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Fastlane failure

Scott-

Fastlane may go down as the least paid attention ppv in history. The buyrate will I bet be less than 30k and the network is free in february.

But the killer is the oscars...who on social media will post anything about fastlane with that on. If the E is counting on the diehards make a better damn show.

Thoughts?

​There's ANOTHER major show in February besides NXT Rival?  Could've fooled me.  The worst thing with Fastlane (besides the name) is that there's basically only two outcomes to the main event fans can get:  Either Reigns beats Bryan and everyone is miserable, or best case is that they book some sort of screwjob no-contest finish to make WM a three-way.  Who would seriously be enticed to buy this show?  

Just watch NXT again instead.  I guarantee it'll be better.  ​

Comments

  1. I think they should have run another Rumble match since they fucked it up so bad in January.

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  2. Who would seriously be enticed to buy this show?
    The people going crazy at the end of Raw last Monday? Yeah, they screwed up the Rumble but they did an excellent job making this match mean something. Everyone wants Bryan to be the underdog and overcome the odds but that's not his character anymore. Monday he said it's a respect thing now. He's the champ THAT WAS NEVER BEATEN. He wants HIS title back!

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  3. Proof WWE doesn't even care about this show:


    They've been promoting the Rock presenting an Oscar.

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  4. I'm a bigger movie buff than WWE fan so the Oscars win this battle for me. I can watch highlights the next day if anything good happens on Fastlane.

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  5. Even though it's strictly a show to pass time, I would still rather watch that (if I had to choose) then watch all the phony Hollywood liberals masturbate each other

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  6. How much do I hate the Oscars? I would rather watch Big Show and Kane take on Ryback and Rowan in an Iron Man Match with heel Michael Cole, Lee Marshall and Art Donavan on commentary.

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  7. I'd be into it if they just did Bryan vs Brock for the title. Like, 1 on 1. Then they could just do a Reigns vs Kane vs Big Show since they love all three so much.

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  8. Why don't they play into the fact that Brock Lesnar could leave WWE with the title after Wrestlemania?

    Brock and Paul could have a lot of fun with that, and it would bring extra heat to a Wrestlemania Main Event that could desperately use it.

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  9. I'll call your bluff. The Oscars may suck but that match you listed would be fatal. it's not worth dying over man.

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  10. He was beaten several times since he's returned.

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  11. Zombie Lee Marshall: BRAIIIIINNSSSS...

    Zombie Art Donavan: How much do those brains weigh?

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  12. Roman is gonna be the one that hurts the most from all of this. No matter what scenario plays out he won't be a beneficiary.


    1. He wins as planned and goes on to Wrestlemania and stinks up the joint and the crowd never accepts him as the franchise player.


    2. Bryan wins and Roman is viewed as a chump who can't back up his claims and will never be seen as a franchise player.


    3. We do the three way at Mania and he becomes a third wheel for what most want to see which is Bryan/Lesnar. Will likely follow the same career path as The Miz and be seen as a glorified midcarder.


    Either way this all points to Roman Reigns being hurt more by being pushed too fast but then second guessing his push guaranteeing failure. If you're gonna pull the trigger go all the way with it. Now that you've committed, commit and if it doesn't work you're back to where you'd be with him anyways.

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  13. Dude Art Donovan commentary alone would make it perversely entertaining.

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  14. I just don't think you understand the pure entertainment value on seeing the size of the Big Show's hands up close... Maybe Art could talk about that in depth for us

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  15. WWE keeps sending me notices that I can come back to the network and get Fast Lane free. I don't even feel like bothering.

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  16. Bold prediction:


    Roman Reigns is the new Billy Gunn. Some smart ass face will one day claim that he won't "Roman Reigns" his Rumble win.

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  17. I wonder how many times Cole will say a wrestler is taking the fast lane to WrestleMania.

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  18. Never beaten for his title.

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  19. I'm excited for Fastlane. Reigns/Bryan, Cena/Rusev both have my interest piqued, pretty much new matchups.

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  20. Am I the only one that just wants them to stick with Reigns vs. Brock as the WM main event? I'm as big of a Bryan fan as anyone else, but I want to see if Reigns has what it takes. I want to see a Bryan/Brock match bad, but whatever. They hand-picked Reigns and I want to see them make it work.

    They seem to have cooled off (for now) on trying to make him deliver cutesy babyface promos. A 2015 PG The Rock filtered through Vince McMahon is not the best gimmick for Roman, or anyone really. He doesn't have the presence for that yet. If they keep him as a sexy swagged up badass rebel, he's very capable.

    He needs work of course and I think he especially needs a move to go between the Superman Punch and Spear. There's just no psychology there at all. But I wish people would calm down and embrace our new Ultimate Warrior.

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  21. Completely agreed.


    I wanted Bryan to win the "Rumble" and fight Brock at "WM", but they went another direction. Constantly calling that decision into question just makes everyone look worse.

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  22. That's the kayfabe problem, though. If he felt that he deserved a shot at the title, he should have just said "I never lost the title, so I demand a shot at Brock". Sure, Trips would refuse, but then Brock and Heyman could easily underestimate Bryan and grant the shot.

    It doesn't make sense to enter himself into a match to determine a #1 contendor, lose, and THEN demand a title shot. And now he's back to being in a different match to determine the #1 contendor.


    They could have made this whole thing better if Roman just gave him a shot out of respect; just say "hey, you were the champion, you lost it, I have all the respect in the world for you and want to test myself against the very best. You and me at 'Fast Lane'."


    I understand WHY they're doing it, I understand what they're trying to accomplish, but the execution was awful.

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  23. Not only that, but then they replayed the friggin' $55 or whatever-dollar thing the VERY NEXT NIGHT!

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  24. I wanted the whole story of Bryan vs. Brock and that whole story includes winning the Royal Rumble.

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  25. I know they screwed up the Rumble, we know they screwed it up, and they know they screwed it up. They've done a good job fixing it, but everyone is too busy harping on the Rumble to recognize it.

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  26. I see your numerical list and raise you an alphabetical one.
    A. I don't know that going all the way will do it. Please see Swagger, Jack. Getting a world title reign won't validate Roman.
    B. I don't think he's necessarily a failure if they abort or even if they commit and it fails. The WWE has a long game with Reigns. He isn't a 1-3 month project, he's a 1-3 year project. Roman is just one de-push and workrate improvement from being an internet darling and being loved. Rock was once seen as a monster failure, Kane was once Issac Yankem and Fake Diesel, Cena was once on the chopping block, SCSA was once Ringmaster. Hell, even Mark Henry had a late career resurgence. We can bury the push, but let's not bury the guy just yet.

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  27. Gorilla: Let's go to Gene Okerlund who is standing by with the Ultimate Warrior. Gene?
    Gene: Ultimate Warrior, you have a match at Summer Slam with the Immortal Hulk Hogan. Are you ready to face Hulkamania?
    Warrior: I don't know, Gene. Sufferin' succotash.
    Gene: Back to you.

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  28. Twice is a couple times. Not several.

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  29. "How much does dis Big Show guy weigh? Oh wait I am seeing him in person so I can really appreciate how big he is. Never mind."

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  30. It's so, so sad that I agree. But we know they'll keep pushing him until it happens.

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  31. His new nickname will be Legman

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  32. Imagine how Warrior would describe the succotash' s suffering.

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  33. I can get down with that. If Reigns is what they want, then fuck yes I'd love to see it work. I want Brock/Bryan because it's the best option, but I'd absolutely love for the Reigns experiment to succeed.

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  34. There's a difference between getting a world title win by cashing in the MITB briefcase on an over-the-hill Chris Jericho on Smackdown, and beating the Viking Space Lord in the main event of Wrestlemania.

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  35. WWE will easily get their brief Twitter trends, even TNA manages to.

    And let's not act like everyone is against Roman's push. This may and probably will fail, but he has lots of fans.

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  36. The problem is it's hard to recover when the powers that be strongly suggest you're the guy, and fail. That loser stigma takes a lot of effort to quell. And in Roman's case, 30 year old mainly pushed for his good looks, odds are a death blow to his American wrestling career.

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  37. Except there's no reason to expect it would. Neither have the in-ring chops to carry a WM main event. Maybe slightly more than Lawrence Taylor and Bam Bam Bigelow, but that's not saying much.

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  38. Because it would make it all the more obvious Bork would lose.

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  39. Those are the only two matches (along with maybe Ambrose/Barrett) any thought at all (which is not to say much) has been put into. Otherwise, it's pretty much just standard Raw fair. A crappy two minute Divas match. Miz TV. A face to face between Sting and HHH, a thrown together 6 man tag. How is this supposed to draw more subscribers?

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  40. I'm not disagreeing. I'm just saying the Reigns push working is the best possible outcome. Bryan had his moment and it was great. But the Reigns push working would mean they bet on the right horse for their new megastar. I agree it's unlikely.

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  41. I mean, despite all the cynicism (which I totally get), Bryan will kill himself to get Roman over.

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  42. If they can avoid getting too stupid with the booking, it should be a really good show in spite of itself.

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  43. No I'm with you completely. If anything the build up to a 3 way is making me like Bryan less. Not even a little less but a lot less. I kind of just want him to go away or get screwed super hard at Fast Lane just so he's out of the build. A 3 way that he doesn't win would be just about the worst possible scenario since it gives us another month of having his act cooled off and another loss that hurts his character.

    I'm just confused by the booking of Roman more than anything else. If they cared about what the crowd though or match quality they wouldn't have had him win the Rumble. They KNEW Philly was going to revolt. But now they care about these things? Plus on the blizzard episode of Raw they wrote a pretty decent Chapter 1 of the Reigns/Lesnar story. I kind of want to see where that goes.

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  44. "Bryan had his moment..."


    I hate that line of thinking, because we're we all thinking that when Steve Austin, Rock, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, and countless others had multiple Wrestlemania main events under their belts?


    Not calling you out specifically, but it's been something I've been reading a lot.

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  45. It almost doesn't even matter what happens at Fastlane...whether the outcome is LOLREIGNSWINS or LOLCENSWINS or Big Show finally gets revenge on Hulk Hogan's monster truck--whatever--the WWE will revise history and act like all the new February Network signups (of which I am one) will be the result of Fastlane

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  46. Losing is fine if you're protected and can still look good in the process, but Bryan didn't look good doing those jobs.

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  47. Who are the ad wizards that came up with this one?

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  48. With the Oscars, who the Hell is going to watch Fastlane? Why did they put it on the same night? They own the damn Network! This company....

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  49. People that aren't middle aged housewives?

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  50. Only in the Fast Lane (TM) can a WWE Superstar (TM) Build Momentum. (TM)

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  51. I don't think there's a whole lot of crossover.

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  52. Eh, one was a loss to Bray when Kane interfered.


    I don't know what the other loss was besides the Rumble and if we're counting his DQ loss to the Big Show.

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  53. Here's why you're wrong: the oscars pay big dollars for twitter promotion - way more than Vince can afford. No way in hell the folks at twitter choose pro wrestling over the Oscars, which close to a billion people will watch worldwide

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  54. So he'll be a detective working with another detective called Wheels, who got that name because he's in a wheel chair?

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  55. You gotta think VINCE is delusional enough to think airing the ppv against the oscars is his way of getting revenge on Hollywood's rejection of WWE Films as a viable product

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  56. I see we've hit our idiotic sexist comment quota for the day.

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  57. It took Kane interfering for Bray Wyatt to get a singles victory over Bryan. How is that not protecting him?

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  58. And there's a UFC event, albeit a crappy Brasil one.

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  59. I'm going to watch fastlane and I'm looking forward to it. We have an 8 week old baby so I'm mainly just psyched to leave the house and go to my buddy's for 3 hours. Plus I haven't watched raw in 3 weeks so I'm not as pessimistic.

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  60. See, I disagree - I think they've done a terrible job of fixing it.


    I can appreciate them trying to fix it, but their attempt has just made it worse.

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  61. Wheels and the Legman eps are probably my favorite things from American Dad. And I love that show.

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  62. OK....but are we really comparing & assuming that there are people or fans who will have to choose between the Oscars and a WWE PPV? I just don't see the connection. I have to believe that any choosing would be done with either the NFL or UFC.....that's it bitches.

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  63. Swagger was a overnight "Hey let's put the title on THIS guy!"spur of the moment type thing. It largely failed because they took a geek who out of nowhere we are supposed to buy as champion. The same problem they have with booking Roman Reigns. I was saying to really put the guy over and give him the Goldberg push.This is what separates him fron all those other guys you mentioned. None of those guys were getting the same level push as Reigns is. They were given time to find something that worked for them. I think its more damaging to be told "This is our guy" then backpedal and book him just like everybody else.

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  64. ON PAPER, Fastlane seems like a good to very good show. Paige/Nikki Bella can hit ** which is the equivalent of **** for a Divas match; Goldust vs. Stardust is the one match that will probably disappoint me, as I don't think they can pull off the kind of match they deserve to have; Usos vs. Kidd/Cesaro is going to be an excellent tag match; six man tags are always entertaining clusterfucks near the end, with everyone hitting their finishers; Ambrose/Barrett will probably be pretty solid, if Ambrose's wackiness doesn't injure Barrett; Bryan vs. Reigns will be match of the night thanks to Bryan carrying Reigns; Cena/Rusev will also be pretty solid, as we all know Cena can deliver the goods on the PPV stage.


    I don't see what's to complain about. Who gives a fuck about the Oscars, and all the celebrity ass-kissing and fucking Oprah Winfrey's movie winning Best Picture over Boyhood.

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  65. I'm totally watching the Oscars over the PPV. There's about a million times better chance that the award show gets spoiled for me than the PPV. And I can watch the PPV any time.

    Also, I can pretty well promise, after having been here for a few years now, there will definitely be a big contingent of BODers watching the award show.

    My point? There is totally a crossover between fans of either forms of entertainment.

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  66. With as much as people talk about movies here, I thought there would be more of a conflict. I guess I'm the only one who would choose Oscars over a WWE show.

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  67. They're all crappy.

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  68. Once the red carpet show is over I'm effectively done with the Oscars. The Golden Globes is only awards show I can watch start to finish.

    By the time the PPV is over they won't even have gotten to the primary awards yet.

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  69. Strong username to post content ratio.

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  70. Look, I'll be the first one to rag on the quality of the product, but even I think that picking a night of Hollywood self-fellatio over a WWE PPV is a bit much.

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  71. The Oscars is usually the 2nd, 3rd or 4th highest rated show of the year. It does about the same amount of viewers as the NFC/AFC Championship Games... so there's probably gonna be a lot of crossover.

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  72. My prediction: In a shocking event crossover, the American Sniper beats Roman Reigns and goes on to face Birdman at Wrestlemania!

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  73. Adam "Colorado" CurryFebruary 21, 2015 at 12:09 AM

    He always fills the douchebag troll quota now that Vince Jordan is gone.

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  74. Looks like it's just you and me for the Oscars.

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  75. Also, quite the conversationalist.

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  76. I feel like middle aged housewives would be really into Roman Reigns. He could totally star on General Hospital.

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  77. You should have used Roman numerals.

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  78. What is the appeal of the red carpet show to a viewer?


    Let me rephrase that: Why do regular people care what famous people are wearing?

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  79. I say just have Bryan win just barely but clean. Then go do Bryan vs Bork. Then you just build the ever loving fuck out of Reigns from now into the summer. No stupid fairytale promos and no heel turn either. He just decides to kick everybody's ass to get back to where he was. Also in July, do a big 16 man one night King of the Ring tournament. Have Reigns win that with the odds stacked against him.

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  80. Because it's pretty people wearing pretty things. Then every once in a while you get a pretty person wearing something ugly and you can laugh at them.

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  81. Birdman is winning best picture, calling it.

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  82. Art "AllAmericanBoy" VandelayFebruary 21, 2015 at 1:40 AM

    I don't really give a shit how much attention has been paid to it. It's free and I'm interested in seeing 6 of the 7 matches booked on the show. Bryan vs. Roman feels a lot like Bret/Diesel at KOTR 94 as a barometer for what Reigns can do. Rusev/Cena can be good, Usos/Kidd and Cesaro ought to be decent, 6-man tag has some good talent in it and it's got a storyline I personally have been waiting years to see with Cody/Goldust even if it isn't as ideal as I would have hoped.

    The booking of the show could be another issue all together but this is honestly a rock solid card from my perspective.

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  83. Art "AllAmericanBoy" VandelayFebruary 21, 2015 at 1:41 AM

    Forgot to mention Barrett/Ambrose.

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  84. Art "AllAmericanBoy" VandelayFebruary 21, 2015 at 1:42 AM

    I'm totally in agreement with everything you said.

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  85. Why even bring up PPV buys? It's not relevant anymore. It being the PPV with the least buys ever means nothing. One day WWE will put on a PPV that earns literally zero buys. That won't matter either.

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  86. Art "AllAmericanBoy" VandelayFebruary 21, 2015 at 2:51 AM

    i agree. Especially the buyrate of a show being given away for free on the network.

    You mean some people will still end up paying $50? SCORE.

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  87. Yeah, they were given another opportunity to manufacture a feel-good Bryan story. Just because they did it last year doesn't mean you can't go back to that well again. Not every WM is about the coronation of a new guy. Before Bryan, the last guy to get that was Cena in 2006.

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  88. As much as I want to make fun of WWE, I have to agree with this.

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  89. We'll have to disagree on that one. B

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  90. I have even less desire to watch an undeserving film in boyhood win than an undeserving talent like Reigns come out on top. So it's Fastlane for me.

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  91. Depends on the year, but to be honest theres nothing im really attached to this year at the oscars.

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  92. David Otunga was on General Hospital a few months ago.

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  93. My favorite outcome would be Daniel Bryan over Reigns with Rollins interference and Bryan/Lesnar + Reign/Rollins at Mania, that way Reign can still look strong. Or have Russev beat Cena as clean as possible and the Reigns over Russev at Mania

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  94. "reigns could beat Bryan and then the hardcore fans would be miserable." Fixed that for you. Also, this won't be the least "paid attention to" ppv ever. Poor tna

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  95. Because its a way to mock WWE. It makes his readers happy to bask in the glow of a dying company and gives him jokes to run I to the ground.

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  96. The dusts feud will carry over to wrestle mania.

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  97. And you fill the plain ole douchebag quota.

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  98. Your obsession with Scott Keith is very bizarre.

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  99. So much cynicism. I'm actually looking forward to this just because I have no idea what's happened in WWE since the Rumble or even know what the matches are yet.

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  100. I think casual fans have trains to get Fastlane, The #1 contenders match, Sting, and expectations for the Undertaker to make an appearance.

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  101. I believe WWE shows have gone up against the Oscars before. It'll have minimal impact on the show. Pre-Network you'd have been looking at a potential viewer pool of probably under 150,000. Back when every buy mattered it wouldn't have been smart to pick that night, but even then realistically the overall state of the product and quality of the card would have a greater impact than the Oscars being on. Now in the Network era the show will likely be seen by far more people, as the bulk of current subscribers (somewhere in the neighborhood of a million) can watch the show at their leisure. The attention they get on social media will be diminished, but it's not like that stuff means shit anyways.

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  102. Why would Koko B. Ware go to Wrestlemania?

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  103. And then Vince trolls everybody with Reigns winning the MITB case, Bryan winning the title and then Reigns cashes in against Bryan...

    ... and Wrestlemania ends with Reigns celebrating with The Rock (who helped Bryan against Lesnar, but then turned against Bryan to help Reigns).

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  104. Strong observation.

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  105. You are. It's ok, but realize that real men don't watch award shows

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  106. Yes, it is just you. Enjoy being alone.

    Side note: You should be slapped for calling him a new Ultimate Warrior. Fuck you for making the comparison

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  107. The new megastar needs to be able to read a script first pal

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  108. What goods (outside of hair) does he have?

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  109. Why do most wrestlers have to come out with the appearance of soaking wet hair? I find it really stupid and annoying.

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  110. I wasn't around for the late night thread last night, Did we have any idiots claiming that WWE's footage of the Royal Rumble was doctored to make Punk's back look less injured?

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  111. It's so their hair doesn't get dry and go all over the place ala Mr. Perfect. Ziggler said that in an interview once.

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  112. Art "AllAmericanBoy" VandelayFebruary 21, 2015 at 7:50 AM

    I don't know but it reminded me of a video Jericho referenced in his book when Batista got in trouble for blading and he said they presented a video just like the Punk one. I got a kick out of that.

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  113. After Reings beat Lesnar they should send out every big legends on their payroll to endorse Reigns : like the Rock comes out, then Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, the Undertaker, Sting, Bret Hart, HBK, hell even bring back Goldberg for the occasion ! That way maybe Reigns won't be booed by the crowd

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  114. His everyday life is a permanent crusade against those darn smark on the IWC.

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  115. Best way to enjoy WWE : not watching it

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  116. That's their target demo.

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  117. Pretty much. The PPVs are much more bearable when you go into them without all the baggage of hours and hours of TV nonsense.

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  118. TBF, he could do anything.

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  119. Eh, like some mentioned, I don't think there's a lot of carryover audience.

    "Speaking of women, 61.8 percent of viewers for last year's Oscar's telecast were female.
    Oscar
    telecasts are more for the upscale crowd. For 2013, the average
    household rating was 24, but in homes with incomes more than $100,000,
    the average rating was nearly 35."
    ....women and rich people



    A B (well, Z level) PPV on a free month when they're effectively killing pay per views has more to do with it than an awards show

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  120. But I think IF they want Roman so bad as a champion, he should be heel first. As a heel he would have more options after Wrestlemania with Cena, Ryback, Ziggler, Bryan, Sheamus, Ambrose maybe Orton. As face he has most of the heels already defeated and there aren't that many options besides Rollins, Wyatt, Big Show, Kane and Rusev.

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  121. Have you ever seen Ziggler with dry hair after a long match? Dude basically has a frizzy mess. Looks much better wet.

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  122. Art "AllAmericanBoy" VandelayFebruary 21, 2015 at 8:22 AM

    What are you implying about wrestling fans!?

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