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May Wrasslin |OT| Vince McMahon doesn't give 5 million f**ks what you think.

The Rock is 40 years old.

rock-faceshot.jpg









(Sorry, Bootaaay)
 
Quoting for the new page;

Adam Pearce (c) vs Colt Cabana - (NWA Hollywood 04/08/12)

Awesome match - seriously check it out if you get the chance.

Updated lineup's for the EVOLVE iPPVs the weekend after next;

EVOLVE 12 05/11/12 - http://wwnlive.com/event-evolve-5-11-12.html

*AR Fox vs. Sami Callihan in the blowoff of their feud
*Ricochet vs. El Generico
*Fit Finlay vs. Jon Davis
*Low Ki vs. Jigsaw
*Johnny Gargano & Samuray Del Sol vs. Chuck Taylor & Silas Young

EVOLVE 13 05/12/12 - http://wwnlive.com/event-evolve-5-12-12.html

*Open The Freedom Gate champion Johnny Gargano vs. winner of Three-Way Match
*AR Fox vs. Jigsaw vs. Samuray Del Sol for DGUSA title bout
*Chuck Taylor vs. Sami Callihan


CHIKARA's April 28th show 'Hot of the Griddle' is already available for MP4 download over at SMV;

http://www.smartmarkvideo.com/mp4-d...ot-off-the-gridle-chicago-ridge-il-mp4-video/ - $11.99

1. Shard & The Swarm vs. The Colony & Jigsaw
2. Mixed Martial Archie vs. Kobald
3. The Throwbacks vs. The Batiri
4. Tian Long vs. 17
5. Arik Cannon & Darin Corbin vs. The Young Bucks
6. 3.0 & The Spectral Envoy vs. Tim Donst, Jakob Hammermeier & The Bravados
7. Kevin Steen vs. Eddie Kingston
8. F.I.S.T. vs. Gran Akuma
9. El Generico vs. Sara Del Rey

sajj316 said:
I want Venice Beach California Sting in my WWE

Clearly the best Sting, if it weren't for Joker Sting.
 

RBH

Member
WWE reported Thursday First Quarter 2012 revenue of $123.1 million compared to $119.9 million in the prior year quarter. WWE's Q1 revenue (January - March) exceeded analysts's expectations of $113.7 million by nearly ten million dollars.

WWE's operating income also increased to $16.0 million as compared to $13.2 million in last year's first quarter, mainly driving by the comparability of WWE Studios impairment losses. WWE reported a $0.8 million Studios loss in Q1-2012 compared to a $2.8 million loss in Q1-2011.

WWE's Net Income was $0.20 per share, which topped $0.11 per share in the prior year quarter and topped analysts's expectations of $0.05 per share. WWE CEO Vince McMahon commented on why business showed improvement in the first quarter:

"In the first quarter, EBITDA grew 19 percent, reflecting increased profits across all our businesses. Our results were highlighted by the strong performance of our live events as we entered a new market in the Middle East. We are very pleased that our positive first quarter execution continued in April with the successful staging of WrestleMania, which is expected to deliver nearly 1.3 million pay-per-view buys globally," said McMahon. "Through the first quarter, we made important progress on our key strategic initiatives, developing our foundation for creating and distributing new content, and building on our tremendous brand strength, especially in social media. Looking ahead, we are confident that we will leverage the broad appeal of our content to transform our business and drive long-term earnings growth."

Since analysts were expecting a down quarter and WWE produced results exceeding analysts's expectations, the following are reasons outlined in the report on why WWE reported more favorable results compared to last year's first quarter:

-- WWE reported a "$4.1 million benefit due to previously unrecognized tax benefits," which more than makes up the difference in the total revenue increase.

-- WWE reported an increase in online revenue of $1.2 million "driven by" the new partnership with YouTube that pays WWE to produce online shows.

-- WWE's Live & TV revenue segment increased $7.3 million (8 percent) from higher TV Rights Fees and an increase in Live Event Revenue, mainly by recognizing WrestleMania Axxess revenue. (Axxess occurred at the end of March compared to 2011, when it occurred in Q2 at the beginning of April.)

Axxess provided $1.6 million in incremental revenue in Q1-2012 compared to the prior year quarter. Meanwhile, international revenue was up $1.1 million compared to the prior year quarter due to the addition of a tour in Abu Dhabi tour that drew $2.2 million.

WWE noted domestic attendance decreased 13 percent in Q1-2012, which WWE says was offset by "the favorable impact associated with the timing of Fan Axxess events."

Concerning TV Rights Fees, WWE reported an increase of nearly $1.0 million "primarily due to additional rights fees and contractual increases from our existing programs, partially offset by the absence of rights fees for WWE Superstars."

-- WWE reported an increase of $1.2 million (14 percent) in Home Video revenue mainly due to higher-than-expected sales from home video releases in prior periods. Concerning the current period, WWE reported the increase was "partially offset by a 27 percent decline in average price and a 5 percent decrease in units shipped."

-- Overall, the line-by-line revenue increases were partially offset by a decline of nearly $4.0 million in WWE Studios revenue. WWE recognized revenue of $4.8 million in Q1-2012 compared to $8.6 million in the prior year quarter. WWE noted why:

"In the prior year quarter, we released The Chaperone. In the current quarter, we released Bending the Rules, which has generated lower than anticipated home video receipts in its initial weeks of release. As a result, we revised our long-term ultimate projections for this film and recorded an impairment charge of $0.8 million contributing to an overall WWE Studios loss of $1.0 million in the current year quarter. "
http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/WWE_New...cle_61034.shtml


The following are additional highlights from WWE's First Quarter 2012 conference call with investors hosted by WWE CEO Vince McMahon on Thursday.

-- Asked why WrestleMania 28 business (which will be officially reported in Q2) broke PPV records and increased compared to previous years, McMahon said it was "better execution all the way around." He added it was "much better executed than years past."

McMahon specifically noted they started the promotion for the Mania main event of The Rock vs. John Cena one year out. He also endorsed Rock for bringing a spotlight to WWE, which helped reach the core audience for The Undertaker vs. Triple H "co-main event." McMahon added there was "something for everyone" at Mania.

-- WWE management said they still plan to shift NXT and Superstars back to TV in the domestic market. "We hope to place that on a traditional network in the near future," said CFO George Barrios. Barrios added that WWE is "in the market" shopping the shows around. (WWE stressed they are currently still monetizing the shows through international TV distribution.)

-- McMahon revealed WWE is planning to return to China for a show later this year. A date was not disclosed. WWE is also planning to go back to Abu Dhabi in the next six months for a return tour following their successful debut in February.

-- Management stressed the importance of their partnership with YouTube throughout the conference call. Barrios also revealed details on the financial structure. Under the previous partnership, which was just WWE placing videos on YouTube, the two companies shared in web advertising revenue. Under the current model of WWE distributing original webshows, WWE receives a licensing fee for the programming with "upside on advertising."

-- Concerning WWE Studios, WWE is targeting spending of $15-25 million over the entire year. Barrios said they expect spending to be evenly distributed over each quarter for the rest of the year. The range is due to WWE keeping options open to "look for the right opportunities to invest" in movies through their new partnership-driven model.

-- WWE revealed their 2012 business forecast. Despite first quarter revenue increasing vs. last year and strong WrestleMania business to be reported in the second quarter, WWE expects the full year results to be flat compared to 2011.

This is mainly due to anticipated WWE Network costs of $30-45 million for the full year. Also, potentially "tough" comparability of results over the remainder of the quarters because of WWE's additional spending plans in 2012 that did not occur in 2011.
http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/WWE_News_3/article_61039.shtml


WWE's First Quarter 2012 PPV business tells a few different stories, but they all end with the same result - revenue of $13.5 million was exactly the same as Q1-2011.

(Interestingly, excluding the timing of WrestleMania 26 in 2010, the Q1-2010 PPV revenue segment was nearly the same at $13.4 million.) The following are highlights of the current period PPV segment.

-- WWE reported official Royal Rumble PPV buys of 443,000, down slightly from 446,000 in 2011. WWE reported official Elimination Chamber PPV buys of 178,000, down more than 20,000 buys from 199,000 last year. Chamber was also down more than 100,000 buys compared to 2010.

Royal Rumble 2012 - 443,000 buys
Royal Rumble 2011 - 446,000 buys
Royal Rumble 2010 - 462,000 buys
(2012 was down 0.6% vs. 2011, down 4.1% vs. 2010)

E. Chamber 2012 - 178,000 buys
E. Chamber 2011 - 199,000 buys
E. Chamber 2010 - 285,000 buys
(2012 was down 10.5% vs. 2011, down 37.5% vs. 2010)

-- WWE reported the decline in buys for the two events was "driven by an 8.0 percent decline in international buys." WWE reported domestic buys "remain essentially unchanged," which indicates some stability after a period of regular declines domestically.

-- In the quarter, WWE recognized 64,000 buys from prior-period PPV events, compared to 45,000 from prior-period events in 2011-Q1. This led to total buys recognized of 685,000 in Q1-2012 compared to 690,000 total buys in Q1-2011 (nearly even).

-- WWE reported a 3.0 percent increase in average revenue per buy, which was offset by a "comparable decline in current year buys" (which excludes the benefit of buys recognized from prior periods identified in the item above).

For the first time in a financial report, WWE recognized the impact of HD pricing. WWE noted, "The increase in average revenue per buy was attributable to higher retail prices charged for viewing our events in high definition."
http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/WWE_New...cle_61035.shtml


In the First Quarter 2012 financial report, WWE reported two items related to WWE Network start-up costs incurred during the first three months of the year:

-- WWE reported $2.1 million in "network related operating expenses." There were no Network-related expenses reported in Q1-2011. The figure is found in WWE's Staffing/Administrative costs.

WWE reported that staffing costs increased to $34.7 million in Q1-2012 compared to $29.9 million in Q1-2011. WWE noted the "increase in staffing costs was incurred primarily to support content and distribution initiatives." WWE added, "Total network-related costs reached approximately $2.1 million in the current year quarter."

-- WWE updated capital spending in anticipation of housing the Network: "Purchases of property and equipment increased $5.6 million from the prior year quarter, primarily due to a $6.4 million investment in assets to support efforts to create and distribute new content, including through a potential network."
http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/quickne...cle_61047.shtml


In the First Quarter 2012 financial report, WWE reported a 4.0 percent revenue increase from North American sources, which contributed to WWE's overall revenue increase during the quarter. WWE says the increase was "led by the performance of Live and Televised Entertainment," which included the beneficial timing of WrestleMania Axxess.

WWE reported revenue from outside North America was "essentially unchanged" (or flat) compared to the prior year quarter. The international break down reads - $1.1 million increase from Europe, Middle East, and Africa (mainly reflected in the Abu Dhabi house show tour), $1.3 million decrease from Latin America, and $0.1 million increase from Asia Pacific.

Overall, revenue from North America made up 75.5 percent of total revenue ($93.0 million from N.A. out of $123.1 total revenue).
http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/quickne...cle_61048.shtml


WWE's domestic house show revenue in First Quarter 2012 was flat on a comparable basis to the prior period. Revenue recognized increased $1.5 million in First Quarter 2012, but it was due to the timing of WrestleMania Axxess in Q1 vs. Q2 last year. WWE reported Axxess "added $1.4 million in incremental revenue to the quarter with $1.6 million in the current year quarter."

Other comparables indicate flat domestic live event results - WWE reported a 6.0 percent increase in average ticket prices for domestic events, which was offset by four fewer events and a 3.0 percent decline in average attendance to 6,200.
http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/quickne...cle_61050.shtml


The impression WWE management gave during Thursday's quarterly conference call with investors is that WWE is entrenched in the re-evaluation stage of a future Network launch.

After promising specific launch announcements during the past two conference calls over the previous six months, WWE set a timeframe of "within the next three months" to announce distribution partners.

Asked during the call what speed bumps WWE is encountering that's holding up the Network launch, WWE CEO Vince McMahon said, "We're continuing to develop new strategies going forward. We're not too sure which one looks best."

McMahon added, "The hold up is on our end. It's not on the end of our distributors." McMahon added that WWE is re-evaluating which of two options works best in the long-term - a traditional cable network or a hybrid, which is where WWE was last year. McMahon added the desired model is "one in which will give us a lot more flexibility - and that's one of the differences we're looking at it."

McMahon also discussed WWE's desire for complete control over the Network, not wanting to involve another company as co-owner. "We still want to go at this alone and own 100 percent of it," McMahon said. "Control is extremely important and what goes on the Network and the lack of restrictions."

WWE CFO George Barrios jumped in during the discussion to say WWE is not in a position to discuss subscriber benchmarks or profitability goals due to the lack of a firm model and still going through negotiations. Barrios stressed there are a "lot of different models to discuss" and the model that creates the most long-term shareholder value will be favored.

During opening statements, McMahon stressed that WWE is making "key hires" for content development and negotiations are ongoing. Before being grilled during the Q&A, McMahon said the negotiations are "moving along quite well, actually."

Whether or not WWE Network launches in 2012 remains to be seen. However, WWE will continue to incur start-up costs in anticipation of a launch. Barrios noted the amount of staffing/administrative costs will continue to go up during the year as they hire more people.

The range of incremental costs anticipated in 2012 is $10-15 million. Barrios noted the range is due to potential changes in the pace of hiring and additional costs that could be incurred when the Network actually launches. WWE reported in Thursday's earnings release that first quarter network-related staffing costs were $2.1 million, which, based on the full year range, is a low-end figure going forward in each quarter in 2012.
http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/WWE_New...cle_61038.shtml
 

Ithil

Member
Glad to know those "previously unrecognised tax benefits" can go towards paying for most of the money dumped on Lesnar alone.
 
Woo, finally - I had to actually get work done without WrassleGAF x_x

CHIKARA's April 28th show 'Hot of the Griddle' is already available for MP4 download over at SMV;

http://www.smartmarkvideo.com/mp4-d...ot-off-the-gridle-chicago-ridge-il-mp4-video/ - $11.99

1. Shard & The Swarm vs. The Colony & Jigsaw
2. Mixed Martial Archie vs. Kobald
3. The Throwbacks vs. The Batiri
4. Tian Long vs. 17
5. Arik Cannon & Darin Corbin vs. The Young Bucks
6. 3.0 & The Spectral Envoy vs. Tim Donst, Jakob Hammermeier & The Bravados
7. Kevin Steen vs. Eddie Kingston
8. F.I.S.T. vs. Gran Akuma
9. El Generico vs. Sara Del Rey

Hell yes, can't wait to see Generico/Del Rey & Kingston/Steen, oh and Mixed Martial Archie, too.

This show was awesome live, probably the best indy show I've ever been to. From top to bottom there is something for everyone on this show. Let's get a big group for the viewing party people.
 

Entropia

No One Remembers
I feel like an idiot, but how do you retweet someone with your own comments in front? Are people just copy pasting and putting RT in front?

Yeah.

This is also referred to as an old school RT. You actually had to do RTs that way before they put in the actual RT button.
 
As expected, ROH's Border Wars iPPV will be available for viewing directly from www.rohwrestling.com;

http://www.rohwrestling.com/ippv - $14.99

ibdgvfZNbaiI9D.jpg


Here's the announced card so far;

ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Davey Richards defends his championship against "Wrestling's Worst Nightmare" Kevin Steen

SPECIAL ATTRACTION
ROH World TV Champion Roderick Strong w/ Truth Martini vs "Belfast Bruiser" Fit Finlay

FIGHT WITHOUT HONOR FOR THE ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Jay & Mark Briscoe vs Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin)

SHOWDOWN IN THE SUN - REMATCH
"Canadian Icon" Lance Storm vs "The Prodigy" Mike Bennett w/ Brutal Bob

CHALLENGE MATCH
"Die Hard" Eddie Edwards vs. "The Man Beast" Rhino w/ Truth Martini

Special Attraction
"Unbreakable" Michael Elgin vs Adam Cole

Grudge Match
Jay Lethal vs "The Dominant Male" Tommaso Ciampa w/ The Embassy Ltd.

Signed to appear:
- The All Night Express (Kenny King & Rhett Titus)
- Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson)

Those RUDOS guys are the best. But yeah, superexcited for Ki.

Yeah, definitely - I'd hate to go back to the days before RUDOS, where we'd have to wait weeks and months for tape traders to get the shows in stock and ship them out.

This show was awesome live, probably the best indy show I've ever been to. From top to bottom there is something for everyone on this show. Let's get a big group for the viewing party people.

How's Sunday sound for a viewing party?
 

tm24

Member
Yeah, definitely - I'd hate to go back to the days before RUDOS, where we'd have to wait weeks and months for tape traders to get the shows in stock and ship them out.

Dark days indeed. I really cant imagine growing up with wrestling and not having the internet. I also used to hate waiting on Galavision to show it's lucha but now theres a great guy on YT who has that shit done faster than Galavision could ever imagine
 
Dark days indeed. I really cant imagine growing up with wrestling and not having the internet. I also used to hate waiting on Galavision to show it's lucha but now theres a great guy on YT who has that shit done faster than Galavision could ever imagine

I watched that, I think, two weeks ago. They had a wrestler named, Black Warrior.



He was Black.
 
I can't tell if you own the stream for life or just get the live showing for $14.99

Huh, I didn't notice that - I just presumed it would be VOD like GFL/WWNLive. I'll ask Kevin Kelly on twitter.

*edit; "Border Wars will be viewable on: PC, MAC, iOS & Android Devices and you will have unlimited views for 1 year" - that's kinda lame.

Lol @ trusting ROH to deliver an ippv through their website.

You'd like to believe that after such a debacle ROH would pull out all the stops to make sure this show goes off without a hitch, but this is ROH, so who knows - I've bought the show, so more fool me if it's a train-wreck.

Dark days indeed. I really cant imagine growing up with wrestling and not having the internet.

Watching puroresu without the internet was a nightmare - I'd just get tapes labelled 'AJPW TV' and have ZERO idea who the guys were, I had to go by the colour of their ring gear.
 

Anth0ny

Member
One only needs to observe how Ryback’s fellow Superstars study him to understand his ruthless reputation. They stare in awe as if they’re watching disaster footage, looking on in shock as Ryback’s ferocity both impresses them and leaves them fearful of being his next target.

Yes, that's what they do.

Santino: *inaudible*

Khali: mumblemumblemumble
 
I'd say if you were watching wrestling without the internet the majority of us would be much more positive about it or not watching it at all.
 
You know reading that bio on WWE.com. It really hurts me that Sting never had at least a year long run in the E. Its too bad. I know no one would even know who he is now, but it sucks.

He could have done some epic things at some point during the last 10 years. :'(
 
Happy to see business doing well. But they've really gotta force some young talent on us. These rematch PPVs are kind of disrespectful.

On the other hand, Ambrose promos aren't coming off natural for me. And his sellng needs work.

I'm not mad at Ryback. But if Brock doesn't put him over it'll be a waste of time.
 
What happened to ROH? It used to be the internet's favourite promotion. It could do no wrong. It had amazing momentum... what happened?

Fuck up after fuck up, boring television, shit production values, and a horribly deleted roster are some of the things wrong with it right now. ROH used to have much better personalities and they had more of a mix of different kinds of wrestling. Now noone there is interesting there for the most part except the Briscoes. The best singles people they have are Kevin Steen, who is good in the ring and at doing profanity ridden diatribes, but looks like an overnight stocker at Wal-Mart and Jay Lethal, who doesn't seem to have much personality outside of when he's impersonating another wrestler. Boring wrestlers with a company that tries to take itself way too seriously equals a shitty product. Chikara is so superior right now.
 

CrunchinJelly

formerly cjelly
You know reading that bio on WWE.com. It really hurts me that Sting never had at least a year long run in the E. Its too bad. I know no one would even know who he is now, but it sucks.

He could have done some epic things at some point during the last 10 years. :'(

He would have just been completely misused like all the other WCW guys,
 
What happened to ROH? It used to be the internet's favourite promotion. It could do no wrong. It had amazing momentum... what happened?

It's a number of things really - firing Gabe was such a huge shake-up, they lost a lot of fans immediately and many more when Pearce took a while to find his footing as booker. Also, losing Dragon, Nigel, Tyler & Aries were real big blows. Finally, with Cornette in charge ROH has been more focussed, but also is heading in a very specific direction rather than trying to appeal to every indy fan as they did in the past.

Personally, ROH has slipped below PWG & CHIKARA for me, maybe a bit below DGUSA too. The matches are still often great, but the roster feels very sparse, with little to get excited about other than Steen and I miss that they no longer fly in the best indy and puroresu talent for 'dream matches', which was a staple of the Gabe era.
 
I'd say if you were watching wrestling without the internet the majority of us would be much more positive about it or not watching it at all.

I agree with this to be honest.

Happy to see business doing well. But they've really gotta force some young talent on us. These rematch PPVs are kind of disrespectful.

On the other hand, Ambrose promos aren't coming off natural for me. And his sellng needs work.

I'm not mad at Ryback. But if Brock doesn't put him over it'll be a waste of time.

I also agree with this. What got me during my re-watch of wrestling was that no 1 guy was THE GUY for more then 6 months. Everyone had a turn, new faces appeared on the roster/shows too.
 

jmdajr

Member
Sometimes it's better off not knowing how these people act in real life. But that goes for anybody in entertainment/sports/music etc.
 

Kaladin

Member
It's a number of things really - firing Gabe was such a huge shake-up, they lost a lot of fans immediately and many more when Pearce took a while to find his footing as booker. Also, losing Dragon, Nigel, Tyler & Aries were real big blows. Finally, with Cornette in charge ROH has been more focussed, but also is heading in a very specific direction rather than trying to appeal to every indy fan as they did in the past.

Personally, ROH has slipped below PWG & CHIKARA for me, maybe a bit below DGUSA too. The matches are still often great, but the roster feels very sparse, with little to get excited about other than Steen and I miss that they no longer fly in the best indy and puroresu talent for 'dream matches', which was a staple of the Gabe era.

You pretty much nailed it but I think firing Gabe was the biggest mistake they made. He can work with a limited roster and would have got them through this period better than Cornette has.
 
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