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Less PPV

hey scott,
I know "too many ppv's" was a common mantra a few years ago but was so unrealistic because they you know actually made them money compared to about 90% of their other ventures.
1. now with the network killing off ppv can they actually drop a ppv or two without it being a big deal(ie money wise see question 5) ?
2. and would it help the product?
3. What month ppv or ppv's would you suggest be dropped? Personally either sept/oct/december  i cant even tell the names of those ones, but selfishly i always watch sunday night football over those ppv's anyway.
4.Would moving some PPV's that are head to head vs nfl games possibly to saturday nights with weaker college games be an idea they could try?
5. obviously they would need some sort of hook for the network that month something that would be exclusive and would be pulled off after 30 days maybe the austin podcasts could work. What would you suggest if you were in charge?
thanks for the answers

1.  They can drop a lot of PPVs without hardly making a dent.  In fact most of their finances are assuming that each of their PPV shows going forward will do zero revenue, so that anything is a bonus.  I mean, realistically, they’ve already given up on 6 of the 12 anyway.

2.  You’d think so, but TNA tried the same thing and ended up aimless and shitty, so you never know.

3.  I’d drop every other month.  Go with Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, Hell in a Cell in May to blow off remaining WM feuds, MITB in late June, Summerslam, and then finish with Survivor Series.  The combined buys for Night of Champions/non-Cell October show/TLC was less than one decent B-PPV this past year, so what’s even the the point anymore?  Just concentrate everything on November.

4.  I no speaky the footballs.  I have no idea what a weaker or stronger game would be.

5.  Just do a 2-hour special with some goofy themed hook like Halloween Havoc in October or Christmas in December or Tribute to the Troops or the Slammys.  My personal feeling is that they should do RAW Flashback as a special like that, or an Attitude era Flashback special, because I think they’d pop a Network number with it.  You’re not asking people to pay $60 for it anyway, so you can have fun with it and do something different. 

Comments

  1. Or they could put even the slightest bit of effort into using all that awful TV they put out each week to build to a worth watching PPV almost every month?


    Just kidding, honestly I'd just keep the PPVs as hook but I would literally do them like a raw with no commercials and a lazy name, where I might not even bother building up any matches and just sort of run like an extra tv show and fill it full of crap and call it a ppv. It's almost what they are doing anyways but I'd just go full monty with it and I doubt the numbers would be impacted at all.

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  2. Put some effort into and rebrand some of the B-Shows. Bring back King Of The Ring for a title shot at Summerslam,have a big Elimination Chamber title match at Survivor Series


    I can't imagine how bad things would get with todays booking and 2 months between PPV shows. But if they had to drop a month February & December would be my picks, i know i just said 2 months is too long but for building up the Rumble and Mania i can see it working.

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  3. You:Put some effort into...


    Vince: NO

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  4. What if they did an 8 hour a Wrestle Kingdom ish type all day long show. Like what if they ran some next kind of super event with NXT guys and WWE guys and maybe they could make a deal with some international league to feature some guys and just run this huge event? I could see that working if it was marketed right.


    And that's the problem with projecting shit for the wwe to do. You have to actually assume it will get completely fucked up and being marketed in the worst and most embarrassing way possible. Sometimes what that will be is hard to anticipate.

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  5. January - Royal Rumble
    February - Superbrawl
    March - Wrestlemania
    April - Backlash
    May - Cyber Sunday
    June - Money In The Bank
    July - King Of The Ring
    August - Summerslam
    September - Night Of Champions
    October - Halloween Havoc
    November - Survivor Series
    December - Starrcade

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  6. What a waste to own the Halloween Havoc and Starrcade properties and never use them for anything.

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  7. They should bring back the Bunkhouse Stampede.

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  8. Saturday night will often have a marquee college football game going, plus UFC and boxing are always around. Sunday works.

    Monthly PPV would be fine if it had a bigger cast of characters. Raw has the problem of goobers at USA wanting certain performers and acts all the time, so the Network can just use more of the good people and Cena can Cena up Raw all day long.

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  9. Aside: how totally Vince is it that the show called Night of Champions is an afterthought?

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  10. I'd keep the Rumble, WM, Extreme Rules, MITB, Summerslam and Survivor Series. Dump everything else from the current lineup, then add KOTR in the middle of the year with the emphasis firmly on the tournament. I'd also make Survivors completely about the elimination matches, as opposed to its current format where it's neither fish nor fowl.

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  11. WWE: The WWE Universe has spoken and they want less ppv!
    ::WWE keeps same PPV schedule but ends them after 2 hours::
    Universe: Dammit!

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  12. This, word for word, is exactly what I'd do and exactly what I've thought for years

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  13. Adam "Colorado" CurryFebruary 10, 2015 at 11:47 PM

    1. I would think so. No one really cares about the Rumble (and they've fucked that up), WM, and MITB anymore, even Summerslam is now a b-show.

    2. Yes. TNA can and will fuck up a glass of water, so that's not the best comparison.

    3. All of the gimmick PPVs, including Survivor Series. I'm really tempted to add the Rumble too. Move MITB to Summerslam, or even back to WM.

    4. No way to predict what football games will be on/any good when you book the arena 3 or 4 before. Non-issue.

    5. I hear these NXT live shows are pretty good... Cut the February PPV, MITB, HITC, and TLC. Replace them with NXT.

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  14. For once, I'm glad Vince didn't create something.

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  15. If WCW had bought WWF they for sure keep Mania, Rumble, and Summerslam. Probably Survivor Series too. Starrcade is a no brainer. They should do a throwback Nitro special sometime for spring break.

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  16. Why haven't the PPVs been moved back to Sunday afternoons by now? You'd think that would be a much better time of day to draw the families and kids that Vince covets than 8-11pm.

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  17. Adam "Colorado" CurryFebruary 11, 2015 at 12:01 AM

    I don't care what they name their shows, I just want them to not be a shorter episode of Raw.

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  18. Adam "Colorado" CurryFebruary 11, 2015 at 12:02 AM

    See also: Raw.

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  19. 1. Them fucking up the Rumble is a very good point. I haven't watched the product since this year's Rumble, but even if I get back into it, I can't possibly get excited about the next Rumble, barring the promise of HLA featuring Paige and Alicia Fox.


    2-4. Don't care


    5. Been saying it for about two years, but fuck, just cancel WWE in general and replace it with NXT.

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  20. Thanks. If only Vince thought likewise..

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  21. TJ: according to Smack down spoilers posted on 411, Big Show turns on Kane.

    If true, this turn lasted a bit less than 3 months

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  22. Considering college football is popular enough to DESTROY every cable record during its inagural playoffs, even moving it against a random Saturday night would probably not make too much of an impact. Plus, Sundays are more ideal considering families and whatnot do a lot of things on Saturday night, whereas Sunday is more of a stay-home night as kids have school and adults have work the next morning.

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  23. When NBC regained NFL in 2006, they've sunk a lot of money into making Sunday Night Football feel like a huge deal, and the result is dominating the sports ratings year after year. Flexing in marquee matchups, and the general glitz of the production, makes the Sunday nighter feel like a true 'main event' to a full day of football, even if the game winds up feeling like a blowout.

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  24. In a perfect world, I do 6 shows as PPV exclusive. Rumble, Mania, MITB, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and something else. Then have 6 Network exclusive shows with titles like WWE Network 1: TLC! or something.

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  25. As a grumpy old fan, I say bring back Saturday Night's Main Event, run it on the Network, and stick with five PPVs - the big four, plus Money in the Bank.


    If there's one good thing about SNME (out of the 400,000 good things), it's that the frenetic pacing of the show puts sluggish 3-hour Raws to shame

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  26. Keep the big 6 PPV's on the network, run the other 6 on RAW as a special attraction like NXT. It's 1 less RAW to write every 2 months, ratings get the occasional bump, and NBC Universal smiles.

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  27. Bring...back....the....brand.....split.

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  28. Big 5 or bust. It was good enough for 1993 and 1994, it's good enough for 2015!

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  29. Man, a Survivor Series card consisting solely of, say, five elimination matches that all went at least 30 minutes each would be awesome.

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  30. They already have two brands.

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  31. Personally I would just alternate NXT specials every other month and bump Summerslam to July.

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  32. Because they'd get crushed during NFL season.

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  33. Subtitles aren't cheesy enough. Ex: Fast Lane should be WWE Network 1: Return of the Stinger!

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  34. Change Cyber Sunday with Superbrawl and Superbrawl in February with No Way Out. Night of the Champions could be Fall Brawl. ;)

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  35. Absolutely. Look no further than the first event, easily one of the best shows of the Hulkamania era and it still holds up today. In particular, the main event showed how a well-booked elimination match could both further a major feud (Hogan/Andre) and showcase an up-and-coming talent (Bigelow).

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  36. That would be a good theory if it weren't for the fact that PPVs have gone head to head against the NFL on Sunday nights for two decades now and it really hasn't made much of a difference since the football audience likely weren't going to buy the PPVs anyway and it doesn't affect the PPV audience because who switches channels during a $40 PPV?

    If anything, it would appeal to the families and kids that don't care about football and would rather watch something else.

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  37. I doubt they'd give a shit if you switch channels during a PPV they already got your money I just figured they wouldn't buy. But you do make a good point maybe its easier on their schedule to run the shows at night.

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  38. Adam "Colorado" CurryFebruary 11, 2015 at 3:07 AM

    Random things I think about at 5 a.m. when I can't sleep: why did Super Mario 3 not have any kind of save function? Did they pay that part of the budget to Fred Savage for promotion? Or the guy that said "she has no breasts" in a creepy manner that wasn't really appropriate for a movie geared towards kids? Or did they just decide to put a tiny flaw in an otherwise perfect game?

    Damn it, I want to know!

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  39. I want 30 brands. More brands, more world champions, more main eventer, more stars, more sold ppvs, more sold network subscriptions. Everything will be more. ;-)

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  40. I'd keep 6, but still do "Network Specials" in place of the missing PPV's, where they're like Clash of the Champions from the 95-97 era of WCW, not your PPV level main events, but still bigger matches, or just move the NXT Takeover's in place and run with 6 WWE PPV's and 6 NXT PPV's.

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  41. Jesus, imagine 3 hour Raws with HALF the roster! Bryan would wrestle five times and somehow lose six of those to Big Show and Kane.

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  42. WWE NETWORK IN YOUR HOUSE (OR MOBILE DEVICE!) 1: All Aboard The Rooooo(man) Train!

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  43. I'd imagine them going bi-monthly with PPVs would be an absolute disaster in terms of booking because they'd have to re-educate the 40-strong writing team or whatever it is about how to build and when to peak things. In other words, I figure instead of 14 Miz/Mizdow vs. Uso matches, we'd get 28 before it got to PPV.

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  44. You make a solid point but my retort to them needing to reeducate the writing on how to build and peak things is that they would first need to TEACH them to do those things before they could be reeducated.

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  45. Not that I'm complaining about having Rumble or Mania on the Network because hell yeah, but when they announced the network I assumed they'd at least keep Rumble and Mania on PPV and put the rest on the Network. And I woulda been cool with that.

    Keep your two PPV that make you hand over fist and give away the others that don't sell so hot on the Network. Rumble and Mania still sell the same and the Network still gets 10 PPV for cheap.

    But again, hell yes Ill take WrestleFreakinMania for $10.

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  46. As for the dropping PPVs thing I think dropping the PPV the month before a big show could work.

    Drop the December PPV to give time to build from Survivor Series to the Rumble.

    Drop the February PPV to build your Mania card in earnest.

    Drop July to build to Summerslam and drop October to build to Survivor Series.

    I would also consider making Survivor Series the Elimination Chamber show.

    I wouldn't be surprised to see them experiment more with shows with the Network in the future.

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  47. I’m not sure those long builds really work anymore, because they feel
    they have to do a big angle thing every week and 8 or 9 of those for one match
    is overkill. They’ve already resorted to “tag team partners who can’t get along”
    for Reigns and Bryan, and that’s just been a 3 week build. By week 7, they’d be
    introducing ex-girlfriends and pets and all kinds of nonsense to the storyline.

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  48. I don't think they'd have a clue how to book weekly shows without a looming PPV to work around. They've gotten pretty lazy over the years, with this sort of stuff:

    -Bryan/Reigns have to team together
    -Cena/Ambrose vs Rusev/Barrett
    -Bryan gets distracted by Reigns on the ramp and gets rolled up for the loss by someone random
    -Cena vs someone goes to non-finish when Rusev runs in
    -Usos beat Mizdow this week. Mizdow beat Usos next week.
    -Jay Uso vs Miz this week. Jimmy Uso vs Mizdow next week. One win each.

    The clichés are endless, all seemingly focused on 'build' for the PPV.

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  49. Nothing wrong with having a PPV every month, no one would care how many PPVs there were if the product wasn't so terrible. How would cutting down the PPVs help? It's the writing that need sorting out not the schedule

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  50. The stories are so boring now, nothing happens - so it'd be 9 weeks or repetitive promos and tag team/ handicap matches.

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  51. Hell yes on moving them to Saturday. I still remember Souled Out98' being on a Saturday and having an absolute blast with my old high school crew.

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  52. This is sad, there is a lot you can do with a 6-12 week build for a match. They just lost their touch.

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  53. I played through SMB3 on my Wii using homebrew. I was able to save at any point, it was tremendous, I went into the last castle with 99 lives and huge collection of power ups. In the original a player was to use the warp zones as a sort of save feature.

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  54. I would *love* Saturday PPVs. No more internet blackouts until Monday evening. I could watch live with the BoD! They wouldn't want to go head to head with UFC though, and UFC books up about 30+ saturdays a year.

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  55. I'll go with they'll do too much *and* it'll be boring and repetitive, with initial motivations lost in a procession of bad authority segments.

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  56. Bryan would be on Smackdown, that'll teach him to be popular!

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  57. You're probably right. Which is a bummer.

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  58. Are there any midcard stories in the WWE anymore? It seems like it's all about whoever's fighting for the championship and whatever Cena's got going on. It seems to me if they put any thought into the undercards, they could book some PPVs worth a damn.

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  59. Adam "Colorado" CurryFebruary 11, 2015 at 5:19 AM

    The SNES version had saves too.

    The NES version? You could either spend 3 or 4 hours collecting all the power ups, or use the 2 whistles and go into world 8 unarmed. Back then I could do that and beat the game in less time than the average HHH/HBK match. Today? I'm loading up with P-wings and clouds. Fuck it, more fun playing through the whole game, I can save whenever I want on an emulator.

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  60. They've really forgotten how to do tiered booking. Titles should not be defended on TV unless it's the main event and it's promoted at least the week before. Having a tag title match as Raw main event once every few months would freshen things up.

    If needed make one title, IC or US, a television title equivalent and have it defended on every Raw or Smackdown. Have the holder defend against any and all contenders, from jobbers to legitimate threats.

    Fewer PPVs won't help, since they can't book week-to-week right now, let alone a two-month slow build. Only when they start structuring the TV properly will PPVs/specials start to feel important again.

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  61. They could have 24 PPVs or 6. That's not the main problem. The writing team needs to learn how to write pro wrestling and Vince needs to stop making stupid booking decisions.

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  62. Adam "Colorado" CurryFebruary 11, 2015 at 5:43 AM

    Fuck, watch this:http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=super+mario+3+speedrun+world+record&FORM=VIRE7#view=detail&mid=A9F76E0788B1E95AC7DAA9F76E0788B1E95AC7DA

    I use the P-wing to fly over the first stage on world 8. This fucking guy gets about 75 1-ups. That is not an exaggeration, he starts off with a 30 some 1-up combo. Ho. Lee. Shit.

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  63. Go to 6 WWE PPVs and replace the other 6 with NXT specials.

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  64. I'd change Night of Champions to Clash of Champions.

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  65. Eh. I don't know. TLC got a bit weighed down with having the same kind of gimmick so much that by the time I got to the one I wanted to see, I was kind of bored with it.

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  66. I thought the directive was specifically NOT to hire wrestling writers, but TV writers?

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  67. 2 main reasons.


    1. Because of the size of the games and how little space there was to save data, Nintendo game makers would often up the difficulty of what would be a short game in order to extend playtime. So you had to get good enough at Mario 3 to make it the whole way and that might take thirty hours thus giving you a good ROI.


    2. At that juncture, memory cards were not yet a thing. There were two ways to have a saved game. One would be to put a small battery in the actual cart. This was used for games like Legend of Zelda and Castlevania 2 and such. The other would be to use the "Metroid" method and have codes. (See also. Mega Man)


    Since the battery option was an expensive one, they didn't do it all that often. And often not for somewhat shorter games. They could have used the code option, however, refer to point 1.

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  68. The writers may be coming up with some excellent, long-term plans with intricate turns and shocking twists, but what's the point because everything is changed by next week due to the whims of an egomaniac.

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  69. Other than Miz-Mizdow and the Dust Brothers breakup there are no real undercard stories. Bayless reviews of 80s WWF shows how a strong undercard could carry the weekly builds to the major cards while keeping the main event match something special. Rotating the featured feud of the week would help in keeping the weekly shows fresh while keeping everyone excited about the overall card and its main event.

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  70. I am very much looking forward to NXT tonight. I can't even say that about wrestlemania.

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  71. Looking forward to it too. Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to watch it live I'll have to wait a few hours. But it looks like a hell of a show.

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  72. Given the current state of their writing it wouldn't matter. The B-level shows are already RAWs with fewer commercials and house show quality matches. It might help ratings a little as you'd get some bigger blowoff matches & angles on TV, but in reality it would just mean them stretching things out from 4 weeks to 8 before paying them off. Having to do 3 hours of PPV-caliber material live every week negates the very purpose of PPVs.

    What they need to do is consider making the PPVs PG-13 content-wise. Not go full Attitude Era maybe, but at least bring blood back, some coarser language, get a bit risque with the Divas. Differentiate the shows from the tamer PG TV product. It's hard to argue that the Network should be family friendly when its main selling point seems to be the Attitude Era content. It would at least give fans something to pay money on that they can't already see weekly for free.

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  73. "Yep Mode" Abeyance Brown ©February 11, 2015 at 6:53 AM

    Completely forgot about that, thanks for reminding me.

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  74. So, waiting for surgery #2. Not as scared this time.

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  75. "Yep Mode" Abeyance Brown ©February 11, 2015 at 6:55 AM

    Nah, they don't have much if any midcard stories anymore. They all feel like they're fighting for no cause.

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  76. "Yep Mode" Abeyance Brown ©February 11, 2015 at 6:55 AM

    You have to have another one? Geez, well good luck.

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  77. When did the brand split officially die?

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  78. but they had a stairs match this year, thats new!!

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  79. I'm listing to Tapestry, I forgot it's a damn good album.

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  80. Was it about 2012? They made Raw the Raw Super Show with Smackdown talent as well and then I think the rosters just quietly merged

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  81. Yeah thanks. By the way, can't do it now but I'll be restarting your subscription soon. Methinks I was being a whiny piss baby. Also they are doing what I want...kinda. So maybe being a whiny piss baby paid off.

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  82. I think they should go back to just 5 major pay per views and build the Network around the other seven months of super shows.

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  83. It's Too Late is such a great song.

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  84. "2. You’d think so, but TNA tried the same thing and ended up aimless and shitty, so you never know."


    Clearly, you don't watch the product or haven't in years.

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  85. Technically Night of Champions was a Bischoff idea for the final Nitro the week before they finalized the deal with McMahon. In his final phone call, Bischoff asked any former champion to show up. After Vince finalized the deal -- the best thing we got was Sting vs. Flair in a T-shirt. So the lackluster was inherited.

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  86. Remember when boxing main events were on Tuesday nights?

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  87. The Jack Tunney memori--

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  88. WWE wouldn't know how to produce a Nitro.

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  89. Or WWE Network1: View the Vigilante!

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  90. #4. There's a reason the Saturday night games are in prime time. They're usually the best games of the week. I think any event that you can legitimately gamble on will always be viewed more than the WWE.

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  91. I'd say monthly "PPVs" are the biggest hook the network has. Get rid of them and people will disappear for two months at a time.

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  92. What's the different between a PPV and a "Network super show"?

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  93. I used to think the number of PPVs was a problem, but I think you could have 12 major shows during the year. The problem is that they are not properly promoted or actually feel like they have any meaning. Years ago, every PPV had an impact on the future of WWE storylines and it made it feel like the money you paid was worthwhile. Now, PPVs from only 2 months ago are barely remembered and have no impact on today's show. Even terrible PPVs like King of the Ring 95 resulted in months of impact on the show.

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  94. I'm pretty sure most of the people who take shots at TNA haven't watched it in a while. It seems like they have a hit and miss kind of product. Some of the misses have been pretty big misses and I think people judge them by that. I haven't watched in a while because of the Hogan days. I really need to check it out again.

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  95. I tried to watch a lot of the 2014 stuff before the reboot and I found it veered from dull to just far too much stupid comedy. I know some find Spud entertaining but it seemed he was in almost every segment of the show.

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  96. I think the WWE App is the ideal angle to bring back Cyber Sunday as a PPV. But actually do it properly - let people *genuinely* vote for matches they want to see, rather than fixing the polls.

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  97. I don't see any Kane or Big Show in there, so it's an improvement! ;)

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  98. I'm optimistic they're using the reboot as a chance to focus more on their strengths, even if another heel stable are the main event bad guys.

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