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Rigged Slammy Voting

Hey Scott,



In this thread, an image from a user's phone was posted, and from what I can see, there doesn't seem to be any obvious Photoshopping done to the image. As someone who works on websites and apps an awful lot, that seems to be the case of someone coding two buttons together by accident in the case of Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns, as well as John Cena and Dean Ambrose. So basically, any one tapping a vote for Bryan was having their votes directed towards Reigns instead, and who knows which way the votes were going for Ambrose and Cena.

Any thoughts on this, since this seems to be a pretty obvious fuck up here, deliberate or not. 

​What's the point of rigging the vote?  Why not just announce outright that Reigns won the vote and lie about it?  Seems like that would be the easier solution.  In the grand scheme of things does anyone really give a shit about who won this award "legitimately"?  Not attacking you here, I'm just confused what the motive would be.  ​

Comments

  1. I am shocked - SHOCKED - that something would be sketchy on a pro wrestling award show. MISTER BACKLUND WAS ROBBED OF BEST BOWTIE, DAMNIT!

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  2. I'm not sure that means anything. The lack of a line could just have been done for aesthetic reasons; there could have been separate voting links. If anything they just worked the vote.

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  3. Yeah, don't care.

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  4. People in wrestling need motives now?

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  5. What's the difference? WWE is trying to get someone over that they want over, and this is just a tiny piece of that, much like how Goldberg didn't really have all those matches and wins back in the day, but adding to the number of ones he actually did made it sound more impressive and, thus, helped him get over that much more. Same principle here.

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  6. 'Parts Unknown isn't even a real place!'

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  7. I contend that none of the superstar of the year votes counted and they just gave it to Reigns to hype his return....which is fine. It's all a work anyway.

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  8. I'm shocked. Shocked!

    Well not that shocked.

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  9. Exactly. Same with Undertaker's first loss being to Hogan at Tuesday in Texas when he really lost a few matches to the Warrior prior to that.

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  10. Don't worry. This is really just the start of a new Daniel Bryan push! WWE wants fans to turn on Roman Reigns when he wins the Royal Rumble so they can insert Bryan into the Mania main event again. Bryan getting screwed over for this award is really just the start of his new underdog push!

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  11. Next year's Slammy Awards Show should take place in Rio de Janeiro.

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  12. Honestly, if the fans could vote for anyone for Superstar of the Year, I wouldn't be surprised if Mizdow won.

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  13. "What's the point of rigging the vote? Why not just announce outright that Reigns won the vote and lie about it?"


    Because _technically_ (thanks to game show laws) that's illegal. A show that specifies that it's using some sort of voting or "normal people" (such as a game show or reality competition) needs to be careful about the results they give. They can't be "rigged".

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  14. WWE possibly rigging the vote so Roman Reigns would win is like 127th on the list of "Things That Are Annoying About the Current WWE Product".

    As for whether or not they did it, I think based on general crowd reactions to Reigns that there is no doubt that they did. At least four people on that list (Cena, Bryan, Lesnar, and Ambrose) are far more popular with fans than Reigns.

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  15. Wait. ROMAN REIGNS was the Superstar of the year? What did he do besides beat Randy Orton?

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  16. That would be true if there was some sort of prize to be won at the end of the competition/game show/awards, not for a fake award for a sport where the finishes are predetermined, where they win absolutely nothing, I assume.

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  17. Maintain nice hair

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  18. "Like a dog with a lobotomy."

    -Dave Meltzer, on the overall stupidity of the Charlotte/Natalya match on RAW.

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  19. I'm pretty sure FCC regulations only apply to broadcast networks, not cable.

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  20. I wonder if people here think WWE is rigging the merchandise sales Meltzer reports too, since Reigns does very very well there. Nobody likes him, right?

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  21. Although it would be LESS of a problem, people actually have been promised their votes count for something. So, yes, it would still be a problem.

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  22. It's the little stuff like this that piles up and makes me happy I don't watch the current stuff except for some of the PPVs. Too many other good distractions (like THE FLASH!) to make myself miserable 3 hours a week

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  23. Possibly, but I don't know that the game show laws are specifically attached to the FCC.

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  24. this is true. i went to a house show in Malaysia few months ago, his shirts were the 2nd most popular to Cena's

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  25. Wrestling doesn't fall under the guidelines of game show competition. FCC even listed American Idol as entertainment, not competition, which is why they don't even pretend showing results.

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  26. WRESTLING doesn't, but a user poll falls under laws.

    Like I said below (right before your post), if anyone spends money (such as data plan data on their cell phones) or MAKES money (such as advertising dollars) under the guise of a user poll, the company then becomes liable if the poll is rigged.

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  27. most eliminations in a rumble; beat seth rollins on raw

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  28. In defense, Bryan was also flown in as well.

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  29. Wrestling promotion misrepresents facts, film at 11.

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  30. What damages would Daniel Bryan sue for?

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  31. If Reigns actually won, who am I to say he didn't? But I'd be shocked. He hasn't been lighting the world on fire and has been off tv for a couple of months, which nobody seems to notice. I just can't see how he wins over Cena even.

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  32. The only thing I learned from that image of the poll is that the people who tweet at WWE are fucking morons.

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  33. Kayfabe dollars! They're like fun money you can use all throughout WWE! (WWE does not accept kayfabe dollars in any capacity)

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  34. Copywriting the word "yes!"?


    I don't friggin' know. I'm just saying it's possibly to be a legal issue. That's why they don't do it.

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  35. I just recently watched the Goldberg episode of the Monday Night Wars, and so many points struck me as relevant to Reigns. First, what's the longest match Reigns has been in? What's the general consensus, if such a thing exists, as to his best singles match? A point they make in the episode is that Goldberg couldn't really go over ten minutes and that was problematic for someone who was expected to main event. I'm not sure if Reigns has been paired with a really good worker yet, so I'm not sure if he's capable or not. Secondly, they pulled the trigger pretty quick on making Goldberg the champion. I'd say this was key. If they're trying to make Reigns the man, which, obviously, it seems like they are, they need to just pull the trigger on making him champ, not be wishy washy, keep booking him strong, and just see what happens.

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  36. If their Hart vs Flair promos end up pissing one or both of Flair/Bret off it's all worth it.

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  37. As for American Idol, you bet they need to account for those results, whether they post them or not. That's why they always have that "portions of the show not dealing with contestant standing may have been edited" on every competition reality show.



    Case in point.


    I took a BBQ class some time ago. The guy who taught it was one of the contestants on BBQ Pitmasters.


    During the competition, they box their dishes up, and hand them to interns or grips or whoever to carry to the judging table. One of the grips dropped some of the containers.


    The problem is that part of the judging is based on presentation.


    They (the contestants) then had to wait more than an hour for the judges to discuss how they were going to judge with the producers. (First, because of the obvious presentation issues for some contestants. Second, because now the food was cold and either had to be reheated or eaten cold)


    If a small show like that is worried about things being deemed "unfair" or "rigged", do you really thing that Fox isn't?

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  38. People have been talking about whether Reigns has had any good singles matches (which is a fair thing to take into consideration if he's supposed to be the Next Big Thing), but has he had any really bad matches either? Just about all of his singles matches I've seen range from mediocre to decent/solid.

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  39. Virgil's Gimmick TableDecember 9, 2014 at 11:41 PM

    Give Vince a big ol' boner.

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  40. I feel like a Goldberg/Undertaker type of vibe is the best way to run with Roman Reigns. He's never going to be a Cena type of guy but I think he could get serious mileage out of being a badass whos almost always booked strongly.

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  41. "Everything you are watching on this show, including the storylines and in-ring action, are fake EXCEPT FOR THIS VOTE WHICH IS TOTALLY REALZ!!"

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  42. And hosted by Pat Patterson.

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  43. Don't know why the disclaimer "Not attacking you" was so funny to me, perhaps its lack of necessity and general politeness, but there ya go.

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  44. Of course, he's the most Asian looking guy on the roster now.

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  45. Next you're gonna tell me that Andre wasn't really undefeated for 15 years!

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  46. Adam "Colorado" CurryDecember 10, 2014 at 1:06 AM

    Remember last year (or earlier this year, I guess) how they tried to push a guy and the fans shit all over it because of Bryan? Well, this year they're being smart and not booking ANYONE strong. Did I say smart? I meant fucking retarded.

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  47. Adam "Colorado" CurryDecember 10, 2014 at 1:16 AM

    Oh, and that Slammy vote? Let's look at the nominees:


    Bryan: won the title and realized his lifelong dream at the biggest show of the year. Is also arguably the most popular guy in WWE despite being out since June.
    Cena: won the title at MITB, is also fucking John Cena.
    Lesnar: Current WWE champ. And would YOU tell him he didn't win, not that he gives as shit.
    Rollins: MOTB winner, top active heel in WWE.
    Bray Wayatt: Well, has been pretty much a jobber, but is at least active.
    Reigns: hasn't done dick all year, still wins the award. Fuck this company, I don't hope they riot in Philly, I hope they react with complete dead fucking silence. And they way crowds have been lately, I wouldn't be shocked if that happens. In fact, I'd be surprised if that doesn't happen.

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  48. Adam "Colorado" CurryDecember 10, 2014 at 1:17 AM

    That's Twitter in general. Start by fucking learning English.

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  49. Adam "Colorado" CurryDecember 10, 2014 at 1:20 AM

    Hi Vince! And I don't mean McMahon, obviously.

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  50. Well, you just know he's happy he didn't need Viagra for it.

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  51. listen motherfucker. last year people shat on Batista cause he already had his mania moment. Bryan had his this year.

    Reigns will get his moment next year. Ambrose will get his eventually and so does Rollins and hundreds of others.

    You shit on WWE when they push over the hill guys and you shit again when they push new guys (ahem.. not your favorite guy).

    Reigns is going to mania and winning the title. Can't wait to see your own little pussyfits here once he has done it.

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  52. Not really. And the fans aren't going to remember the dull-to-average heat sequence if the finisher is hot, so who really cares about that anyway?

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  53. It helps that he's of Asian descent.

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  54. Isn't WWE App voting free though? I know it's illegal if you're text voting and swindling, but if there's no money involved is there really a legal issue?

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  55. Regarding the app, they'd still be possibly "using up" someone's data plan.


    More important than that, some subset of users are likely watching the show because of the possibility that their vote matters. This gets them ad revenue.


    Anyway, we've spent too much time analyzing this. Scott asked why they'd bother rigging it instead of "just lying". My response was that, technically at least, lying about it is illegal, and could bring lawsuits.


    Do I believe that it would/will? Of course not. Who cares about rigging the Slammys? Except for McMahon, because they CLEARLY did with Reigns.

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