Hey Scott, was there any reason why WCW gave away the Goldberg vs. Hogan title match on cable TV? Yeah, I'm sure it got a huge rating, but if they'd waited and put it on PPV it probably would have been the biggest buyrate they ever had in their history. Was there any reason for them putting such a highly anticipated title matchup on Nitro, other than "because WCW"?
Yup, they basically wanted a huge rating to stem the bleeding, PPV revenue be damned. What's really weird is that they never did a rematch on PPV and basically shunted Goldberg to the mid card as champion.
You forgot - "[how latest WWE booking is totally great] Lighten up, Francis!"
ReplyDeleteMid card World Champion? From the heel run on he main evented every PPV, was the focus (often appearing 2-3 times per show) of every single Raw with announcers talking about him and hetman during other people's segments, and his record breaking title reign was the most pushed thing in the company. Yeah the first half of the reign he played second fiddle face to Cena, but from August on he was by far the lead in WWE. The heel run was absolutely star making stuff.
ReplyDeleteMan, it's pretty nuts that right now there's no Punk or Bryan on the show, and one of them is probably never coming back and the other might be gone for another year. Less than a year ago they're the two most over guys in the company, and now completely off the show. With that in mind it really is crazy the show's even as watchable as it is. (Or at least as watchable as some of us find it to be.)
ReplyDeleteI think Big Show reading a bed time story to Hornswaggle for Money in the Bank 2011 and Santino dressed like a fortune teller for Royal Rumble 2012 top that for oddest poster to promote a PPV.
ReplyDeleteThe indies can't afford CM Punk.
ReplyDeleteWrong again.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a specific part, but just the repeated moment in 1998 when he'd be getting booed and would respond with "Dammit! Iiiii'm Vince McMahon."
ReplyDeleteCommentating on Superstars and SNME, but also all the attitude moments with Austin. And of course the Tyson angle "YOU RUINED IT!!!"
ReplyDelete2 million subscribers a month = $240 dollars a year replacing the PPV model which made about $80 Million in 2013. 1 Million Subs = 120 Million a year.
ReplyDeleteWhy would they NEED 1.3-1.4 million subs? Does the network cost 40 Million dollars a year to maintain?
Sasuke went over twice and was the hyped guy. They made a stink about signing TAKA to a deal (and having Sunny try to "Americanize" him) once they ditched Sasuke.
ReplyDeleteJim Ross - I assure you this...no matter what @Sting does or doesn't do tonight on #RawRichmond#RawRichmond, many fans will squeal like pig stuck under a gate.
ReplyDeleteStill don't see it happening, especially on a go-home show for a B-PPV?
It was so weird for me seeing guys like Bret and Austin attacking Vince like they would, especially in 1997.
ReplyDeleteGiven Punk's ties to Chris Hardwick you'd have to imagine the podcast is a given and will be part of the Nerdist family of shows.
ReplyDeleteActually maybe that's the best time to have him on. Tease an appearance by Sting at the ppv to drive up interest in a show that's looking to do a low buyrate.
ReplyDelete' What a maneuver! '
ReplyDeleteOddly enough, getting beatdown by his son at WM17. Great stuff
ReplyDeleteToo many to list and most of the great ones have been mentioned already but Vince's introductory Nwo promo always puts a smile on my face.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWID9_sZkqc
Well to be fair it isn't like there is a convenient medium where he could comment on answers he finds interesting readily available... oh wait.
ReplyDeleteYou've got Vince, JR, Lawler, and Lawler's kid on commentary, and you need to get the cruiserweights over without giving them any kind of backstory.
ReplyDeleteSo who gets the least airtime? JR. Because Attitude.
I feel like JR loved the idea of a cruiserweight division and decided to build one, only for Russo to get the book just as it was getting off the ground.
The "gulp of fear". Whenever VKM was in the ring and the glass broke, they'd always do the tight camera shot to show him doing it.
ReplyDeleteThis might be an unpopular opinion but I've never been a fan of having a cruiser or light weight division because the workers in the division get stigmatized. Think about it, would Bryan or Rollins have benefited at all being part of that label?
ReplyDeleteProbably not. It was a fun thing though when they had absolutely no shot of getting to the top of the card in WCW.
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine Hogan losing the title to a devil horned wearing Rey Mysterio?
It makes me sad that he would be turned into a joke.
ReplyDeleteHe'll never be the #1 Draw or the Franchise Player like me... that said I could care less about welcoming anyone.
ReplyDeleteThat time he said "whatamaneuver"
ReplyDeleteShould have clarified that it was fine for WCW because the style was new and fresh. Plus as you said they had no hope of being elevated no matter how popular they got.
ReplyDeleteI was at that Raw show and i can't remember anything about this match. There was also a pretty good Stone Cold vs HHH singles match and a boring Bret vs Goldust main event.
ReplyDeleteThe LHW division was always going to be DOA in the WWF but they surprised even me with their incompetence.
The Rumble 99 workouts. Pure gold
ReplyDeleteI still believe that with thier larger ring and booking style, cruiser weight wrestling will never work in that company
ReplyDeleteThat feud had the most cartoonishly heinous quote ever: "I will NEVER forgive your mother for giving birth to you!"
ReplyDeleteAt least his career has had decent longevity. Seeing him on all the NJPW I downloaded was almost as surprising as seeing Jushin Liger still wrestling.
ReplyDeleteNope. He was not the plan
ReplyDeleteIt was an alternative I suppose. If booked correctly I think you could have done an effective "Giant Killer"
ReplyDeleteIt's just... I never saw a purpose for it in WWF/E. If they want to showcase some smaller wrestlers they'll do it without pointing out how smell they are if that makes sense.
ReplyDeleteWell Rey's ill-fated giant killer run showed WCW couldn't book it, or pretty much anything else, correctly.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the Blog of Doom, Beau James!
ReplyDeleteYes. But only the God of Mormon, the one true religion.
ReplyDeleteCome on Hogan, don't be scurrred.
ReplyDeleteNo, he fucked up that move with Heenan. A clean drop is one thing, but he let Heenan bounce off his shoulders on the way down, so Heenan couldn't control his fall.
ReplyDeleteAnd it wasn't a safe bump to begin with, which is why nobody has used the Press Drop in over 20 years since.
I'd forgotten about the RR workout vignettes until reading through here. Those were awesome though.
ReplyDelete"1-2-3, he got him. We have a new champion. No, he didn't get him. That was only two."
ReplyDeleteAlthough I kinda remember some stuff from 85-86 (I was only 5) I distinctly remember watching and hearing Vince's commentary live in 86 during the Orndorff turn on Hogan. He was so upset and yelling at what was happening after the big clothesline. I was super hooked by his emotion. I never ever missed another Saturday fox 5 show after that.
ReplyDeleteTatanka & The Smoking Gunns vs Bam Bam Bigelow & The Headshrinkers is a real gem. **** match all the way.
ReplyDeleteEven if Sasuke lasted I think they would have changed gears to TAKA. He's obviously more marketable.
ReplyDeleteOnce we got to his 1992 run and into the future from there, it's a total bury-job until it just becomes a pile of lies, like how the ratings for Nitro were garbage for his debut, and he totally ruined a midcard angle by wearing a baseball hat, and he ate the souls of small children.
ReplyDeleteStories also circulate that Andre only did what Andre was willing to do. If he didn't want to put him over, he wouldn't have. Again, these are second hand stories, so who knows.
ReplyDeleteI seem to remember the Raw match being VERY sloppy. They also pronounced "Sasuke" incorrectly. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteI always wondered how that would've turned out had they got Great Muta instead of Sasuke. Muta was solidly a NWA guy for a while, but maybe WWF could've got him in the late 90s.
ReplyDeleteDepends. If they're working a straight lucha style, people may not it; however, by incorporating strikes, suplexes, mat wrestling, and psychology, you have a more complete style.
ReplyDeleteThey kept saying "SASKAY" and I was getting annoyed.
ReplyDelete