07-04-2018, 06:23 PM | #81 |
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07-04-2018, 08:07 PM | #82 |
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07-04-2018, 11:07 PM | #83 |
Resident drug enabler
Posts: 45,473
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ROH-stink is "in". Much more so than actual ROH. Wrestling is a weird business.
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07-04-2018, 11:22 PM | #84 |
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Haha, that's true. ROH's trends are definitely playing out on the bigger stages, but ROH itself feels cold and sterile. I wonder where the change really kicked in? I guess with everyone wrestling an indy style on the main roster, those ROH fans don't need to go to the alternative to get their kicks, and therefore ROH becomes redundant as anything more than developmental.
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07-04-2018, 11:36 PM | #85 |
Resident drug enabler
Posts: 45,473
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It kicked in with WWE becoming awful and hardcore fans longing for something different. But not caring so much that they'll actually seek out other companies. They'll just wait for those guys to come to them.
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07-05-2018, 12:56 AM | #86 |
I am the cheese
Posts: 50,976
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ROH was a great product 10 years ago.
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07-05-2018, 12:57 AM | #87 |
I am the cheese
Posts: 50,976
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Grew too big too fast
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07-05-2018, 01:01 AM | #88 |
Resident drug enabler
Posts: 45,473
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I like Dalton Castle more than I like most of the past ROH champions. But he makes much less sense as ROH champion than they did. Him becoming champion gave me a "TNA" feel. In that it started to seem like they were leaning more toward trying to be competition for WWE and less toward being an alternative.
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07-05-2018, 08:07 AM | #89 |
Trickster Demon
Posts: 59,746
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Almas hasn't been on SD since May. Weird.
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07-05-2018, 08:38 PM | #90 | |
Former TPWW Royalty
Posts: 66,588
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Smackdown almost hit a sub-2 million number this week. Only 1 show did worse since going to a live format.
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07-05-2018, 09:09 PM | #91 |
I am the cheese
Posts: 50,976
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Imagine how bad itll do on fridays
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07-05-2018, 09:10 PM | #92 |
I am the cheese
Posts: 50,976
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In a lot ways tuesday was a friday this week
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07-05-2018, 09:42 PM | #93 | |
Posts: 60,912
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07-05-2018, 09:44 PM | #94 |
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It's going to be interesting when SmackDown goes to Friday, because on one hand, they're going to have access to a wider audience than ever before. On the other hand, fewer people watch TV. On a third hand, Friday is a dead night, but on a fourth people who watch wrestling don't have the busiest social lives, demographically-speaking.
Surely FOX would have had to know what they were buying. And WWE can't be naive enough to think that things are going to magically catch just because they are on network television. |
07-05-2018, 10:28 PM | #95 | |
Former TPWW Royalty
Posts: 66,588
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FOX likely is very aware they have a lot of work to do for Smackdown since WWE has shown repeatability of being really lazy at fixing problems or staying motivated. Besides the $200+ million per year for Smackdown, FOX is also going to be spending countless millions promoting the show with their other sports licenses hoping to get the crossover for viewers. FOX won't have their in-house studios around to help pick up the slack if things end up becoming bad. Based on recent numbers, FOX pretty much needs Smackdown to almost triple its current numbers just to keep their current spot for Friday rankings. The larger audience pool is going to help but only for the honeymoon period. Once viewers start tuning out and WWE starts slacking off again, almost impossible to get them back. |
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07-05-2018, 11:59 PM | #96 |
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I agree with the honeymoon period part. A lot of people tuned in to watch the Raw 25 show at the beginning of the year, and you can tell the impression it made on people. To be honest, if they can keep the brand split going until then, they could probably milk some televised unification matches for a few weeks, throw in a televised match for Lesnar if they have him, etc. They can thread these along as being special events for four weeks or so and try to cement the habit of watching.
But surely FOX would lay down that much money for property they see as being lazily promoted? And they can't expect triple the rating. In their statement, they talked about 2 million viewers, which I think is probably around their expectation. If it performs better than that on a network? Great. But it wouldn't be beneficial to them OR WWE to have a relationship based on the promise of a fan base that just isn't there. |
07-06-2018, 12:03 AM | #97 |
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But yeah, WWE really should have already started booking certain big names for the shows over that period (Rock, Jericho, Lesnar, Batista, etc.) to try and make sure they have things in place to keep people thrilled, and ideally they'd already have a rough idea of some big angles or matches they want to try and make sure they can run. Obviously you can't account for injuries and major changes to the roster or things like that, but, you can philosophically have some ideas in place.
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07-06-2018, 06:20 AM | #98 | |
Rigged from the start
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07-06-2018, 05:44 PM | #99 |
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They say that about Ronda, but while that enhances the "brand" of WWE, I'm not sure they would guarantee the presence of particular individuals on the shows, because she could get dropped on her by Nia Jax next week and be done. I think the idea that Ronda Rousey's name will likely be attached to WWE programming, or that their brand is strong enough to lure her is the likely sell. I can imagine it being sold as a lucky dip as to which stars you get by the time the FOX debut comes around, because they are always changing and evolving.
I don't think they would have promised FOX anything particular or anything hypothetical. I think FOX would be paying for the WWE brand as the gentrified crap that it is. That may or may not include Ronda Rousey, Brock Lesnar, John Cena, The Rock, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Rey Mysterio, Nikki Bella, Roman Reigns, Charlotte Flair, AJ Styles, etc. |