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Smackdown - January 29, 2015

Smackdown
Date: January 29, 2015
Location: XL Center, Hartford, Connecticut
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

This is a rare live show due to the massive snow storm in the northeast that wiped out Tuesday's tapings. That might actually be the best thing they could have had happen to them after the negative reaction to the Royal Rumble. Tonight's main event is yet another Bryan vs. Kane showdown, this time in a casket match. Let's get to it.


Here's HHH to welcome us to Raw before realizing he's a bit shaken up. The one thing WWE doesn't like is being told what to do, which is why they did it. Just like they were told they would never have a million Network subscribers, which is exactly what they announced this week. He actually thanks the fans for subscribing in a rare genuine act. Then he was told they couldn't have a show in Hartford, so here they are for the live show.

WWE isn't the only one with a controversy right now because the NFL and Roger Goodell have a problem with their balls. Some like them hard and some like them soft, but WWE has never had a problem with balls. However, that's not something they have an issue with in WWE. HHH is the same way, because he has a problem with the man called Sting, and he'll be dealing with that face to face at Fast Lane.

That brings him back to the Royal Rumble which had its fair share of controversy. First of all there was an exceptional triple threat where Rollins proved that he is the future, Cena proved that he is the past and Brock Lesnar proved that he is the beast and World Heavyweight Champion.

However, that wasn't the major controversy. The controversy was due to the Royal Rumble itself, which everyone has been talking about. We see some clips with Cole talking about how the fans are upset that guys like Ziggler, Bryan and Wyatt have been eliminated, leaving Big Show and Kane in the end. Reigns eliminated Rusev to win and cemented his spot at Wrestlemania.

HHH promises to make an announcement on Raw that is going to end the controversy and shake the WWE to its core. That sounds like trying to fix the main event already, which might not be the worst idea in the world. This brings out Reigns, who says there was no controversy because he won the Rumble. HHH agrees that he won the match, so now Reigns can win this one.

Big Show vs. Roman Reigns

Now let this be the FINAL match. They shove each other around to start with Big Show shoving him around to start. This is where Reigns is getting hurt more than anywhere else: he should be DESTROYING Big Show to set up a major showdown with giant killer vs. ultimate giant Lesnar at Wrestlemania. Instead it's Big Show looking dominant and Reigns probably making a comeback to win in a surprise. Show throws him across the ring as we're waiting on Reigns' first offense. He slips out of a slam and sends Big Show into the buckle for a breather, followed by a clothesline out to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Show working on the knee and putting on something like an ankle lock. Reigns climbs up the ropes to escape and counters into an ankle scissors of all things to send Show over the top. There's the apron kick but of course Show pops back up. Some clotheslines have little effect but a third one finally puts Show down.

A Samoan drop plants Show again but he rolls outside. Another running clothesline off the apron puts Show down but the knee is banged up. Back in and the Superman Punch is countered into the chokeslam for two. Show goes up but gets Superman Punched twice. He still won't go down so Reigns slams him down, setting up the spear for the pin at 12:21.

Rating: D. AND THEY'RE DONE. Like NEVER AGAIN let these two fight. It's not even that Reigns is looking bad out there but Big Show just looks like nothing. And what does Reigns get out of this win? Nothing of course, because NO ONE CARES ABOUT BIG SHOW. Dull match here and it's almost infuriating after all the months of these two fighting.

Vince announces February as a free month for new subscribers on the WWE Network.

Here are Rollins and the Stooges with something to say. Rollins says he told us he would prove himself on Sunday and that's exactly what he did. He was a single count away from winning the WWE World Heavyweight Title and he stuck a dagger into Lesnar's heart when he broke his rib. He's feeling so good that he's going to issue an open challenge to anyone in this building that wants to face him.

Cue Ryback to go after Rollins but the Stooges get the better of him. This brings out Rowan to help but the Stooges and Rollins take him down as well. Ziggler completes the trio but gets sent into the announcers' table. Rollins knees Rowan in the back and the Authority bails before anything else happens. I smell a six man.

Kane is caressing a coffin and promises to lock Bryan inside tonight where the only thing he'll be able to hear is the beating of his heart. It's ashes to ashes and dust to dust, so may God have mercy on Bryan's soul tonight, because Kane will have none.

Jey Uso vs. Tyson Kidd

They start fast with Jey going to the corner but getting kicked in the knee. Tyson immediately goes after the bad wheel and slaps on a leg lock like a smart heel (or wrestler in general) should. Jey kicks Kidd out to the floor and nails him in the head, setting up a charge (so much for selling the leg). Kidd kicks him in the head though and springboards back in, only to get caught in a Samoan drop. Jimmy and Cesaro go at it on the floor, allowing Kidd to hit the fisherman's neckbreaker for the pin at 2:30.

Here are Rusev and Lana to talk about this past Sunday. Rusev says he should have been the winner and Lana is so upset that she can't speak English. He's the US Champion and wants to challenge a man from the past: John Cena. Cena has no hunger or desire and he isn't a superstar anymore. This brings out Cena who looks shocked at what Rusev just said. Cena threatens to shut Rusev's mouth for him.

It sounds like Rusev has bought into his own hype because he thinks Cena is no challenge for him. He's John Cena, a fifteen time World Champion, a two time Royal Rumble winner and the face who runs this place. He had that US Title years ago and challenges Rusev to do the Hartford Hoedown. Rusev is ready to go but Lana calls him off. The Russians leave but Cena isn't done. He's fighting Rusev at Fast Lane and ending the undefeated streak because the champ is here. This really didn't accomplish much but Cena sounded good.

Paige vs. Nikki Bella for the Divas Title is official for Fast Lane. Paige is in the back when the Bellas come up to make fun of her for being pale. She elbows Brie in the face but takes a big forearm from Nikki.

Goldust/Stardust vs. Ascension

The brothers aren't sure who is going to start until it's Stardust vs. Viktor. A hiptoss puts Viktor down and Stardust WOOs. Stardust is shoved into a forearm to Konnor but Viktor nails him in the back to take over. Konnor comes in an\d stomps away and hammers away before it's quickly back to Viktor for a chinlock.

Ascension keeps hammering on Stardust in the corner as the Dusts are suddenly the faces in this match. Stardust finally gets over for a hot tag and Goldust comes in with a knee to Viktor's head as everything breaks down. Stardust tags himself back in and Goldust isn't pleased. Konnor shoves Stardust off the top and a quick Fall of Man is good for the pin at 4:33.

Rating: D+. This was more angle advancement than anything else but it also gave Ascension another win. It looks like they're splitting up the Dust Brothers and I can't say I blame them at this point. There's nothing left for them to do and they're starting to get stale as a team, so give the fans a feud that they've been wanting for a good while.

Kane is STILL looking at the casket and slams it shut.

A magician is entertaining some wrestlers in the back when Miz and Mizdow come up to shake his hand. Miz gets annoyed at Mizdow shaking his hand but the magician demonstrates a magic trick with a fake egg, only to mystify Miz by turning it into a reel egg. Miz doesn't believe it's real and gets it cracked on his head. R-Truth: The yoke's on you. Mizdow makes sure he isn't caught laughing. I'm a big fan of magic so this was more entertaining than it should have been.

Bray Wyatt asks us what makes us happy. Maybe it's money or a fond memory. He finds enjoyment in things that mommy and daddy hid from us as children. Bray is legion among men so he asks what makes us smile. When he's done, it will be hard for us to ever smile again. Run.

Kane vs. Daniel Bryan

Casket match and they have a lot of time for this one. Cole talks about Bryan looking at the casket because he's never been in a casket match before. I'm sure this has nothing to do with the potential of being locked inside a casket. Kane quickly goes for the casket but Bryan comes back with kicks to the leg while wearing what appear to be furry boots. Kane can't gorilla press him into the casket and runs away from an attempted baseball slide as we take a break.

Back with Kane putting Bryan's face in the ring skirt and hammering away at the covered head. A big boot almost knocks Bryan into the casket but he kicks Kane away for the save. Kane plants him with another side slam but has to fight out of a headscissors to put him into the casket. Bryan nails a high cross body on the floor but gets kicked into the casket, only to crawl out the other side. Kane still can't get him into the casket and we take another break.

We come back with Bryan holding Kane in a chinlock (you don't see that everyday) and hitting his running clothesline to put the giant down. Here come the YES kicks to send Kane outside, setting up the FLYING GOAT and more right hands from Daniel. Kane backdrops him over the barricade as the casket has been forgotten for the moment. They head over to the announcers' table with Bryan getting sent into the chairs, followed by a bunch of chair shots to the back.

They suddenly remember this is a casket match with Kane loading up Bryan for a tombstone off the apron, only to have Daniel slip out and dropkick him a few times. He tries a third dropkick but charges into a chokeslam. Kane loads him into the casket but eats a kick to the face followed by the YES Lock with Kane partially in the casket. Even though it looks terrible, it puts Kane into the casket but Bryan still can't close it. Kane gets out again and almost turns Bryan inside out with a clothesline. Bryan escapes another chokeslam and the running knee to the side of the head puts him in the casket for the win at 22:10.

Rating: D. WAY too long here with a boring match as they had another Bryan vs. Kane showdown that no one wanted to see. Much like earlier, I really hope this is going to be the end of the feud because there's no reason for these guys to fight ever again. It took too long for Kane to put put away here, but at least Bryan won. I'm not a fan of these matches though and it really gets annoying watching them having a dull match until they remember it's a casket match.

We see HHH teasing the announcement for Raw again to close the show.

Overall Rating: D+. The promos carried this show and the show flew by but it really wasn't all that great. The casket match felt like it went on forever, much like the entire Bryan vs. Kane feud. Thankfully Big Show vs. Reigns should be done, which is why you can already see the gimmick rematch coming at Fast Lane. This was a passable show and felt like Raw cut down to two hours.

If they did this style show every Monday, I can't imagine how much more the fans would calm down. They didn't pack this show full of nonsense and there wasn't as much time being wasted. Keep the show moving and don't let it get repetitive and the show becomes much easier to sit through. That third hour really does cripple Raw and this show is proof. It wasn't good, but it was a lot easier to sit through.

Results
Roman Reigns b. Big Show – Spear
Tyson Kidd b. Jey Uso – Fisherman's neckbreaker
Ascension b. Goldust/Stardust – Fall of Man to Stardust
Daniel Bryan b. Kane – Bryan closed Kane in the casket


Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Comments

  1. Cena vs Orton,one more timeJanuary 29, 2015 at 8:22 PM

    TWELVE AND A HALF MINUTES....yeeezus

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  2. HowmuchdoesthisguyweighJanuary 29, 2015 at 8:27 PM

    Two hours. Just noticeable better

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  3. Ziggler vs Bryan vs Wyatt vs Reigns fatal 4 way for title shot.....Reigns wins deal with it.

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  4. I know Kane is awful these days, but Bryan could usually carry the guy to good matches so does Bryan still need to get back into ring shape?

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  5. There's only so much even Bryan can do with Kane in a gimmick match for 20+ minutes. Flair in his prime would have had issues in this situation.

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  6. Theberzerker Von HUSSingtonJanuary 29, 2015 at 9:11 PM

    Something to that effect. Trips might have talked Vince into doing like a WM10 mini-tournament or something, if not a straight up 3-way which we know he didn't want to do.

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  7. Theberzerker Von HUSSingtonJanuary 29, 2015 at 9:17 PM

    I could also see them having Rollins cash in the briefcase in order to get a title shot at Mania, taking it away from Reigns...which leads to lots of possibilities like a 4 man mini tournament thing like I said below, or a Fatal 4 Way match, etc. Either way, Mania ends with Reigns as champ, showered in boos and hopefully trash too, which would be cool.

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  8. HHH announces Daniel Bryan v. Roman Reigns at Fast Lane for the title shot. Reigns wins.

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  9. I can't WAIT to hear the crowd's reaction to that.

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  10. I didn't watch Smackdown and the review has me wondering, what was the controversy at the Royal Rumble?

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  11. Titus Young. It's all HIS fault.

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  12. Brand Split 2K15, w0000000t

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  13. Curtis Axel was never eliminated and is rightfully the Rumble winner.

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  14. My god, the backlash if that were it....

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  15. "I'm
    a big fan of magic so this was more entertaining than it should have
    been."

    THIS. All of this.

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  16. Shorten it to 1 hour and it just might be watchable.

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  17. I thought Reigns/Show was good considering one of the participants, and was a solid effort in trying to get fans back into Reigns' corner. Bryan/Kane was the same match they always do (which is usually good), but with the "wonderful" drama of casket match rules. I don't see either segments being D's. Probably B's (to varying degrees, maybe near the minus side) because both were successful in their own ways. I'm also being optimistic as hell.

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  18. Adam "Colorado" CurryJanuary 29, 2015 at 10:26 PM

    I don't think they fudged the numbers (though it certainly wouldn't surprise me), but I expect a big drop-off in a month. All those pissed off people that ordered for the Rumble and want to cancel aren't going to do it right now when they still have 25 days or so left. Might as well watch some of the giant archive of actual good wrestling for the $9.99, then just not renew.

    Besides, the increase is almost solely to the U.K. getting it, period.

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  19. In the building, we were so fucking amped for Daniel Bryan that it made that casket match feel much shorter than it really was. Helped that every time it appeared like he was gonna come out, they played a promo video or a commercial on the Titantron, and they did this I think three times. Everything Bryan did the audience went insane for, like he was Steve Austin in 1999 just standing there existing.

    Crazy enough though, when some of the crowd gathered around the tunnel at the Hartford Civic Center where the wrestlers drive back up through, the one they went the craziest for was Kane. Bryan got a very favorable response, as did Roman and Ambrose, but at least 30 people surrounded Kane's rental car while he was sitting in the middle of the road waiting for the light to turn green, like they were Ferguson protesters blocking the highway.

    Cool moment of that whole thing: Ryback walked up through the tunnel and took photos with the fans that were there for about 5 minutes. That was sweet.

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  20. They warmed up to him throughout the match with Big Show, but boo'ed him originally coming out. Got the Cena treatment "Let's go Roman /Roman Sucks" chants.

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  21. WM X is a good idea, actually. If you want Reigns to win you give him Rollins first, then Lesnar (who kills Bryan). If you're not an idiot, you feed Ziggler to Bryan and have Lesnar beat Reigns, then close the show with Bryan/Lesnar.

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  22. An ending that was negated like a month later.

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  23. It's always cool to see the wrestlers do things like that. It may not be for very long, but at least it's something. It's one of the few things I liked about Ted DiBiase Jr. with those parties he threw in the parking lots.

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  24. The Big Show push is making it even worse. The worst part is you can almost guarantee a gimmick rematch at Fast Lane, unless the big announcement changes everything. It does make me wonder why they just had Reigns pin Show that fast tonight.

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  25. My guess is they're fudging them a bit, but not by month. If they grew by 250K by adding the UK and parts of Canada...they're still not growing it in the States, which is troubling.

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  26. This is what, the fourth or fifth free month? If I were a subscriber, I'd be getting pretty pissed at this point.

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  27. How many do they need in the states to achieve profitability? I know the number shifted downward when they laid off a ton of people and such last year. 1 million?

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  28. Honestly, most people will probably never make the connection. The Big Bang crowd isn't paying attention like the Star Trek crowd used to.

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  29. I don't know. I'm just utterly fascinated by how stagnant the US number is at about 750K. It's so weird to see a business perfectly capture its entire market at launch.

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  30. Agreed. Of course, it fits into the whole thing of WWE not being able to grow their product or get it adopted back into the mainstream, something that I don't see them fixing for a long, long time, if ever again. For all the "ups and downs" they cite for business, we've been in quite a down period. Gap between the last booms was roughly 8 years (if you assume WM 6 was the last gasp of the Hogan boom), but we've been waiting since 2001 for a new one.

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  31. I never saw Bam Bam in the WWF, but he kicked a lot of ass in the Jersey Triad. I was always surprised he wasn't a bigger star.

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  32. He was back in ealy 93. What are u referring too? He left in January 95 again

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  33. Quarterly report will only be for up to December. They basically released this number the moment it hit a million in January. The real number will now be the quarterly report in May.

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  34. Adam "Colorado" CurryJanuary 29, 2015 at 11:22 PM

    The night Bigelow jobbed to LT the WWF should have released him, drove him to the airport, and paid for a first class ticket to Atlanta. Not for business, but because it would have been the right thing to do, his career in the WWF was dead at that point.

    Fun fact: shortly after he left the WWF he fought Kimo in Japan and got killed like Sharapova is going to get horsefucked by the biggest cunt in pro sports tomorrow. And not only was it fixed, but Bam Bam claims it was a complete work, and he made more from that than he did at WM.

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  35. The Ghost of Faffner HallJanuary 29, 2015 at 11:26 PM

    He's referring to Bammer's first WWF run, as a face in 1987-88.

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  36. They need an average of 1.3 million to be profitable, but that's counting all their drastic cost-cutting and firings. Had they never launched the Network in the first place they'd be hundreds of millions in the black by next year. Killing PPV is proving to be an incredibly stupid move on their part.

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  37. Gotcha, thanks. Do you think the stock would tank as badly as it did last time if the quarterly report shows any kind of loss in subscribers?

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  38. I don't think wrestling will be in the mainstream or an "up" period for a long, long time. The WWE has clearly lost all relevance from a mainstream perspective and is actively fighting with its fan base to get them to accept certain people as stars. The more they do that, the more unlikely it is other, smaller promotions will attract new eyeballs. I really thought there was a chance with CM Punk and Daniel Bryan both being so charismatic bringing in a new fan base like Rock and Austin did, but we all saw how that panned out. It's sad.

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  39. Adam "Colorado" CurryJanuary 29, 2015 at 11:27 PM

    The LT loss killed him, and he really sucked at backstage politics.

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  40. That's the best way out of this, I think! Reigns still gets his title shot at WM, but needs to whine about it a bit as his "chance to shine" is dimmed a bit. Bryan/Ziggler is offered to show "the fans" that their favorites get a shot and WWE cares (with snide remarks that they'll never win). Lesnar and Bryan advance, Bryan over Lesnar, then the difficult choice of end the show happy or have Rollins cash in on a spent Bryan to go back to chase mode. Reigns turns heel as the spoiled entitled brat who didn't put in the effort and gets another year or so to develop into the new face of the company. I agree with the Austin/Keller podcast...he has all the tools to be great, but it's too early for him in this spot.

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  41. Issue was Hogan someone with a cool new look that could realistically take his spot and killed it within two months

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  42. Clique; "This guy Bam Bam/Douglas/Hakushi/Mabel/Owen/Bulldog they just don't have it. What about giving his spot to Razor and Kid?"

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  43. Did that ax him in the 1980s WWF, too? Because he was gone in a hurry back then, as well.

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  44. And there's no going back, is there? The fans would be pissed that they now have to pay for the excessively-pricey PPVs again, the PPV companies would rake them over hot coals, and they'll publically look like fools.

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  45. Pretty much. You still could've kept the main 4 exclusive to PPV and run Network events in the months between.

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  46. Adam "Colorado" CurryJanuary 30, 2015 at 12:02 AM

    Back then I think he just wanted to go back to Japan, the NWA gig was some easy bonus money.

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  47. Pat Patterson never gets any credit for that match especially since they made sure to put him as the ref, to be able to keep feeding LT advice etc

    Pat Patterson is an unsung hero.

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  48. Reigns sounded a bit whiny in thr opening promo.

    Whiny face = heel turn?

    Ironically, an elimination chamber match would have been useful at this stage...

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  49. Love him or hate him, "the face that runs the place" was terrific tonight. A tremendous job. At the very end he was a little bit too much like he gets but all in all, fantastic job by John Cena.

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  50. The booking did more to hurt him than anything else. He also wasn't a great babyface.

    Perfect world, he turns on Diesel and is put in Bret's spot at survivor series.

    Bammer vs HBK at mania could have been fun.

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  51. They needed 1.3 million before all the cost cutting, next year they only need approx 700k to be profitable


    http://ir.corporate.wwe.com/Cache/1500064813.PDF?Y=&O=PDF&D=&FID=1500064813&T=&IID=4121687

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  52. Wasn't that on Shawn though?

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  53. The building was exploding for that Cena/Rusev segment. It was like when Raw was here the night after MitB last year and the Swagger/Colter/Rusev segment made the building go apeshit. I guess Hartford just *really* loves hating Rusev.

    We did pick up on the singalong "John Cena sucks!" chants though. That made me happy. They even did it during the dark main event.

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  54. Bammer was a heck of a talent though. It's not like he was Sid.

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  55. Daniel Bryan vs. Kane vs. Big Show vs. Roman Reings in a four-way elimination. Kane and Big Show double pin Bryan first.

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  56. It really shows what they thought of 'Mania at the time as they held a WrestleMania in Hartford.

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  57. you can cancel immediately and still get the rest of the month(which is what i did) so I'm sure I'm party of the reason they went over a million but that will drop back down if other people cancelled like i did

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  58. I know these guys are absolutely committed to the life to a level that most people would consider insane, but I honestly wish Big Show, Kane and Mark Henry would just hang it up. Everything they're involved in just slows to an absolute crawl and sucks the life out of the place.

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  59. They should be putting Reigns in the ring with people who can carry a match with him and make him look like a dominant big bastard, but keep the pace up. Kidd, for example, or Cesaro - much as I don't want him sacrificed, you know he'd make Reigns look a million bucks out there.

    One thing is that Reigns doesn't have the sheer lunatic strength that John Cena does (or Cesaro, for that matter) so you could visibly see him and Show struggling to pull off the "power" moments in the match, and it slowed things down even more than they already were.

    Put Big Show to one side. Get Reigns wrestling people who know how to make a slow, limited guy look good, and it'll help considerably.

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  60. Return of the Brand Split or the separation of the unified title?

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  61. This is why i refer to WM11 as the House Show Wrestlemania.

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  62. I wonder if the "Big Announcement" could be the re-splitting of the World and Heavyweight titles?

    Honestly never thought they should have been unified in the first place, but this would at least give them options for switching main events around, allowing "lower tier" Rumble winners who can challenge for the HW instead of World title, that sort of thing.

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  63. Were there really no other options for LT? ;-) For me it was one of the worst and boring Wrestlemania main events ever - besides Cena vs Miz (and maybe Undertaker vs Sid).

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  64. As a kid watching KOTR93, I bought Bam Bam as a legit killer main eventer. The slapstick feud with Doink changed that, and The Million Jobber Corporation did him no favours either.

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  65. Be nice to Vince otherwise he won't give us a second season of the XFL

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  66. Second in three months though. If this became a pattern, I'd think subscribers would be pissed

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  67. That is absolutely what he is referring to.

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  68. I liked the Triad a lot. That was a cool group.

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  69. They are trying too hard to be mainstream, so that nobody wants to watch it.

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  70. Why don't they run a "Your first month is free!" Campaign from May to December? Seems like a better idea to me than announcing free months right before a quarter ends to prop up the numbers

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  71. Eh, it's $10 a month for PPVs and access to an expandingish library. I'm cool with that as a fan.

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  72. Really, though, current subscribers (myself included) don't have a leg to stand on. There's no longer any commitment to get the $9.99 price. Can't you just simply cancel your subscription now and re-subscribe (for free) in February?

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  73. Even I'm tempted to buy it as a UK resident, and I'm the world's biggest cheapskate

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  74. Owen and Bulldog weren't pushed? Mabel was held down?

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  75. The Clique travelled back to 1988 to convinced Vince to fire him. That's the most realistic explanation.

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  76. It might not have been the free month, then. Maybe it was during one of the free weeks they were offering? I remember them making a big deal about how you wouldn't need to give card info.

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  77. I thought Bam Bam could have been pushed better as a monster heel but he always seemed like just another Midcard heel....and there was no way he was going to take off as a top face. You can blame the Clique for robbing us of Jean Pierre Lafitte and Hart Family drama but it's really not their fault Bam Bam didn't set the world on fire.

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  78. I think you answered your own question.

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  79. The lumberjack stipulation was stupid. Neither guy should be backing down from the other.

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  80. In every shoot interview the Clique say they didn't get along with him but he was talented. Maybe he didn't take off because he jobbed to a football player, was fired from the Corporation for losing too much and dressed like a fool when he turned face..

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  81. In Bret's book he said Bam Bam let his push and money go to his head and was let go.

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  82. Dear God... you mean Nash's workrate got so slow he was actually able to travel BACKWARDS IN TIME?!?!

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  83. I was pissed when I signed up three days before the six month commitment was canceled, and a week before they announced free November. I'm over it.

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  84. Bam Bam's problem was in 95 the top face was fucking Diesel. Diesel worked against smaller wrestlers, not hoss's. Stick Bam Bam in with Hart or Michaels, and they'd steal the show.

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  85. He really is. Could you imagine how brilliant he'd have booked Hart vs Michaels in 1996 if they weren't both primadonna douchebags?

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  86. Only snag there is BB started dropping down the card before they'd have seen the buyrate.

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  87. 11 was the worst mania of all time in my book until WM27 blew them out of the water with one of the shittiest, unsatisfying wrestling shows of all time

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  88. wasn't this also some sort of backstage thing with a lot of other workers and people working for the promotion thinking Bam Bam was getting handed too much success too fast?

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  89. I'm just going to note, sometimes "75% of where we expected and cut 20% of our workforce" is the first step toward real growth and profiability.


    I understand that sounds bad from a fan's standpoint, but it sounds pretty good from an investor's standpoint when a company tries to get leaner.


    I really think that the goal needs to be to expand their base. I know that not everybody will be the wrestling fan that I am, but (almost) 4 million people watch Raw every week. That's a sizeable market, and it could be larger if they could tap all of their potential viewers.

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  90. Sid is actually pretty talented, too (say whatever you want about his in ring skills, but he had a lot of charisma and intensity).

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  91. also didn't help that he had him practically beat the month before.

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  92. I have no trouble believing that those promised "main event spot" was just a lie from the start (like so many other promised title reigns etc. before and after).

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  93. We need a new face, huh? Let's use that guy!

    The fat, bald guy with a general surley demeanor?

    Yes, him!

    The guy with the prison style tattoos on his arms?

    Yes, him!

    The bearded guy with the missing teeth?

    Yes, him!

    ... the... the guy with a completely tattoo'd skull?



    For fuck's sake, YES!

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  94. Plus, Shawn was turned face right after WM... you already had Bret, Razor, and Undertaker as faces as well.

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  95. No, it's new subscribers only. Lapsed subscribers don't qualify.

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  96. As Justin says though, Bigelow was far from a lump. He was a very, very talented big guy used poorly.

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  97. Vince actually credited Roman Reigns for how the Network has risen in subscriptions.
    Seriously.

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  98. Plus, the Countdowns are fun and Monday Night War series offers some actually smart insight to the time.

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  99. The thing that blows you away with "Titan Sinking" is the realization that WCW was actually WORSE than WWF in 1995....

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  100. Bigelow hated people, but loved gatherings. Isn't it ironic?

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  101. I just didn't take him seriously. He was just another Midcard heel who lost so much the Corporation fired him, suddenly then he's palling around the main event.

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  102. Titan Sinking is so poorly edited. It has so many run on sentences, grammar errors, spelling errors, and cliches that I gave up on it. It was making my head hurt. It's a shame because it has useful information.

    If someone put out an edited version I'd give it another try.

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  103. ^^^Liberal Alert!

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  104. They did it because LT was a NY Giant and they wanted him to be in front of a 'home' crowd and over. They just ran MSG the year before so couldnt do it again so chose Hartford CT which is still primarily Giants fans.

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  105. Especially brilliant for Pat considering he'd get paid twice that night. Pulled the same thing at WM1.

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  106. Yep... little fucker.

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  107. They could have done New Jersey (say the Meadowlands Arena) in the state where Taylor actually played

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  108. Aaand? Yes, I vote liberal. Which I guess means I expect books not to be laden with spelling errors and grammatical faux pas.

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  109. CruelConnectionNumber2January 31, 2015 at 3:43 PM

    Mania 6 was seen as a failure and babyface vs babyface was the blame.

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  110. Meadowlands and msg are 15 minutes away. Basically same town different building. They wanted to avoid giving wrestlemania to same city 2 years in a row and still have LT wrestle in Giants territory. I always thought the whole thing was dumb regardless

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