D
Deleted member 47027
Unconfirmed Member
Nocturnowl said:
Boogeyman did an INCREDIBLE job with a shit character. I hated his wrestling, loved seeing him show up. Good times.
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Boogeyman did an INCREDIBLE job with a shit character. I hated his wrestling, loved seeing him show up. Good times.
Skiptastic
Member
I put this in the other thread, but was told this is the one to be in.
I'll probably lurk this thread from now on like I lurk a number of other threads. Just happy that CM Punk is becoming a superstar. Really like his energy and character.Skiptastic said:
Jeff Albertson
Member
Nocturnowl said:
I liked the Boogeyman with his weird crawl and stuff but as soon as they brought the worms into it it got boring.
Swagger hasn't convinced me he's worthy of the main event. Maybe you guys see something in him that I don't. If we're making a list of potential guys they could get behind now and look credible against Taker at Mania, I don't think he's on it. I think that list is Sheamus, Bryan, Barrett, and Ziggler.
sf2fanatic
Member
Sunflower said:
I miss his little dance wiggle....
I also was a fan of the Akeem dance..LOL'ed all the time
There were wrestlers that were horrible/ok but had great entrances to the ring.
Nocturnowl
Member
Weren't the worms there from pretty much the get go on smackdown at least? regardless of when he started eating the worms it's safe to say any attempt at a serious gimmick was immediately more freak show carnival style than Kizarney could ever had hoped to be once the worms got factored in.Jeff Albertson said:
I did love the smoke spewing stick though, great prop.
MetalFearSolid
Banned
Knox said:
I think he was a great champion, WWE tried to package him as the next Kurt Angle, but Kurt Angle is Kurt Angle, the Wrestling Machine. His name should be among Barrett, Ziggler and others. Sheamus and Bryan are slightly better than others.
Net_Wrecker
Member
The Boogeyman was terrible, and I'm shocked to see he had any supporters of any kind. Corny gimmick, and terribad in the ring. The only entertainment I ever got from a Boogeyman segment was Booker T and Sharmell running from him through the hallways backstage and screaming like crazy.
sf2fanatic
Member
Net_Wrecker said:
Dont forget the little scene he was in during Cena's backstage promo against Angle. LOL
Jeff Albertson
Member
Nocturnowl said:
I didn't think they were but the maybe, either way the whole gimmick ended up being about them.
Remember him eating Jillian Halls face growth?
British Monsoon
Member
Jeff Albertson said:
I didn't, but now I do.
Cheers Jeff
Jeff Albertson
Member
Bootaaay said:I didn't, but now I do.
Cheers Jeff
Oh God it's much worse than I remember
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEEs2TTQgwc
Sick
Rafa=FedKilla
Banned
We still do not know the secret that Punk knows about Cena! Shut up Meltzer there is a bigger picture.
NubCakes09
Member
DKehoe said:
On one hand the streak is something that Undertaker is known for, but on the other hand the person who beats him would do something that no one has ever done and in turn giving that person a career defining moment. But hopefully they do have Taker wrestle a younger guy and not Triple H.
dream
Member
WWE did a reset, with four world title changes in eight days, HHH put in charge as the new authority figure, and a week filled with changes in booking that resulted in six different scripts being written for the 7/25 Raw, all featuring new changes in the main booking direction .
When the dust cleared, SummerSlam on 8/14 in Los Angeles is set for John Cena vs. C.M. Punk to unify the WWE title after a television show that went through several weeks, if not months, worth of booking. Christian vs. Randy Orton in a last man standing match is the Smackdown title bout. This was a change from a triple headliner of Punk vs. HHH, Alberto Del Rio vs. Cena for the WWE title and Christian vs. Orton as was the original plan for the show. With only two weeks of television left before one of the companys three biggest events of the year, no other matches are definite, and even Cena vs. Punk wont be officially announced until next week. There will be a womens Battle Royal on the 8/1 Raw in Indianapolis to determine who faces Kelly Kelly for the title. There appears to be a babyface Sheamus vs. Mark Henry program starting and probably R-Truth vs. John Morrison based on angles shot this week. But its as unfocused a complete card three weeks out as for a major show in years.
The Raw show on 7/25 in Hampton, VA, opened with Rey Mysterio pinning The Miz in the finals of the WWE title tournament. After a big celebration, featuring champagne and a staredown, HHH in his television role as the Chief Operating Officer of WWE, announced Mysterio would be defending against Cena in the television main event. Cena won a great match, and when it was over, Punk, whose long talked about vacation ended up being three days, came out from the stage area to his old ROH theme music, A Cult of Personality.
He and Cena faced off in the ring with each holding their version of the belt high. Whether this was the best direction for the angle is debatable. One aspect of the angle, the idea Punk was on the outside, holding the belt hostage, and complaining about and leaving the company is done, remarkably fast. Instead, Punk was used to get over HHH as being able to make the deals and bring back who the fans want. While much of this angles genesis came from Punk to Vince McMahon, in the end, the angle was going to be shaped for the purposes of getting the family over primarily, and Punk secondarily. In the end, Punk is a bigger star for it. His elevation wasnt shut down as it would have been in the original booking concept, where he was to return at the end of the show, get beaten up by HHH, left laying with a pedigree and Alberto Del Rio would come down, cash in his briefcase, beat him to win the title, and Del Rio would go to SummerSlam and defend against Cena.
The loser of the week ended up Del Rio, who is not only out the championship for at least the fourth time it was planned for him, but also seems in limbo at SummerSlam instead of being the champion defending in the main event.
The company originally felt they wanted Del Rio as champion for a show in the Los Angeles market, to try and draw from the Latin community, and in particular had a long-term plan of Del Rio as champion when they return to Mexico in October with the idea its the first time a Mexican would hold a WWE title while they were in Mexico, and when TV is being taped for the first time ever in Mexico. It was seen as a chance to really broaden the fan base in what is currently the companys strongest market. The attack by HHH was designed by make him a strong heel for a match with Punk, and thus, by extension give Punk a strong heel to work with to help him get over as a face.
Del Rio is still supposed to get the title at some point very soon. Those close to the situation indicate Cena vs. Del Rio is sort of planned for September, but given how frequently things change, the idea they even have a decision on the winner of the SummerSlam main that wont change several times between now and then is laughable.
Del Rio was first planned to win the world title on Smackdown at the Royal Rumble, and then at WrestleMania, with the idea of bringing the title to Raw and wrestling Cena at SummerSlam with it. Later, that was changed probably because of the idea WrestleMania was too predictable. He was supposed to win the title then at Money in the Bank, but the decision was made to protect the Punk angle and allow him to leave as champion, since he wasnt actually leaving anyway. The flat return of Ricardo Rodriguez where he just showed up and was back ring announcing after the beating was because the original plan was for Rodriguezs return to result in a distraction that allowed Del Rio to win the title at the end of the Money in the Bank PPV.
Two title changes, both in excellent matches, plus the return of Jim Ross as an announcer made the Raw show an eventful reset. Historically, the first show of resets are almost inherently newsworthy because the whole idea of a reset is to monumentally change things up. They are usually entertaining and highly praised, and this also had the advantage of two excellent matches with Mysterio. Also, historically, more often than not, resets dont lead to business increases for a variety of reasons, and actually result in declines in more than half the cases because they are usually overreactions as a result of panic booking.
Whether this will be the exception at this point will be hard to determine at this point, but the SummerSlam buy rate will be a good indicator if Punk can be the elusive missing ingredient that can move business, or if the television direction is a positive. Ratings indicate no movement. In fact, every week since the Punk angle that got so much buzz, the Raw rating was a disappointment. The first two weeks were the lowest two ratings of the year, although 7/4 was going to be no matter what they did, but it dropped more than television as a whole did. Home Run Derby did hurt 7/11. But coming off two title changes on PPV and lesser male demo competition, the increase on 7/18 was less than expected and 7/25, even after the summer Vince angle that always results in an increase, the number was microscopically down. Even with them shooting a Vince angle, giving the idea that a new regime is started, and whatever buzz the Punk angle has, the result was ratings this past week were 9% lower for Raw than the same week last year. Whether it is engaging existing viewers to become more active fans appears empirically to be the case, but it hasnt moved anything thus far to prove its the case past one night. Whether it is getting new people watching the show, that in fact, is not the case, and if anything, its very slightly the opposite.
Money in the Bank was a one-time magical moment that likely did well, but it was more reminiscent of the first One Night Stand PPV, which had a ton of Internet buzz, felt like a game changer as it was going on, did well on PPV, and in the long run meant nothing.
Preliminary indications have Money in the Bank doing in the range of double what Capitol Punishment did in the United States although it wont be until the end of August when WWE releases a number. SummerSlam will give a lot better indication as to the legs of the Punk angle and the other changes. Punk will be starting on the road in house shows, with the idea of him working with Cena this weekend, so perhaps there may be an indication with above average walk up business at the shows.
Among those inside, the most notable thing about Punks return is that he got Vince McMahon to do what hes had a policy in most cases against doing, which is paying royalty rights to use popular songs instead of WWE self-created music. And whether SummerSlam beats last year or it doesnt, Punk through this angle has moved himself up on the companys depth charts. Instead of Cena and Randy Orton as the big two, there is now a big three. Whether Punk becomes a difference maker is a different story.
Whether, because he doesnt have the size and physical look that they like from their top guys, hes not shot down from this level by next year is a question. Under normal circumstances Id say its likely, but the company is well aware of its depth issue and I dont see them overtly sabotaging anything. Then again, one of the original plans for this past week would have sabotaged the angle completely. But the belief was likely they were screwing him to make him a babyface, make HHH a heel and turn it into a headline program. But will they come close to maximizing the potential? Odds are probably not, just because thats been the track record of the booking in recent years. Plus, when you constantly change directions, no long-term direction is ever going to hit anywhere near its maximum potential.
Exactly what the Punk story really is or was is still fuzzy. Based on booking, it would appear he was going to leave during the period he was being buried. Once he started being pushed again, there had to at least be an understanding. Once he cut that promo, the deal had to be already done and it was much like the 2005 ROH angle where Punk and ROH continually gave the impression every show was his last show. On the show that was supposed to be his farewell, because everyone knew he was headed to WWE, he won the ROH title when everyone knew hed lose. Then, for a couple of months, they hinted every show was his last, but hed keep retaining the title. That concept got a lot of talk, and a lot of heat. There was no indication it meant anything good or bad for box office, but they did surprise people at the finishes of many of the shows.
Many feel he shouldnt have come out the entrance as part of the show so quickly, but WWE doesnt do outsider angles well so its just as well. As far as taking more time off, sure, you can make the argument he should have been kept off until Royal Rumble (bringing him back at Survivor Series would have been a bad idea, because Rock is going to be the main focus of the promotion and of that show, and Punks return should not be diluted into being No. 2 on a show). But once the decision was made for SummerSlam, you want the match at least announced by 8/1 and promoted from there, which meant his showing up at the end of the show in a cliffhanger had to be by 7/25. That was just the hand that was dealt with timing of the show. Not having the main event announced on television until 8/8 would have been foolish.
While to a lot of people, Punk was the big story, internally, it was very clear that it is still all about the family, and Punks return on TV was all about getting HHH over. So while you can come up with a lot of better options than what they did, if youre a Punk fan, it was as good as it was going to get because Punk was not going to be made into a bigger deal than HHHs new role. Whether HHH eventually goes heel and feuds with Punk, which was also on the drawing board at one point, well, that more depends on whether they want HHH to go heel and when. Right now, he is showing no indication of it. The Raw mystery General Manager podium was set up, but they never had any e-mails from him nor was he ever mentioned. That angle is another that had long since ran its course.
The company went to great lengths to keep the arrival of both Punk and Ross a secret before they aired. Both were kept away from almost everyone in the company. They were sent to different hotels from everyone else for fear someone would see them. Neither came into the building until they were given the signal it was their time, both being hidden somewhere on the premises. The returns of both Punk and Ross were actually not even on the sixth and final script for the show and aside from those who had to directly interact with them on television, the talent wasnt even aware of either of them being in town. Ironically, the arena itself was advertising Punk as being there on the day of the show.
The Ross return came because they wanted to show that its a new era, and HHH would talk about bringing back someone, people would think it was Punk, then it wouldnt be Punk, and they didnt want people groaning at it being a letdown. About the only people who could have fit the bill were people under contract to TNA, people who they dont have interest in being back, or stars of the caliber of Ross, Shawn Michaels, Batista, Chris Jericho or Mick Foley. Michaels no doubt wouldnt come back as a weekly character. Batista and Jericho both dont appear to have returning to wrestling as part of either mans immediate plans. Foley was supposed to be in Philadelphia the next day, although we havent heard of him being backstage and he never appeared on television. But there is dialogue on that front and most expect some form of a deal to eventually be made.
As far as Ross went, the way it was presented, was that he was back full-time as the lead host of Raw, but that it would be a three-man booth with Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole. The problem is that as good as the Cole character is at playing his role, the Cole heel announcer thing ran its course months ago. It really was never good for the broadcast, but at least until a few months ago you had the argument it was building an out of the box program with Lawler that was at least hot until WrestleMania.
Since then its become annoying, and made worse since Cole is on both shows. When Ross came out, Cole tore into him, notably making fun of his restaurant closing, his weight, and all the inside comments, which sure sounded like a Vince McMahon ambush. Where Ross was allowed to shine in the main event is because they had Cole wrestle, and thus took him out of announcing for the rest of the show. But it was made clear Cole would be back as a three-man team, with the storyline that HHH wanted to fire Cole, but he found out his severance package would be so expensive it wasnt cost-effective firing him.
Money in the Bank showed that horrible announcing cant ruin a show with great wrestling and great crowd heat.
However, Ross announcing the Cena vs. Mysterio match, that would have been a great presentation either way, did help the match get over because the match was treated as if it was important and a contest as opposed to the match being a backdrop to the announcers bickering being at times the primary product. A straight man call made the match feel a lot more important than the earlier Mysterio vs. Miz match felt, even though the crowd was very much into both. Still, with Cole as the voice of Vince, and the weird McMahon/Ross dynamic, Coles role in the broadcast of Vince trying to get at Ross live every week can get old in a hurry. On Smackdown with Booker, even though its not as mean spirited, its beyond played out.
The return of Ross, 59, marks another cycle in the pattern of the company deciding to get rid of him, based on his age and look, only to bring him back. While he had been fired twice in 1994, he previously as an announcer by McMahon, once after an attack of Bells Palsy and once due to an interview he did during the period he was fired being published after he was re-hired and it rubbed McMahon the wrong way. The third time he was out was in 1998, due to his second attack of Bells Palsy. He was not fired from the company, but was removed and replaced by Michael Cole. In 1999, he was brought back, and since fans did not react well to Cole in his position, they decided to do a television feud where Ross would be portrayed as delusional and nuts, with Cole as the babyface voice of reason. The feud was dropped because even how it was portrayed, the crowd cheered Ross over Cole. He dropped the character and ended up back when Steve Austin and The Rock both went to Vince McMahon and asked that he announce their main event at WrestleMania.
His next departure was scheduled to be September 2005, where he was to be replaced by Mike Goldberg, as UFC and WWE were going head-to-head and Goldberg debuting would have left UFC without an announcer. Raw was moving from Spike to USA and McMahon decided it would be best to have a new look, and that new look meant a younger voice of the promotion. However, Goldberg had second thoughts (in trivia, McMahon was going to force Goldberg to change his name because at the time McMahon hated Bill Goldberg) and backed out of the deal. Ross only lasted a few weeks longer before being replaced. The first replacement was Jonathan Coachman, and then Joey Styles. Nine months later, with McMahon unhappy about the replacements, brought Ross back.
In early 2007, the decision once again was made to replace Ross. He was supposed to go into the Hall of Fame that year, call WrestleMania, and then be replaced. However, it was the Chicago audience going so rabid when he was announced for the Hall of Fame, that McMahon and Kevin Dunn realized replacing him at that point, when he had so much momentum, would have been a bad business move, so the plan was to wait a few more months.
In January, 2008, Mike Adamle was hired with his eventual role being to replace Ross, although they wanted him to get acclimated to the job and the fans first. But Adamle didnt adapt well to wrestling and that idea was dropped. Instead, in the 2008 draft a few months later, they shifted Cole and Ross, with Ross becoming the lead voice of Smackdown.
Eventually Todd Grisham was brought in to be the lead on Smackdown and Ross was again being phased out. He suffered another Bells Palsy attack in late 2009, and was taken off the air. This attack wasnt nearly as serious as the previous ones. However, for a while, McMahon was adamant about not bringing him back. At the 2010 WrestleMania, there were rumors he was going to do the show, and at one point he was scheduled, but McMahon changed his mind. Shawn Michaels, in his last match, asked McMahon to let Ross call it, and McMahon turned him down. That seemed to make it clear McMahon was not interested in going back to Ross.
He was brought back to TV to do one match on November 15, 2010, as part of a themed Old School Raw, which, if anything, was the strongest positioning of him as being from the past as he was part of a group of talent from the previous generation. But with Cole as a heel, Ross made several appearances on Raw and even wrestled Cole, plus announced some when angles were done to take Cole off the broadcast. While complaints about the announcing had gotten more and more (although Smackdown was worse than Raw), in recent weeks, surprisingly this time, Ross was brought back again and announced as permanently back.
Another change was Zack Ryders role on television. Ryder was brought out to a very unique to face Michael Cole. While Ryder has gotten some big reactions in New York, Boston and on the Australian tour due to his cult following from his web site show, in Virginia it appeared that the vast majority of the audience either saw him as a job guy or someone they didnt even know. There was a vocal small percentage that were going crazy for him. It was overall a lukewarm reaction in a position set up for an easy pop opposing Cole. But there was a chant that got started for him but you could tell those who did it were into it, but not many were into it. Ryder was originally going to be involved with David Otunga & Michael McGillicutty a few weeks ago, but after debuting on Raw, he was moved to Smackdown to become the assistant General Manager to Teddy Long. He booked Ezekiel Jackson in a handicap match against Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes, giving the indication hell be a heel who becomes the counterpart of Teddy Long like Vickie Guerrero used to be.
David Lagana, a longtime former WWE writer, wrote about Punks trials and tribulations in the company, noting the December to Dismember PPV in 2006. At the time, Big Show, who was physically hurting, was planning on retiring and taking an offer to go into pro boxing. In an Elimination Chamber match, booker Paul Heyman booked Show to be eliminated first, tapping out to Punks Anaconda vise, feeling doing so would make Punks career. Heyman talked about going with a Rob Van Dam vs. Punk program. At the time he was looking at making Punk one of the top guys in ECW, behind Bobby Lashley, who McMahon at the time had wanted to make No. 1 after his original choice for the spot, Bob Sapp, didnt sign.
Show, who was personal friends with Heyman, had no qualms about doing it, but Vince McMahon was dead set against it, saying it wasnt believable to someone who looked like Punk to submit someone the size of Show. Instead, McMahon ordered Punk to be eliminated first. While not the only reason or even the primary reason, the PPV was a disaster and Heyman and McMahon went at it after, leading to Heyman quitting/being fired from the writing team and eventually quitting the company.
Lagana noted that the agents constantly mocked Punk, belittling his finishing move (later dropped for the GTS), the Wanderlei Silva wrist roll and announcers were told not to mention terms like Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as his background.
C.M. Punk, a lot like ECW, Goldberg, the NWO and especially WCW were not WWE creations, wrote Lagana. The track record has shown that Kevin Dunn and Vince McMahon do not support ideas that were not generated inside their bubble. Punk got the tag line King of the Indies and those agents who didnt like him before Heyman was gone, they were out for blood now.
By early 2007, Lagana said there were agents pushing to get Punk fired. At a meeting, when agents were bashing Punk, Shawn Michaels said, Um, if you dont like something the kid is doing, why dont you work with him to fix it, instead of killing him. Michaels said that he and Undertaker werent going to be around forever and guys like Punk would be the future of the company, and Lagana said that basically saved Punk in the company.
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When the dust cleared, SummerSlam on 8/14 in Los Angeles is set for John Cena vs. C.M. Punk to unify the WWE title after a television show that went through several weeks, if not months, worth of booking. Christian vs. Randy Orton in a last man standing match is the Smackdown title bout. This was a change from a triple headliner of Punk vs. HHH, Alberto Del Rio vs. Cena for the WWE title and Christian vs. Orton as was the original plan for the show. With only two weeks of television left before one of the companys three biggest events of the year, no other matches are definite, and even Cena vs. Punk wont be officially announced until next week. There will be a womens Battle Royal on the 8/1 Raw in Indianapolis to determine who faces Kelly Kelly for the title. There appears to be a babyface Sheamus vs. Mark Henry program starting and probably R-Truth vs. John Morrison based on angles shot this week. But its as unfocused a complete card three weeks out as for a major show in years.
The Raw show on 7/25 in Hampton, VA, opened with Rey Mysterio pinning The Miz in the finals of the WWE title tournament. After a big celebration, featuring champagne and a staredown, HHH in his television role as the Chief Operating Officer of WWE, announced Mysterio would be defending against Cena in the television main event. Cena won a great match, and when it was over, Punk, whose long talked about vacation ended up being three days, came out from the stage area to his old ROH theme music, A Cult of Personality.
He and Cena faced off in the ring with each holding their version of the belt high. Whether this was the best direction for the angle is debatable. One aspect of the angle, the idea Punk was on the outside, holding the belt hostage, and complaining about and leaving the company is done, remarkably fast. Instead, Punk was used to get over HHH as being able to make the deals and bring back who the fans want. While much of this angles genesis came from Punk to Vince McMahon, in the end, the angle was going to be shaped for the purposes of getting the family over primarily, and Punk secondarily. In the end, Punk is a bigger star for it. His elevation wasnt shut down as it would have been in the original booking concept, where he was to return at the end of the show, get beaten up by HHH, left laying with a pedigree and Alberto Del Rio would come down, cash in his briefcase, beat him to win the title, and Del Rio would go to SummerSlam and defend against Cena.
The loser of the week ended up Del Rio, who is not only out the championship for at least the fourth time it was planned for him, but also seems in limbo at SummerSlam instead of being the champion defending in the main event.
The company originally felt they wanted Del Rio as champion for a show in the Los Angeles market, to try and draw from the Latin community, and in particular had a long-term plan of Del Rio as champion when they return to Mexico in October with the idea its the first time a Mexican would hold a WWE title while they were in Mexico, and when TV is being taped for the first time ever in Mexico. It was seen as a chance to really broaden the fan base in what is currently the companys strongest market. The attack by HHH was designed by make him a strong heel for a match with Punk, and thus, by extension give Punk a strong heel to work with to help him get over as a face.
Del Rio is still supposed to get the title at some point very soon. Those close to the situation indicate Cena vs. Del Rio is sort of planned for September, but given how frequently things change, the idea they even have a decision on the winner of the SummerSlam main that wont change several times between now and then is laughable.
Del Rio was first planned to win the world title on Smackdown at the Royal Rumble, and then at WrestleMania, with the idea of bringing the title to Raw and wrestling Cena at SummerSlam with it. Later, that was changed probably because of the idea WrestleMania was too predictable. He was supposed to win the title then at Money in the Bank, but the decision was made to protect the Punk angle and allow him to leave as champion, since he wasnt actually leaving anyway. The flat return of Ricardo Rodriguez where he just showed up and was back ring announcing after the beating was because the original plan was for Rodriguezs return to result in a distraction that allowed Del Rio to win the title at the end of the Money in the Bank PPV.
Two title changes, both in excellent matches, plus the return of Jim Ross as an announcer made the Raw show an eventful reset. Historically, the first show of resets are almost inherently newsworthy because the whole idea of a reset is to monumentally change things up. They are usually entertaining and highly praised, and this also had the advantage of two excellent matches with Mysterio. Also, historically, more often than not, resets dont lead to business increases for a variety of reasons, and actually result in declines in more than half the cases because they are usually overreactions as a result of panic booking.
Whether this will be the exception at this point will be hard to determine at this point, but the SummerSlam buy rate will be a good indicator if Punk can be the elusive missing ingredient that can move business, or if the television direction is a positive. Ratings indicate no movement. In fact, every week since the Punk angle that got so much buzz, the Raw rating was a disappointment. The first two weeks were the lowest two ratings of the year, although 7/4 was going to be no matter what they did, but it dropped more than television as a whole did. Home Run Derby did hurt 7/11. But coming off two title changes on PPV and lesser male demo competition, the increase on 7/18 was less than expected and 7/25, even after the summer Vince angle that always results in an increase, the number was microscopically down. Even with them shooting a Vince angle, giving the idea that a new regime is started, and whatever buzz the Punk angle has, the result was ratings this past week were 9% lower for Raw than the same week last year. Whether it is engaging existing viewers to become more active fans appears empirically to be the case, but it hasnt moved anything thus far to prove its the case past one night. Whether it is getting new people watching the show, that in fact, is not the case, and if anything, its very slightly the opposite.
Money in the Bank was a one-time magical moment that likely did well, but it was more reminiscent of the first One Night Stand PPV, which had a ton of Internet buzz, felt like a game changer as it was going on, did well on PPV, and in the long run meant nothing.
Preliminary indications have Money in the Bank doing in the range of double what Capitol Punishment did in the United States although it wont be until the end of August when WWE releases a number. SummerSlam will give a lot better indication as to the legs of the Punk angle and the other changes. Punk will be starting on the road in house shows, with the idea of him working with Cena this weekend, so perhaps there may be an indication with above average walk up business at the shows.
Among those inside, the most notable thing about Punks return is that he got Vince McMahon to do what hes had a policy in most cases against doing, which is paying royalty rights to use popular songs instead of WWE self-created music. And whether SummerSlam beats last year or it doesnt, Punk through this angle has moved himself up on the companys depth charts. Instead of Cena and Randy Orton as the big two, there is now a big three. Whether Punk becomes a difference maker is a different story.
Whether, because he doesnt have the size and physical look that they like from their top guys, hes not shot down from this level by next year is a question. Under normal circumstances Id say its likely, but the company is well aware of its depth issue and I dont see them overtly sabotaging anything. Then again, one of the original plans for this past week would have sabotaged the angle completely. But the belief was likely they were screwing him to make him a babyface, make HHH a heel and turn it into a headline program. But will they come close to maximizing the potential? Odds are probably not, just because thats been the track record of the booking in recent years. Plus, when you constantly change directions, no long-term direction is ever going to hit anywhere near its maximum potential.
Exactly what the Punk story really is or was is still fuzzy. Based on booking, it would appear he was going to leave during the period he was being buried. Once he started being pushed again, there had to at least be an understanding. Once he cut that promo, the deal had to be already done and it was much like the 2005 ROH angle where Punk and ROH continually gave the impression every show was his last show. On the show that was supposed to be his farewell, because everyone knew he was headed to WWE, he won the ROH title when everyone knew hed lose. Then, for a couple of months, they hinted every show was his last, but hed keep retaining the title. That concept got a lot of talk, and a lot of heat. There was no indication it meant anything good or bad for box office, but they did surprise people at the finishes of many of the shows.
Many feel he shouldnt have come out the entrance as part of the show so quickly, but WWE doesnt do outsider angles well so its just as well. As far as taking more time off, sure, you can make the argument he should have been kept off until Royal Rumble (bringing him back at Survivor Series would have been a bad idea, because Rock is going to be the main focus of the promotion and of that show, and Punks return should not be diluted into being No. 2 on a show). But once the decision was made for SummerSlam, you want the match at least announced by 8/1 and promoted from there, which meant his showing up at the end of the show in a cliffhanger had to be by 7/25. That was just the hand that was dealt with timing of the show. Not having the main event announced on television until 8/8 would have been foolish.
While to a lot of people, Punk was the big story, internally, it was very clear that it is still all about the family, and Punks return on TV was all about getting HHH over. So while you can come up with a lot of better options than what they did, if youre a Punk fan, it was as good as it was going to get because Punk was not going to be made into a bigger deal than HHHs new role. Whether HHH eventually goes heel and feuds with Punk, which was also on the drawing board at one point, well, that more depends on whether they want HHH to go heel and when. Right now, he is showing no indication of it. The Raw mystery General Manager podium was set up, but they never had any e-mails from him nor was he ever mentioned. That angle is another that had long since ran its course.
The company went to great lengths to keep the arrival of both Punk and Ross a secret before they aired. Both were kept away from almost everyone in the company. They were sent to different hotels from everyone else for fear someone would see them. Neither came into the building until they were given the signal it was their time, both being hidden somewhere on the premises. The returns of both Punk and Ross were actually not even on the sixth and final script for the show and aside from those who had to directly interact with them on television, the talent wasnt even aware of either of them being in town. Ironically, the arena itself was advertising Punk as being there on the day of the show.
The Ross return came because they wanted to show that its a new era, and HHH would talk about bringing back someone, people would think it was Punk, then it wouldnt be Punk, and they didnt want people groaning at it being a letdown. About the only people who could have fit the bill were people under contract to TNA, people who they dont have interest in being back, or stars of the caliber of Ross, Shawn Michaels, Batista, Chris Jericho or Mick Foley. Michaels no doubt wouldnt come back as a weekly character. Batista and Jericho both dont appear to have returning to wrestling as part of either mans immediate plans. Foley was supposed to be in Philadelphia the next day, although we havent heard of him being backstage and he never appeared on television. But there is dialogue on that front and most expect some form of a deal to eventually be made.
As far as Ross went, the way it was presented, was that he was back full-time as the lead host of Raw, but that it would be a three-man booth with Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole. The problem is that as good as the Cole character is at playing his role, the Cole heel announcer thing ran its course months ago. It really was never good for the broadcast, but at least until a few months ago you had the argument it was building an out of the box program with Lawler that was at least hot until WrestleMania.
Since then its become annoying, and made worse since Cole is on both shows. When Ross came out, Cole tore into him, notably making fun of his restaurant closing, his weight, and all the inside comments, which sure sounded like a Vince McMahon ambush. Where Ross was allowed to shine in the main event is because they had Cole wrestle, and thus took him out of announcing for the rest of the show. But it was made clear Cole would be back as a three-man team, with the storyline that HHH wanted to fire Cole, but he found out his severance package would be so expensive it wasnt cost-effective firing him.
Money in the Bank showed that horrible announcing cant ruin a show with great wrestling and great crowd heat.
However, Ross announcing the Cena vs. Mysterio match, that would have been a great presentation either way, did help the match get over because the match was treated as if it was important and a contest as opposed to the match being a backdrop to the announcers bickering being at times the primary product. A straight man call made the match feel a lot more important than the earlier Mysterio vs. Miz match felt, even though the crowd was very much into both. Still, with Cole as the voice of Vince, and the weird McMahon/Ross dynamic, Coles role in the broadcast of Vince trying to get at Ross live every week can get old in a hurry. On Smackdown with Booker, even though its not as mean spirited, its beyond played out.
The return of Ross, 59, marks another cycle in the pattern of the company deciding to get rid of him, based on his age and look, only to bring him back. While he had been fired twice in 1994, he previously as an announcer by McMahon, once after an attack of Bells Palsy and once due to an interview he did during the period he was fired being published after he was re-hired and it rubbed McMahon the wrong way. The third time he was out was in 1998, due to his second attack of Bells Palsy. He was not fired from the company, but was removed and replaced by Michael Cole. In 1999, he was brought back, and since fans did not react well to Cole in his position, they decided to do a television feud where Ross would be portrayed as delusional and nuts, with Cole as the babyface voice of reason. The feud was dropped because even how it was portrayed, the crowd cheered Ross over Cole. He dropped the character and ended up back when Steve Austin and The Rock both went to Vince McMahon and asked that he announce their main event at WrestleMania.
His next departure was scheduled to be September 2005, where he was to be replaced by Mike Goldberg, as UFC and WWE were going head-to-head and Goldberg debuting would have left UFC without an announcer. Raw was moving from Spike to USA and McMahon decided it would be best to have a new look, and that new look meant a younger voice of the promotion. However, Goldberg had second thoughts (in trivia, McMahon was going to force Goldberg to change his name because at the time McMahon hated Bill Goldberg) and backed out of the deal. Ross only lasted a few weeks longer before being replaced. The first replacement was Jonathan Coachman, and then Joey Styles. Nine months later, with McMahon unhappy about the replacements, brought Ross back.
In early 2007, the decision once again was made to replace Ross. He was supposed to go into the Hall of Fame that year, call WrestleMania, and then be replaced. However, it was the Chicago audience going so rabid when he was announced for the Hall of Fame, that McMahon and Kevin Dunn realized replacing him at that point, when he had so much momentum, would have been a bad business move, so the plan was to wait a few more months.
In January, 2008, Mike Adamle was hired with his eventual role being to replace Ross, although they wanted him to get acclimated to the job and the fans first. But Adamle didnt adapt well to wrestling and that idea was dropped. Instead, in the 2008 draft a few months later, they shifted Cole and Ross, with Ross becoming the lead voice of Smackdown.
Eventually Todd Grisham was brought in to be the lead on Smackdown and Ross was again being phased out. He suffered another Bells Palsy attack in late 2009, and was taken off the air. This attack wasnt nearly as serious as the previous ones. However, for a while, McMahon was adamant about not bringing him back. At the 2010 WrestleMania, there were rumors he was going to do the show, and at one point he was scheduled, but McMahon changed his mind. Shawn Michaels, in his last match, asked McMahon to let Ross call it, and McMahon turned him down. That seemed to make it clear McMahon was not interested in going back to Ross.
He was brought back to TV to do one match on November 15, 2010, as part of a themed Old School Raw, which, if anything, was the strongest positioning of him as being from the past as he was part of a group of talent from the previous generation. But with Cole as a heel, Ross made several appearances on Raw and even wrestled Cole, plus announced some when angles were done to take Cole off the broadcast. While complaints about the announcing had gotten more and more (although Smackdown was worse than Raw), in recent weeks, surprisingly this time, Ross was brought back again and announced as permanently back.
Another change was Zack Ryders role on television. Ryder was brought out to a very unique to face Michael Cole. While Ryder has gotten some big reactions in New York, Boston and on the Australian tour due to his cult following from his web site show, in Virginia it appeared that the vast majority of the audience either saw him as a job guy or someone they didnt even know. There was a vocal small percentage that were going crazy for him. It was overall a lukewarm reaction in a position set up for an easy pop opposing Cole. But there was a chant that got started for him but you could tell those who did it were into it, but not many were into it. Ryder was originally going to be involved with David Otunga & Michael McGillicutty a few weeks ago, but after debuting on Raw, he was moved to Smackdown to become the assistant General Manager to Teddy Long. He booked Ezekiel Jackson in a handicap match against Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes, giving the indication hell be a heel who becomes the counterpart of Teddy Long like Vickie Guerrero used to be.
David Lagana, a longtime former WWE writer, wrote about Punks trials and tribulations in the company, noting the December to Dismember PPV in 2006. At the time, Big Show, who was physically hurting, was planning on retiring and taking an offer to go into pro boxing. In an Elimination Chamber match, booker Paul Heyman booked Show to be eliminated first, tapping out to Punks Anaconda vise, feeling doing so would make Punks career. Heyman talked about going with a Rob Van Dam vs. Punk program. At the time he was looking at making Punk one of the top guys in ECW, behind Bobby Lashley, who McMahon at the time had wanted to make No. 1 after his original choice for the spot, Bob Sapp, didnt sign.
Show, who was personal friends with Heyman, had no qualms about doing it, but Vince McMahon was dead set against it, saying it wasnt believable to someone who looked like Punk to submit someone the size of Show. Instead, McMahon ordered Punk to be eliminated first. While not the only reason or even the primary reason, the PPV was a disaster and Heyman and McMahon went at it after, leading to Heyman quitting/being fired from the writing team and eventually quitting the company.
Lagana noted that the agents constantly mocked Punk, belittling his finishing move (later dropped for the GTS), the Wanderlei Silva wrist roll and announcers were told not to mention terms like Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as his background.
C.M. Punk, a lot like ECW, Goldberg, the NWO and especially WCW were not WWE creations, wrote Lagana. The track record has shown that Kevin Dunn and Vince McMahon do not support ideas that were not generated inside their bubble. Punk got the tag line King of the Indies and those agents who didnt like him before Heyman was gone, they were out for blood now.
By early 2007, Lagana said there were agents pushing to get Punk fired. At a meeting, when agents were bashing Punk, Shawn Michaels said, Um, if you dont like something the kid is doing, why dont you work with him to fix it, instead of killing him. Michaels said that he and Undertaker werent going to be around forever and guys like Punk would be the future of the company, and Lagana said that basically saved Punk in the company.
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Dr. Kitty Muffins
Member
Spike TV wants to go in a new direction and everyone is worried this may kill Impact Wrestling.
Personally, I think Hogan goes to Turner and lands a deal.LOL
Personally, I think Hogan goes to Turner and lands a deal.LOL
dream
Member
Raw on 7/25 did a 3.21 rating and 4.81 million viewers, very slightly down from the prior week. Usually when Vince does his big summer angle, the ratings goes up, and Smackdown went up considerably. Probably attributable as much to other forces on television.
We dont have gains and losses by segment, but we did get a quarter hour breakdown which would at least give a close approximation of such. Rey Mysterio vs. Miz opened at 3.0 and grew to 3.1. Dolph Ziggler vs. Evan Bourne fell to 2.9. Kelly Kelly & Eve Torres vs. Melina & Maryse rose to a 3.1. The HHH in-ring segment where he brought back Jim Ross and John Morrison did a 3.8, which would be a gain of somewhere in the 1 million viewer range, which is tremendous for that segment of the show. Michael Cole vs. Zack Ryder lost roughly 1 million viewers, which would be one of the three biggest collapses of the year, back to a 3.1. Alberto Del Rio vs. Kofi Kingston also did a 3.1. John Cena vs. Rey Mysterio grew to a 3.9, with C.M. Punk coming in on the end, and that would likely be well over 1 million viewers.
Smackdown on 7/22 was up to a 1.89 rating and 2.82 million viewers, likely looking for follow-up on the Vince McMahon deal. Vinces annual summer angles usually help ratings for a week or two.
Impact on 7/21 did a 1.25 rating and 1.79 million viewers. It was ninth in the ratings for the night. The show did a 0.70 in Males 18-34 and 1.10 in Males 35-49.
In the segment-by-segment, RVD vs. Scott Steiner gained 43,000 viewers. The verbal confrontation with Winter & Angelina Love vs. Velvet Sky & Mickie James, the backstage brawl with Sarita & Rosita & Madison Rayne vs. Tara & Miss Tessmacher and interviewers with Matt Morgan, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels and Gunner (not a scratch on him from the four-on-one-beating last week in the parking lot) gained 29,000 viewers. Sarita & Rosita vs. Tara & Tessmacher for the tag titles gained 0 viewers. The Morgan vs. Joe vs. Gunner vs. Styles ladder match was a big hit, gaining 215,000 viewers. Brian Kendrick vs. Alex Shelley for the X title lost 72,000 viewers. The Beer Money/Mexican America promo confrontation and the big brawl with James, Sky, ODB, Jackie, Love and all the security guards was the star segment of the show gained 258,000 viewers to a 1.46 quarter, one of the companys best quarters of the year. Sting & Kurt Angle vs. Bully Ray & Mr. Anderson in the main event slot lost 200,000 viewers and finished at 1.32,
Former TNA performer Jenna Morasca, who will remain legendary in wrestling for having one of the worst PPV matches in history (against Booker Ts wife Sharmell Huffman) will be hosting a talk show on ABC called Everyday Health, which debuts in the fall. Her co-hosts will be Ethan Zohn and Laila Ali. It focuses on advances in health care.
Dana Whites meeting with Vince McMahon in Stamford, CT, a few weeks ago did not have to do with Brock Lesnar and a merchandise deal. That deal is already done and agreed to by all sides. This had to do with other business. White didnt give any indication what the meeting was about only that he was bouncing some ideas off Vince and said it was business and pleasure, and it had been two years since he had a face-to-face meeting. White will never say anything negative about Vince likely because Vince had the chance to veto UFC on Spike in 2005 airing after Raw and Vince didnt veto it. Without that, UFC and MMA as we know it could very well not exist.
The Rock officially stated, as hed already hinted, that he would return at Survivor Series on 11/20 in Madison Square Garden. He wrote, Cena fans, pls stop tweeting me to stop being `mean to John. If u think Im mean now, just wait til Survivor Series in NYC. It should be noted that the Survivor Series comes a day after a UFC PPV headlined by Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos. In recent years, a major UFC show has always done a number on WWE PPV business if they are on the same weekend. But Rock appearing should, even with UFC the night before, lead to the best drawing Survivor Series in a few years. The tentative plan is for him to also be on TV in January, either at the Royal Rumble show or a Raw right about that time, to start the hard build for Mania.
The idea of even discussing where WrestleMania is going when they dont know where next week is going and they changed SummerSlam is kind of hilarious, but if Cena vs. Rock is a title match, which Cena pushed it as to attempt to push it as the biggest match in history, and Bryan is challenging for the Smackdown title, exactly what does that mean for Rumble and the Elimination Chamber? Im sure when they get there theyll figure something out, and Bryan can always do the Punk deal and cash it in on a face, have people mad at him for lying, and go heel.
Still no official update on Sin Cara. They are still pushing his merchandise and on this past weeks Smackdown show, his name was mentioned as being injured and out for a month as opposed to ignored as if the decision was finalized that he would be let go, his name might be mentioned but they wouldnt say hed be back in a month. Then again, thats trying to base what they say on logic, and with things changing so frequently, thats possibly giving more credence than is due. His name is listed on advertising for future events, but those ads would have been cut before anyone in that department would have known he was suspended. Theyve got the Mexico tour in October and hes been pushed hard for that. Smackdown was taped after they knew he was suspended but before they knew he did the interview with Record in Mexico, which the company was very upset about it. Hes always had a good relationship with that newspaper, as he voiced gripes with CMLL when he worked there to that paper before as he was a big enough start to get away with it (he kind of did the shoot version of the work that Punk was doing). And theres a very good chance he doesnt know the peculiarities about WWE and the media. He claimed in the newspaper that nobody in the company told him he was suspended and had just found out after the story broke by WWE on its web site. Thats hard to believe, actually almost impossible to believe, because of the long delay between getting the results of the positive test and his suspension (about a month). He said he didnt know why he was suspended, that he doesnt use drugs and thought the suspension was from steroids that he claimed must have come from an injection in his knee for knee inflammation. WWE protocol in these cases is always to tell the talent personally what the issue is before putting it on the site, so no way thats true either. He said they also havent told him when hell be back, but he thought it couldnt be serious because it if was, they would have told him.
Big Show is taking two months off just to rest up. At this stage of his career, the feeling is its best for him to rotate in and out for long-term health. He doesnt have any serious injuries nor acting gigs. Similarly, they are giving Kane time off with the idea of trying to get Henry over for a potential program with Orton. Right now they are looking at turning Sheamus to be the No. 2 face and him working with Henry.
WWE is looking at hiring a new television producer or producers. This is likely for the new TV network as opposed to the core wrestling product. They are looking for programming with storytelling, dramatic story structure and character development and are looking for people with strong knowledge of innovative post production techniques.
An ESPN study of the sports interest of Hispanics, not surprisingly, saw WWE fare very well. Among Hispanics who speak only English, their taste in sports mirrored that of most of the rest of the country, with neither soccer nor pro wrestling in the top five (NFL, College Basketball, NBA, Major League Baseball and PGA as top five organizations). With Hispanics who speak mostly English, wrestling finished third when people were asked their favorite sport, with 6.3% behind the NFL and NBA. With those who speak Spanish and English equally, wrestling was listed as the favorite sort by 6.4%, trailing soccer and the NFL. Among those who speak mostly Spanish, wrestling was second at 6.5% behind soccer (which was named by 40.9%). Among those who only spoke Spanish, wrestling was second at 6.8% behind soccer at 49.6%. The survey actually listed Pro wrestling and MMA as the same sport. WWE is tons more popular in the U.S. with Hispanics than UFC right now. Some MMA publications have indicated that the survey listed MMA as the second or third most popular sport among Hispanics, but if you know anything about MMAs popularity with Hispanics, not that there isnt potential in that marketplace, but for today, thats ridiculous.
An interesting note on TUEs, which have become such a hot button topic in MMA due to Marquardt. WWE had a doctor who was to approve all TUEs and there were several wrestlers who had them approved. The only name that came out was Chris Benoit after his death, so unlike WADA for Olympic sports or the Nevada athletic commission, WWE didnt have an issue with giving TUEs to people who ruined their endocrine system through decades of steroid use. However, WWE company policy is that no new TUEs are supposed to be approved and any new talent who says they need testosterone replacement to perform will not be signed to a contract. Its just amazing that WWE is stricter on this thing than many athletic commissions governing MMA and boxing.
Monte Barrett, a 40-year-old heavyweight boxer from New York has been talking about going into WWE because Cena has been trying to talk him into it. Barrett, 34-9-2 with 20 Kos, faces David Tua on 8/13 in New Zealand in what is left of boxings heavyweight division. Barrett was about to retire last year to take a job with HBO, but HBO had a hiring freeze put on. Cena has pushed for him to go to FCW. Barrett said he was a big fan dating back to watching Jimmy Snuka as a kid, stopped watching until one of his sons became a fan and he met Cena through a mutual friend. He said the difference between boxing and wrestling is that wrestling has wrestling fans, and that for the most part there are no such thing as boxing fans. He said the people who follow boxing are bandwagon jumpers, who watch whoever is hot at the time but really arent fans of boxing itself. Barrett said that because he felt there were no similarities between boxing and wrestling.
Regarding senior management and stock bonuses they received over the past week, Kevin Dunn sold 20,172 shares for and got $203,132. His current stock that he still owns is worth $1,457,087. John Laurinaitis sold $81,587 of stock this past week and currently has stock worth $607,919. Paul Levesque (HHH) was awarded 5,000 share or $50,500 in stock while Stephanie Levesque currently still has 51,945 shares worth $524,644.
At the Smackdown tapings in Philadelphia, one reader said he went to conduct an experiment. They brought in a poster board that was completely blank. They sat in the second row, held up the sign on TV, and actually very late in the TV taping, officials came up to them and confiscated the sign.
We dont have gains and losses by segment, but we did get a quarter hour breakdown which would at least give a close approximation of such. Rey Mysterio vs. Miz opened at 3.0 and grew to 3.1. Dolph Ziggler vs. Evan Bourne fell to 2.9. Kelly Kelly & Eve Torres vs. Melina & Maryse rose to a 3.1. The HHH in-ring segment where he brought back Jim Ross and John Morrison did a 3.8, which would be a gain of somewhere in the 1 million viewer range, which is tremendous for that segment of the show. Michael Cole vs. Zack Ryder lost roughly 1 million viewers, which would be one of the three biggest collapses of the year, back to a 3.1. Alberto Del Rio vs. Kofi Kingston also did a 3.1. John Cena vs. Rey Mysterio grew to a 3.9, with C.M. Punk coming in on the end, and that would likely be well over 1 million viewers.
Smackdown on 7/22 was up to a 1.89 rating and 2.82 million viewers, likely looking for follow-up on the Vince McMahon deal. Vinces annual summer angles usually help ratings for a week or two.
Impact on 7/21 did a 1.25 rating and 1.79 million viewers. It was ninth in the ratings for the night. The show did a 0.70 in Males 18-34 and 1.10 in Males 35-49.
In the segment-by-segment, RVD vs. Scott Steiner gained 43,000 viewers. The verbal confrontation with Winter & Angelina Love vs. Velvet Sky & Mickie James, the backstage brawl with Sarita & Rosita & Madison Rayne vs. Tara & Miss Tessmacher and interviewers with Matt Morgan, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels and Gunner (not a scratch on him from the four-on-one-beating last week in the parking lot) gained 29,000 viewers. Sarita & Rosita vs. Tara & Tessmacher for the tag titles gained 0 viewers. The Morgan vs. Joe vs. Gunner vs. Styles ladder match was a big hit, gaining 215,000 viewers. Brian Kendrick vs. Alex Shelley for the X title lost 72,000 viewers. The Beer Money/Mexican America promo confrontation and the big brawl with James, Sky, ODB, Jackie, Love and all the security guards was the star segment of the show gained 258,000 viewers to a 1.46 quarter, one of the companys best quarters of the year. Sting & Kurt Angle vs. Bully Ray & Mr. Anderson in the main event slot lost 200,000 viewers and finished at 1.32,
Former TNA performer Jenna Morasca, who will remain legendary in wrestling for having one of the worst PPV matches in history (against Booker Ts wife Sharmell Huffman) will be hosting a talk show on ABC called Everyday Health, which debuts in the fall. Her co-hosts will be Ethan Zohn and Laila Ali. It focuses on advances in health care.
Dana Whites meeting with Vince McMahon in Stamford, CT, a few weeks ago did not have to do with Brock Lesnar and a merchandise deal. That deal is already done and agreed to by all sides. This had to do with other business. White didnt give any indication what the meeting was about only that he was bouncing some ideas off Vince and said it was business and pleasure, and it had been two years since he had a face-to-face meeting. White will never say anything negative about Vince likely because Vince had the chance to veto UFC on Spike in 2005 airing after Raw and Vince didnt veto it. Without that, UFC and MMA as we know it could very well not exist.
The Rock officially stated, as hed already hinted, that he would return at Survivor Series on 11/20 in Madison Square Garden. He wrote, Cena fans, pls stop tweeting me to stop being `mean to John. If u think Im mean now, just wait til Survivor Series in NYC. It should be noted that the Survivor Series comes a day after a UFC PPV headlined by Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos. In recent years, a major UFC show has always done a number on WWE PPV business if they are on the same weekend. But Rock appearing should, even with UFC the night before, lead to the best drawing Survivor Series in a few years. The tentative plan is for him to also be on TV in January, either at the Royal Rumble show or a Raw right about that time, to start the hard build for Mania.
The idea of even discussing where WrestleMania is going when they dont know where next week is going and they changed SummerSlam is kind of hilarious, but if Cena vs. Rock is a title match, which Cena pushed it as to attempt to push it as the biggest match in history, and Bryan is challenging for the Smackdown title, exactly what does that mean for Rumble and the Elimination Chamber? Im sure when they get there theyll figure something out, and Bryan can always do the Punk deal and cash it in on a face, have people mad at him for lying, and go heel.
Still no official update on Sin Cara. They are still pushing his merchandise and on this past weeks Smackdown show, his name was mentioned as being injured and out for a month as opposed to ignored as if the decision was finalized that he would be let go, his name might be mentioned but they wouldnt say hed be back in a month. Then again, thats trying to base what they say on logic, and with things changing so frequently, thats possibly giving more credence than is due. His name is listed on advertising for future events, but those ads would have been cut before anyone in that department would have known he was suspended. Theyve got the Mexico tour in October and hes been pushed hard for that. Smackdown was taped after they knew he was suspended but before they knew he did the interview with Record in Mexico, which the company was very upset about it. Hes always had a good relationship with that newspaper, as he voiced gripes with CMLL when he worked there to that paper before as he was a big enough start to get away with it (he kind of did the shoot version of the work that Punk was doing). And theres a very good chance he doesnt know the peculiarities about WWE and the media. He claimed in the newspaper that nobody in the company told him he was suspended and had just found out after the story broke by WWE on its web site. Thats hard to believe, actually almost impossible to believe, because of the long delay between getting the results of the positive test and his suspension (about a month). He said he didnt know why he was suspended, that he doesnt use drugs and thought the suspension was from steroids that he claimed must have come from an injection in his knee for knee inflammation. WWE protocol in these cases is always to tell the talent personally what the issue is before putting it on the site, so no way thats true either. He said they also havent told him when hell be back, but he thought it couldnt be serious because it if was, they would have told him.
Big Show is taking two months off just to rest up. At this stage of his career, the feeling is its best for him to rotate in and out for long-term health. He doesnt have any serious injuries nor acting gigs. Similarly, they are giving Kane time off with the idea of trying to get Henry over for a potential program with Orton. Right now they are looking at turning Sheamus to be the No. 2 face and him working with Henry.
WWE is looking at hiring a new television producer or producers. This is likely for the new TV network as opposed to the core wrestling product. They are looking for programming with storytelling, dramatic story structure and character development and are looking for people with strong knowledge of innovative post production techniques.
An ESPN study of the sports interest of Hispanics, not surprisingly, saw WWE fare very well. Among Hispanics who speak only English, their taste in sports mirrored that of most of the rest of the country, with neither soccer nor pro wrestling in the top five (NFL, College Basketball, NBA, Major League Baseball and PGA as top five organizations). With Hispanics who speak mostly English, wrestling finished third when people were asked their favorite sport, with 6.3% behind the NFL and NBA. With those who speak Spanish and English equally, wrestling was listed as the favorite sort by 6.4%, trailing soccer and the NFL. Among those who speak mostly Spanish, wrestling was second at 6.5% behind soccer (which was named by 40.9%). Among those who only spoke Spanish, wrestling was second at 6.8% behind soccer at 49.6%. The survey actually listed Pro wrestling and MMA as the same sport. WWE is tons more popular in the U.S. with Hispanics than UFC right now. Some MMA publications have indicated that the survey listed MMA as the second or third most popular sport among Hispanics, but if you know anything about MMAs popularity with Hispanics, not that there isnt potential in that marketplace, but for today, thats ridiculous.
An interesting note on TUEs, which have become such a hot button topic in MMA due to Marquardt. WWE had a doctor who was to approve all TUEs and there were several wrestlers who had them approved. The only name that came out was Chris Benoit after his death, so unlike WADA for Olympic sports or the Nevada athletic commission, WWE didnt have an issue with giving TUEs to people who ruined their endocrine system through decades of steroid use. However, WWE company policy is that no new TUEs are supposed to be approved and any new talent who says they need testosterone replacement to perform will not be signed to a contract. Its just amazing that WWE is stricter on this thing than many athletic commissions governing MMA and boxing.
Monte Barrett, a 40-year-old heavyweight boxer from New York has been talking about going into WWE because Cena has been trying to talk him into it. Barrett, 34-9-2 with 20 Kos, faces David Tua on 8/13 in New Zealand in what is left of boxings heavyweight division. Barrett was about to retire last year to take a job with HBO, but HBO had a hiring freeze put on. Cena has pushed for him to go to FCW. Barrett said he was a big fan dating back to watching Jimmy Snuka as a kid, stopped watching until one of his sons became a fan and he met Cena through a mutual friend. He said the difference between boxing and wrestling is that wrestling has wrestling fans, and that for the most part there are no such thing as boxing fans. He said the people who follow boxing are bandwagon jumpers, who watch whoever is hot at the time but really arent fans of boxing itself. Barrett said that because he felt there were no similarities between boxing and wrestling.
Regarding senior management and stock bonuses they received over the past week, Kevin Dunn sold 20,172 shares for and got $203,132. His current stock that he still owns is worth $1,457,087. John Laurinaitis sold $81,587 of stock this past week and currently has stock worth $607,919. Paul Levesque (HHH) was awarded 5,000 share or $50,500 in stock while Stephanie Levesque currently still has 51,945 shares worth $524,644.
At the Smackdown tapings in Philadelphia, one reader said he went to conduct an experiment. They brought in a poster board that was completely blank. They sat in the second row, held up the sign on TV, and actually very late in the TV taping, officials came up to them and confiscated the sign.
spindashing
Banned
There's always a bigger picture!Rafa=FedKilla said:
Thank you, dream. Interesting things about Zack Ryder
possibly playing a heel role
NihonTiger90
Member
Thanks, dream. 
So they set up Ryder to fail. Great.
So they set up Ryder to fail. Great.
Net_Wrecker
Member
remnant said:
Yeah, that people saw Morgan win that match, shot themselves in the head, and on the way to the floor hit the remote and happened to change the channel.
It's actually a decent move. HHH is hated by the IWC, and having "the man" cost the king of the indies the WWE title would have been big. They could push Punk as the anti-authority guy and HHH as the muscle for the heel family.dream said:why aren't you guys amused by the original plan for punk's return
However I don't think many will buy Punk going out on top of that feud, which is a problem with the Punk/Cena feud now. Everyone is waiting for Cena to go over and bury Punk, hence the number of people pissed when Cena wasn't fired and off TV. The people pissed that Punk returned now instead of some random time in the future. etc etc It would have been worse with HHH.
NihonTiger90
Member
Photoshop ahoy!
I don't think they would be the case at all. Punk beats Cena for the title, which puts him over huge and a face champion losing to MitB to a heel has never killed the face. As soon as Punk beat Cena he was the most over guy in the company, nothing HHH would do could change that.dream said:
if anything using that finish would have made ADR as well. Now ADR is just floating. Bryan has a more clear path than he does now.
Net_Wrecker
Member
remnant said:
I still say having ADR chasing after Bryan's MITB contract because his is worthless due to Raw not having a real WWE Champ for a month or 2 would've been far better than what they have Del Rio doing now. There's only so many times you can have him fail his cash-ins before he looks like a joke.
Plus ADR/Bryan could be a great feud in the ring.
Keyser Soze
Member
I am breaking out in a cold sweat reading this.
Liquidsnake
Banned
Is it ridiculous for a 34 year old man to buy the new CM Punk t shirt??
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