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Overseas PPVs

Hey Scott,

Why doesn't the WWE ever run PPVs outside of North America? Is it basically just a matter of the time difference? It seems to me -- with past examples such as SummerSlam '92 in London and the 2002 Global Warning Tour show in Melbourne, Australia -- that running a PPV every few years outside of the normal North American loop would really freshen things up. Those two shows had massive crowds in large stadiums, and I imagine WWE could easily run a stadium show every now-and-then that would really be a strong opportunity for the WWE brand. They haven't even done a UK-only PPV in over a decade and those crowds were usually extremely hot, fun audiences despite the fact that most of those UK-only PPV cards were garbage.

If it IS mainly because of the time difference, what about running a PPV every few years in Mexico or Puerto Rico where the time zones largely line up with those in the normal PPV stomping grounds of the U.S. and Canada? That first New Year's Revolution show (I believe it was 2005?) took place in San Juan, Puerto Rico and I remember it being an incredible crowd that was into the show all night. There were really unique touches during that show like the crowd counting along in Spanish. With these dead stretches between WrestleMania and SummerSlam, I feel like the company is throwing away opportunities to at least bring a different atmosphere to the PPVs that usually take place during this time. 

I mean, I can understand the issue with the time difference when it comes to live PPVs that are held in the UK or Australia, but the only possible issue I can see with running another PPV in Puerto Rico is that it might make for a difficult turnaround for Raw the next night -- and even then, I can't imagine that the logistics are much more difficult than what they've faced in the past. Any insight?

​Yeah, it is absolutely the time difference for international shows.  They still have it in their head that a taped show means people will see SPOILERS and then not buy it.  This is of course a meaningless distinction in the post-Network world, but there it is.

As for shows in Mexico, they no longer have Alberto Del Rio under contract and thus can't make him World champion for those tours.  So you can see their problem. ​

Comments

  1. hi scott no ppvs in europ?

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  2. Logisitical issues, too. The house show sets they take overseas are sparse as hell. To lug all the TV production equipment overseas is a concern and then there's due diligence on measuring set space in the venue and designing a set to fit there properly, because if they were just gonna use the same boring Raw set for the PPV like they did for ER on Sunday, does it really matter if that show happens in Atlanta or Tokyo?

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  3. I would argue that they should try anything new to liven up their PPV events. I know we have complained about the generic HD set they have now, but locations are important too.

    Wrestlemania is the only event they try anything different. Now you can't tell the difference between arena, location, or set.

    I miss the themed PPV sets.

    There were a lot of things WCW was bad at, but one thing they did very well was trying new locations. The spring break Nitros, the weeks they were at Disney Hollywood Studios (I know it was cause of the lack of camera crew because of the Olympics, but still), and they even had Bash at the Beach....at the beach one year. Road Wild was kind of a slightly not so great location, but at least they TRIED. The first Nitro was at a mall.

    I think a UK PPV would be fun. Air it live, who cares anymore if you have the network. Summerslam 92 was a good event made even better because of the location.

    The WWE's version of trying something different is to change the graphics on their mega screen.

    Also because we now live in the WWE network age, why not put on a big event not on a Sunday evening? Why not bring back the Thanksgiving tradition of the Survivor Series? How about a 4th of July event? Air it live at some outside patriotic location, others can watch it later that are busy since we have the network.

    There is something to be said for trying different things.

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  4. Knowing the WWE they'd have all their measurements in inches and feet and send it to the crew in meters so they'd end up with a horribly sized TitanTron.

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  5. "Also because we now live in the WWE network age, why not put on a big event not on a Sunday evening?"

    They just had King of the Ring on a Tuesday!

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  6. It is a start, but not something thrown together in 2 days with 3 matches. An actual big event.

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  7. Hornswaggle and El Torito could dance around the mini Titantron.

    Oh, how they danced, the little people of Stonehenge....

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  8. MaffewOfBotchamaniaApril 29, 2015 at 7:03 AM

    I do not, for one, think that the problem was that the buy-rate was down. I think that the problem *may* have been, that there was a cage match that was in danger of being *crushed* by a *dwarf*. Alright?

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  9. Belee_Matt!_INDEED!!!April 29, 2015 at 7:04 AM

    I blame it on the "British Bulldog is going to win, whether he wants to or not!" kid.


    That's win-rape, and it won't be tolerated.

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  10. They have an actual Big Event. Hogan and Orndorff are in the main.

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  11. The added expense and hassle of taking over additional gear for PPV's has got to play into it to some extent as well I would imagine.

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  12. It's a big reason why people look so forward to Old School Raw, too. It at least LOOKS different. That was also a big reason why people enjoyed the early portion of the ECW brand too -- the set was difference, there was no huge stage, and even the hard camera was from a different location. Those very little things go a long way. Now we have the same set for every show and PPV, the same ring rope colors, the same turnbuckle posts and stairs, etc. I remember when Smackdown used to have blue ropes and silver ring posts/stairs, while Raw had red ropes and black ring posts/stairs. Now, what's the big difference? They use a blue light filter on the crowd for Smackdown and a red light filter on the crowd for Raw? It's been said before, but when you look at photos on WWE.com, you can't tell if it's a match from Raw, Smackdown, or a PPV. You used to be able to tell instantly just based on the surroundings.

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  13. I like the Misfits and all, and even enjoyed the new, Danzig-less version that was on here, but never in my life did I want to see Jerry Only inside a wrestling ring.

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  14. London wasn't to blame for the relatively weak buyrate of Summerslam 92. It was the first WWF PPV ever without Hulk Hogan. That's all the difference in the world back then.

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  15. I don't think Global Warning in Oz was a PPV was it? It was released on DVD, but that's all I remember of it. I was always bummed I couldn't go to it cause my Mum wouldn't let me travel interstate by myself since I was only 16 at the time.

    And the only reason they drew a huge 50K+ crowd for it was because it's been decades since they'd been to Australia. They do the twice a year tours now and barely get 10,000 to a show.

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  16. Last year, I tried watching all 2000 Nitros and PPVs in order, but only made it to Slamboree. There was interference in literally every single match when I stopped watching.

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  17. If you had an airbrush artist as good as Hogan's, wouldn't you make all your own t-shirts in the mid-90s too?

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  18. You'll never see him cause he's always alone!

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  19. With Jimmy Hart on keyboard.

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  20. The WWE blamed *spoilers* for the low buyrate for SummerSlam '92, and thats why they haven't had another major PPV over seas.

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  21. I think it would have been smart to dissolve the nWo after Starrcade 97, with Hogan trying to hold it together but failing by losing his return matches with Sting. Shelve the entire nWo by Superbrawl and just break everyone into separate storylines.


    Then, within a year or two, I would have brought it back as a face group to change things up.

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  22. Not to the WWE.

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  23. Some of the early WrestleMania's were on Sunday afternoons (A.M. on the west coast) and they drew just fine. The time difference isn't a big deal.

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  24. The WM XXXI set was the exact same as theWM XXVIII set, so now they're recycling those.

    I loved the Spring Stampede sets. The old west vibe was cool.

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  25. Aye, I'm sure Twitter was abuzz that day

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  26. Bring back Starrcade and put it on Thanksgiving as a Network exclusive. Put it in Greensboro to bring the show full circle.

    I like the idea of a 4th of July show, but I doubt it would happen after they dropped The Great American Bash name due to it potentially upsetting people in other nations.

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  27. People were posting "Warrior over Savage via countout" on Facebook for days leading to the U.S. showing

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  28. WCW did also lose a shit ton of money on those beach and Sturgis shows. Think WWE's gonna have to start making significantly more profit before they can start focusing more on that kind of presentation

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  29. And Brazil is only 1.5 hours ahead of Eastern Time, so the time difference wouldn't be TOO terrible if they want to hold a tournament on the Network to crown a new Intercontinental champion now that Daniel Bryan has been pulled from all the house shows.

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  30. You should see the Touts recorded that day...too bad the VHS tapes disintegrated from all the start-stop stress of 10-second recordings

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  31. Even back then, MySpace wasn't cool.

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  32. "If it IS mainly because of the time difference, what about running a PPV every few years in... Puerto Rico"

    B/c they don't want to run in another country

    *trollface*

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  33. You're gonna clean up baby poop, whether you want to or not

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  34. hi "will you stop?!"

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  35. I don't understand why they don't run a PPV in Puerto Rico again. They sold 15,000 tickets and the crowd was insane for NYR 2005. And Carlito wasn't even on the card.

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  36. Can they do a successful pay per view in England without a popular countryman like British Bulldog that the fans will feel obligated to cheer against an even more popular Bret Hart?

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  37. I agree. I think Hogan enjoyed playing a heel too much to have it end at Starrcade though. If they HAD to keep it going, Goldberg should've dismantled the nWo. But by July 1998 it should've been done, at the latest, and I even think that would've been too late.

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  38. Anything is better than The Radicalz

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  39. He was also playing the human game of chess

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  40. He said dude and jack a bunch of times too :)

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  41. They did pretty good with the Wolfpac vs Black and White thing for a while but it never had a blowoff.

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  42. yes! I can't believe it, but I kind of miss some of the cheesy WCW sets.

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  43. It was not a PPV. But it was an awesome DVD.

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  44. They have enough guys from europe like Neville, Barrett, Sheamus and Cesaro.

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  45. I think it's dumb they don't even try one in the UK to see what would happen. Like, no one is buying shit like Payback anyway. Run the PPV in the UK, air it live on the Network (which would be like 2 or 3pm on a Sunday) and then replay it at 8pm for the PPV buys.


    Live European sports (soccer, golf, tennis, etc) have done excellent ratings in earlier time slots, precisely because there is less competition. Like, is the casual fan more likely to fire up the Network for a PPV at 2pm Sunday or miss Game of Thrones and/or Walking Dead?

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  46. We’re fucking desperate for wrestling, dude. We even show up in our thousands for TNA.

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  47. I think the notion that the UK market needs a UK star to sell tickets is ancient at this point. They used Davey Boy to break into the market 20+ years ago..they're already established.

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  48. I think UFC would need a big homegrown star to really break through. That’s
    if UFC are even that bothered about us anymore. It’s been 13 months since the
    last show in England and there isn’t another scheduled. But Conor McGregor has
    really seen them skyrocket in Ireland.

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  49. The '98 Halloween Havoc set is the greatest of all time

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  50. Just waiting for Neville to do a promo in geordie slang, "nah divnt ye fret pet, am ganning fa ye and yar title, sa mebbies ye shud be worried. Howay!" I realise this is lost on anyone outside the uk.

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  51. Shhh... no logical thinking here.

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  52. How in the hell could people get spoilers hours before SummerSlam '92?

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  53. I liked that about WCW too. They also had some really cool sets for Bash at the Beach and Halloween Havoc. The cool sets are one reason I loved WCW/NWO Revenge.

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  54. Wait....WHAT?!?!?! That's the reason they dropped the Great American Bash?

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  55. With most people paying $9.99 to see a PPV, I imagine the costs of shipping customized sets for a PPV enter into it as well. With Raw & Smackdown, they at least get to re-use the same set several times during an overseas tour.

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  56. Hell, just getting rid of the big ass Titantron and going back to a flat entrance without a ramp like the '92 WWF would be ideal at this point. Old School RAW is like a breath of fresh air just in terms of how the lighting is different and such.

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  57. I believe it was on US PPV 2 days later(Monday vs live Saturday show) but I can't understand how there would be many spoilers with the vast majority of people not even knowing what the internet was at that point.

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  58. This. You shouldn't need a big titan tron at a ppv, because the main action should be in the ring and not on screen.

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  59. What additional gear?

    On the slim chance there is added expense they would make up for it in gate receipts. Seem to recall last year's tapings in the UK were the highest grossing gate ever tapings, according to Meltzer.

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  60. There must be additional gear, and quite likely manpower too, involved in putting on a PPV than in a house show.

    Hauling stuff across the Atlantic is expensive.

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  61. Belee_Matt!_INDEED!!!April 29, 2015 at 10:08 AM

    :( So true.

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  62. They tape raw and smakdowm in England. With the sets the way they are now,, not much extra would be needed.

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  63. Yeah, that's true. For some reason it didn't even occur to me that they already do TV over there.

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  64. I'm reading Trainspotting right now and it's really hard not to let it bleed into every day conversation.

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  65. For whatever reason they didn't advertise those Disney WCW shows worth a shit. I'd be in the park all day and never knew they were taping Worldwide or whatever. Not that anything worth watching ever happened there.

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  66. Maybe not a squash, but at least it could have gone the way of the Hogan vs. Goldberg Georgia Dome match, where Hogan got in some offense early, but then Sting turned it around and won CLEANLY and THEN got the big celebration. Not the bullshit finish it ended up with.

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  67. SummerSlam '92 was shown in the U.S. days after it happened in the U.K.

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  68. Cool Entrance Ways (WCW Edition):

    SuperBrawl VIII, Spring Stampede '97, Great American Bash '97, Bash at the Beach '98, Road Wild, Fall Brawl '96, Halloween Havoc '98, Starrcade '89, Starrcade '98

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  69. Not the Radicals. That doesn't even pluralize with a 'z'. They might as well just call themselves The Weak Ass Pussies, which is distinctly less cool than The Weak Azz Puzziez.

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  70. I'd consider Alberto as world champion more of a problem.

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  71. RSPW was around then, not sure if it really picked up, as the Internet really got big in another 3 years or so.

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  72. Then don't! Leave the gaudy, seizure-inducing monstrosity at home. And there must be a wrestling ring somewhere in England they could use.

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  73. That's exactly how it should have gone. Just long enough so that fans wouldn't feel like they were getting gypped.

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  74. The whole thing should have le to Wargames at Fall Brawl 1998. Wolfpac vs. Hollywood. Winner keeps the rights to the nWo brand. The Wolfpac wins, nWo Hollywood disbands, and the Wolfpac continues on as a babyface group, gradually shedding the "nWo" moniker and just going by the Wolfpac.

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  75. DiBiase claims that Bischoff stole his thunder and basically rendered him useless when he joined the nWo in Nov/Dec 96.

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  76. Off the rails is kinda hard to pinpoint. WCW was in an overall holding pattern from Clash of the Champions in August of 97 until Starrcade 97. If you watch the Nitros from that time, there was very little going on in the WCW vs. nWo feud as they were just killing time until Sting/Hogan.


    I think Starrcade being such a disaster (the whole show was bad, not just Sting/Hogan) really hurt things. People were done with the nWo even though the Wolfpac was pretty over. I think there was money in a Hogan trying to keep the nWo going but losing to former members (Hall, Nash, etc.) which they kinda tried to do but not really.

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  77. Biff Kensington Has a PosseApril 29, 2015 at 12:28 PM

    One of the big reasons that I stopped watching the WWE after WrestleMania was the fact that I got to the point finally where I was embarrassed to support such a blazingly stupid company.

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  78. On top of that, WCW had a huge opportunity to capitalize now that they had Bret Hart... and then dropped the ball with Starrcade.

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  79. Charismatic eNegro Jef VinsonApril 29, 2015 at 1:10 PM

    "As for shows in Mexico, they no longer have Alberto Del Rio under contract and thus can't make him World champion for those tours. So you can see their problem. ​"


    They could bring back Juan Cena.

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  80. I think Michael Bisping might have been the plan for that but now he seems to have settled down in at gatekeeper role.

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  81. That's the problem and why WWE generally job guys in their own hometown because they don't want another Bret Hart incident, which is why having a big hometown hero headline a big overseas show is never going to work today.

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  82. Yeah but something as big as the nWo shouldn't go out with a whimper. It should be a heroic character like Goldberg or Sting (or a face Hogan) beating them into submission. But that's the problem with heel power groups....they become successful, so they never quite "lose." Even today, it doesn't matter if Daniel Bryan, or John Cena, or Roman Reigns, or Dolph Ziggler, or Sting, or whoever beats the Authority....they're never going to overcome them as an entity.

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  83. UFC runs overseas shows at all hours to accommodate American audiences, and the locals are so pumped up to get a show they will go even if it's first think in the morning.

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  84. I don't think any fan would have felt gypped watching Hogan get crushed like a bug in < 3 minutes. That's the only booking that made sense given how Hogan spent 18 months hiding and running like a coward from Sting.

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  85. The cheap seats and those obscured by support pillars beg to differ.

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  86. Probably echoing a lot of thoughts here but, for example, why don't they push their April overseas tour back a couple of weeks and do the post-Mania PPV from Europe somewhere. The crowd would be hot and would make the angles and competitors seems like a bigger deal to the American viewer. Having a rabid crowd can make a casual TV viewer feel as if what they are watching is much more important than it is, and that they should be more "into it" than they are.

    WWE should do a few PPVs a year from outside the U.S. Extreme Rules, one of the fall ones "Battleground" or "Night of Champions" or whatever, and maybe one of the big 4. Be it Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, South America, or Europe. The Network has made everything "on demand" to the American fans anyway, so it shouldn't effect them too much.

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  87. They can always put the screens elsewhere like over the ring or wherever is a place: http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130331202428/prowrestling/images/b/b2/WWE_WWF_Wrestlemania-VI_attendance_67678.jpg

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  88. They were called the New World Order because the actual New World Order nefariously plotted to make the idea and name of a New World Order "cool" and "edgy," and ingenuously used something as silly as professional wrestling to do it in, because then any complaints about the actual New World Order would be met with "what, like the wrestling group?"-based mockery.

    This is what actual conspiracy nuts like Alex Jones believe.

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  89. Didn't Cena tell England on RAW he was going to try to bring Wrestlemania there some day? I can't imagine he would just be disingenuous and pandering to say something like that.

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  90. Cena? Pandering?

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  91. A drop ah thee broon an yerl be proper canny agin like.

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  92. Europe is more than three countries.

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  93. "It's Hulk Hogan and the Dude Jacks!"

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  94. I remember that, he was getting booed to shit and that line actually turned it around for a few seconds. Haha, fair play to him

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  95. Yeah, im surprised you never heard of that. That's why they renamed it "The Bash".

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  96. Dean Malenko should come out of retirement, they should hire back Al Snow, team them up, call them the New Radicalz and have them come out to a metal version of "You Get What You Give."

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  97. lmao that kid killed me when I would watch the coliseum video tape over and over. I was like 13 but always like 'wtf is he talking about??'

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  98. WWE do something fun and not homogenized? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

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  99. American translation:
    Seth, I'm coming for you and your title, so maybe you should be worried. Yippy-ki-ya mother fucker.

    That about right?

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  100. I know, because I'm from there. ;-) But they will (IF they want to make a PPV here) not go to france or spain or italy, but when then in the UK or maybe here in germany (remember the european event which was a PPV here and a RAW in USA?). So these guys will do. :-) Cesaro is here over and Barrett too. Make a match between them and Cena or Rollins and you have your main event.

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  101. I don't know. You might be right but I'm not positive. I think Hogan stalling/running for a while before Sting finally getting his hands on Hogan would have worked nicely.


    Ultimately, either option would have been WAY better than what wound up happening.

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