"100,001" Replies

[Juan]

Dunno where this is from, but it is "kinda cool":

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e67/ChrisMWaters/WWELanterns/Green.jpg

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e67/ChrisMWaters/WWELanterns/Yellow.jpg

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e67/ChrisMWaters/WWELanterns/Red.jpg

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e67/ChrisMWaters/WWELanterns/Violet.jpg

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e67/ChrisMWaters/WWELanterns/Blue.jpg

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e67/ChrisMWaters/WWELanterns/Indigo.jpg

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e67/ChrisMWaters/WWELanterns/Orange.jpg

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e67/ChrisMWaters/WWELanterns/Black.jpg

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e67/ChrisMWaters/WWELanterns/White.jpg

[MikeyMike]

<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/l5IMOUFMGQQ?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/l5IMOUFMGQQ?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object>

At the risk of asking a stupid question, what's with the New York Yankees bit towards the end? Apologies if this is insulting anyone's intelligence (it's not intended).

[Xero]

...Actually, no joke, this is what I thought when I saw the pic...he appears to have no hair, and no goatee, either...if you add to that the fact that Michelle McCool left for a while, I don't know...

...I hope it's all just me, and he's actually 100% healthy.

Pretty sure his beard is there, it's just bleached, or possibly naturally white.

[Xero]

At the risk of asking a stupid question, what's with the New York Yankees bit towards the end? Apologies if this is insulting anyone's intelligence (it's not intended).

The Yankees and Red Sox are bitter rivals, and the Yankees are a legit powerhouse dynasty. Cena's from (around) Boston, so he punched Punk because he called Cena the Yankees.

Bit of an over reaction and not really a face move (except for the local crowd), but that's pretty much it.

[MikeyMike]

The Yankees and Red Sox are bitter rivals, and the Yankees are a legit powerhouse dynasty. Cena's from (around) Boston, so he punched Punk because he called Cena the Yankees.

Bit of an over reaction and not really a face move (except for the local crowd), but that's pretty much it.

Thanks for clearing that up, man. I don't know a damn thing about American sports teams. (I'm English)

[CSL]

I think it has a lot more to do with Punk making out that Cena's portraying a false character/pretending to be something he's not because he's the poster boy and showing him to have gotten under Cena's skin, the Yankee/Red Sox connection was just an analogy.

[Xero]

Well, yes, that's true too.

[Xero]

http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lof4xmCBob1qj2ohjo1_500.jpg

[Emperor Smeat]

The Yankees and Red Sox are bitter rivals, and the Yankees are a legit powerhouse dynasty. Cena's from (around) Boston, so he punched Punk because he called Cena the Yankees.

Bit of an over reaction and not really a face move (except for the local crowd), but that's pretty much it.

Didn't Cena root against the Red Sox one time he was promoting WWE at a baseball game or in the Tampa area. It would have been the same year Rays faced the Red Sox in the playoffs.

I noticed the crowd didn't seem that upset at when Punk called Cena the Yankees but did react to when Cena punched Punk.

This is from just a few months ago of him being part of a rally video but I think he had moved to Tampa at the time.
<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1JQpp5TpbRk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Triple Naitch]

He also wore a Yankees jersey when he was heel in Boston. I think it was his match with Lesnar.

[loopydate]

The Yankees/Sox thing also has to do with the fact that Red Sox fans hate the Yankees because the Sox went 86 years without a championship while the Yankees were in contention nearly every year (in fact, holding the American record for most championshps in any professional sport). The Yankees did so primarily by spending exorbitant amounts of money on free agents, effectively crippling smaller-market teams (which is why everybody else hates the Yankees), basically buying an all-star team every year to contend.

However, once the Sox finally overcame the Yankees a few years back they became the Yankees' equals in many ways, including the use of free agency and trades to bring in star after star in an effort to contend.

Punk's comment was also referring to the fact that while the Sox hate the Yankees they, in many ways, have become the Yankees over the last several years.

[Aguakate]

Pretty sure his beard is there, it's just bleached, or possibly naturally white.

...why would Undertaker shave his head, though?

[screech]

Shelly Martinez re-tweeted one of my tweets.

That is all.

[screech]

Front page. Last year's card posted lol

Here is the final WWE Money in the Bank pay-per-view card:

WWE MONEY IN THE BANK
SUNDAY, JUNE 17TH, 2011
LIVE AND EXCLUSIVELY ON PAY-PER-VIEW

Steel Cage Match for the WWE Championship:
Sheamus (c) vs. John Cena

World Heavyweight Championship Match:
Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Jack Swagger

Smackdown Money in the Bank Ladder Match:
Big Show vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Christian vs. Matt Hardy vs. IC champion Kofi Kingston vs. Kane vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Drew McIntyre

Raw Money in the Bank Ladder Match:
Edge vs. Randy Orton vs. Chris Jericho vs. Evan Bourne vs. Ted DiBiase vs. U.S. champion The Miz vs. John Morrison vs. Mark Henry

WWE Unified Tag Team Title Match:
The Hart Dynasty (c) vs. The Usos

WWE Women’s Title Match:
Layla (c) vs. Kelly Kelly

WWE Diva’s Title Match:
Alicia Fox (c) vs. Eve Torres

[screech]

Don't know why I felt the need to post it in a quote box like no one would believe me.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Nobody would believe Ryan Clark is bad at his job obviously. :shifty:

[GD]

Colt Cabana is going to be in attendance for the ppv. I would mark out if the WWE would show him on camera.

[screech]

Nobody would believe Ryan Clark is bad at his job obviously. :shifty:

It's updated now so I guess it was good I posted it? haha


:shifty:

[Xero]

Been catching up on SmackDown! (still 4 behind, been catching up since like the middle of May) and I've noticed that they always seem to have the same ref in Sin Cara matches. I noticed that he was speaking Spanish at one point to Sin Cara (asking him if he submits), so I guess that's why.

[Tazz Dan]

This is 100% non wrestling related, but...... I was signing up to a website for work today and it's a site for business people to network and gain connections in other fields. Anyway, there was a 'People you may know' section and fair smack in the middle was Mark Stevens from Australia post. I've never seen a photo of this guy before but have spoken to him on the phone quite a bit, daily at one point. It was just really random. You people know the guy to, but as KYR.

[Tazz Dan]

I was going to post this in casual, but I'm on my phone and it's being a bitch and won't load it for me.

[Tazz Dan]

Anyway, he's totally not what I ever expected, and older looking than he liked to give on. I kinda want to post the pic, but I'm not sure.

[VSG]

Link-ah

[Rammsteinmad]

Post it!

[Triple Naitch]

PM me.

[VSG]

Used my cyber stalking skills to see his picture. I see what you mean.

[Triple Naitch]

Finally getting around to watching The Best of Nitro.

It seems as though Lex Luger decided to wear the Seinfeld Puffy Pirate shirt in his debut.

[Triple Naitch]

Seeing Finlay with a mullet and mustache is freaking me out.

[Triple Naitch]

After the NWO attacked some WCW mid-carders, why did a fire truck arrive?

[Juan]

Medical assistance?

[Triple Naitch]

Nash is wearing something that looks like it was the original nWo logo.

[Triple Naitch]

LOL, a BENOIT RULES sign was blurred out in the crowd, even though he is shown right on camera.

[Triple Naitch]

Nick Patrick looks just like Kenny Powers.

[Triple Naitch]

Bischoff: "Alright welcome back, WCW Nitro here on TNT. We just saw the debut of Glacier here on Nitro. A man who I'm sure has a bright future in WCW."

[screech]

Shelly Martinez re-tweeted another one of my tweets.

My tweets = ratings.

[Tazz Dan]

I was flicking through the TV channels a minute ago and Wizards of Waverly Place was on, and since I kinda want to fuck Selena Gomez sensless I decided to watch it for a moment. This is what I saw. You may have to turn your volume up.

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/A872p7XId1o" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" width="480"></iframe>

[owenbrown]

lol

CMPunk (http://twitter.com/#%21/CMPunk) CM Punk



“@WWEUniverse (http://twitter.com/WWEUniverse): It's 12:00 a.m. ... Do you know where your WWE Champion is? #MITB (http://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23MITB) @CMPunk (http://twitter.com/CMPunk)” The champ is...here: yfrog.com/kkb09zyj (http://t.co/SzUGZf5)

25 minutes ago (http://twitter.com/#%21/CMPunk/status/92871357636943872) Favorite (http://twitter.com/#) Retweet (http://twitter.com/#) Reply (http://twitter.com/#)

[Volare]

I was flicking through the TV channels a minute ago and Wizards of Waverly Place was on, and since I kinda want to fuck Selena Gomez sensless I decided to watch it for a moment. This is what I saw. You may have to turn your volume up.

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/A872p7XId1o" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" width="480"></iframe>

Fist pump the face! Alright someone sent that to @zackryder....I can't cause I don't have a twitter acct.....my life sucks.

[Xero]

lol

CMPunk (http://twitter.com/#%21/CMPunk) CM Punk



“@WWEUniverse (http://twitter.com/WWEUniverse): It's 12:00 a.m. ... Do you know where your WWE Champion is? #MITB (http://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23MITB) @CMPunk (http://twitter.com/CMPunk)” The champ is...here: yfrog.com/kkb09zyj (http://t.co/SzUGZf5)

25 minutes ago (http://twitter.com/#%21/CMPunk/status/92871357636943872) Favorite (http://twitter.com/#) Retweet (http://twitter.com/#) Reply (http://twitter.com/#)
http://a.yfrog.com/img740/6158/b09zy.jpg

LOL, really hope this is what Punk is going to do for the next few weeks. Never show up on TV, just post pictures/videos with/of the title.

[Volare]

lol @ Cena's name plate still on it.

[Xero]

LOL, also, Diet Cherry Pepsi. :cool:

[Ermaximus]

Are those beers in Punk's crisper drawer?

[James Diesel]

Not sure if this has been mentioned before but I would just like to say that when reading results on wwe.com, I get pissed the more I read it. I saw MITB live and wanted to see they way they put it online. And everytime I read results from them it pisses me off because the writers rely on over half of their speech to use massive, esoteric (like this) words that completely sugarcoat the entire thing. I understand it makes a piece of shit episode of Raw or SD look better than it is, but when you have the cake of the gods like MITB and dump a giant vat of heavily worded frosting, now you're only tasting a too rich paragraph of diabetic bullshit.

Example: "If victorious, The Straight Edge Superstar vowed to abandon the WWE Universe and sequester the richest prize in sports-entertainment in his exodus."

I just wanna read, "If Punk won, he promised to leave and take the WWE title, the highest achievement in his career

[/rant]

[Triple Naitch]

Are those beers in Punk's crisper drawer?

Looks like Canada Dry.

[What Would Kevin Do?]

Looks like Canada Dry.

Below them, in the very bottom drawers, there are two clear bottles w/ a yellow looking liquid inside. I saw it too.

Doesn't really mean anything even if it is, since I'm assuming he has friends that drink.

[Xero]

Plus it might not even be his house.

[rob11]

Maybe they are Colt Cabana's.
Speaking of Colt Cabana
http://cdn.photos.tmz.com/gallery_images/images/2011/07/punkinchicago7_full.jpg

[Volare]

Colt holding the WWE title in any fashion...who da' thunk it.

[What Would Kevin Do?]

Colt doesn't have a house, he has a studio... apartment.

[Aguakate]

Below them, in the very bottom drawers, there are two clear bottles w/ a yellow looking liquid inside. I saw it too.

Doesn't really mean anything even if it is, since I'm assuming he has friends that drink.

Looks like wine to me.

[Emperor Smeat]

Some of the wrestlers who TNA used at the set of Impact Wrestling tapings before Destination X who weren't regulars have noted they couldn't believe how bad morale is in the company. The consensus was that guys are just working for TNA to collect paychecks. People across the board were complaining about Eric Bischoff, Hulk Hogan and Vince Russo.

It's said that the roster has lost all confidence in Vince Russo, if they had any in him to begin with. The resentment against Hogan and Bischoff is that they have power but haven't seemed to come up with any good ideas on their own.

Most wrestlers on the roster will openly say that they wish TNA would have hired Paul Heyman last year so he could clean house of the guys who aren't helping the company.

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
http://www.twnpnews.com/messages2/34497.php

[CSL]

Hogan and Bischoff can be valuable commodities to TNA, they've shown at times they're capable of being a useful part of the show without being the main focus. They just need somebody to steer the ship, they've been their own worst enemy for a long time now.

[Emperor Smeat]

Yeah both guys have some value with Hogan being good for promoting and Bischoff for help with booking but the roster hates how neither guy wants to push Russo to be better.

Originally Hogan wanted Russo fired before going to TNA but somehow Russo kept his job either because Hogan dropped the demand or a vote ended up saving his job.

[GD]

My predictions for tonight's Monday Night Raw.

TPWW crashes!

[XL]

Going out on a limb there, Dave?

[CSL]

http://a2.twimg.com/profile_images/110000641/JoeyStyles_normal.jpg
JoeyStyles (http://twitter.com/#!/JoeyStyles) Joey Styles



Controversy abounds tonight so I'll take this opportunity to let the world know that I am finally returning to announcing on Thursday.

13 minutes ago (http://twitter.com/#!/JoeyStyles/status/93144299591565312) [/URL] (http://twitter.com/#)[URL="http://twitter.com/#"]

[Juan]

Superstars? Awesome

[Londoner]

OH MY GAWD

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Impact? Superstars?

He's wasn't under a broadcast contract for awhile he was just a regular WWE employee. I guess that has changed now.

[GD]

Ladies and Gentleman, the current X Division Champion The Brian Kendrick!

http://nodq.com/images/brianhulk.jpg

[Xero]

Was totally expecting some Hardy-esq druggie pic.

[Xero]

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lokwwpOPb41qm9odpo1_500.png

[Schlomey]

ok the new guy at work looks JUST like Christian. Whoa.

[Xero]

Ask him how his balls are.

[Ermaximus]

450 is featured in a question on Outhink the Fink.

[Xero]

http://www.youtube.com/user/ExtremeECWv1

A LOT of ECW footage there including full shows and DVD/VHS releases.

[Innovator]

Rock's Breakfast

<a href="http://www.whosay.com/DwayneJohnson/photos/48067" title="Dwayne Johnson's photo Breakfast of Champions - buffalo and egg whites (AM pie is optional)."><img src="http://media.whosay.com/48067/48067_la.jpg" alt="Dwayne Johnson's photo Breakfast of Champions - buffalo and egg whites (AM pie is optional)." width="644" height="481" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.whosay.com/DwayneJohnson/photos/48067">Dwayne Johnson on WhoSay</a>

vs.

Punk's Breakfast

http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg739/scaled.php?tn=0&server=739&filename=ze3ap.jpg&xsize=640&ysize=640

[Xero]

WTF is that? lol

[VSG]

Omelette with plenty of eggs?

[Xero]

From PWInsider:

Take it for what you will but on his Twitter account, Sean Waltman is saying that HHH really has taken over for Vince McMahon as the person now in charge of WWE. He said that he had gotten a text earlier in the day from HHH that made sense after he saw the end of Raw. Yes, he is saying it is a shoot. Given that WWE is publicly held company, if that is the case it will come out.

[VSG]

Glad you could join the party.

[Innovator]

WTF is that? lol

He said there is a pancake in there somewhere. I just think it's heaven/diabetes on a plate.

[Xero]

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lola9vbCdz1qaw2oso1_400.png

[Lock Jaw]

Hey Fellas, Haven't been on here in two days. Mainly because I just watched Money in the Bank and RAW today.

[VSG]

Sup, Team Rodney?

[Xero]

Well that explains why you weren't on the PPV or Raw.

[VSG]

No Xero, he was roaming the mean streets of Greenwich, Connecticut looking for some fights.

[Razzamajazz]

was he using his lessons in thuganomics?

[Xero]

Basically.

[Emperor Smeat]

Things I learned from RAW last night:

1) A firing angle with Cena will never work.
2) Getting fired by Triple H isn't as exciting as I had hoped (no pedigree :()
3) Cena is soo entrenched in WWE marketing that it is impossible for him to take any time off even if its just a week.

I wouldn't be surprised if the WWE panicked again at the thought of not having Cena for a few weeks like they did twice last year. The first was him getting "fired" by the Nexus and most of the crowd left before the show was over. The other time being the WWE offering refunds when it was assumed Cena was hurt and wouldn't show up at shows.

[Lock Jaw]

And now for some Animated gifs and pics


http://i.imgur.com/TxTEe.gif

http://i.imgur.com/oML47.gif

http://i.imgur.com/8eie9.gif

http://i.imgur.com/YOVEp.gif
Bushwacker

"YOU CAN'T WRESTLE"
http://i.imgur.com/VmhQe.gif

http://i.imgur.com/225A7.gif

http://i.imgur.com/Qrdq1.gif

http://i.imgur.com/UxHGI.gif

http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lok2wqKROL1qdkrl2o1_500.png
"Vince is being serious for a minute, don't smile!"
http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lok4dpfF071qhr01io1_400.gif

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee426/juurrgg/DelRiohand.png
Photoshopped arm extension for briefcase. Beats Alex Riley.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Those guys are pretty serious about taking baths.

[TheAdamEvansFan]

In the past year or so, we've seen WWE go outside of their comfort level and do a few things that us IWC would call legit.

Nexus Angle - Bringing back factions is a dream of ours.
Rocks Return - Headlining Raw after Wrestlemania/imposing dream match vs Cena.
CM Punk - Creating a legit Rebel is bringing back the Austin/Sting days.

Unfortunately...

This week’s edition of WWE RAW drew a 3.2 cable rating, with 4,800,300 viewers. Although the number is up from last week, it is obviously a disappointment as they had the MITB PPV the night before and also featured a major angle that has been ongoing for weeks.

The 7/16 edition of AM RAW did a 0.67 (0.7) cable rating, with 821,000 viewers.


What can WWE do to increase viewership to Attitude Era numbers?

Push TNA to be a better competitor? Get Shane to take over TNA? I want some whacky, crazy ideas, I'm sure I'll hear the same old rhetoric about tag teams and Cena turning heel, but please feel free to pretend your a writer in the WWE and prove yourself useful.

[FourFifty]

Step one-collect underpants
Step two-
Step three- Profit!

[tjmidnight420]

Fire creative and hire you.

No seriously though. If I wanted to improve ratings, I'd hire people to write that have a vested interest in the product. Someone who's been a fan all their life and who knows the talent's back story will always come up with something better than a soap opera writer who's never watched.

[Anybody Thrilla]

The rating was higher than last week's? What's the problem then?

[TheAdamEvansFan]

Well, with your assumption, Heyman should come into WWE as Hogan and Co went to TNA.

I'd say that competition creates cash, as soon as TNA gets on the road and returns to Monday Nights, the better for wrestling in general, but more importantly, better for WWE.

[TheAdamEvansFan]

If my memory serves me correctly, the ratings were in the 6.0-7.8 range when WWE was previously on USA, and they haven't reached anywhere near that level since returning to USA Network.

After pulling off such a wonderful angle and using many resources including the Rock, many are left wondering how they can be on top like they once were. I'm looking for your input and ideas on such a path that could be rewritten and rephased.

[The Naitch]

Fire creative

Hire Noid

[Anybody Thrilla]

It's going to take a while to convince people that they can be consistent again. At least the ratings moved in the right direction. I don't think there's a need for a massive overhaul or anything. They just have to keep putting out quality stuff and things may change over time.

[tjmidnight420]

The rating was higher than last week's? What's the problem then?

This is true, albeit slightly lower than they wanted coming off of MitB.

Well, with your assumption, Heyman should come into WWE as Hogan and Co went to TNA.

I'd say that competition creates cash, as soon as TNA gets on the road and returns to Monday Nights, the better for wrestling in general, but more importantly, better for WWE.

I agree with the bold part of your statement, but I do not want to see TNA on Monday nights anytime soon. Heyman will probably never be in WWE again, and would be better for TNA anyway. I say for competition's sake TNA needs to get rid of Hogan and co., who aren't doing anything for the ratings anyway, and let Paul run the show. Create a viable alternative for people to wrestle, and for viewers.

[TheAdamEvansFan]

I thought you just said that having fans their whole lives, run the show.

If memory serves me correctly, there is no better fan then Hogan and Bischoff and company.

They made it work in WCW, I think if given the time, they can make it work in TNA.

I went to a TNA Show last year in FL, and I got this huge WCW vibe from my teenage years, but I was SO unimpressed by the size of the arena.

It was cool seeing old superstars like Jimmy Hart and such, especially, introducing me to younger superstars currently representing TNA, but it was uncool waiting in line for 9 hours to be stuffed into a high school type gym.

I don't think that has to do with the Writing, that has to do with the marketing, and the resources.

[Anybody Thrilla]

I'm also sick of people thinking that Paul Heyman is the only person that can write good wrestling.

[Emperor Smeat]

If the ratings is higher this week than last week, there isn't a problem. Only way it becomes a problem is if next week is lower which means WWE already has people loosing interest in what could be a huge storyline.

It could also mean people are not caring about having a new champion this quickly or Cena not being fired even though that was a huge stipulation in the ppv match.

Punk could still keep some interest as long as he keeps up his random WWE title tour with each week having the title in a new location but RAW can't just ignore his actions like they did yesterday or show him on a live feed to the audience one week.

[FearedSanctity]

The rating was higher than last week's? What's the problem then?

Last week's was a 2.9. Against the All Star game

3.2 is the typical Raw average. Basically, nothing changed from the norm

[The Naitch]

Atleast we can blame the poor ratings on Triple Doofus :y:

[Ruien]

Fire creative

Hire Noid

[tjmidnight420]

I'm also sick of people thinking that Paul Heyman is the only person that can write good wrestling.

Just for the record I never said only Paul Heyman could write good wrestling.

I thought you just said that having fans their whole lives, run the show.

If memory serves me correctly, there is no better fan then Hogan and Bischoff and company.

They made it work in WCW, I think if given the time, they can make it work in TNA.

I went to a TNA Show last year in FL, and I got this huge WCW vibe from my teenage years, but I was SO unimpressed by the size of the arena.

It was cool seeing old superstars like Jimmy Hart and such, especially, introducing me to younger superstars currently representing TNA, but it was uncool waiting in line for 9 hours to be stuffed into a high school type gym.

I don't think that has to do with the Writing, that has to do with the marketing, and the resources.

I also never said a 'fan' per say. What I meant was look at the shit Noid posts on the regular. Some of it is great, some of it flops, but you can tell every time he posts it that he truly cares about the industry as a whole. As opposed to Hogan who is a fan of himself, and Bischoff, who is also a fan of Hogan. the nWo was the biggest thing in pro wrestling, but sticking with it way too long brought WCW down. Immortal is sticking with the nWo angle WAY too long.

[Anybody Thrilla]

For the record, I never said that tjmidnight420 said that.

[FearedSanctity]

Raw's ratings since Juneish:

May 30 - 3.07
June 6 - 3.21
June 13 - 3.06
June 20 - 3.09
June 27 - 3.13
July 4 - 2.4
July 11 - 2.9
July 18 - 3.2

[Anybody Thrilla]

A lot of what Noid posts is pure crap, really. No offense, Noid.

[weather vane]

It will take time to build the product back up... People who have given up on it are not just going to come racing back. What did they expect? A 5.0 after a few weeks of good wrestling?

[Anybody Thrilla]

It will take time to build the product back up... People who have given up on it are not just going to come racing back. What did they expect? A 5.0 after a few weeks of good wrestling?

Exactly.

Raw's ratings since Juneish:

May 30 - 3.07
June 6 - 3.21
June 13 - 3.06
June 20 - 3.09
June 27 - 3.13
July 4 - 2.4
July 11 - 2.9
July 18 - 3.2

The only major dips were on Independence Day and against the All-Star game? I think they're doing fine. Nothing to bring back Shane McMahon about.

[Lock Jaw]

Needs more Anonymous GM

[FearedSanctity]

The only major dips were on Independence Day and against the All-Star game? I think they're doing fine. Nothing to bring back Shane McMahon about.

Basically my point. Nothing good, nothing bad. Just business as usual.

[McLegend]

Was he/she/it on Raw last night?

[What Would Kevin Do?]

Also, is that taking into account DVRs?

[Anybody Thrilla]

Was he/she/it on Raw last night?

I think I saw the podium, but there was no business from it. When Vince is on the scene, it's irrelevant.

[Anybody Thrilla]

That makes sense though. Could you imagine if that would have gone down on Smackdown?

VINCE: John Cena...YOU'RE FI--

*YOU KNOW IT'S THE MACK MILITANT...*

TEDDY: Hold up there, Playa! This is MY show! Holla holla holla!

VINCE: :|

[Fox]

I think that to panic at this juncture over the lack of a major ratings spike in lieu of the Punk/Cena/McMahon angle is jumping the gun a little bit. Rome wasn't built in a day - even when Austin/McMahon started off, we didn't see an immediate jump in the ratings - it was a gradual climb upwards as the WWF showed their fans that they could consistently put on an entertaining and worthwhile product, week-in and week-out, which featured interesting characters like Stone Cold, Vince McMahon, The Rock, DX, Mankind and others.

I think that the WWE brain-trust should focus less on the ratings and more on the reviews they've been getting over the past few weeks. This much praise has not been heaped upon the WWE in a very long time - maybe not since Nexus, possibly before that. What they are doing is working, and if they continue to put on interesting, intriguing and entertaining segments/matches every single week, then word of mouth will cause a gradual increase in ratings.

But like I said, no one can expect a sudden spike in the ratings. The WWE's casual fans have been programmed to believe that RAW is about John Cena, Randy Orton and whatever lame ass they're feuding against at the time - it's not like the attitude era when fans were programmed to believe that RAW could be anything - that anything could happen and that shit could hit the fan at any moment. The past few weeks with Punk have brought that feeling back, but for the actual ratings to pick up, that feeling has to become the overall attitude of the WWE and it's flagship program, RAW.

[Droford]

less wrestling, more "entertainment"

[Anybody Thrilla]

Are you talking about Hot Lesbian Action?

[McLegend]

I think I saw the podium, but there was no business from it. When Vince is on the scene, it's irrelevant.


I think they are gonna start to downplay the Anonymous GM, and HHH will have more of an on air role.

[Aguakate]

...Bring CM Punk.

[Anybody Thrilla]

I thought it would be over for good once Austin ran it over with his four wheeler, but it was back next week with no mention of the incident.

[BigCrippyZ]

I'm not sure there's anything that can be done to get the ratings back to Attitude era ratings (5's, 6's, 7's) on a consistent level. As much as I would love to see the attitude era writing and interest return, I've come to view the attitude era as more of an anomaly than anything.

It was the perfect storm with guys like Rock, Austin, Foley, HHH, stables like, DX, the Corporation, the Ministry, etc., along with the emergence of realistic storylines and the hardcore style from ECW and the competition and emergence of WCW, NWO and a heel Hogan, etc.

I don't think we'll likely ever see anything like that again in most of our lifetimes anyway. The world and the business has changed too much, along with the advents of the internet and social media, it's just not likely to happen. We've seen practically everything done time and time again, real screw jobs, worked screw jobs, kidnappings, weddings, running people over, exploding limos, etc.

Unless someone comes along and drastically changes the business, like Heyman's idea of bringing in legit UFC fighters or something, I just don't see anything ever bringing back those Attitude era ratings again anytime soon. Can it happen? Sure. Will it happen? Not likely IMO. Would I love to see it? Absolutely!

[#1-norm-fan]

Just keep doing what they're doing and the ratings should start slowly picking up. There's no one week solution. They're on a good path.

[VSG]

Why are there threads about everything on the home page now?

Anyway I don't really see anything to be concerned about. A 3.2 on Monday primetime is a great number for network television.

[Kal-El]

New creative for better writing, get rid if the pg shit and for god's sake stop watering down wrestling itself. I know it's a safety thing but there are people who are capable of that style.

[Lock Jaw]

http://www.tpww.net/forums/image.php?u=16724&dateline=1311121809

[Anybody Thrilla]

Why are there threads about everything on the home page now?

Maybe because this is a wrestling discussion forum and the front page usually covers wrestling news?

[Droford]

http://i.cdn.turner.com/sivault/multimedia/photo_gallery/0810/mlb.celebrity.world.series.picks/images/jim-norton.jpg

http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac11/supercoolcola/WWE/r-truth-heel-turn_display_image-1.jpg

http://cache2.asset-cache.net/xc/82169217.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=77BFBA49EF8789215ABF3343C02EA548024F27926836AD1107086E67E4A4D0454916FFCCA836F0B4E30A760B0D811297

Its Lil Jimmy Norton's birthday..made me think of this..they should get him to come on RAW..would be awesome

[Innovator]

Solution?

We drill.

[Savio]

I'm also sick of people thinking that Paul Heyman is the only person that can write good wrestling.
Paul Carrington can write it too.

[DaVe]

yeah, that'd be it.

I think Mick Foley's talked about this numerous times. They were destroying WCW in the quality of shows, but the ratings didn't show for it for months. If the WWE can keep this level of quality, or better obviously, then ratings will rise in time.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Paul Carrington can write it too.

Probably better, for that fact.

[Xero]

http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_loki6opuyG1qis6pso1_500.jpg

From the show "Aaron Stone", episode "Xero Control".

:cool:

[blake639raw]

It will just take them putting on solid shows for a long time really. I mean, the ratings didn't start picking up big time with Austin for at least a year after he started getting pushed to the top. They've had more buzz on the product in the last month than they have in a while. Regardless of ratings, that shows that they're doing something right. They just need to keep up the momentum.

[Droford]

Solution?

We drill.

http://www.thegreatindiankhali.com/wwe-gallery/JBL/jbl2.jpg

JBL Approved

[Razzamajazz]

kinda pissed right now cause of 2 fat bitches holding up signs during the entire main event os smackdown. I shouted at them to put the signs down only for them to turn around slackjawed to see who it was and raise them higher :foc:

[Emperor Smeat]

I guess the WWE gave more weeks for this season of NXT since they haven't done the season finale or any more eliminations after going down to the final 2 and then adding Bateman into the mix.

Also weird how Bateman is suddenly a heel for no real reason except for him referencing how NXT is just a popularity contest.

[BizarroKing]

http://a.yfrog.com/img740/6158/b09zy.jpg

You've heard of Jumping the Shark, Nuking the Fridge, and Frying the Coke?

This right here? Chilling the Championship!

[lam1610]

they should get talent or push people that are good and get rid of cena

[Anybody Thrilla]

You really think they don't have any talent? You really think that not having Cena would fix everything? Is that really what you think?

[Autobahn]

I don't see any problem in wrestling that cannot be solved with the addition of Glacier.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

I guess caffeine isn't part of his Straight Edge ban.

[Volare]

http://i.imgur.com/225A7.gif


God did Cena eat the living fuck out of that knee.

[Volare]

Watching RAW or drunk at cubs game?!? YOU make the call!

http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg737/scaled.php?tn=0&server=737&filename=jayse.jpg&xsize=640&ysize=640p


CMPunk CM Punk
“@EveMarieTorres: RT @RenerGracie: Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is very simple: Either you win, or he loses.” Or she. We're trying to empower broads.

[Volare]

IAmJericho Chris Jericho
Hey I just stole CM Punks bike! It's purple and has a basket and a bell and a Day-Glo Abortions sticker on it.... Shhhhhhh

CMPunk CM Punk Somebody stole my bike!
6 hours ago

CMPunk CM Punk
@ @IAmJericho JERICHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
5 hours ago »

[screech]

:lol:

[Rock Bottom]

Fuck the ratings, here's a little garbage.

Spend a lot more time developing mic skills for everyone. They have some good/decent promo guys, but good or entertaining promos can blow everything up in a moment's notice. Anyone who has the ability to say/create things that get massive pops should be focused on, and be supported with good stories and angles.

What Vince said about one man not being bigger than the WWE, whether it was just script garbage or not is entirely untrue when it comes to connecting with the audience. None of that shit matters when there's a microphone standing between who they paid to see and "them."

Restore the tag team division, I have bitched about this numerous times. It is okay in today's climate to have gimmicky classic style tag teams. This is such an untouched area in what could be improved upon. Does anyone remember Edge and Christian, The Hardies, Dudley Boys, New Age Outlaws, Headbangers, I could go on and on. They were part of "that show."

Cut out all the fat on your roster, unify the brands and give the TV time only to those who have proven themselves to be the future. Divert that money into a more serious scouting program. If you want to comb the industry for your next mega star, do it right. Don't send a guy out to win the WWE title who will only contribute to making it meaningless, and on the way down, get beat by the "jobber with a name."

Lastly, book like it makes sense. The only established "totem pole" seems to only exist near the top. Everyone just running around randomly beating each other makes it feel like there is no structure to what is going on. Back in the day there were jobbers to help get guys over without a random cluster fuck of putting each other over all the time. That's probably outdated at this point, but if you're going to start turning your "names" into jobbers they cannot come back and destroy some guy two weeks later.

Lastly, keep mentioning TNA or hinting at competition. It is healthy.

Anyone who thinks there is nothing wrong with the product is delusional. Anyone who tells people to stop craving "attitude era" is just more willing to be pleased by something that doesn't deliver nearly as often. They announced The Rock for WM28 a year before it happened. When's the last time he wrestled again?

There's been one guy getting more of a reaction than someone who's been off just filming movies for years: CM Punk. And where's he at?

Getting popped in a cubs game while McMahon tries to cut a promo with John Cena.

[captaincharismark]

It will just take them putting on solid shows for a long time really. I mean, the ratings didn't start picking up big time with Austin for at least a year after he started getting pushed to the top. They've had more buzz on the product in the last month than they have in a while. Regardless of ratings, that shows that they're doing something right. They just need to keep up the momentum.

I think if anything, the WWE proved with the CM Punk/Cena angle they can screw up even the hottest of angles. I mean, buzz at MITB was said to be WM like, but you'd never know it watching RAW. Just seemed like another insignifigant RAW and treated as filler. I'm beginning to wonder if WWE can come up with a "solution". They've proved time and again that they think they'll always be on top, regardless of how good or bad the product is. Well, numbers don't lie, and the fans know when no effort is used to promote your product. More time is wasted on useless entertainment than having a great match...

[Emperor Smeat]

IAmJericho Chris Jericho
Hey I just stole CM Punks bike! It's purple and has a basket and a bell and a Day-Glo Abortions sticker on it.... Shhhhhhh

CMPunk CM Punk Somebody stole my bike!
6 hours ago

CMPunk CM Punk
@ @IAmJericho JERICHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
5 hours ago »

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/6314/jerichostolemybike.jpg

[Rock Bottom]

Also, wrestling comes on rather "late at night" for youngins. Stop the PG shit and put it on Saturdays, like superstars or something could be the PG show, with the PG guys, they could even have a PG championship.

[dronepool]

Stone Cold. TV-14. CM Punk.

[XL]

Not sure how it works over there, but in the UK, not all homes have satellite/cable, it's a luxury that a lot of people can no longer afford. Do all/most homes have access to Raw?

Also, the internet/streaming wasn't as big during the Attitude Era as it is now, has that effected viewing figures.

And lastly, as a fan, should I really care what the ratings are?

[Dat Fool Train]

Anyone complaining about TV-PG and thinking getting rid of that, and/or John Cena, will solve their problems is delusional and an idiot. Cursing and stupid sex/dog killing storylines does not make a wrestling show better. They're doing great right now and it will just take time for the ratings to pick up

[Mr. Nerfect]

A lot of what Noid posts is pure crap, really. No offense, Noid.

None taken.

It's going to take a while to convince people that they can be consistent again. At least the ratings moved in the right direction. I don't think there's a need for a massive overhaul or anything. They just have to keep putting out quality stuff and things may change over time.

I agree with this, and Fox's post. As said, Rome wasn't built in a day, and the WWE should stop freaking out about ratings. Hey, after all the risks they've taken in recent weeks, their rating is pretty much what is has been. So that's shown they can work without the safety net sometime. All they need to do is prove that they are a consistently entertaining program, and hope that more people become fans, and not less.

Although I'm yet to see this week's RAW, I think it would have been more beneficial for the WWE to pace out their tournament a bit more. Give the matches more time by only having the first round on the first week. Confirm that the semi-finals will be next week. Dolph Ziggler is going to look more important if he gets ten minutes to hang with Rey Mysterio instead of five, for example. There was nothing technically wrong with any of the matches the WWE put forward, but it felt like several weeks of possible developments rushed into one show.

I do like that they put off the finals to next week. Good idea, it's episodic booking. Just chill out and don't rush things, and let your entire roster shine.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

Although I'm yet to see this week's RAW, I think it would have been more beneficial for the WWE to pace out their tournament a bit more. Give the matches more time by only having the first round on the first week. Confirm that the semi-finals will be next week. Dolph Ziggler is going to look more important if he gets ten minutes to hang with Rey Mysterio instead of five, for example. There was nothing technically wrong with any of the matches the WWE put forward, but it felt like several weeks of possible developments rushed into one show.

I disagree slightly. They needed to do the tournament in one night from a storyline point of view so everybody could forget CM Punk ever walked out of the championship with the only thing stopping the final was Vince's ego. There may now be a slower paced tournament as HHH can throw the existing tournament out, maybe even include himself in the new one.

I'm looking forward to what happens next week anyway.

[BigCrippyZ]

I think one of the biggest problems of the last 5-10 years has been a steady decline in concern and focus on their own product(s) (i.e., writing, wrestling, talent development, etc.) and more concern and focus being put on perception and profits (i.e., sponsors, partnerships, bad press, etc.).

During the Attitude era, they were consistently getting bad press because of their content and writing and never seemed to drop a storyline, fire a wrestler, etc., because they were more concerned about the quality and consistency of their product. They were making a good consistent product, resulting in substantial growth and profit and they didn't mind the bad press because they were concerned about putting out a quality product and beating their competition.

Think about all of the wrestlers and story lines that have been fired or punished, or hurt or dropped over the last 5-10 years because some sponsor, partner, or organization complained or simply threatened to withdraw support, leave or complain.

[wwe2222]

Last week's was a 2.9. Against the All Star game

3.2 is the typical Raw average. Basically, nothing changed from the norm

All Star game was Tuesday. Home Run Derby was Monday night

[Londoner]

Also, the internet/streaming wasn't as big during the Attitude Era as it is now, has that effected viewing figures.



Was wondering how long it would take for someone to bring this up. Think it definitely plays a role so i'd say where they're at now in this era as far as ratings is concerned is pretty good. I don't expect it to ever get back to what it used to be.

[Autobahn]

http://www.worldwrestlinginsanity.com/images2/thebriankendrick.gif

[RVDmark]

Keep building ths CM Punk angle properly and the numbers will go up. WWE programming suffers from changing its mind too much. If something doesn't go over instantly they just forget about it.

The CM Punk angle is white hot, Vince getting "relieved of his duties" adds interest, keep building on it. The only other thing would be to build up some mid card fueds a bit better so you're interested in RAW all the way through rather than just the last quarter hour. Make the IC/US title's the #1 contender spot again, and build the woman/tag team division up so it matters.

And one final rule, noone gets on the main roster till they are ready, green people on TV just didnt happen in the attitude era. The WWF (as it was then) was the best of the best, not the best and some newcomers.

And whilst I like Cody Rhodes the character, send him to a gym to put some muscle on his legs, he's far too gangley to look like a real threat.

[Gerard]

nearly died laughing watching this

<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y_uc2h0Zd2M?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y_uc2h0Zd2M?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object>

A Brokeback Mountain tag team? :wtf:

[Kane Knight]

Last week's was a 2.9. Against the All Star game

3.2 is the typical Raw average. Basically, nothing changed from the norm

And before that, it was down. On July 4th. Wonder what people were doing then.

[loopydate]

kinda pissed right now cause of 2 fat bitches holding up signs during the entire main event os smackdown. I shouted at them to put the signs down only for them to turn around slackjawed to see who it was and raise them higher :foc:

A guy about ten rows back from me at Mania was yelling at the people with signs to put them down because he couldn't see. About three matches in, I got tired of it and the following exchange took place:

HIM: Put your signs down!
ME: Get better seats!
REST OF SECTION: :lol:

That was the last time we heard from him.

[Xero]

Yeah really. Honestly unless you're first three rows or so dont even bother with floor. Go for the lower bowl.

[Schlomey]

I'd be pissed if I had a sign blockin my view..just sayin'

[Anybody Thrilla]

You're right, RVDMark. If Cody Rhodes had more muscle tone in his legs, the ratings for Raw would improve.

[Kal-El]

Along w/ the gym, send Cody a "Dr. Swearths" tape . . . it will help on the mic.

[Haze]

I came into this thread expecting the boiler plate "get rid of pg/get rid of cena/bring back the attitude era" type responses...and oh joy, I wasn't disappointed.

The WWE has been moving along just fine for a while now. Give it time. I'm pretty sure that no show has had a ratings spike, like some of the people in here seemed to have been expecting.

[Malfeitor]

Yeah really. Honestly unless you're first three rows or so dont even bother with floor. Go for the lower bowl.


That's what's up!

[Xero]

The Punk shirts that were sold in Chicago are going for upwards of $300 on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/WWE-CM-PUNK-CHICAGO-SHIRT-XL-Money-Bank-MITB-/230649458154?pt=US_Solo_Sports_Fan_Shop&hash=item35b3c76dea

[Poit]

http://botchedspot.com/comics/2011-07-18-aping-ryder.jpg

[Anybody Thrilla]

Most of the people in this thread have said the exact same thing you just said, Haze FX.

[Razzamajazz]

A guy about ten rows back from me at Mania was yelling at the people with signs to put them down because he couldn't see. About three matches in, I got tired of it and the following exchange took place:

HIM: Put your signs down!
ME: Get better seats!
REST OF SECTION: :lol:

That was the last time we heard from him.

I understand if it's when they pan shots of the crowd and such, but we were never on camera in the first place, and it was literally like 90% of the entire match. I was looking around and with the exception of a few that were across from the hard camera these 2 were the only ones standing waving signs around hoping orton would look up and acknowledge that they "luv him". it's just a dick thing to do regardless

[Rollermacka]

My Solution, Nitro Girls :naughty:

[Anybody Thrilla]

DJ Ran

[Lock Jaw]

Master P

[Anybody Thrilla]

Big Swoll

[loopydate]

Yeah that's different. We were across from the hard camera, so of course there were signs all night. I would be frustrated if we were somewhere else and that was happening. You expect it on that side, not anywhere else.

[VSG]

Big Dick Johnson

[Anybody Thrilla]

Must you ruin everything, VSG?

[drmayberry7]

Step one-collect underpants
Step two-
Step three- Profit!

now thats funny

[screech]

Must you ruin everything, VSG?

It's not his fault he's terrible.


Oh wait, yes it is.

[TheAdamEvansFan]

Bring Kellys Expose to Raw, give it some edgyness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J0F1vAo0aA[url] < Watch and Enjoy.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Bring Kellys Expose to Raw, give it some edgyness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J0F1vAo0aA[url] < Watch and Enjoy.

If you can somehow work Brooke Adams and Layla into this equation, I'm all ears.

[AJ]

Also, is that taking into account DVRs?

Most ratings you see are Live+SD...which takes into account DVR viewing up to 3 am local time the next day. This DVR viewing only counts fully if all commercials are viewed during the viewing. There's another rating called the C+3 which takes into account commericial viewing up to 3 days later but for the most part, Live+SD is good enough for the general public and tend to be pretty close to C+3 numbers.

On a side note, while absolute ratings are nice, USA Network and the advertisers in general pay their rates on the 18-49 ratings. In this sense, RAW did a 1.6 and 1.7 for the first and second hours respectively...good for fourth on Monday (Pawn Stars topped Monday night's cable ratings). Last week, RAW did a 1.4 first hour and a 1.6 the second hour 18-49, good for sixth (at least the last hour was good for sixth). RAW last week had to go up against the HR derby (2.5) and the MLB Special that had the celebrities and models playing softball or whatever (2.7).

[Anybody Thrilla]

Who in their right mind would DVR something and watch all the commercials?

[TheAdamEvansFan]

What about airing Raw at midnight or 1 am for fans who work on Monday Nights and have basic cable.

[HTrain90]

Not sure. I think it is impossible to make wrestling as hot as it was in the attitude era, because right now there is no Stone Cold - esque babyface. Everyone from every walk of life could relate to the Stone Cold story - flip off your boss, fire out expletives, beat the hell out of people, and get away with all of it while drinking a half dozen beers. That story was iconic, and can never be replicated.

I think they are on the right track to getting their old fans back, though. With the return of HHH, the development of CM Punk (which is easily the most interesting character they've had in a LONG time), and the general unpredictability that comes with having no WWE Championship around, the interest will gradually come back. Will it reach Attitude-era highs? No, not until another truly iconic figure comes along.

As another discussion, there are only two people I could call iconic in the traditional term of WWE - Hogan and Austin. These two were bigger than WWE at their peak - they were each the sole reason the company took off. They were helped by great undercard work, no doubt - but their characters, image, etc. was a rocket from which the business launched. For as good as HBK, Bret Hart, and Ric Flair were (greatest in-ring of all time), they did not expand the viewership like Austin and Hogan did.

So, in short, what can they do? Nothing. Until you get a once-in-a-lifetime story with a once-in-a-lifetime character, you can't manufacture lightning. However, you can use interesting and business-altering plots such as Vince leaving, the championship being gone, and developing CM Punk's epic heel persona (which will translate very well into a face turn within two years) to build back the base, hoping that when lightning strikes you'll have the pieces in place to take full advantage and become more mainstream.

[AJ]

Who in their right mind would DVR something and watch all the commercials?

I didn't say anyone would...but in not doing so, those who are Nielsen familes are at most counting as .75 of a viewer since they aren't watching the 15-18 minutes of commercials that are typical of an hour long show. Networks and advertisers have a more precise measurement called C+3 (commercial+3 days after the showing) which gives a better picture as to commercial viewing.

This is also the reason why online viewing (legal and illegal) and On-Demand viewing mean nothing towards a show's prospects. Advertisers don't want to pay unless these viewings show the same commercial spots as shown during the original showing.

[Anybody Thrilla]

The On Demand shows even have commercials in them now. I fast forward through those, too.

[Cool King]

http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/2918/28259422436177346441374.jpg

[VSG]

lol :'(

[VSG]

Must you ruin everything, VSG?

Only way to survive this place off late.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

I think all we've categorically proved is that if we can make ABT watch some fucking ads, the rating will improve.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Never gonna happen. I am much too busy doing other things to watch wrestling live. Unlike dronepool, though, I definitely will watch it later.

[tjmidnight420]

Never gonna happen. I am much too busy doing other things to watch wrestling live. Unlike dronepool, though, I definitely will watch it later.

Yea I just catch it on youtube. I don't even have cable. It's my fault the ratings are in the toilet.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

I just download the shows after they happen, or recently YouTube'd them before work because I've been to eager to watch Raw.

But I'm not in the US, so I can't bump this up. But I don't blame anyone for skipping ads, even live TV I'll flick to a music channel while the ads are on.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Is it not a hassle to download every week? Do you keep all of them?

[AJ]

Not sure. I think it is impossible to make wrestling as hot as it was in the attitude era, because right now there is no Stone Cold - esque babyface. Everyone from every walk of life could relate to the Stone Cold story - flip off your boss, fire out expletives, beat the hell out of people, and get away with all of it while drinking a half dozen beers. That story was iconic, and can never be replicated.

I think they are on the right track to getting their old fans back, though. With the return of HHH, the development of CM Punk (which is easily the most interesting character they've had in a LONG time), and the general unpredictability that comes with having no WWE Championship around, the interest will gradually come back. Will it reach Attitude-era highs? No, not until another truly iconic figure comes along.

As another discussion, there are only two people I could call iconic in the traditional term of WWE - Hogan and Austin. These two were bigger than WWE at their peak - they were each the sole reason the company took off. They were helped by great undercard work, no doubt - but their characters, image, etc. was a rocket from which the business launched. For as good as HBK, Bret Hart, and Ric Flair were (greatest in-ring of all time), they did not expand the viewership like Austin and Hogan did.

So, in short, what can they do? Nothing. Until you get a once-in-a-lifetime story with a once-in-a-lifetime character, you can't manufacture lightning. However, you can use interesting and business-altering plots such as Vince leaving, the championship being gone, and developing CM Punk's epic heel persona (which will translate very well into a face turn within two years) to build back the base, hoping that when lightning strikes you'll have the pieces in place to take full advantage and become more mainstream.

I tend to agree with this...though I mean add in that The Rock was/is still larger than the WWE even still to this day with his relative success in major Hollywood motion pictures...say compared to WWE produced movies.

I don't think we'll see the WWE achieved Attitude Era numbers ever again...mostly due to the climate of television viewing which is more fragmented then ever before...especially compared to the late 90's/early 2000's. Even the most popular of shows today don't get the same ratings as top shows did in the mid to late 90's and early 2000's just because there's so much more ways for the TV audience to be split.

I also tend to agree that we won't see Attitude Era type attention and media coverage until the perfect storm hits....the perfect superstar with the perfect storyline with the perfect compliment of top-card and mid-card wrestlers. The Attitude Era wasn't just Stone Cold...we had The Rock, HHH, Mankind, along with the tag-team division, a women's division that people cared about (at least comparatively speaking), along with the rest of the undercard.

To have all that happen again will take a lot of hard work from the WWE, but also a little bit of luck.

[Gertner]

The Attitude Era won't happen ever again and would fail miserably because of three letters: MMA.

[AJ]

The On Demand shows even have commercials in them now. I fast forward through those, too.

True, but advertisers are not going to pay networks for what is shown On-Demand because it does not show the same commercials that were shown during the original airing and often times, when those shows are watched, the commercials can be outdated...another thing the advertisers aren't paying for. It's the same reason why online viewing means jack shit to the advertisers as well. They want the exact same commercials shown during the original airings and those same ones shown in a timely fashion. And they actually want the commercials viewed, hence why a viewer doesn't count as a full viewer unless commercials are also viewed.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

Is it not a hassle to download every week? Do you keep all of them?

Click a link, it downloads while I'm working and ready when I get home.

I kind of keep them, I've got a lot of free space right now so I forget they're there, but if I run low they're usually the first to go apart from a couple of great ones.

[Xero]

lol why is Khali feeling Umaga's leg up? :'(

[#BROKEN Hasney]

The Attitude Era won't happen ever again and would fail miserably because of three letters: MMA.

I agree that it won't happen, bit not the reason in the slightest. Were people really watching a scripted show with strong storyline elements because real fighting wasn't as widely available? Seems retarded.

[Anybody Thrilla]

True, but advertisers are not going to pay networks for what is shown On-Demand because it does not show the same commercials that were shown during the original airing and often times, when those shows are watched, the commercials can be outdated...another thing the advertisers aren't paying for. It's the same reason why online viewing means jack shit to the advertisers as well. They want the exact same commercials shown during the original airings and those same ones shown in a timely fashion. And they actually want the commercials viewed, hence why a viewer doesn't count as a full viewer unless commercials are also viewed.

No, I get all that, but as a consumer, I don't give a fuck about any of it.

[Lock Jaw]

Because he wanted to let Umaga know he was still there, even if he was talking to somebody else at the time.

[Lock Jaw]

Loved it when Umaga chopped the shit out of Johnny Jeter of the Spirit Squad in some bar.

http://youtu.be/FXImc3q7uH4 (Embedding disabled)

UUUUUMAGA!

[AJ]

No, I get all that, but as a consumer, I don't give a fuck about any of it.

Fair enough...but some would say that line of thinking hurts a lot of shows save for the ones that are pretty well established...it's also might be why we see more in-product advertising. These shows gotta pay the bills somehow. ;)

And I don't think MMA has a lot to do with this. People have known the deal behind pro wrestling for awhile now...it's all scripted. If you weren't a fan of pro wrestling before hand, then you weren't going to watch anyway. The Attitude Era as we known it won't happen in today's climate as long as the WWE is concerned about keeping it's correct crop of advertisers and maintaining the image is has tried to portray for the better part of the last half decade.

[Anybody Thrilla]

You don't think that Raw is pretty well-established? They've been on the air for something like 18 years. It's definitely not the consumer's fault that he doesn't want to see a bunch of advertisements for shit he doesn't care about.

[Lock Jaw]

http://i55.tinypic.com/2q8d65g.gif
HHH: "Some people like Zack Ryder"

[AJ]

You don't think that Raw is pretty well-established? They've been on the air for something like 18 years. It's definitely not the consumer's fault that he doesn't want to see a bunch of advertisements for shit he doesn't care about.

It was more a general statement than one directed specifically towards RAW. RAW is in no danger as far as ratings go and tends to be in the top 5 as far as weekly ratings go and is usurped only by a couple of shows and sports...

Interesting enough, sports have remained largely immune to a lot of issues presented by DVR and illegal downloading as people tend to watch those events live and don't like it delayed...even by a couple of minutes. That's part of the reason we're seeing so much more sports on cable...which might be another contributing reason for the difficultly of RAW gaining traction in their ratings...at least compared to the Attitude Era. The same issues are being seen by network shows...especially in the male 18-34 demographic.

[Rock Bottom]

Anyone complaining about TV-PG and thinking getting rid of that, and/or John Cena, will solve their problems is delusional and an idiot. Cursing and stupid sex/dog killing storylines does not make a wrestling show better. They're doing great right now and it will just take time for the ratings to pick up

Yeah, sorry, you're "delusional and an idiot!" Raw used to get twice the viewers it does now. And you're comparing the worst of the attitude era to the general product now.

They are doing "great," about half as "great" as they used to, so please shut the fuck up. Thx

[Gertner]

I agree that it won't happen, bit not the reason in the slightest. Were people really watching a scripted show with strong storyline elements because real fighting wasn't as widely available? Seems retarded.

I guarantee you it has a big factor. It's why you'll never get those Attitude Fans who left back. Why would they watch a fake sport, when they have UFC/The Ultimate Fighter, which is real. The vast majority of Attitude Fans are now UFC/MMA fans and think Pro Wrestling is stupid now.

[Cool King]

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/1773/26467325175146817194010.jpg

[Rock Bottom]

I came into this thread expecting the boiler plate "get rid of pg/get rid of cena/bring back the attitude era" type responses...and oh joy, I wasn't disappointed.

The WWE has been moving along just fine for a while now. Give it time. I'm pretty sure that no show has had a ratings spike, like some of the people in here seemed to have been expecting.

Good for you. You expected to see the answer that makes the most sense. Why, you must be a psychic, one step ahead of the "IWC!"

But not really. Because if you were, you wouldn't be stupid enough to believe that this product is anything compared to what it used to be.

[Rock Bottom]

I guarantee you it has a big factor. It's why you'll never get those Attitude Fans who left back. Why would they watch a fake sport, when they have UFC/The Ultimate Fighter, which is real. The vast majority of Attitude Fans are now UFC/MMA fans and think Pro Wrestling is stupid now.

Did you run around polling millions of people? Shut up?

Seriously, to elaborate, WWE had to fuck up/lose steam in the first place for people to even migrate to MMA. It didn't come out in the past couple of years.

[Rock Bottom]

I think one of the biggest problems of the last 5-10 years has been a steady decline in concern and focus on their own product(s) (i.e., writing, wrestling, talent development, etc.) and more concern and focus being put on perception and profits (i.e., sponsors, partnerships, bad press, etc.).

During the Attitude era, they were consistently getting bad press because of their content and writing and never seemed to drop a storyline, fire a wrestler, etc., because they were more concerned about the quality and consistency of their product. They were making a good consistent product, resulting in substantial growth and profit and they didn't mind the bad press because they were concerned about putting out a quality product and beating their competition.

Think about all of the wrestlers and story lines that have been fired or punished, or hurt or dropped over the last 5-10 years because some sponsor, partner, or organization complained or simply threatened to withdraw support, leave or complain.

Have to agree.

[Lock Jaw]

OOOOOORTMMMMAAAAGGGAAA!!

[Lock Jaw]

What.

http://i.imgur.com/35Coq.gif

TNA.

[CSL]

swear to god TNA "ripped off" Power Slam when they made that logo

http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/161918_41818000808_658819_n.jpg

[Lock Jaw]

Does Sting have people in clown masks working for him now or something?

http://i.imgur.com/5sv2y.gif

That may be going a bit too far with The Joker thing.

[Lock Jaw]

http://i.imgur.com/lyizY.gif

[Lock Jaw]

http://i.imgur.com/MUQ2P.gif

TNA = Total Non-Stop Flipping

[CSL]

baggy pleathers, flipping for no reason, kickpads, he's got the whole set. Who is the shitstick?

[Lock Jaw]

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/166/stingjoker2.jpg

[What Would Kevin Do?]

baggy pleathers, flipping for no reason, kickpads, he's got the whole set. Who is the shitstick?

It's Destor's favorite wrestler, Jack Evans.

I figured if anything will make Destor come back, it's claiming he loves Jack Evans.

[Emperor Smeat]

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/166/stingjoker2.jpg

http://derrickbateman.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/020.jpg

Why would Sting want to kill the guy next to Daniel Bryan :shifty:

[CSL]

It's Destor's favorite wrestler, Jack Evans.

I figured if anything will make Destor come back, it's claiming he loves Jack Evans.

woah that's what Jack Evans looks like now? Should have guessed with the 3 flips in 10 seconds. So he got rid of the one thing that made him a bit different with the homeboy schtick and went full on Jonny Kickpadz. Twat.

[Xero]

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/1773/26467325175146817194010.jpg

Umaga was an Orton guy.

[Gertner]

Did you run around polling millions of people? Shut up?

Seriously, to elaborate, WWE had to fuck up/lose steam in the first place for people to even migrate to MMA. It didn't come out in the past couple of years.

Attitude Era fans grew up and found something real. How is that a stretch?

[Londoner]

Attitude Era fans grew up and found something real. How is that a stretch?

:lol:

[FearedSanctity]

For once, I think I agree with Gertner. Personally I know A LOT of MMA fans who watched wrestling during the Attitude Era that don't watch anymore. I think it's totally probable that those who watched wrestling for the thrill and excitement just don't see it there in wrestling anymore. MMA on the other hand has it even in the undercard fights.

To some extent, I can see the point. Wrestling has become too stale and predictable as it is right now. There's no excitement anymore. It's why stuff like Punk's promo, the Nexus debut and The Rock's "return" got so much attention. They were unexpected and exciting. Sadly, 2 of the 3 faded fast and the third is still in progress.

But I don't think getting them back is impossible, it's just gonna require a majore step away from what the WWE is right now

[Xero]

http://botchedspot.com/comics/2011-07-20-sin-doctor.jpg

[Rock Bottom]

I think you're right, Feared, with more of an emphasis on your latter statement that getting those viewers back isn't impossible and needs a lot of work.

The WWE had to fuck up to lose those fans. And that demographic is not the only one that exists contributing to the empty space left by all those viewers.

MMA has been around for a while now. Yeah, it's bigger now, but honestly, the only factor it could really play is in the absence of a good product. You could simply watch both.

MMA also cannot speak to every reason people in that demographic or any have watched or stopped watching wrestling.

And just as a tidbit, if I understand correctly, a big part of the emergence of staged wrestling was because original wrestling began to get stale and boring.

[Rock Bottom]

I also don't mean to come off as disrespectful to anyone, not that it really matters if I do, I just find a big hole in the things people say in justification that everyone should be satisfied with the Attitude Era being over. There isn't any disconnect with reality here, we all know it's over. It is not just simple bitterness about that so much as being surprised at how low expectations have plunged. This is also because a few people have even gone as far as to call nostalgic folk idiots for praising Attitude over what's going on today years later. I happen to think the opposite, that you have to be an idiot to think it's even close.

I could stop watching wrestling if I didn't like it, and I did for a few years. I got made fun of for sticking around because of Bret Hart, which was around when I got back into it. I understand that Bret can no longer wrestle.

But being ridiculed for watching because of Hart is just as confusing to me as people apologetically defending what is usually not even half as good as a little over ten years ago.

Bret Hart almost invariably had excellent matches. Today, a lot almost invariably have lackluster to bad matches.

Peh. I dunno. I'm still going to call a shitty match shitty. I'll hope for the good stuff to keep coming. But I won't embrace the notion that because the Attitude Era is over that you should just sit back and "enjoy" the parts that suck. I don't care who is doing their best, or whatever.

The truth is, if changes were made, the ratings would be a lot higher than they are now.

[Rock Bottom]

Also, people bitched about what was stupid back then as well. There was a big period of time where we swore to God that HHH was the bane of the WWE/F title. There were tons of things "we" bitched about.

Just seems like there's a lot more to bitch about now, and that isn't my fault, it's wrestling's fault.

[Droford]

Does Sting have people in clown masks working for him now or something?

http://i.imgur.com/5sv2y.gif

That may be going a bit too far with The Joker thing.

All I could come up with is now that Flairs out they wanted to make a joke out of the new-new-new-new-new-new-new-new Four Horsemen.

For some reason I cant wait for the TNA show on Saturday Im going to even though its gonna be about 100 degrees. Front row seats though.
Might get on TV with the Bound For Glory recaps they show on Impact so I might take a sign..

[captaincharismark]

Also, wrestling comes on rather "late at night" for youngins. Stop the PG shit and put it on Saturdays, like superstars or something could be the PG show, with the PG guys, they could even have a PG championship.


I think that is the top reason why ratings are down now. Everyone wants the shows to be edgier like they were before. Being PG doesn't help the shows out if most of the audience are adults. If you want PG, do it on Saturday or Sunday mornings like they used to do with Superstars. For all the claims that being PG helps WWE, I've never seen the proof. Limiting the shows and targeting kids makes no sense for a primetime show, when most kids are asleep. All it does is piss off the audience and make the shows more stale...

[Lock Jaw]

<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RuRNmKhuogc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

:lol: the title of this mashup.

[Kane Knight]

Bring back Steven Richards, epic heel of all time~

[Juan]

UFC President Dana White made a visit to WWE headquarters. Word is that Dana visited to sit down with Vince McMahon. Their meeting was described as more of a friendly social visit where Dana visited WWE HQ for the first time and met one-on-one with Vince. Apparently the potential business deal with WWE and Brock Lesnar that we've reported on was not why Dana visited Stamford.

White's tweet was: "I was there a couple weeks ago and checked out WWE hq's. It was cool."

--------------------

Was gonna make a thread for this so people can speculate as to why he was there, but then I thought of all the annoying "Anti-MMA" wrestling fans that frequent this site, so I'll just post it here

[Rollermacka]

Bring back Steve Blackman, epic of all time~

[Juan]

I'll never understand how professional wrestling fans can accuse MMA of being "two guys groping each other on the ground" or essentially calling it gay. Biggest case of the pot calling the kettle black there ever was.

[Juan]

I mean, it's fine to not like MMA, but calling it gay and boring seems like a bit of a stretch

[AJ]

I think that is the top reason why ratings are down now. Everyone wants the shows to be edgier like they were before. Being PG doesn't help the shows out if most of the audience are adults. If you want PG, do it on Saturday or Sunday mornings like they used to do with Superstars. For all the claims that being PG helps WWE, I've never seen the proof. Limiting the shows and targeting kids makes no sense for a primetime show, when most kids are asleep. All it does is piss off the audience and make the shows more stale...

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but when people claim that going PG helped WWE, they mean sponsor wise...they were going to begin to lose a lot of sponsors if they continued with the TV-14 content.

[BigCrippyZ]

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but when people claim that going PG helped WWE, they mean sponsor wise...they were going to begin to lose a lot of sponsors if they continued with the TV-14 content.

I don't necessarily buy this argument. Would they have lost SOME sponsors? Sure. Especially if they had pushed the limits of TV14 and started to go really beyond into some seriously adult content. However, I don't recall any significant trouble with sponsors from 1998-2002. If anything they had more problems with parental/television/violence organizations, like the Parents Television Council, but not with sponsors. I recall numerous adult brand/product sponsors during the Attitude era.

Now, did PG help them get bigger, better paying upfront sponsors and other financial opportunities? Sure, but at the cost of their own content, content control, ratings and fans. Sure, now they have a large line of toys and more toy sales compared to what they had in the Attitude era days, and I'm sure they get a larger sponsorship and royalty check too from Mattell.

I get it, I truly do. Almost all major companies eventually sacrifice financial profit and growth over consumer growth and loyalty, in some form or fashion. It doesn't mean I have to be happy about it though. Especially when it comes down to profits vs poor product.

[Razzamajazz]

well they do spend an awful lot of time on the ground pressed against each other, just like "real" wrestling. then again every time someone does a gorilla press one of his hands is on the other guy's junk

[Emperor Smeat]

Didn't Dana White once verbally attacked the WWE or wrestling in general around the time UFC got really popular in the mainstream?

I know he previous attacked boxing and tried to get viewers away from that sport but I believe he tried the same thing with wrestling. I think there was even a report one year of how less people were signing up to be wrestlers since MMA was the new big thing to do.

[screech]

I mean, it's fine to not like MMA, but calling it gay and boring seems like a bit of a stretch

I'm not the biggest fan of MMA, but I don't bash it. Seems silly.

[screech]

I don't know why I can't get into it. Maybe because I don't really know who anyone is.

[screech]

Feel like that shouldn't deter me so much, though.

[captaincharismark]

I also don't mean to come off as disrespectful to anyone, not that it really matters if I do, I just find a big hole in the things people say in justification that everyone should be satisfied with the Attitude Era being over. There isn't any disconnect with reality here, we all know it's over. It is not just simple bitterness about that so much as being surprised at how low expectations have plunged. This is also because a few people have even gone as far as to call nostalgic folk idiots for praising Attitude over what's going on today years later. I happen to think the opposite, that you have to be an idiot to think it's even close.

I could stop watching wrestling if I didn't like it, and I did for a few years. I got made fun of for sticking around because of Bret Hart, which was around when I got back into it. I understand that Bret can no longer wrestle.

But being ridiculed for watching because of Hart is just as confusing to me as people apologetically defending what is usually not even half as good as a little over ten years ago.

Bret Hart almost invariably had excellent matches. Today, a lot almost invariably have lackluster to bad matches.

Peh. I dunno. I'm still going to call a shitty match shitty. I'll hope for the good stuff to keep coming. But I won't embrace the notion that because the Attitude Era is over that you should just sit back and "enjoy" the parts that suck. I don't care who is doing their best, or whatever.

The truth is, if changes were made, the ratings would be a lot higher than they are now.

That's probably the most well thought out, insightful post I have seen since posting here. Ppl always say get over the Attitude era, but you can't argue with success, the fans, and extremely high ratings. If WWE paid more attention to their past success, then maybe they would be more in touch with the fans now. And again, numbers don't lie. Losing millions of viewers pretty much speaks for itself.

WWE using the PG direction not only screws the product up, but limits everything. Obviously, if the current product were more like the Attitude era, then the fans would be watching. There's a reason the business boomed so much back then. B/c they had cutting edge characters, storylines, and actually listened to the fans. You can't ignore your fans and keep your audience.

You hit the nail on the head too when you said if changes were made, the ratings would be higher. It's very apparent a huge change in direction is needed to freshen up the shows. Until that happens, the ratings will continue to reflect negatively...

[captaincharismark]

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but when people claim that going PG helped WWE, they mean sponsor wise...they were going to begin to lose a lot of sponsors if they continued with the TV-14 content.

It's funny you say that. WWE never had a problem with sponsors back during the Attitude era. If the sponsors were gonna walk, it would've been back when they were pushing the envelope. Sure, being PG makes them more attractive to sponsors, but WWE would find sponsors regardless. Did having DX make them unattractive to certain sponsors? Yes, but they also kept drawing in sponsors who knew WWE was popular enough to make them money. Success equals money, PG or not...

[TheAdamEvansFan]

Ok.

People are posting out of their ass and it's time to step in on my post.

WWE went PG around the time returning to USA Network.

You think that is a coincidence or the fact that USA Network is a lot more influential and reaches many more households then it did when WWF was airing before TNN/Spike.

I know WCW seemed like the PG Show back in the day compared to WWF but they still had Nitro Girls, and Factions/Tag Teams to give it the edge that was needed.

You don't need ECW style storylines to give the show edge, just better, more unbelievable storylines, not just crap like in TNA right now.

Cage Matches that have no doors, TLC Matches, Backstage Brawls, actual edgy wrestling with risk, not scripted garbage.

WWE has gone to the Entertainment aspect which is why it can't go back to a Pre PG show.

You have Congress breathing down the necks of NFL for concussions and WWE for sterioid use. WWE wants to walk a fine line between scripted matches and insane storylines or actions like Daniel Bryan with that chord.

Turning Cena heel and giving CM Punk and Cena a stable to take on the whole WWE could give it more of a directive to edgyness.

I also wouldn't mind seeing Orton involved in some way, but I'm not sure how that'd play out with him on Smackdown.

I enjoyed his Viper role on Raw, where he would punt anyone and was like Stone Cold Steve Austin, unpredictable.

I think Cena not getting drafted to Smackdown and not being fired just goes to show how PREDICTABLE WWE has gotten when their poster boy always comes out on top every week with the same old shit.

[Lock Jaw]

I can't get into it because it is totally homosexual.

[FearedSanctity]

I like to watch MMA from time to time. Anytime I watch it with a group of friends they try to educate me on the fighters and such but I don't care. I just want to see these dudes beat the shit out of each other. And if the fight ends in anything other than a KO I feel like I wasted my time