The Unknown Poster

Nice tip off from a poster here via PM and now its all over the news. Steve Bannon is out (seemed inevitable)

The long held belief is it would be between Revenge and A New Hope. And there is a lot to explore since we know nothing other then Obi Wan "watched over" Luke and apparently Uncle Owen became less supportive of that. There was speculation they held off doing this film for a story line reason. ie. events in the new trilogy would reference something that would later be picked up in an Obi Wan film. You had the Obi Wan voice cameo in The Force Awakens, for example, hinting at possibly something more. Its entirely possible Obi Wan had some amazing adventures off-world before A New Hope. They've wanted to do Boba Fett as well, and *could* tie that in with this. I would think they really want to get Vader in another film in a larger way. Unfortunately, I would guess we cant have Vader vs Obi Wan given their dialogue in A New Hope. Although if I recall, there was nothing on-screen to explain that Obi Wan knew Vader was Anakin...but he clearly did and kept it from Luke, so perhaps they have another confrontation. Ewen has long maintained he'd love to do it which also makes me think there is a reason it wasnt an originally announced film.

Sadly I know people who share the Rebel media view point. Not everything they produce is bad. They take a more nuanced look at issues pertaining to Muslim extremism, far left etc. But Im more and more saddened by the efforts to "nuance" the perspective surrounding the alt-right. "yeah but" doesnt fly with me anymore. There can be no "yeah but" when it comes to this garbage. So Rebel Media can go **** itself.

Arnold knows

I know.

Trump has previously touted Pershing as a disturbing example of how to deal with terrorism, telling the unproven story at a South Carolina rally in 2016: "[Pershing] took 50 bullets, and he dipped them in pig's blood," Trump claimed. "And he had his men load his rifles and he lined up the 50 people, and they shot 49 of those people. And the 50th person he said, 'You go back to your people and you tell them what happened.' And for 25 years there wasn't a problem, okay?"

Anyone watch the Scott Peterson/Laci Peterson docu-series this week? I have the first episode taped but havent had a chance to watch it yet. I was transfixed by the case and trial and am looking forward to it. Looks like we're getting a wave of true crime series/docu-series. Im actually in the middle of re-watching the entire run of X-Files and its even better than I remember. The over-arching conspiracy flows better by watching the series in quicker fashion. Although I just finished the first film and am into Season 6 where it was really hitting its stride.

More Bullet Club t shirts seen on fans attending WWE shows lately. My relationship doesnt cloud the facts. Average wrestling fans certainly have heard of ROH and New Japan. They might know the stars but they've heard of it. The majority of WWE fans are "wrestling" fans. Especially as ratings and attendance have eroded over the last few years. When that happens, you begin reducing down to the more hardcore fans.

I dont think "average" fans would be those that sort of follow it and sort of dont care. The majority of wrestling fans, even if they dont really follow ROH or New Japan have heard of Kenny Omega. If you havent, you wouldnt be an average fans. Which is not to say thats a bad thing. I sort of follow UFC but I there are likely many fighters I barely know of. Wrestling is also the kind of thing where there can be fans strictly of WWE or strictly of New Japan etc. Omega isnt a WWE wrestler so if someone didnt read a single thing about wrestling that wasnt WWE produced, they'd likely not know Kenny. And Kenny's name has appeared in WWE in the recent past.

While appearing on the "From the Top Rope" podcast alongside her sister, Brie Bella gave one of the strongest indications yet that Daniel Bryan will eventually end up wrestling again -- whether it's in a WWE ring or somewhere else. Brie said about Bryan possibly coming back: "I told Bryan, ‘You do have a daughter, so always remember that. But if the doctors finally give you the green light,’ I say, ‘Go. Like this is your dream and passion. You have one life to live and I will never hold you back -- because I love to wrestle, and I would hate if someone told me you can’t do it." "And if WWE doesn’t allow it, then I said, ‘Go somewhere else. It’s all on you,'" She added. "Obviously he would love to be able to get back in that WWE ring, but I know for a fact my husband is going to find his way back to the ring. Like, he honestly is.”

Thats a good question. WCW did poorly here, though that was near the end. TNA had Winnipeg on their short list but mostly based on how well we drew with TNA talent. And we'd always do well. Other promotions have done well with indie names also. I think there are a lot of wrestling fans in Winnipeg. I think ROH would do well. And as far as Kenny goes, you could say he was an indie darling a few years ago. By two years ago and especially over the last year, he's crossed over. The interest from WWE, him being featured in New Japan, especially as they expand into the US and ROH shows us he's well known to more than just hardcore fans. But this is wrestling. Its not like we're talking about 25,000 people. TNA just did drew 300 to a house show in the US. ROH is over the moon to be selling out 5000 in Chicago. Winnipeg has drawn 6500 for WWE and been happy. If an indie gets 150-200 in Winnipeg, they are happy. Its all relative.

Good Lord, this guy is actually doubling down:

As I mentioned, the funny part is, the hacked episode was the highest rated. Piracy doesnt actually hurt viewership in most cases because the most pirated shows are the most popular. People generally watch a program through proper channels. The people that hack are a small percentage.

Exactly. HUGE star in wrestling. Sometimes Winnipeggers are insecure. So Kenny being from Winnipeg means he's not a big star. He's a huge star. ESPN and Rolling Stone dont do stories on a guy because a couple hundred hardcore marks like him. I've known several guys that worked in New Japan, CMLL, WWE etc and Im not here falsely pumping their tires. It has nothing to do with being friends with Kenny. Opinions are opinions. Facts are facts. If we wanted to discuss Mike Angels, who was pursued strongly by a smaller promotion in Japan and appeared in a viral video with Kenny, I'd gladly tell you Angels is talented enough to be a regular in Japan but not well known. Jon Cutler wrestled on RAW and in WWE developmental (and for me) but not well known at all.

No, I didnt say that. ECW? From 15 years ago? lol Ring of Honor themselves are running a show in a 5000 seat venue in Chicago and announced a record surge in sales when Omega was announced. No opponent. Just that he'd be there. Omega = surge in ticket sales. That doesnt mean everyone bought a ticket to see Kenny. It means most people did. Events like wrestling, boxing, UFC are traditionally marketed around their top match/performer. Its not like most people say "hmmm, Omega? I dont know...wait, Cheesburger is on the show?? SOLD!". If YOU arent a Kenny fan, thats cool. If YOU wouldnt buy to see Kenny, thats cool. But you're trying to frame an argument on your own opinion that is not representative of 1) most fans 2) those fans.

Thats fair. You're not the target audience then. Kenny is by far the biggest star in the Bullet Club. And we can agree to disagree. But its sort of a subject Im familiar with. You're just not correct. If the Bucks were bigger stars (and they are big stars), they'd headline all the shows. They dont. Kenny headlines more shows he appears on. He's had multiple news stories in mainstream because he's of interest to wrestling fans by and large and cross over fans. Kenny is the biggest "American" in New Japan. New Japan is the second largest promotion in the world. Omega headlined the Tokyo Dome, the second largest drawing show of the year in the world. If Omega walked into WWE tomorrow, he gets a bigger reaction than Styles did. I dont think ROH would out draw WWE in Winnipeg but they'd draw very well. We're talking about Kenny's home town in Canada. We need only look at New Japan in LA and ROH in the US with Kenny to see his popularity.

IGAC holds about 3400 for wrestling so 66% is being generous. More like 30%. The highest drawing indy wrestling event in Winnipeg (of the modern era anyway) is 1750, set in 2002.

Its true he is a friend, but you're simply wrong about how well known he is. Its not just a matter of knowing. Because on one hand you could say, when we announce Omega on our shows, we dont we draw 3000 people. But the fact our draws might increase by 200% with virtually no advertising simply because he's on a show tells the tale. ROH, which has been around 15 years and featured a lot of big talent sets a ticket sale record with only Kenny's name and nothing else tells the tale. ROH would not just be able to sell tickets with Kenny's name and draw a ton. They'd have to actively promote. Winnipeg is a tough market. They do go into Minnesota and I've wondered why they dont do Winnipeg. Winnipeg is a really good wrestling market but tough at the same time. The crowd will pay for premium content. Like Brandon said, you can draw 3500 for WCW or a few years later draw a fraction of that for an unknown indie with all the same WCW talent. Winnipeg was considered by TNA for a house show (which is sort of wild when you think about it). But if I could put 500 people into an adults only bar to see Aj Styles, ROH could get over 3000 for a show featuring Kenny Omega which would likely also have the Bucks too. Im not saying 10,000. New Japan could have got over 5000 probably, in LA. I'd say ROH could get 3000 is priced right. If they went with a 3000 seat venue, I'd feel comfortable with that and certainly aim for a sell out. Especially in Winnipeg where availability of ticket can impact sales. Better to get 3000 and turn 1000 people away then to have a 5000 seater with 1000 empty seats.

That was promoted by a local indie.

ROH set the record for ticket sales for a show in September in the US when they announced Omega appearing, no opponent announced. Kenny being on the show set their record. He's about as well known as it gets for someone not in WWE. And is well known beyond wrestling as well.

Convention Centre. IGAC. The Arena can be set up for a smaller crowd. ROH with Omega would do better than 1500 in my opinion.

If ROH did a show here with Kenny Omega they'd draw big time.

Well Netflix has 100 million subscribers. At around $10 a head, you can do the match on their revenue. So spending a few billion on original content is a no brainer. And it can be seen as a loss leader too, to retain and grow their subscriber base. Once they spend the money creating a series or movie, they own it so it certainly pays for itself over the lifetime of the service.

I used to work for Royal Bank. I can attest they suck. Im a credit union guy now. So much better service. PC had good rates sure. But their service has been atrocious.