sigh I hope season 3 makes it to Netflix soon
I caught up with Bruce Pritchard’s WWECW podcast, and caught a glimpse of when worlds collide - the hardcore fan vs the business decision maker who no longer has fucks to give.
It was the closest cohost Conrad came to losing his cool with Pritchard. He started off with asking “why, on the inaugural WWECW show, did you have a ZOMBIE come out and do a promo?”
They showed a clip of somebody dressed up as a zombie, growling into the mike. Pritchard explained, “We were on the Syfy network. They wanted us to boost their ratings and tie in to their format. So, we used a zombie.”
“That was the shittiest idea ever,” says Conrad. “The ECW audience didn’t go to shows to see zombies!”
“That’s why we had Sandman come out and beat him with a kendo stick!” They then show the clip. Conrad still isn’t impressed.
“Look, ECW was dead. Nobody was watching their show on Spike any more. We saved it from dying. Heyman was already working for us by the time ECW folded. Plus, we actually paid the talent and their checks cleared. How can you say we ruined ECW?”
“Was that the same logic you used with your promotion in Houston? How’d that go?” I guess he was talking about GFW, which was actually based in Dallas.
Conrad brought up a few more examples of stupid WWECW moments, and Pritchard explained that oftentimes Heyman was late turning in scripts, and they got the head writer of Smackdown to help him. They had to make a lot of last minute decisions because Heyman wasn’t that reliable. He was notorious for falling short in running ECW (like writing checks) and the talent frequently had to step in for him.
They also suffered some real instances of bad luck and setbacks. They pushed Rob Van Dam to win the ECW title from John Cena. Then Van Dam blew it when he and Sabu were caught possessing drugs a week later, so they had to strip the title from him. Still, they committed some real boners like having Big Show vs Batista main event a PPV, and neither had any past ECW history. The audience chanted CHANGE THE CHANNEL! CHANGE THE CHANNEL! After the match, Big Show told the audience to kiss his ass.
Still, WWECW’s demise paved the way for NXT, so from mounds of shit something beautiful can grow.
WWE has just announced its next big international PPV, from Melbourne, Australia on October 6th, to be headlined by Undertaker vs. Triple H in a “last time ever” match.
Assuming it starts at 7 PM local time, that means it’ll air here at 5 AM eastern.
Bah Gawd, the opening tag match between UE and B&L was a slobberknocker! There was little in the way of stretches (rest holds), and even then they weren’t keeping still. It was constant, unyielding action.
Johnny Gargano always makes me feel like I’m 5 years old. He’s such a great babyface. Ciampa was evil incarnate and had fans calling him the Devil. Now we know there are thick boards under a single sheet of cushy fabric, and it ain’t no trampoline. This is on par with Sami Zayn and KO’s NXT feud.
Nikki Cross vs Shayna Baizler was kind of a letdown, as it seemed like Nikki was going to break out of Shayna’s death grip, but it didn’t happen. Just as well, since they’re establishing Shayna as the lethal MMA crossover who destroys puny wrestlers, but I thought Nikki was going to get one heroic comeback before falling in defeat. I guess either Dakota Kai or Kairi Sain will be the first to break out of the dreaded death grip of doom.
At this point, Lars Sullivan is kind of like the monster heel who destroys everybody until he loses the championship match, then becomes fodder for the up-and-comers. I’m thinking he and Prince Puma will eventually feud. Velveeta will be the next Elias when he gets called up.
Killing time during the Roman/Jinder match. La de da de da…
Nothing too terribly much to say about the weekend’s PPVs. I thought Saturday was fun and about what I’ve come to expect from NXT. Nothing really blew me away, but nothing was that bad either. The women’s match was kind of dumb, but oh well. I wasn’t a fan of the end of Chiampa/Gargano. You’re telling me a fireman’s carry suplex thingy from 10 feet up and through two tables is easier to take than a simple DDT (which means nothing nowadays) onto some plywood?
Sunday was just the same. That was the best women’s ladder match I’ve ever seen and that’s been on WWE television. That being said, Alexa did NOT need the briefcase and did NOT need to cash in and does NOT need to be the title holder. I love the girl as much as the next guy, but WWE needs to realize that there are more women on the roster than Nia/Charlotte/Sasha/Alexa. Ember was a goddamn revelation.
The men’s matches that I stayed awake for were fine as well. Didn’t catch the ladder match (just the end) but, yawn, someone we figured was going to win can now carry around a useless breifcase because the champ never shows up.
My only gripe is how much I hate wrestling fans. They immediately start chanting some BS during the Jinder/Roman match when, I guarantee you, if you did that same match spot for spot and replaced the 2 guys in it with Seth and Elias the crowd would be chanting “this is awesome”. Stop hating shit because the internet tells you to.
Looked like there was a pretty good wave going in the arena during that one. Did not notice if there were any beach balls flying around.
Best match was in the pre-show!?. The Bludge Bros. and Gallerson went at it, a lot of action from big men and Anderson.
Bryan and Cass was just an excuse to shout Yes! in a match. Might as well have announced the winner ahead of time.
Lashley and Zayn was a waste of time-space.
Great work from Rollins and Elias. Elias is showing he has what it takes, at least as a credible opponent for the top guys.
Women’s MitB, pretty good work all around, Bliss not making sense as the winner except of course it was to set up the title match. Meh.
Why the hell are Roman Reigns and Jindar Mahal still in the WWE?
Styles v. Nakamura. A.J. “Timex” Styles takes a licking and keeps on ticking. Seen these two guys too many times already. Meh.
Rousey v. Jax. Rousey can take bumps. They have to let Jax wrestle. Bliss makes a farce of the whole farce.
Carmella vs. Asuka showed Carmella has talent. She doesn’t have the same technical background as the others but she is an athlete and has tremendous stamina. And then … well let us not say more. Doesn’t matter in the end, Asuka has a lot of receipts out there, she won’t win a big match for a while.
MitB. Well of course Braun won. What kind of ridiculous storyline would have him losing any match?
I think the point was that Gargano lost because he turned to the dark side. He should have been content to let Ciampa get taken away in the gurney, but his decision to punish his archenemy further led to his downfall.
I’m avoiding spoilers for the UK tournament so I can watch it with fresh eyes when it airs next week, but one bit of news caught my eye; Triple H has announced the creation of NXT UK as a new brand with a weekly series, which will soon have its own tag and women’s championships, and named British wrestling legend Johnny Saint as its GM.
Is WWE stretching itself too much? We’ve got RAW, SmackDown, 205 Live, NXT, and soon NXT UK.
I would be inclined to agree with you, but the simple fact of the matter is, if you think it’s too much, just don’t watch something. Very rarely do the brands ACTUALLY coincide. The only time is when someone gets called up, and even then the character generally starts fresh. I’ve never watched an episode of 205 Live even though I’ve heard great things about it. It’s not that I’m purposely avoiding it, it’s just that between RAW, Smackdown and NXT I just don’t have the time to follow ANOTHER promotion…so I don’t.
That being said, I bet there are plenty of people out there who are so fed up with regular WWE programming that all they want to consume is the “better” smaller promotions in NXT, 205 and now the UK people. WWE is still getting your eyeballs (and money) without you even viewing their marquee product.
It’s actually pretty genius.
Whether or not you’re watching all those brands is one thing, whether the WWE business model can sustain so many brands is another. I bet the UK can support its own branch of NXT.
I’m sure the info is out there as WWE is publicly traded, but I wonder what WWE’s revenue streams look like. How much are they making from the network vs. TV vs. ticket sales, etc.?
I mean, they have a billion and three quarters coming in about a year so…
I’m sure there are many wrestlers who are more than happy to have another WWE promotion. TV exposure, even if they never make it big, will be a great help to those who make it a career. I’d assume that the paychecks are better (and on-time and won’t bounce) and that the training is better too.
None of that answers whether WWE is stretching themselves too thin. I think there is a large potential bench of trainers and talent that can run each territory with HHH overseeing them, as long as he doesn’t micromanage every aspect like Vince. Vince’s (and Dunn’s) management style limited the ability to expand.
Wrestling Inc is reporting Big Cass has been released:
He sucked ever since his heel turn with Enzo. WWE wrecked another decent wrestling prospect.
His injuries and his battles with managers and Vince offstage certainly didn’t help either.
He’s big, the injuries won’t matter if he’s playing a big face jobber while he gains some experience. If they weren’t treating him well then there’s a fix for his battles. But if he’s just a pain the ass he’ll be saying farewell a bunch of times before he comes crawling back with a new attitude. There’s a lot of big guys on the horizon, he better cash in on his size now while he can.
How did Cass and Enzo go from practically owning NXT to becoming utter fuckfaces?