Comments which don't warrant a thread

[Matt Young 0]

He was in rehab last year, and the issues which caused him to need treatment led to MNM's title loss and breakup at Judgment Day 2006.

[Hawk 34 0]

Odds are he was doing something he was caught with before and he picked a damn wrong time to still be doing it. Didn't he get back from rehab recently or am I thinking of another wrestler?

 

No. He was in rehab a year ago.

[Open the Muggy Gate 0]

Got this off of DVDR who in turn got it from WWE.com who in turn got it from that homeless guy on the corner of MLK St. and 4th.

 

A wet and wild finish

By Andrew Rote with Craig Melvin

Written: March 26, 2007

 

The SmackDown / ECW tour in Mexico ended with an unusual night in Monterrey. As the rain poured down outside of the arena, it created a leak in the venue’s roof. Water dropped from the ceiling, but that didn’t slow down Chris Benoit and MVP, who were in the center of the rainstorm.

 

 

[Vern Gagne 0]

That's pretty awesome.

[Enigma 0]

Meltzer said that news bit about Mercury attacking Stephanie was never posted on his web site and that it's 100% false.

[King Cucaracha 0]

UTSU: Time limit draw wouldn't work, if only because they don't announce time-limits that often. It works in NOAH because every match has a time-limit. ROH I guess have time-limits only for big matches, but regularly (Hawk?). WWE only use it for special occasions. The moment they announce there's a time-limit for Benoit and MVP, you'd know what's coming next, which is either a time-limit draw or the Scorpio/Benoit 'Wrestler X wins with 1 second to spare) finish.

[Enigma 0]

Team 3D (the former Dudley Boys) have opened up a Smoothie Bar in Melbourne, FL. It's located at 1882 North Wickham Road, right next door to Hawk's gym, which they also are part owners in.

 

The Smoothie Bar has its grand opening on April 7. Originally, they had booked WWE World Heavyweight Champion Batista to appear but he was pulled last week by WWE. A conspiracy theorist would probably say that was due to the fact that WWE found out who the owners of the establishment were. But in any case, Team 3D has instead booked former WWE stars Chris Jericho and Maven to appear at the grand opening on April 7 instead. They will appear from 1 to 3 p.m.

[Thanks for the Fish 0]

I love how they feel they need to book WWE talent or ex-talent in order to get the fans there. Why not book AJ Styles or Samoa Joe or even Kurt Friggin' Angle??

 

I don't blame the wwe for pulling their talent, as you never know if TNA would film it to use as an angle. Besides, even if it's just business, wwe and the Dudleys are not on best of terms.

[Hawk 34 0]

I love how they feel they need to book WWE talent or ex-talent in order to get the fans there. Why not book AJ Styles or Samoa Joe or even Kurt Friggin' Angle??

 

I don't blame the wwe for pulling their talent, as you never know if TNA would film it to use as an angle. Besides, even if it's just business, wwe and the Dudleys are not on best of terms.

It's a saturday. Most likely those guys are out working indy dates and Angle probably demanded $7500 for the appearence. Jericho and Maven are local guys.

[Superfly Snuka 0]

As rumored for along time, UFC has just purchased Pride. This is huge and I think will make a significant dent in WWE's PPV revenues for guys like me who like both, but if I have to spend x amount of dollars a year on PPVs, I'm going to spend it on megafights of UFC/PRIDE and just wait for WWE PPVs to come out on DVD. I truly think the now together UFC/Pride will make much more $$$ than WWE this year and in the future. When Fedor fights a UFC guy (Couture for a unification bout?), that alone will blow away any Wrestlemania buy rate ever. No question about it.

[Black Lushus 0]

When Fedor fights a UFC guy (Couture for a unification bout?), that alone will blow away any Wrestlemania buy rate ever. No question about it.

 

wow...THAT'S a pretty damn bold statement there, man...I'm not saying you're stoned or anything, it may happen, just saying that's a DAMN bold statement.

[Superfly Snuka 0]

When Fedor fights a UFC guy (Couture for a unification bout?), that alone will blow away any Wrestlemania buy rate ever. No question about it.

 

wow...THAT'S a pretty damn bold statement there, man...I'm not saying you're stoned or anything, it may happen, just saying that's a DAMN bold statement.

 

Not stoned, and know UFC has taken away alot of the boxing PPV buys (as opposed to Wrestling PPV buys), but it'll happen if they do a unification bout. The last year they did as much basically in terms of PPV buys as WWE did. And MMA is still growing by large bounds while WWE is kind of stuck in the same palce for the last few ways (obviously having peaked in the late '90s).

 

In wrestling terms, it's like having the excitement over the Invasion angle, but with zero chance of f*cking it up, as long as they have the champions face each other.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

UFC has had the top PPV buys of all American PPVs except for Mania. It could definitely happen.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

WWE is gaining momentum right now but we'll see how things go post Mania. According to what I read on WO regarding the UFC/Pride deal, it sounds like they don't plan on doing any major crossover bouts soon (or at least not as a regular deal) and there won't be any title unifcation bouts. Of course, and I realize this is two different worlds, this is what WWE said 6 years ago about WCW.

 

I read a story in the local paper today about the WrestleMania activities. I guess the people at the mall tomorrow will be Cryme Tyme, Burke, and Dykstra but Thursday will feature Masters, Regal, and Taylor. Kinda wish I scheduled myself to go on Thursday, but I guess I could go after work. What I didn't understand (and if anyone here has been to a "Fan Axxess" event, maybe they can help me here) is the event is listed as being from 2-8pm, but notes it "offically begins at 5:30". Does this mean people are free to wander "exhibits" until autograph signings begin at 5:30?

[caboose 0]

Wrestlemania thoughts...

 

Neither of the two Championship Main Events strike me as Wrestlemania main events. Cena-Michaels has had the better build but Cena just isn't who the WWE think he is, and while Michaels is still capable of bringing it he doesn't look the part anymore. Was it me or was Undertaker's entrance on RAW highly subdued. And Batista has lost all of his cool factor that got him over against Triple H in the first place.

[JHawk 0]

Just a thought:

 

Didn't Cryme Tyme win the number one contenders spot at NYR? And how many title matches have we seen without them so much as being on TV? Was there a house show title match I missed?

[Hawk 34 0]

Wrestlemania thoughts...

 

Neither of the two Championship Main Events strike me as Wrestlemania main events. Cena-Michaels has had the better build but Cena just isn't who the WWE think he is, and while Michaels is still capable of bringing it he doesn't look the part anymore. Was it me or was Undertaker's entrance on RAW highly subdued. And Batista has lost all of his cool factor that got him over against Triple H in the first place.

How is he not who they think he is?

 

He's a draw. He's over. "Looking the Part"? Of course he does. Muscular, charismatic, good looking guy who can sell a money promo, that never worked before. What's with "the look"? What look is Shawn supposed to have? He's a 6' bump machine that has years of wear and tear on his body and is at the end of the line. That's the whole point to him and this storyline. That he should be done but he has one final chance at the big stage. He's not supposed to be the teenbopper 30 year old he was a decade ago. These matches are of course WM main events. 4 top drawing names in a big environment, all of which usually come up major in those situations? Yes, they are main events.

[Atticus Chaos 0]

No Way Out did a disappointing buyrate, with a first company estimate of just under 200,000 buys. WWE were expecting an above-average buyrate on the back of the 'dream team' main event of John Cena & Shawn Michaels vs. Batista & The Undertaker. The card also had Bobby Lashley vs. Ken Kennedy, so the main stars from all three brands were represented in keeping with the recent decision to feature Raw, Smackdown and ECW on all 16 PPVs.

 

That decision had arisen from Vince McMahon's recent concern over the success or lack thereof from the single-brand PPVs, which he began to express after Cyber Sunday and increased tenfold after December to Dismember. The 'big nine' stars, listed as Cena, Michaels, Batista, Undertaker, Triple H, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton and Lashley will now be on virtually every PPV, supplemented by workers on the level of Kane, Booker and Kennedy, while those on the level of Paul London & Brian Kendrick will be featured less on PPV, subsequently pushed less on TV, and be in line for fewer bonuses as a result. As well as the wrestling talent, all three announce teams are expected to work every PPV show too.

 

Rather ironically, the change in direction for PPVs came on the back of the plan to expand the product into international brands. However, as WWE now wants to use their 'big nine' for their existing PPVs any new territories would be extremely limited in their use of these names. Only Mysterio would definitely be moved from the USA market to headline the planned Latin brand, while one of Batista, Lashley, Edge or Orton would likely be moved elsewhere on anything approaching a permanent basis. The other headliners could potentially work limited dates overseas whilst flying back to perform on North American PPVs too, although this is all preliminary as nothing would happen on the international front until 2008 at the earliest.

 

Still, the idea seems to be that most of the international promotions' stars would be current stars from Japan and Mexico, current WWE midcarders moved up to the main event level, current developmental talent and some rehired '80s and '90s stars. WWE would also like to launch PPVs in each international territory exclusive to that territory, which raises logistical questions about production values and buyrates. Current PPVs do a maximum of around 50,000 buys in Europe and that alone would not cover the expense of producing such a show at the existing level of quality. Meanwhile, domestic buyrates without the international market would fall to around 140,000 maximum, again making them far less profitable.

 

WWE's concern over their PPV business comes at a time when their house show numbers are way up on recent years. That has been largely attributed to the presence of Cena and Mysterio and how they are drawing in a new generation of kids to the product. The drawback is that while parents might be convinced to take their children to a live event to see these superstars, or even to purchase their DVDs or T-shirts, they are far less likely to agree to spend $40 on a PPV when Cena or Mysterio could be seen on TV for free at least once a week. Whether this pays off in the long-run when younger fans become old enough to purchase PPVs themselves remains to be seen, as by then the entire landscape of WWE's product could have changed drastically

 

wrestling observer newsletter

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

The 'big nine' stars, listed as Cena, Michaels, Batista, Undertaker, Triple H, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton and Lashley will now be on virtually every PPV, supplemented by workers on the level of Kane, Booker and Kennedy, while those on the level of Paul London & Brian Kendrick will be featured less on PPV, subsequently pushed less on TV, and be in line for fewer bonuses as a result.

So, why should anyone bust their ass if they aren't going to get pushed/rewarded for it? Alot of these guys mentioned here (but not all) have definitely earned the right to be featured on all PPV's, but what kind of message is it sending that: if you're not "established", you won't get pushed, and since you won't be pushed, you can't get over/established, which means you won't get pushed, etc. Furthermore, you're just going to work those 9 guys into the ground & possibly over-expose them. Furtherfurthermore, 4 of them are "older" (HBK/HHH/Taker/Batista, and so is Booker on the next level), Rey's knees are shot, and Batista is fragile enough as it is. London/Kendrick have been busting their asses & carrying green teams to good matches for the last 10 months, and their "reward" is going to be "hey, don't plan on working many PPV's this year!" Getting your big stars on as many PPV's is fine, but punishing your hungry young guys in the process is pretty lame.

[Thanks for the Fish 0]

I don't mind their choices for the "Big Nine" however I HATE the idea that they'll appear on virtually every PPV. That is a terrible idea, because if they are going to be on every PPV it means they're going to be in every top feud and probably on every damn show - that's basically killing the brand split and is going to overexpose all of those wrestler in no time at all. This is a terrible decision by the WWE Braintrust. At MOST there should be five of the Big Nine on any one PPV, but even then they're still so damn focused on the main event. Maybe push the undercard and they'll help sell the card. VKM thinks that "Hey Ortiz vs Liddell II did monster buys, that proves that HBK vs HHH 34 is all that is needed as well". What Vince fails to realize is that their first meeting was two years earlier and that was only their second meeting ever.

 

If they want to increase PPV buys, maybe they should reduce the numbers and/or cut the price. Also when they push workrate over in-ring wrestling, what's really the selling point of PPV's when you can find out the storyline advancement on line or hear about what happened the next night on Raw. If they focused on selling and pushing workrate, then PPV's promising an epic Benoit vs Undertaker encounter might sell. However when the outcome is the only thing that matters, with the actual match nothing but window dressing, why shell out $40 bucks for that?

 

I think the wwe should virtually do the opposite - never have the "Big Nine" wrestle on free-television. If he wants to copy the UFC, The UFC never gives away free Liddell matches or free Couture matches unless they are years old. Theu use Ultimate Fight Nights to build up new talent and use The Ultimate Fighter to find/espose new talent. They should push the undercard on the shows, make the midcard titles mean something and make PPV's a big deal as the only place you can see the big name stars. Of course this would help the house show business as well as the Big Nine could also tour there AND by pushing the undercard on the television programs, the undercard would be draws as well.

[caboose 0]

Wrestlemania thoughts...

 

Neither of the two Championship Main Events strike me as Wrestlemania main events. Cena-Michaels has had the better build but Cena just isn't who the WWE think he is, and while Michaels is still capable of bringing it he doesn't look the part anymore. Was it me or was Undertaker's entrance on RAW highly subdued. And Batista has lost all of his cool factor that got him over against Triple H in the first place.

How is he not who they think he is?

 

He's a draw. He's over. "Looking the Part"? Of course he does. Muscular, charismatic, good looking guy who can sell a money promo, that never worked before. What's with "the look"? What look is Shawn supposed to have? He's a 6' bump machine that has years of wear and tear on his body and is at the end of the line. That's the whole point to him and this storyline. That he should be done but he has one final chance at the big stage. He's not supposed to be the teenbopper 30 year old he was a decade ago. These matches are of course WM main events. 4 top drawing names in a big environment, all of which usually come up major in those situations? Yes, they are main events.

 

What I'm saying is that just because Cena is booed/cheered regularly doesn't mean he's the draw the WWE think he is. Meaning the WWE think he is someone to build the company around. As for Michaels, I say he doesn't have the look because when I look at the guy it's like I see someone who is still better than most others only because he's always been good not because he deserves it. Back when Rocky, HHH, Jericho, Benoit and Angle stepped up in 2000 if you'd dropped Michaels in as a Main Eventer he'd look out of place. He only looks the part now becuase the WWE is trying to sell me Cena, Batista, Orton, Lashley, Kennedy and Edge. All are capable at what they do but are ultimately poor excuses for top level draws.

[Hawk 34 0]

The figures and the money that Cena brings in? That makes him the draw that they think he because he is a draw.

[Corkscrew_Senton 0]

The figures and the money that Cena brings in? That makes him the draw that they think he because he is a draw.

 

Cena's such an anomoly because the kiddies eat him up and get their parents to shell out the cash for his merchandise, but a pretty decent portion of the fanbase loathes the guy.

[caboose 0]

Being a draw and being the company draw are different. At a time when the WWE is feeling pressure from UFC and the PPV buys are not great, it is Cena who is held accountable. If Cena was able to draw well, why have Undertaker and HBK been catapulted to the Main Events when they had been doing the veteran roles for the last 2 years? Perhaps because the WWE do not have the confidence in what they are pushing as the new crop to succeed.

 

I can't argue with Cena's merchandise money but again I doubt it its hitting peak Rocky/DX level, let alone Hogan/Austin levels.

[Open the Muggy Gate 0]

The "decent portion" are smarks and people who want to follow along with the smarks. We've been over this for two years and we need to face facts. John Cena is THE draw in the WWE right now. His name is out there. He gets people standing up. No matter where you go, he gets some reaction. You can hate him because he's not the great wrestler you think he should be and his gimmick got watered down because he turned face, but you can't help the fact the WWE wanted to make money off this guy knowing they had the ball rolling. He is their top name right now (The Undertaker can challenge that though) and we're gonna have to live with it. I've already started that a long time ago.

[Corkscrew_Senton 0]

The "decent portion" are smarks and people who want to follow along with the smarks. We've been over this for two years and we need to face facts. John Cena is THE draw in the WWE right now. His name is out there. He gets people standing up. No matter where you go, he gets some reaction. You can hate him because he's not the great wrestler you think he should be and his gimmick got watered down because he turned face, but you can't help the fact the WWE wanted to make money off this guy knowing they had the ball rolling. He is their top name right now (The Undertaker can challenge that though) and we're gonna have to live with it. I've already started that a long time ago.

 

I don't think I said he doesn't get a reaction, because he gets the best reaction in the company. It's just not all positive like Austin 9 years ago. Chill out dude, I'm not contesting that Cena isn't a draw, just that he's not comparable to an Austin or Rock.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Why do people use the fact that Cena isn't a Austin/Rock/Hogan draw as a knock against him?

 

You're comparing Cena to a level of popularity that you rarely see, and will be lucky to see anytime in the next fifty years.

[Corkscrew_Senton 0]

Why do people use the fact that Cena isn't a Austin/Rock/Hogan draw as a knock against him?

 

You're comparing Cena to a level of popularity that you rarely see, and will be lucky to see anytime in the next fifty years.

 

The reason it's a knock is because Vince is trying to recapture the late '80s/late '90s (the eras of Hulk/Austin-Rock) on Cena's back.

 

EDIT: I don't really want to get too far into it because guaging Muggy's overreaction this is a sensitive subject. I wouldn't dispute Cena makes the most money of anyone in the company, but when you've got a major competitor gaining strength (UFC), it seems like you might be concerned when the guy who's supposed to carry the company gets noticably booed like he did last night. The boom period wouldn't have happened if casual viewers tuned in to see this Austin guy they'd heard about and he was getting booed. That was my only point in drawing that comparison.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Why do people use the fact that Cena isn't a Austin/Rock/Hogan draw as a knock against him?

 

You're comparing Cena to a level of popularity that you rarely see, and will be lucky to see anytime in the next fifty years.

 

The reason it's a knock is because Vince is trying to recapture the late '80s/late '90s (the eras of Hulk/Austin-Rock) on Cena's back.

It's a stupid knock. Big deal that Cena isn't a Austin/Rock/Hogan level draw. Almost nobody will get to that level again. Cena is a big enough draw that he makes WWE a ton of money, and makes himself a ton of money.

[The Niggardly King 0]

But no one is going to capture that... those two of those three come close to transcending the wrestling business, and the other one was so big that he's a successful movie star now.