anyone from Hollywood dating wrestlers? I know the whole country looks down upon wrestling as retard entertainment, but you would think some hollywood slut would at least be seen on a date with a wrestler.

 

Then again, only about 2% of the girls i know actually like to date hosses. I guess most chicks just like a guy in shape, not a BIG DAVE.

[Enigma 0]

Yeah, I remember that. Everyone thought Trish was a lesbo because no one ever saw her with a guy or heard of her dating and was always with Lilian in public.

[tominator89 0]

Maybe the constant threat of a steroid rage doesn't appeal to them.

[haVoc 0]

As if Cena didn't annoy me enough, I just read on wwe.com he's going to be in a Subway commercial with that Jared guy.

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

I'm gonna say that he's going to end up being one of those fat people who can't move.

 

And the only way he can clean himself is with a washrag on the end of a long stick.

[Mike wanna be 0]

How come you pretty much NEVER see anyone from Hollywood dating wrestlers? I know the whole country looks down upon wrestling as retard entertainment, but you would think some hollywood slut would at least be seen on a date with a wrestler.

It's really hard to date somebody that changes time zones on a near-weekly basis, hollywood slut or not.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Smackdown is being taped tomorrow night because of their upcoming European tour, which I don't think has been mentioned here yet,

[Scroby 0]

Smackdown is being taped tomorrow night because of their upcoming European tour, which I don't think has been mentioned here yet,

mmmmm easy fantasy points!

[Quasar 0]

Does it count if a wrestling slut dates a Hollywood star? Missy Hyatt dated Jason Hervey (The older brother from the Wonder Years) in the early 90s.

 

There's also Stacy Keibler and Jennifer Aniston fighting over Geoff Stults before Stacy was on Dancing with the Stars.

[benn 0]

When do you think they are going to redesign the ECW title?

 

Also, isn't the one they are using a just a replica belt?

They used a replica belt only for the very first show after RVD won it. Since then they've used a professionally made one.

[Mike wanna be 0]

When do you think they are going to redesign the ECW title?

 

Also, isn't the one they are using a just a replica belt?

They used a replica belt only for the very first show after RVD won it. Since then they've used a professionally made one.

That thing's professionally made? Is it just because Show's so massive that it looks extremely thin and tiny, or is it legitimately smaller than the WHC and the WWE title?

[benn 0]

It's definately smaller than the WHC, and the WWE title has the spinner and all that shiny crap on it that makes it look pretty big.

 

TBS is huge though, the belt looked pretty normal on RVD when he had it. If anyone has a screen cap or picture of RVD on the show when Heyman presented him with the new ECW belt, it looks obviously smaller and the strap stiffer and shit.

[Guest netslob]

that might've been cause it was new. apparantly Rhino has the original.