Scott,
I find the HHH one pretty distasteful because it's not a story that anyone is interested in seeing or believes, and it plays on a problem that exists far too often in the real world. Not to mention that the World champion has been out for weeks with a concussion because he's been killing himself for the company for years. Whereas HHH does two matches a year and makes sure to put himself over the best talent in the company whenever he works.
TNA, if they are building towards Hogan vs. Bully at Bound For Glory might be running the same storyline as WWE is now. Take a gaander:
TNA - Roster + Brooke Hogan + Dixie Carter begging Hulk to not wrestle against Bully Ray. He says he has to
WWE - McMahon family + Roster beggiing Triple H to not wrestle because of his "concussion" incident.
Quite strange. Both men booking themselves in the same sympathy storyline. Which do you prefer? I definitely prefer Hogan's.
With the Hogan story, my problem is that Hogan CAN'T work the match and we know it. The story itself is fine, but we're just sick of seeing the guy and we already know he's not going to move the numbers.
"...but we're just sick of seeing the guy and we already know he's not going to move the numbers."
ReplyDeleteI've been sick of him for almost 25 years!
WWE is just going to use the HHH story to say they are using a story that focuses on concussions to raise awareness for head injuries. Get ready for yet another montage with Stephanie at some press conference with a children's hospital.
ReplyDeleteYeah, fuck them both.
ReplyDeleteHogan will get that show to do a .8-1.0 butyrate.
ReplyDeleteOnly 15 years here... still too damn long.
ReplyDeleteHollywood Hulk Hogan, Hunter Hearst Helmsley......
ReplyDelete.....wanna be in control, have three H's in your name.....
...Husky Hank Harris wouldve been more successful than Bray Wyatt.....
I didn't watch WCW and it was cool to see him back in 2002 at first so I'll go 10 years.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Hulkamaniac and I have no desire to see him wrestle at this point. The ONLY thing I'd be ok with him doing in a match is standing on the apron and getting a hot tag. I definitely don't want to see him in a singles match as he hasn't been able to wrestle a decent one in years.
ReplyDelete'Not to mention that the World champion has been out for weeks with a concussion because jack swagger is a sloppy okie'
ReplyDeleteI think that's better.
I also relaized that the only reason that the McMaHHHons were on RAW was cause they were so close to WWE HQ. I guess it was to pimp next weeks opening, but it was still kind of a throwaway appearance.
Good call on three Hs, Thats why Santa "Ho Ho Ho" Clause rules the world.
ReplyDeleteSee, I can visualize HHH taking on Brock AGAIN in a similar storyline to when Shawn took on Owen in 96, or even Rocky III. That's not good.
ReplyDeleteHogan vs Sting a couple years ago and Hogan/Abyss vs. Flair/Styles were perfectly fine for me. I just don't see how Hogan winning the belt from Bully benefits anyone. Hogan gets the belt then has to vacate it, Bully loses to a man that can barely walk, and the fans get a garbage match.
ReplyDeleteI hope they just have AJ win the title at BFG.
Hogan vs. Sting was decent enough but would it kill Hogan to put over someone under the age of 40?
ReplyDeleteThat's a stupid question. Of course it would.
I don't really see the parallel here.
ReplyDeleteTNA is building towards Hogan vs. Bully being a huge match that might actually main event what's supposed to be a moneymaking show for them for their championship.
WWE seems to be building towards HHH's angle being an upper-mid card program with a guy they're only halfway interested in pushing that's going to end in a shenanigan designed to show that "WWE Cares" and not draw money at all.
I mean, yeah both are bad ideas with guys we don't like, but I don't see it as anything more than that.
That and because game 7 of a really interesting NBA series was on that night. They were going to get killed in the ratings and they knew it but they also knew they had a few minutes at that 8pm hour before they jumped the ball where they could get people's attention so they threw their old moneymaker (McMahons) and their new hot act (Shield, Hell No) out at the same time hoping/praying people would stick with them.
ReplyDeleteDidn't work out for them.
There is a SERIOUS problem with not only your booki... ahem... WRITING team but with your own personal brain if you think it's a good idea to have the main storyline of your company be about concussions and one man's quest to ignore the pleas of his family in order to compete. Less than ten years ago one of the most popular and well-known wrestlers in the world killed his family and himself due to mental problems caused by multiple undiagnosed and ignored concussions. Like Scott said, there's also the issue with Dolph. Even if you give these monkeys the benefit of doubt and say that they created this masterful, elaborate angle before Dolph suffered his concussion, there's still Benoit. Nevermind the fact that they should drop the angle due to it being bad timing and in poor taste. If anything, Dolph is probably being shit on because he ruined WWE's big summer storyline by hitting his head too hard.
ReplyDeleteConcussions are the most common injury in wrestling, but they are also an extremely sore subject in the business. Why go there? What is the payoff, Curtis Axel hitting Triple H in the head? Hitting someone repeatedly in the head, risking a head injury, all to sell an imaginary head injury. Genius.
What Scott said is true, this is pissing on Dolph who suffered an injury because he was busting his ass for the company, and they turn around and indirectly mock him. "Triple H has a concussion, but he wants to fight! Dolph has a concussion, and the pussy took two months off! WHO DO YA LOVE, WWE UNIVERSE?! HUBBA HUBBA HUBBA, MONEY, MONEY, MONEY!"
The entire HHH is baffling to me...Brock is an after thought and what the hell is the end game exactly here?
ReplyDeleteTotally comes off totally as a "don't forget about me" HHH ego trip. Heaven forbid new talent get themselves over and fans transition from the old era to the future.
Can't wait to see HunTor overcome this all and totally destroy Curtis Axel, probably killing any momentum he'd have in the process.
It would seem like they're heading towards Wrestlemania with HHH fighting against doctors' orders because of the concussions so he can have his big underdog Superman moment, which we're getting no matter anyone wants because he's HHH and is getting a moment whether we like it or not blast it all.
ReplyDeleteBrooke.
ReplyDeleteIt's almost as if Vince is callous, and uncaring.
ReplyDeleteWHODATHUNKOFIT
I was sick of Hogan in the 90's - but I have to admit that the ratings and WCW's sucess during his run more or less justified his presence, at least to some degree. But if he was going to move the numbers for TNA, they would have moved by now.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. Can they just turn her already so we can boo her as a heel instead of a face?
ReplyDeleteI would say boo whomever you like, regardless.
ReplyDeleteI cheered for Ric Flair when he was a heel, when I was 7 years old.
Goddamnit I hope you're wrong... but deep down, I know you're probably right.
ReplyDeletehttp://memegeneokerlund.com/media/created/a0mrse.jpg
ReplyDeleteHis hair *was* awesome, though.
ReplyDeleteOP means "similar" and not "identical." Case of the Monsoons.
ReplyDeleteI really don't see Hogan-Bully at BFG. Maybe I'm being too optimistic.
ReplyDeleteIf they HAVE to do this retarded HHH concussion angle, why not have it be from the beating he (should have) taken from Brock Lesnar? Just play it up as "HHH was tough, but couldn't hang" and Brock beats him into a concussion.
ReplyDeleteI really wish people would stop saying Benoit was directly a cause of concussions. Yes, its a possibility, but its not gospel by any means. People really seem to be willing to ignore that Nowinski has an agenda and used Benoit to get SLI media attention. And it is sort of disturbing that the undertone seems to be "its not REALLY Benoit's fault! Its Vince's, for making him wrestle so much!"
ReplyDeleteI have honestly never given a shit about Hulk Hogan. He seemed old and washed up from the second I first saw him in 93. Maybe for a nanosecond I thought he was ok in nWo, but he was never the one I liked.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, but I also think it's fair to say that repeated blows to the head may have played a PART in contributing to Benoit's actions. But it's very important to not conflate that to "It wasn't his fault." Middle ground and all that...
ReplyDeleteMNF regularly pulls in numbers in excess of that playoff game. Plus network TV is on repeats. And the game was effectively over will before the third hour. Don't think it's as simple as just blaming Heat/Pacers for this rating.
ReplyDeleteMe too, except sub in 88 for 93. I enjoyed the first six months of Hollywood... then it became painfully clear they had no exit strategy.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you can do it for me, if you want, I don't have access right now, but that Heat-Pacers game last night drew 11.5 million people. It's the highest rating in the history of TNT, that's nuts. It may be on par with some MNF games.
ReplyDeleteAnd?
ReplyDeleteAnd the Stephanie goes home and fucks Triple H?
ReplyDeleteMNF averaged 12.8 last year, and it was the lowest average ESPN has had for that program for four years.
ReplyDeleteSource:http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2012/12/nfl-wrap-espn-has-lowest-rated-least-viewed-mnf-season-since-08/
So...media should just ignore issues if they're controversial? That is...I don't want to say stupid...but...what are you talking about?
ReplyDeleteOh, and I'll tell you the difference between Triple H attempting to wrestle with a concussion and Dolph Ziggler taking time off.
DOLPH REALLY HAS A CONCUSSION! TRIPLE H DOES NOT!
He had the brain of a 80-something year old Alzeimer's patient.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who's dealt with 80-something year old Alzheimer's patients... it's a distinct possibility he *didn't* know what he was doing.
But we'll never *really* know.
...
ReplyDeleteIT WAS!
Triple H (kayfabe) got the concussion from Brock's sledgehammer shot+F-5 at Extreme Rules.
If you want to complain...watch the fucking show.
MNF is a shadow of it's former self. If it weren't for the advent of Football Night in America and Thursday Night Football, I would think Raw would be in far worse shape than it is today.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info. That's pretty impressive if a basketball play-off game can even come close to the MNF average. That's never happened to my recollection. That means, that if that's the average, they actually beat some games from last year.
ReplyDeleteSir, It is a long standing tradition of the "Internet Wrestling Community" to criticize things you haven't seen, but only heard of.
ReplyDeleteBut just imagine the ratings if the Heat had Tim Tebow playing for them!
ReplyDeleteYeah, they beat most of the games from the latter half of the season actually. Which is crazy in 2013. Of course, Bull/Pacers '98 game 7 pulled in 30 FUCKING MILLION viewers on NBC, so all things are relative.
ReplyDeleteIf I had all the numbers in front of me I'd put them in a database and do some analyses to see if the hypothesis that MNF has a significant effect on RAW actually holds up statistically. I know we all think it does, but I've never seen it confirmed anywhere. I think to really prove an effect you'd also have to show that on weeks that MNF dropped raw had a correlative and proportional increase.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's nuts. I wonder what that game last night would've done on ABC. In 98, everyone knew it was the Bulls last hurrah with that incarnation of Phil, MJ and Pippen so I can see everyone wanting to see that. 30 million...wow.
ReplyDeleteIt's probably my own personal bias, as an inveterate football fan trying to fit wrestling in at any cost.
ReplyDeleteThe two are probably far less connected in reality than they are in my twisted little mind.
There are some more fun comparisons at the bottom of this article:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2013/06/nba-playoffs-despite-declines-heatpacers-finishes-strong-on-tnt/
A little bit apples and oranges since most of those other game 7s are on broadcast TV and we're only getting total viewers and not ratings, but still interesting. I mean...Bucks/Sixers from 2001 beat last night's game by 2 million viewers. Wow.
That's my feeling as well. I choose between them regularly so everybody else must be choosing as well! Yeah...I'll keep telling myself that...
ReplyDeleteImagine how hard it was for me circa 2001, trying to balance Football, Wrestling *and* Pussy!
ReplyDeleteYeah, wrestling lost.
That's true, it's in the charter.
ReplyDelete"Just so everyone knows, I can't even bring myself to watch this crap for months, maybe YEARS, but here are my ridiculously strong opinions about why it sucks!"
...which are often surprisingly still valid.
ReplyDeleteHogan alone will get BFG to do a better butyrate than wrestlemania.
ReplyDelete