Read this article about the impending tv deal and figured it was something to yap about. Personally, I don't know what any of this stuff means.
It could never happen. Vince controls 90% of the shares of the company and it's nearly impossible for him to actually sell it. I doubt it would ever happen as long as Vince is alive, either. Now if he dies and the investors don't have confidence in his doofus son-in-law running a billion dollar business, that's another story.
do you know if anyone has ever actually made an offer or inquired about it? I doubt he would ever sell but why wouldn't someone try anyway?
ReplyDeleteMark Cuban, Toby Keith, and Shane McMahon are all in in a deal
ReplyDelete"The WWE beat every NBA playoff game on cable by nearly a million viewers."
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like one of those bullshit puff "did you know" pieces they run. Does business simply not pick up until Round 3 or what? How the FUCK is that even possible?
The relationship between Foley and WWE has been especially strange over the past few years. Like they unheard of nice things for him when he was with TNA (like promoting his book AND interviewing him -- and promoting his book even more -- on WWE.com). But then they come extremely close to booting his Hall of Fame induction off of the USA broadcast and at WrestleMania this year, they didn't even include him when they announced all of the Hall of Famers in the audience (and we know he was there, in the audience, because he said he would be during the pre-show). And the guy begged to be on the Christmas edition of Raw (typically a throwaway show) and he was shot down to Main Event, I believe.
ReplyDeleteMaybe that's part of the reason why he's not renewing. He generally feels unappreciated.
Mick Foley is such a dick and I dont agree with him at all on the speech. I love the way he has to advertise that he isnt signing a Legends deal. Why doesnt he grow the fuck up? He had no issue with Vince hawking his book while he was in TNA.....
ReplyDeleteEvery series in the west is going to be crazy. The warriors could so fucking steal it this season.
ReplyDeleteI think the Macho Man death hit the Hulkster pretty bad and it has to be tough to lose so many of the guys he once worked with...
ReplyDeleteIt was reported that Comcast/NBC and MSG/Cablevision were possible buyers. No idea if that was speculation or they kicked the tires.
ReplyDeleteTotally surprised Bruno is last. We NEVER get stories about the 60s, but I guess most of us assume he wouldn't tell all the interesting stuff.
ReplyDeleteThe pine tar on the neck was hysterical. Love that guy!
ReplyDeleteThose aren't on basic cable.
ReplyDeleteThings like that us why we love the internet.
ReplyDeleteI googled "Harvey Whipplemans wife" and got this. ..
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fimg3.wikia.nocookie.net%2F__cb20120517133229%2Fprowrestling%2Fimages%2F8%2F8d%2FHarvey_Wippleman_1.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fprowrestling.wikia.com%2Fwiki%2FHarvey_Wippleman%2FImage_gallery&h=435&w=522&tbnid=gZR6V-q9WQdJeM%3A&zoom=1&docid=mtBu0jcDiHxKfM&ei=k8JZU7q9OY2A2AX4lYCIDA&tbm=isch&client=ms-android-verizon&ved=0CD8QMygJMAk&iact=rc&uact=3&page=1&start=0&ndsp=24
How the hell does NASCAR get $820 million a year?
ReplyDeleteI just don't get how the WWE hasn't already pulled a $300 million/year deal. It's definitely a way undervalued television property. And that USA isn't making a big play to keep it (when they've lost their best original programming over the last few years, and they haven't launched a successful new original program since Suits) why they aren't doing everything to keep Raw.
If I were Fox, I'd make a huge deal to get Raw on FX and Smackdown on FS1.
It is so hard to watch any footage of him with his girls....
ReplyDeleteAre conference finals still split between TNT and ESPN?
ReplyDeleteThe finals are all network. (ABC, right?).
Ok, let's go conference finals then...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nba.com/2013/news/06/04/pacers-heat-game-7-tv-ratings.ap/#$/2013/news/06/04/pacers-heat-game-7-tv-ratings.ap/index.html
Thats not what he said at all. He said 8 to 9 million WOULD watch Wrestlemania on free TV. Thats still a bullshit statement unless they're on a really hype network, but its a different kind of bullshit.
ReplyDeletePlenty of people who WOULD watch something for free wouldn't necessarily steal it.
ReplyDeleteHow many people watched SNL in it's most recent incarnation?
ReplyDeleteI'd believe it.
ReplyDeleteDon't talk about Triple H that way. He's the game and he knows how to play.
ReplyDeleteThe problem for HHH is going to be that he's really out of place in that corporate structure. Does he have an MBA? Did he even GO to college? Sure, he understands the business probably better than anyone, but are the bigwigs at the networks he'll have to be negotiating with going to respect that? If they end up as part of a large media conglomerate, will the real C.E.Os and C.O.Os he'll be dealing with take the guy who spits water all over himself seriously?
ReplyDeleteYou don't need business acumen when you can crotch-chop at a board meeting.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing because more of us were watching and paying attention in 1993? Piper's shoot covers the year before I remember starting to watch WWF, and Bruno's, shit, I wasn't even a twinkle in someone's eye at that point.
ReplyDeleteBut 1993 Vader? Sid with the scissors? Lost in Cleveland? White Castle of Fear? Classics!
11 million for a conference final makes sense. But these aren't the conference finals; these are best-of-seven first round series that are kind of a drag. I haven't been into basketball for while, and when I was I wasn't really interested until the conference semi-finals or finals.
ReplyDeleteWhat do the big TNT games on Thursdays usually draw?
You are right, read that wrong. Its still insane. If the WWE thought they could get 10 million for WrestleMania, it would have been on cable for years. ESPN pays about $100 million per MNF game for those ratings.
ReplyDeleteIt has to do with advertising and the desired demos. WWE programming gets the high ratings (for cable) but not the kind of demographics that top-dollar advertisers want.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's inaccurate. If you average all three hours of RAW together, they came out about a million viewers more than the Memphis/OKC game, but the Clippers/GS game had more viewers, so I'm not sure what creative maths they are doing to get that factoid.
ReplyDeleteIt's not that surprising -- it's early in the playoffs (first round), early in the series (Game 2), and between two very small market teams (both are in the bottom 5)
and between the 2nd and 7th seed.
That you, jobber?
ReplyDeleteI'm always surprised Nick Bockwinkle never got a shot in the NWA or WWF; he was a fantastic worker, a great talker, and was one of the best heels in the business for at least a decade.
ReplyDeleteIts also 1 episode of Raw vs like 20 playoff games in a week. Just an article full of BS.
ReplyDeleteReminds of that financial analyst who said he thought the Network could hit 8 million subscribers in 2 years.
Just no idea about the business at all.
I have plenty of faith in HHH to run shit. He might not have the business acumen than Vince has but he seems to have things going in the right direction and also seems to be a helluva negotiator when it comes to mending fences...
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, but there is just no fucking way that the NASCAR demographic should be more value than the WWE one.
ReplyDeleteIf NASCAR launched a digital channel available on Apple TV, there fans would try to get the details from the nearest orchard.
Holy hell. Ironmike is clearly fucking insane. Wow!
ReplyDeleteOther than that, the review was great Bayless, keep up the great work.
The point of Wrestlemania isn't eyes on the product though, its solely money. The company would've done massive ratings if they released that as a heavily hyped special on NBC in the late 80s/early 90s, but unless NBC paid through the nose it wouldn't be worth it. WM could be very easy to lose money on given the production values required, not to mention rent on the building and huge contracts and etc.
ReplyDeleteAlso, that would require them executing a proper long-term build to the event, something that hasn't been done in years.
I thought the most important demo is 18-34, Im guessing WWE does quite well with that age group....
ReplyDeleteWhat you meant to say was that my reviews of 1984 WWF left you so inspired that you really wanted to see the 1984 timeline. Or not.
ReplyDelete2.3 million viewers
ReplyDeleteCaliber stuff was gold (left on the table).
ReplyDeleteThis This TNTs dint do nearly as well as one would expect. Read an article that said TNA averaged 2.1 million per game the first half of this year. I'm not sure if that included their Tuesday games also
ReplyDeleteI think you are severely underrating the popularity of Nascar...
ReplyDeleteThe biggest problem with wrestling is that viewers come for wrestling and leave when its over. Which is what the author doesnt get.
ReplyDeleteIts why the CW got rid of SmackDown. The ratings were great but didnt help any other shows.
With sports, they are used to build an audience for other shows. Like how 60 Minutes does crazy rstings after NFL or the Masters.
When Raw ends, wrestling fans leave USA for a week. That is why they get less money than sports.
My other avatar is in the hospital still recovering from your cheap shot!
ReplyDeleteIs that not what I said?
ReplyDelete*Looks Up*
Totally what I meant, Bayless.
The assumption is that those fans don't have disposable income and lack the education and drive to improve their lot in life, so there's no incentive to market high-end products to them. Obviously, they're wrong, but that's the perception.
ReplyDeletePlus, no matter what the numbers look like, some corporations want nothing to do with professional wrestling.
Good for you.
ReplyDeleteWill Wall Street?
Will their corporate partners Mattell? NBCUniversal? MLBTV?
Those are legitimate companies run by legitimate CEOs. If Stephanie is the woman truly in charge of the company, that's one thing. But I don't see a guy who never went to college being taken seriously by these guys if he's the head of the company. The head of creative? Or talent development? Sure. But if he's in charge of the ENTIRE COMPANY.... many corporate partners will only view him as the "doofus son-in-law."
Every NASCAR race crushes the WWE in every possible way when it comes to ratings. And those fans watch the races, the qualifying, the practice, the preview shows, the wrapups...its probably 2nd only to football in terms of watching all the other stuff that isn't the race.
ReplyDeleteNASCAR practice (!!!) draws 2-3 million every week.
Yeah, that's part of it, too. But the assumption also exist that wrestling fans are poor and uneducated.
ReplyDeleteI'm not; go read the article, the guy says the ratings are the same, but the demos for NASCAR are older and whiter, whereas the wrestling demographic is more evenly spread.
ReplyDeleteI am saying NASCAR fans are fucking morons. FUCKING. MORONS.
I think Stephanie will be the true heiress for this very reason.
ReplyDeleteI find that really hard to believe about that demo. You figure WWE caters to the young kids nowadays and folks in the 18-34 demo are the ones with kids. They buy the toys, games, shirts, and take the kids to the events...
ReplyDelete"Combined, the (WWE) air(s) 156 episodes a year that average a 2.2 household rating. Nascar airs 154 races and averages a 1.38 household rating among viewers, who are 92% white and over 50. WWE’s audience is far more diverse and broken out fairly evenly among age groups. A selling point is that 44% of them are under 34."
ReplyDeleteThat's from the article.
There is no way the investors are going to let Triple H run a public company when Vince dies.
ReplyDeleteThey will put in business people in charge when that happens. I dont think you realize thst the WWE is not a wrestling company anymore, its a corporation. Its all numbers now.
Maybe the Disc Two review I post tomorrow will top it.
ReplyDeleteThe credibility of the author is currently in question now.
ReplyDeleteAnd Fucking NASCAR fans are Rhodes scholars? SERIOUSLY?
ReplyDeleteLike I said, it's not actually true. It's just the perception.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of ratings -- One fun note gained from some older Observer newsletters:
ReplyDeleteThe 'massive' 15.2 rating for the Hogan/Andre ME in 1988 was considered (at least by Meltzer) to be 'average'. It ended up placing 31rst for the week, though it did win it's timeslot and came out above the 11.6 that "Rags to Riches" averaged normally in the spot.
Retroactive point but when the Thunder play KD, Russ, Thabo, Perk, and Ibaka, they are easy playing 2.5 on 5 on offense. Thabo runs to the corner. Perkins tries not to step over his feet. And ibaka just stands around waiting for a mid range jumper. Ibaka gets his points but it's all open spot of J's or offensive boards. You can't run a fucking play for him
ReplyDeleteI'm officially starting the Fire Brooks crusade
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, the author was only quoting Variety. What the fuck do they know about television?
ReplyDeleteWell NASCAR has 36 races. So to get to 154, he is including about 110 minor league races.
ReplyDeleteOkay yeah, 9 million viewers for a free WrestleMania is probably a pipe dream.
ReplyDeleteThis is one ugly ass game.
ReplyDeleteI do realize it and this guy is being groomed to take over. Its been put out there that he and Steph produced WM XXX and Im pretty sure he championed the training center down in Florida...
ReplyDeleteYou are going by HHH the character, the guy you think holds people down. Not the guy that was able to bring both Bruno and Warrior along with Hogan back into the fold....
HHH seems to be a lot more respected than he gets credit for...
First of all, I think Nielsen was fucked up back then, and second of all, those ratings only seem huge given the state of TV at the time.
ReplyDeleteTony fucking Allen
ReplyDeleteWas FOX even a thing in 1988?
ReplyDeleteDude the grizzlies give up so many 4 point plays. I actually don't like the way that team plays at all.
ReplyDeleteGive him the link to the music video Riggs was talking about. He'd probably blow through a box of kleenex in ten seconds
ReplyDeleteNascars popularity is one of the worst things about America
ReplyDeleteTwo-way street: WWE doesn't air 156 episodes of Raw, so thats counting Smackdown and their TV C-show du jour.
ReplyDeleteYou are missing my point. INVESTORS do not give shit about if he's respected. If he misses his numbers, he's gone.
ReplyDeleteSeems like he has done well in a short period of time in those positions. Vince seems to be comfortable with him enough to be grooming him....
ReplyDeleteI learned a long time ago, its not always what you know, but who you know....
Nope. ABC / CBS / NBC was it.
ReplyDeleteIf the grizz blow this the series is over in 5 games.
ReplyDeleteSee all the stuff I've been saying about HHH. He may be the best canidate to run the business, but he has zero corporate pedigree. And that's gonna cost him if Vince tries to hands all the reigns to him.
ReplyDeleteWell, it works that way in any business. But if investors are only going to go by that he held folks down during his ring career, well then they arent too bright....
ReplyDeleteLionel Hollins getting fired was such a farce
ReplyDeleteHe is learning from the guy at the top of the food chain. And he knows the product better than anybody....
ReplyDeleteBut that was a pre-tape show relatively free of hype. The argument is that if ESPN or something picked up WM for free TV and hyped the crap out of it, bam, 9 million. I highly doubt that.
ReplyDeleteHow many races are included in the $820 million deal?
ReplyDeleteBockwinkel was offered the NWA title in the 70's but turned it down because he didn't want to work the schedule the NWA champ had.
ReplyDeleteFOX was a thing, they werent full blown out but I think Married with Children, 21 Jumpstreet and Tracey Ullman came out before 1988....
ReplyDeleteI dont see what the issue is with Nascar, its basically WWE in cars....
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad Lyle Chipperson registered here. Welcome aboard!
ReplyDeleteIn 2013, 36 NASCAR races averaged 5.8 million viewers.
ReplyDeleteHow many episodes of Raw did that? 0
No, it's WCW in cars.
ReplyDeleteI don't see the issue with NASCAR period when it seems like fairly sophisticated people watch the European open-wheel races. What exactly makes NASCAR inbred city again?
ReplyDeleteI like NASCAR and wrestling but I have to say that NASCAR fans that Ive encountered over the years seem lower down the food chain than wrestling fans...
ReplyDeleteNo doubt.
ReplyDeleteIf WWE ever was sold to a corporate conglumerate he'd be reassigned in the blink of an eye..
ReplyDeleteWell, I think there have always been concerns about the way they gather data, but I doubt it impacted wrestling on a broadcast network differently than it might another show.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Friday night was really a hot night for TV in 1988 either given the shows that they aired against in the timeslot (Full House and Perfect Strangers, neither of which was a top 40 show in 1988) but I suppose you could also say that they performed somewhat weakly for a special given such a weak timeslot.
For comparison purposes though -- the average rating for a season of The Cosby Show and Family Ties did about double the viewers. Cheers, Murder, She Wrote, The Golden Girls, Night Court, Growing Pains and Who's The Boss all did quite a few more viewers. The ME came out a little behind Matlock (how punny).
Again, not the point. HHH has no formal business education. Or any post-secondary education. That's not going to be viewed well by investors or corporate partners; fair or not, that's gonna be his reality.
ReplyDeleteI like NASCAR and I dont see why liking racing makes someone a moron.....
ReplyDeleteNASCAR was pretty hot for awhile but it has cooled with Jimmy Johnson always winning....
My point exactly.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how likely it is that when Vince is gone, the company is sold and HHH and Steph retire onto whatever island they want to buy.
Yeah actually you're right.
ReplyDeleteThey were only part time though -- just Saturday and Sunday, debuting on Saturday nights in July 1987.
To be fair, I've encountered some pretty rednecky wrestling fans too. But like I said, NASCAR wouldn't try an over-the-top network because there's no way they'd have the savvy to access it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, this is on the money. Nice job.....
ReplyDeleteIt's watching a car steering to the left for hours
ReplyDeleteYou seem really angry about this.
ReplyDeleteThat might be stereotyping folks a bit. I mean NASCAR did do the hotpass thing and they had Speed channel along with scanners at the races to hear the pit crews...
ReplyDeleteI think Danica wouldnt sign an autograph for him or something...
ReplyDeleteMan, now we need a shoot on just the Gold Club. Forgot all about that place.
ReplyDeleteIt's booked better than WCW...
ReplyDeleteYou get that THIS is what most people say about wrestling fans, right? Before Foley's first book broke the NYT best-seller list, they weren't sure we could even READ.
ReplyDeleteSome tracks are more entertaining than others....
ReplyDeleteSo why is Vince wasting his time grooming him?
ReplyDeleteYeah the NBA has definitely been seeing an uptick in its domestic ratings over the years, but it pretty much bottomed out in the mid 2000s, so they've had a long ways to climb. It's nowhere near the Jordan years.
ReplyDeleteThis is what I can't understand. The SEC Network is about to launch for goodness sake. If a network can get behind that then why not something with actual value like Raw and Smackdown?
ReplyDeleteI recall watching all that shit as a kid and seeing all the shows near the bottom of the ratings...
ReplyDeleteFOX has come a long way...
Basketball is just guys bouncing a ball for hours.
ReplyDeleteBaseball is just guys chewing gum and scratching their balls.
Wrestling is just oiled up guys pretending to fight.
College sports are more respected.
ReplyDeleteThe author's point, though, is that wrestling fans are also SPORTS fans. And there's a ton of new sports networks trying to get a leg up on ESPN (or at least into the atmosphere of ESPN) and wouldn't the WWE help bring eyes to those burgoning networks?
ReplyDeleteCW was surprised the people who watched Smackdown weren't interested in watching Felicity, The Gilmore Girls and Buffy the Vampire Slayer? USA is surprised people who are watching Raw don't want to watch a Covert Affairs rerun?
Why was Ultimate Fighter a success? Because it aired after Raw and the kind of people who want to watch Raw would also enjoy that. If Smackdown aired on FS1, that would add a ton of new eyes to that network, who might stick around for their football shows or sport news shows.
Seriously?
ReplyDeleteThe Red Sox put Mike Carp on the mound and he has now walked four straight batters.
ReplyDeleteI do; 700,000 of us idiots signed up for the WWE Network which airs over the Internet.
ReplyDeleteI get that part of it but these guys like to make money also right? Do these college networks actually make money? Like the Big Ten for example.
ReplyDeleteHow many of those races air in prime time on Monday nights?
ReplyDeleteFamily business vs the hypothetical we are talking about. Vince is grooming him because he doesn't plan to sell. What Vince is looking for vs what CEOs and COOs of huge corpora conglumerate would look for is comply different
ReplyDeleteIt was the Fingerpoke of cheap shots.
ReplyDeleteMost corporate types just want nothing to do with professional wrestling. A Ted Turneresque figure only comes along once in a blue moon.
ReplyDeleteI got ya.
ReplyDeleteThey air plenty of races on weekends in primetime on FOX, which is a bigger deal than cable prime time....
ReplyDeleteIt's true. The corporate types are more into golf and snuff films and such.
ReplyDeleteI think that is beginning to change with WWE becoming a global brand....
ReplyDeleteIt appears TNA won the thread war.
ReplyDeleteThat's a damn good question, actually. Although as someone else pointed out, when Vince steps down it's probably Steph who steps in as the on paper head of the company (aren't Linda's credentials of a higher pedigree than Vince's?).
ReplyDeleteI dont see why Vince dying means WWE would automatically get sold or bought off...
ReplyDeleteSteph is all about WWE, its her life. I just dont see her and HHH dumping what 3 generations of McMahons built....
That's probably where WCW's biggest mistake was. Letting the guy in charge of the money also be in charge of creative.
ReplyDeleteAnd letting the wrestlers have control of their creative.
I always see Shane as a dark horse who could return.,..
ReplyDeleteHe has done his thing on his own and seems to be a success. Ya never know...
Vince would kill the grandchildren for a 15.2.
ReplyDeleteLoving this game. Go Yanks!
ReplyDeleteAll of this is a fair argument, but you seem to be missing the larger point: no matter what kind of numbers WWE pulls in, most large-scale corporations want nothing to do with what they perceive to be a silly and sleazy pseudo-sport. Sometimes a fringe network will adopt wrestling as a quick-fix ratings solution, but once they reach a certain prestige the wrestling product is typically shown the door.
ReplyDeleteLike they do with predominately black shows
ReplyDeleteYeah, pretty much. FOX being the prime example.
ReplyDeleteESPN seems to be buying in as they are doing features on Mania and Summerslam this year....
ReplyDeleteWhat the fuck is wrong with tony Allen. That was so stupid. I hope okc gets the tip in and wins
ReplyDeleteOooof Westbrook choked
ReplyDeleteMoney talks.
ReplyDeleteI think that's the case. Vince's educational pedigree is pretty eh and he was known as the due that lost it on HBO so Linda was the businessperson. Stephane will handle that with HHH running the wrestling stuff.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Russ but god is he aggravating to watch sometimes. Love amd Russ to LA in 2015!
ReplyDeleteBig Ten Network has enormous carriage rates for what it is and is a cash cow for the conference. I'm sure the SEC can be as well. The Longhorn network or whatever Texas' deal is called isn't as much because it's just one school. But basically in Midwest and Northwest cable companies have to carry the Big Ten Network to satisfy the alums in the region. NASCAR I'm not sure why it gets more respect than the WWE though...
ReplyDeleteGS +3 baby. I'd he a gloved if they lose this home game, especially coming off a blowout loss.
ReplyDeleteFair point.
ReplyDeleteNASCAR has better PR.
ReplyDeleteFair points, though I still don't really get it.
ReplyDeleteAll this talk about NASCAR reminds me that there are quite a few similarities between the McMahon's and the France family. Big Bill was quite the bully while building his empire.
The Bruno one is great.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's a slam dunk it gets sold. I meam this in a new way. Vince is a fucking freak lumatic. It's pretty well known that he eats, sleeps (on the rare occasions he does) breathes the wwe.
ReplyDeleteIt's also his life's work which he built from a national territory to what it is today. I don't think any realistic amount of money would tempt him to sell.
Steph kind of walked into it. Not saying she hasn't earned it on worked hard. I can't imagine it means as much to her as to Vince
One thing about the 15.2 is that it shows the "33 million viewers" thing is total bullshit, and I don't know where that number came from. I don't have the exact number but in coverage of the '88 election, I found that a Nielsen ratings point was about 917,000 people. So the audience was less than 15 million--a hell of a lot of people for wrestling, but not "33 million."
ReplyDeleteWhat a fucking awesome game. Just what I needed after the shitshow last night.
ReplyDeleteShe would sell, not right away, but she would sell. I don't see it being worth the headache.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like its all she has ever known. She started out modeling clothes as a young kid. I think it is as important to her as it is to Vince....
ReplyDeleteTrue. I actually have nothing against NASCAR and see a lot of similarities in terms of business being based on personalities same as wrestling. I don't understand why one or the other would be seen as better or worse for a network to carry. I get that there are misconceptions about wrestling but the actual why doesn't make sense. But the execs in charge of these networks probably have zero respect for a Rick Ross compared to Coldplay.
ReplyDeleteIt's not like he'd be the first CEO/COO to not attend college. If people take Vince seriously, I don't see the issue with HHH. Business degree or not, Vince has showed ass (literally and figuratively) on TV and had some major failures/incidents off the screen (the XFL, the steroid trials, the Bob Costas segment). If THAT guy is taken the least bit seriously, the apparently much more reserved HHH can be as well.
ReplyDeleteAnd I highly doubt HHH isn't already getting face time with the head of NBC and Mattel and other companies they deal with, even if he isn't the decision-maker. So long as he doesn't do what you'd expect a 'doofus son-in-law' to do and fuck everything up, his reputation as a businessman will grow.
This really doesn't speak to HHH as a businessman per se, but where else can the company go? Vince took it from "smoky bars" to a global brand. Is their really another frontier for HHH and Steph to conquer? Just wondering.
ReplyDeleteWhich is probably why the wwe is distancing itself from the reputation of "sleazy pseudo sport" by banning blading and chair spots, more stringent drug and concussion protocols etc etc.
ReplyDeleteFrom what Cena said on Austin's podcast, they are still working on getting into China so they're not fully global as of yet. Beyond that, I think they'd try to build the brand's image. As these posts have discussed, wrestling isn't well-respected at all. Maybe try to change that? Not sure how one would accomplish such a feat, but I can't think of where else they'd go.
ReplyDeleteHave they toured Asia at all? I can't imagine they could run shows in Japan so I guess that's out.
ReplyDeleteThe whole wrestling getting no respect thing is real. I think they just have to let those "you know it's fake, right?" people just die out. I don't think the stigma is there with the younger generation.
Say what you want about Skip Bayless but his nickname game is on point..."Bosh Spice" and now "CP0" are good
ReplyDeleteThe WWE machine is so established now, it's such a well-oiled machine with tons of people who know how it works, that all Triple H has to do is not make the biggest mistake anyone has ever made, and he'll be fine.
ReplyDeleteAre you sure you aren't mixing up households versus people? It might be a bit inflated, but most old ratings data is given in households -- I think you had about 90 million households with TV at that period of time.
ReplyDeleteI love Piper. Out of the wrestlers I've met, he's by far the most gracious and polite to regular dudes and he's one of my faves. That being said, I got 15 minutes into his Timeline and started falling asleep. I wish these dudes would realize that the same demographic is watching shoots, listening to podcasts and reading their books and stop telling the same old stories over and over. And he's TALKING.....SO....SLOW
ReplyDeleteHe just needs to grind out poor ABs until he hits lvl 20 and goes from MagiCarp to Gyro(ball)dos.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Shane, does he warrant a Hall of Fame induction?
ReplyDeleteWhat's the issue with Nascar? It's terribly boring to me but I've got no problem with it.
ReplyDeleteI like completely trashy "Temptation Island" fox. They had a short lived reality show where adopted kids had to try and choose their biological parents out of a group of couples. It was glamorous
ReplyDeleteI think a good part of the "Chase" may just be the world champs at the time not wanting to give up their belts. I know little about Bockwinkle, but I've heard more than enough accusations of that at Flair.
ReplyDeleteThat is fucking good stuff. And it's gems like this that keep me studying the blog like the Quran.
ReplyDeleteBlake is killing the Warriors
ReplyDeleteYeah, Mick has definitely developed some delusions of grandeur. Never higher than #3 on the babyface depth chart. Basically a placeholder for the real main event of Rock-Austin. His first title win was a great moment, but really served more as a plot device for the Rock-Austin feud. Mick had some really good matches and got very popular, but I think he mistakes his status with the hyperbole WWE gave him late in his career.
ReplyDeleteExcept for them gays
ReplyDeletePorn.
ReplyDeleteShit.. getting into China ain't that difficult.. Just ask HHH or Sean Waltman..
ReplyDeleteA lot of Hogan's "big match" opponents are gone, aren't they? Andre, Savage, now Warrior.....and Hulk's sneaking up on 70....maybe he's trying to mend as many fences as he can before he "heads to the back", so to speak.
ReplyDeleteFoley has a financial position that allows him to play hardball
ReplyDeleteSodomy is rarely silent.
ReplyDeleteThey're all entertaining, but Bruno's is amazing.
ReplyDeleteThey will not because they can not. It will go to whoever it is willed to by the majority owner.
ReplyDeletePaul Levesque isn't ever going to be CEO. It'll be Stephanie, Wilson or Barrios running the show from a business perspective and HHH will run wrestling.
ReplyDeleteIF he becomes majority share holder he can't be fired unless he screws on a colossal scale. It's really hard to fire a head.
ReplyDeleteShe's already rich why would she care about money? Also some people value things other than money, crazy I know but true.
ReplyDeleteIrrelevant if he is made company head they will have to deal.
ReplyDeleteNo wrestling is theater. Baseball and basketball and all other sports require skill. Driving a car and turning requires no skill and is a great way to waste a non renewable resource. It's treated poorly because it's a waste of time and money. it has that stigma of simple folk watching pretty cars.
ReplyDeleteproblems with Nascar
ReplyDelete1. Why are the Drivers being praised on the same level as a sports star? It's not a sport and The driver didn't do anything. Most people drive every day why would you want to come home and watch more driving?
2. Anyone can drive a car.
The thing with CW too, was it was one of those "done with new stuff by 10pm" channels. So not only did they have the problem mentioned below, where all their other shows weren't in the same demo for wrestling viewers (for the most part), but you couldn't build up to a "Watch X show at 10pm tonight!" Any ads were for days away stuff that most of the viewers wouldn't have watched.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've read, Triple H went to Walden College.
ReplyDeleteAgree. Im not going to police what people enjoy but comparing NASCAR to basketball? Baseball etc is retarded.
ReplyDeleteHuh, interesting. I know he ended up the commissioner in WCW eventually, but I wonder why he was such a Verne loyalist(besides the schedule)?
ReplyDeletePeople that vote piper have clearly never heard or seen a piper shoot before.
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't know how people sit through these things. I struggled to make it through the trailers.
ReplyDeleteunless every device on which you can see the programs is counted (which I think would be horrible, I want as little people as possible knowing about all my watching habits) there will always be a lot of room for strange results in this kind of data.
ReplyDeletebotch the WCW Invasion?
ReplyDeletealthough as long as the financial side is good, ANYONE is getting (a certain amount of) respect.
ReplyDeleteI think it is very possible we might not realize how much that company means to her.
ReplyDeleteit's articles like this that caused the WWE stock to rise this year (and then people wonder why it falls just as quickly when the reality doesn't match up with those overblown expectations at all).
ReplyDeleteMy hatred for Bayless burns with the fire of a thousand suns.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about NASCAR (because F1 is the big thing here) but if you really think that race driving requires "no skill" you are terribly underrating it.
ReplyDeleteI once read this (and think it might be accurate): if Michael Schumacher and Average Joe had a race obviously Schumacher he would win. but even if Schumacher had to race in a "regular" car he would still very likely win.
I'm the same, I could never watch one. I like the reviews though.
ReplyDelete....does it make you want to go to war with everyone and sleep with underage girls?
ReplyDeleteWait, that's Jerry Lawler's autobiography.