Wrestling

[The Unknown Poster]

12 minutes ago, Atomic said:

That's what I'm thinking, because they had Roman working the injury on RAW didn't they?  I didn't watch but that's what I read.  Normally they don't work real injuries for obvious reasons.

It's too bad, I'd really like to see Strowman vs Lesnar.  One of the few matches that I'd actually get excited for with the current weak roster.

I think they definitely still intend to get there.  I think their plan with Strowman, which has been one of their few successful booking projects lately although he should never have lost to Show on RAW before WM, is to use him as the monster that kills Roman repeatedly but Roman never quits to gain sympathy for Roman...and ofcourse the power vs power match with Brock.  I'd suspect Brock beats him clean.  Then they'd go back Roman/Strowman with Roman beating him as part of the set up for Roman/Brock for WM.

It just might have to be Summerslam for Strowman/Brock now.  But last I read, they were waiting until the surgery before making major decisions as they will then have a better idea of recovery time.

[The Unknown Poster]

FYI, tickets on sale today for Jericho's one man show at Club Regent in August.  Special guests Lance Storm and Cyrus.  Pre sale code is Jericho.

Cyrus was considering showing up at our PCW show this past friday to do something with Kenny Omega, although he told Kenny he just wanted to watch, Kenny told him he'd have to do something lol  Don didnt make it out though.

[ediger]

On 5/10/2017 at 11:49 AM, The Unknown Poster said:

FYI, tickets on sale today for Jericho's one man show at Club Regent in August.  Special guests Lance Storm and Cyrus.  Pre sale code is Jericho.

Cyrus was considering showing up at our PCW show this past friday to do something with Kenny Omega, although he told Kenny he just wanted to watch, Kenny told him he'd have to do something lol  Don didnt make it out though.

That was a really fun show. You guys have been on fire for a while now. I've been going to PCW shows for a number of years now so while seeing Kenny in a PCW ring isn't new for me or anything, it's still surreal kinda surreal to see him in that sort of setting. Watching a dude have a huge match in New Japan, setup the rematch for THE GREATEST MATCH IN FREAKING HISTORY and then seeing him at Doubles Fun Club a matter of days later is pretty insane when you think about it. How incredible is it going to be if/when the IWGP Heavyweight belt is in your ring? Have him drop it to Jackie Lee, immediate rematch, drop it back to Kenny. Never tell NJPW but bill Jackie as a former IWGP champ 

[The Unknown Poster]

@ediger thank you! I really appreciate the kind words. We're very lucky Kenny considers us home and enjoys coming back. 

I notice you didn't ask about my poor head. It's still pretty bruised up. In case you were wondering. Lol ?

[The Unknown Poster]

For those of you interested, New Japan World (their version of the WWE Network) will have it's website over-hauled tomorrow.  No idea to what extent.  But the criticism was, it's in Japanese so it can pretty difficult to navigate, sign up etc if you dont speak the language.

Assuming this is part of their push into North America and in time for some big stuff coming up such as the Omega/Okada rematch and the G1 Los Angeles shows, featuring a tournament to crowd the first ever IWGP Unites States Champion (i'd think Omega or Cody Rhodes gets it).

[The Unknown Poster]

Strowman had surgery and is out "up to six months" which is a disaster for WWE an their summer plans.  Not a great thing for Braun either as he was going to make more money then he's ever seen.

[Mike]

Marty Scurll joining Bullet Club good lord I can only be so aroused

[Atomic]

13 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Strowman had surgery and is out "up to six months" which is a disaster for WWE an their summer plans.  Not a great thing for Braun either as he was going to make more money then he's ever seen.

It's wrestling.  He will come back more popular than ever.  In six months time when that ROOOOOOOOAR hits, the place will go crazy.

[The Unknown Poster]

51 minutes ago, Atomic said:

It's wrestling.  He will come back more popular than ever.  In six months time when that ROOOOOOOOAR hits, the place will go crazy.

Yes for sure he will. Big baby face just in time for road to wm unless he makes it back early. But it's a disaster for wwe who had him pencilled in for a program with Brock. 

[SpeedFlex27]

3 hours ago, Atomic said:

It's wrestling.  He will come back more popular than ever.  In six months time when that ROOOOOOOOAR hits, the place will go crazy.

If triple H & Vince handle Strowman anywhere like they did Seth Rollins he'll be a non factor by the end of his first month back.

[The Unknown Poster]

The way they kept pushing the "six months" thing I wonder if its a swerve to have him come back a lot sooner to put over what a monster he is that an injury that should have been six months, only kept him out 2 months.

[Atomic]

31 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

The way they kept pushing the "six months" thing I wonder if its a swerve to have him come back a lot sooner to put over what a monster he is that an injury that should have been six months, only kept him out 2 months.

Already being reported that it's a work.  I bet he's back for Summerslam

[The Unknown Poster]

18 minutes ago, Atomic said:

Already being reported that it's a work.  I bet he's back for Summerslam

I wonder if they'd go back to original plans or if this is designed to extend things a bit.  He could show up and destroy all 5 guys in the Extreme Rules match.  One thing has hopefully showed them is they are terrible at pushing more than one guy at a time.  Strowman gets hurt and they literally have no one that jumps to the fore. 

When Bray took out Joe on RAW, I cringed.  They do too much "even steven" booking where its win one, lose one or Guy A lays out Guy B then Guy returns the favour.  I'd have had Joe recover quickly, almost a no-sell but not that bad.  Of everyone in that 5 persona match, he's the one with the most "star appeal" right now.

[Atomic]

42 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

I wonder if they'd go back to original plans or if this is designed to extend things a bit.  He could show up and destroy all 5 guys in the Extreme Rules match.  One thing has hopefully showed them is they are terrible at pushing more than one guy at a time.  Strowman gets hurt and they literally have no one that jumps to the fore. 

When Bray took out Joe on RAW, I cringed.  They do too much "even steven" booking where its win one, lose one or Guy A lays out Guy B then Guy returns the favour.  I'd have had Joe recover quickly, almost a no-sell but not that bad.  Of everyone in that 5 persona match, he's the one with the most "star appeal" right now.

I get that you like Joe but I totally disagree.  The guy with the most star appeal in that 5-way is Seth Rollins and it's really not even close.

[The Unknown Poster]

Just now, Atomic said:

I get that you like Joe but I totally disagree.  The guy with the most star appeal in that 5-way is Seth Rollins and it's really not even close.

I get that you dont like Joe! lol  Seth is cold as ice.  They ruined him with their booking and I would have sent him to SD to be revived.  Joe has not been ruined yet.  He's the one they should push.

And let me qualify this by saying Joe and I nearly got into a physical shoot in a hotel room once so I have no irrational love for the guy.  If "business is business" he's the one.

[Atomic]

5 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

I get that you dont like Joe! lol  Seth is cold as ice.  They ruined him with their booking and I would have sent him to SD to be revived.  Joe has not been ruined yet.  He's the one they should push.

And let me qualify this by saying Joe and I nearly got into a physical shoot in a hotel room once so I have no irrational love for the guy.  If "business is business" he's the one.

Seth got the biggest pops of anyone last night.  Joe is a heel so can't really judge him based on the crowd reaction but the crowd clearly says Seth is still hot, no question.  He's probably the biggest star on RAW right now.

However if the winner of the 5-way is just being served up to Lesnar as a sacrificial lamb... I'm not sure who should be the winner.  I guess Finn Balor.

[The Unknown Poster]

I wasnt watching that closely but I thought Bray got the loudest ovation from the crowd (Finn got the big pop in the graphic vs Lesnar too).  But crowd reaction in the moment isnt a great measure.  Although I grant you, Seth is over.  But ratings, ticket sales and PPV views are the real measurables.  And no one in WWE is really over.  And Seth feels cold.

Knowing Brock will mostly be cheered, I'd elevate Joe.  But the problem is, you have three weeks to heat him up.  If it's me, I probably have him win Extreme Rules and then defeat every single other guy in the match in successive weeks on RAW to heat up for Brock.  But I can see Vince being appalled at that suggestion.  Thing is, even you dont like Joe, he's the freshest of the guys in that match.  Heat him up and push him vs Brock with the idea Joe is a legit badass with a fighting background and see if it pops a number.  If it doesn't, what have you lost?  Joe loses to Brock anyway.  Given how flat everyone is, its unlikely any one guy is going to do worse than any other.  But if you hit on the right formula, one might do better.

Barring that, they like Bray for some reason so it might go to him.  Seems too soon for Roman/Brock since they want that as the WM main event, but if Strowman is really out, Roman is listless right now.  Of course, the best idea is probably to turn Roman.  Right now.  But WWE will probably panic if ratings keep dropping or stay flat and do a Shield reunion.

[Atomic]

I'm not sure how you can tie ticket sales, views, etc to an individual wrestler when they are all on TV every night.  It's one thing to say "John Cena wasn't here and the show did poorly, John Cena was here and the show did great!" but when we see Joe, Roman, Seth, Balor and Wyatt every week I'm not sure you can tie any ratings or ticket sales achievements to them individually.

Honestly I felt like Roman has been turning over the last couple weeks.  It's hard to tell these days when lots of guys are "tweeners" but Roman has been doing some pretty heel-like stuff.  Going overboard against Strowman, coming out to confront Angle and saying he shouldn't have to fight, he is already the #1 contender.  I also haven't been following very closely though.

I like Bray Wyatt.  He is the most unique character on the roster right now and even if some of the sillier **** falls flat, at least they try to do things a little differently with him.  The cool entrance definitely helps to keep him hot and he's had so many losses over the last few years that he's still got the "underdog" thing going for him.

As far as Lesnar goes... who knows if he is supposed to be a heel or face, he is never on TV.  You'd think the champ would make an appearance every now and then.

[The Unknown Poster]

4 minutes ago, Atomic said:

I'm not sure how you can tie ticket sales, views, etc to an individual wrestler when they are all on TV every night.  It's one thing to say "John Cena wasn't here and the show did poorly, John Cena was here and the show did great!" but when we see Joe, Roman, Seth, Balor and Wyatt every week I'm not sure you can tie any ratings or ticket sales achievements to them individually.

Honestly I felt like Roman has been turning over the last couple weeks.  It's hard to tell these days when lots of guys are "tweeners" but Roman has been doing some pretty heel-like stuff.  Going overboard against Strowman, coming out to confront Angle and saying he shouldn't have to fight, he is already the #1 contender.  I also haven't been following very closely though.

I like Bray Wyatt.  He is the most unique character on the roster right now and even if some of the sillier **** falls flat, at least they try to do things a little differently with him.  The cool entrance definitely helps to keep him hot and he's had so many losses over the last few years that he's still got the "underdog" thing going for him.

As far as Lesnar goes... who knows if he is supposed to be a heel or face, he is never on TV.  You'd think the champ would make an appearance every now and then.

You can absolutely attribute key metrics to certain guys.  Ratings dont lie (especially when viewed overtime as trends).  I'd say its more true that no one is moving ratings up as opposed to specific people are moving them down.  But there was a time when they had Roman in every 3rd hour key story and that 3rd hour dropped more than its previous trend.  On the other hand, Goldberg was moving ratings up or keeping them from their trending decline.  The guys in the segments and the guys they promote are the ones that are drawing or not drawing.

Same with House Shows.  Vince was not a fan of AJ Styles when he debuted.  Then the house shows he began working main events on suddenly saw a ticket increase.  Suddenly, Vince was a fan.  Tickets are a key metric for Vince.  Fan response used to be a key metric for Vince but mostly in New York. 

PPV's are generally the main event drawing or not drawing.  This has been true for 100 years.  And very easy to quantify in the traditional PPV era where you'd see who was pushed (or what match was pushed on top) and then see how many buys were generated.  Its a bit tougher now with WWE Network because its not about buys and how WWE books is different, in that they arent booking to pop one buy rate.  But again, you can see trends.

Overall WWE's numbers are flat or declining for TV which is probably a sign of flatness.  They really arent growing their business at all.

However, Seth/Brock from when Seth was a heel was a good angle (not much of a match).  And Seth can bounce around like a madman, so it would be a good match.  I just think Joe could be elevated into a bigger star.

[Atomic]

18 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

You can absolutely attribute key metrics to certain guys.  Ratings dont lie (especially when viewed overtime as trends).  I'd say its more true that no one is moving ratings up as opposed to specific people are moving them down.  But there was a time when they had Roman in every 3rd hour key story and that 3rd hour dropped more than its previous trend.  On the other hand, Goldberg was moving ratings up or keeping them from their trending decline.  The guys in the segments and the guys they promote are the ones that are drawing or not drawing.

Yes I realize all that but my point is that all the guys we're talking about are on TV every night so we can't really differentiate between Joe and Seth right now, for example.

20 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

PPV's are generally the main event drawing or not drawing.

Randy Orton vs Jinder Mahal.  RIP Backlash.  LOL.

[The Unknown Poster]

Between Joe and Seth, yes I agree. 

Im actually into the Jinder gimmick.  But talk about zero lead time.  Guy was jobbing every week on RAW and then is the #1 contender on SD a week later.  I dont know how WWE can have so many really smart and experienced people plus 50 freakin professional writers and still cant book worth a damn.  I hope Jinder wins the title though.

[Atomic]

2 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Between Joe and Seth, yes I agree. 

Im actually into the Jinder gimmick.  But talk about zero lead time.  Guy was jobbing every week on RAW and then is the #1 contender on SD a week later.  I dont know how WWE can have so many really smart and experienced people plus 50 freakin professional writers and still cant book worth a damn.  I hope Jinder wins the title though.

Yeah I pretty much agree.  I don't really have anything against Jinder, it's just really weird how it's all played out.

Seems like it should be Rusev in that spot.

[The Unknown Poster]

Just now, Atomic said:

Yeah I pretty much agree.  I don't really have anything against Jinder, it's just really weird how it's all played out.

Seems like it should be Rusev in that spot.

Absolutely.  WWE can be so petty.  Notwithstanding his injury, they seemed to start & stop a lot with him due to heat over him and Lana.  They have given Lana a terrible new gimmic.  It might have been the one meant for Emma.  She dances to the ring.  I thought Lana was a professional dancer but you'd never know it from the video (unless she's dancing poorly on purpose).  Ill try to find the video.

[The Unknown Poster]

 

Ugh

[Atomic]

7 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

 

Ugh

Like a white Naomi with no rhythm.  They've also played her new promo video on Smackdown, similarly bizarre.

I actually had the pleasure of seeing Lana wrestle live at a house show here last year.  She was not bad!  Not much action for her though as it was a six-woman tag I believe.