I don’t really understand the increase in PPVs, since WWE was supposed to have trimmed down their PPV schedule because they needed to cut back on expenses. I’ve read conflicting reports about how they’ve lost money on the Network, but keep getting more subscribers. Maybe they actually make more money via the Network instead of having to pay a hefty cut to cable providers.
That being said, their PPVs aren’t really much different from TV production anymore because of the increased availability of viewing. Apple watches will probably project holographic viewing in a couple of years.
As for Payback predictions, I think this will be Kane’s swan song somehow. Vicki Guerrero had a raucous exit, and Kane certainly won’t leave WWE quietly. Plus, there’s usually a pattern of the top guy losing a match on TV then winning at the PPV, so that would indicate that Orton gets the belt. OTOH, Ambrose is hot right now, and if Seth can wear the gold, so can Dean. There’s plenty of heels like Sheamus, Barrett, Rusev, & Wyatt who can be potential opponents. I think Kane will turn on the Authority as a final FU then go on to become the new face of the Libertarian party.
I dunno, I could see Ambrose winning it and being the “screw everyone, this is MINE” champ, with the Authority trying to bring him under control but being frightened of how “unstable” he is.
You know, that way we can hear “Lunatic Fringe” and “Unstable” 50,000 times on every show instead of just 1,000 times.
The PPVs bring them subscribers. We’re likely to see more than less at least for a while. Kane has no intention of leaving and they probably have to keep paying him so they’ll want him to work. I keep hoping he’ll have another push as the Demon Kane. He’s certainly been a great worker for them for a long time.
XPac had a meteoric rise in wrestling. He got a lucky break in the short lived GWF and then the WWE recognized he had some talent and gave him a chance. He was doing OK until his heel turn. A lot of wrestling politics after that. He may have just been pushed too fast, he wasn’t the type of phenomenon who could sustain with the fans. He hasn’t stopped working though, he’ll be out there somewhere for a long time.
The Cena-Rusev thing has gone on too long now. Rusev should take a vacation, come back when they have a new opponent for him. And Cena, well he’s going to be around for a long time, he moves major merchandise, but even his long time fans must be getting tired of him. He needs a heel turn, it’s just not credible to have him never get pissed off enough to go bad. He doesn’t have to go all evil, they just need to show that he has a breaking point.
The Cena heel turn, when and if it happens, needs to wait until there’s another babyface who’s over enough to take his place at the top of the heap. Stamford wanted Roman Reigns to fill that spot, but that hasn’t worked out so well, and Daniel Bryan has proven too injury-prone despite being over enough to have taken the spot if he’d been able to. Time will tell if Ambrose or Sami Zayn or Finn Balor or some other rookie is able to claim that spot.
Cena is still five years younger than Hogan was when he turned heel, so assuming his body holds out there’s still time.
And now, on a completely unrelated note, Stone Cold Steve Austin would like to address the people of Canada on a matter of importance to both our nations - barbeque inaccessibility.
That, along with Jack Evans’s standing corkscrew shooting star press (? I’m going by wiki here; I would’ve called it as a moonsault, but I"m not the best for calling moves) was one of a whole raft “Did I just see that?” moments in this episode.
I love NXT, but right now, it’s El Jefe and Lucha Underground that are “taking over” Wednesday nights.
Jack Evans is cuh-razy new LU god! He walks by rolling on his shoulders. He could probably do tongue stands. On top of that, he takes sick bumps even when it’s his own signature move. The guy’s In$a>-||3!!! I loved that stony glassy-eyed look he had when Aerostar got off that off-the-top-turnbuckle piledriver whatsit on him.
New wrinkle: High Priest Cuerto is awarding Aztec warrior gems to winners of 7 lucha styles matches. Is this going to be something like Marvel’s Infinity stones? Whoever gathers all seven gems together becomes ruler of the lucha universe? Ditto the jaw-dropping reaction to Pentagon Jr. simul-piledriving two opponents. Fenix getting the win was kind of a letdown compared to that, but PJ is becoming the LU standard by which others must measure.
Why Johnny Why indeed. He and Alberto were building up a rivalry, but I didn’t anticipate he’d all the sudden throw the former Del Rio through a window. I didn’t even know there was a window. They switched to inside Dario’s office to show him smiling at the wreckage. Exalted Excrement! That was a stunner. Johnny had been flirting with the dark side, but this was the whole commitment ceremony to evil in 2 seconds!
Due to needing to catch up on Agents of SHIELD, Orlando City effing up and losing AGAIN (when was the last time they even won?) and half basketball/half hockey, needless to say NXT didn’t happen for me last night.
Imma watch it before Smackdown tonight. According to Ms. Cups they did a funny bit of ADR work on Sami’s speech to recognize him being injured by Cena and it was really awkward
When El Patron connected with the superkick, Striker was kind enough to remind us that he used that same move to end his match with Johnny last week and earn the #1 contenders match.
It’s no “THAT’S THE SAME KICK THAT WON HIM THE CHAMPIONSHIP MAGGLE!”, but I’ll take it.
I like watching Smackdown because it’s a chance to see out-of-storyline matches, but then they ruin it by basically murdering Ryback…with a shoulder tackle.
Seriously, it was a shoulder tackle. That’s it. And he pretty much died.
I like how Adam Rose told the rosebuds that “the party’s over” because it fits my theory that they’re going to separate him from the party boy image. Although I think it also means he’s going heel which doesn’t really work for “Ray Leppan wrestling superdad”, but it’s better than what he’s doing
Poor Ryback. He doesn’t have much going for him but that was absurd.
I know it’s just wishful thinking but Ambrose keeps showing he’s the real deal. He may not be athletically graceful but he’s got the ability to wrestle for the audience that’s pretty much unmatched outside of Orton and Bryan. On top of that maybe the powers that be will realize he’d be the fighting champion they need instead of another mouthpiece or showcase wrestler.
Adam Rose is a good wrestler, he needs the heel turn to get off the gimmick. I see another long term jobber in the making but necessity has forced him to sell his career short. It’s a tough business.
What pisses me off the most about Ryback is that it should have been HIM that beat Rusev, ended the streak, and won the US title.
As much as I love the US Open challenge, but Cena kind of fell into the role of stopping Rusev and now he’s kinda stuck/screwed by having the belt. But if you remember, at the time, Ryback was just as hot as Cena and his comeback, energy, The Secret, is the same basic thing Cena was doing.
They gave the spotlight to Cena and now he’s in no-man’s land. Hell, bring back Rybaxel…they were good
No, JBL is still insufferably awful, as demonstrated on Monday with his suddenly liking the Ascension and brushing off Cole’s comment about how he hated them and buried them on the mic for months.
It’s just that once you hear a catch-phrase so many times, you start to miss it when it’s not there anymore.
That’s entirely possible. Striker possesses a great combination of knowledge about the history of the business and is lucky enough to work for a company that lets him acknowledge that other promotions actually exist. I was fully prepared to do a run-down on Jack Evans’ history in the thread, but Striker beat me to it on the show itself. (A minor nitpick though - although Evans did train at the Hart family’s gym, he did not train in “the Dungeon” itself - by the time he got into the business, the Hart family had sold the house to a private party, and it’s now recognized by the city of Calgary as a historic landmark. The last person to graduate from the Dungeon was, in fact, Tyson Kidd.)