Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread **Spoilers Possible**

[PilotMan]

On a totally different note, I worked with Malia Hosaka today. The name didn't ring a bell at all, but after talking with her and reading her bio, I was impressed. You would never, ever guess that she had a whole other life. Very cool.

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

On a totally different note, I worked with Malia Hosaka today. The name didn't ring a bell at all, but after talking with her and reading her bio, I was impressed. You would never, ever guess that she had a whole other life. Very cool.

what do you do, so you had the pleasure of working with such a hottie?

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

what do you do, so you had the pleasure of working with such a hottie?

I am an airline pilot. It sounds more fun than it has been the past few years.

[molson]

Flasch asked PilotMan what he does for a living. Awseome.

[JonInMiddleGA]

A nice little intro package to begin the two hour era of TNA Impact. And after all that build up about heart, people who wouldn't quit, people who gave their all through the five year struggle, what's the first thing viewers see?

Dustin Rhodes.

Sigh.

[Neon_Chaos]

It's actually shaped up to be a very entertaining Impact.

Love Angle doing the ESPN shit.

[Maple Leafs]

Hey Jon, Flasch would like to know what area of Georgia you live in.

[Neon_Chaos]

Very very good Impact, IMO. What a way to start off 2 hours' worth of TV every week. Quite a refreshing change from the WWE's shows.

[DeToxRox]

Meh. Main Event was okay but that was nothing more then Raw in my eyes. Lot's of awful segments that dragged and considering the talent, a lot of underwhelming matches.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Hey Jon, Flasch would like to know what area of Georgia you live in.

Northeast, of course.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Meh. Main Event was okay but that was nothing more then Raw in my eyes. Lot's of awful segments that dragged and considering the talent, a lot of underwhelming matches.

I'm somewhere in between this and the other end of things.

I could have gone an entire lifetime without the Angle angle. Ditto for Pacman
and the Leticia/Generic Other Chick argument.

But the gauntlet was pretty good at times, as was the main event. And we didn't have to endure Karen Angle this week IIRC.

So basically it was about one good hour worth of TV.

[General Mike]

TNA went from trying to fit 84 minutes of action into 42 minutes to putting 168 minutes into 84.

[Toddzilla]

Originally Posted by General Mike

TNA went from trying to fit 84 minutes of horseshit into 42 minutes to putting 168 minutes into 84.

fixed that for ya

[Flasch186]

so what exactly does Duckman do?

[General Mike]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

so what exactly does Duckman do?

Private Investigator

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by General Mike

Private Investigator

nice

[duckman]

I'm actually a serial killer that picks his victims from message boards. What's your address, Flasch?

[AZSpeechCoach]

Oooohhh ooooohhhh...guess my job next, Flasch!

[SirFozzie]

Ok.. this is the most bizarre thing that I've seen in wrestling for a while.

Apparently one of the women's organizations in Japan has been training the next generations of workers early. How early? They're putting on matches between 13 year olds. And I have to admit, the level of skill shown by these girls puts about 3/4ths of the indy wrestlers in America to shame.. but still it seems kinda wrong..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCt_0KaCuCM

[Flasch186]

Gastrointestinal doctor?

[Neon_Chaos]

Orton is awarded the belt at the top of the PPV.

TITLE MATCH next, as HHH challenges.

HHH WINS the belt.

So the WWE title switches hands twice in one night, and it's not over yet.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Neon_Chaos

Orton is awarded the belt at the top of the PPV.

TITLE MATCH next, as HHH challenges.

HHH WINS the belt.

So the WWE title switches hands twice in one night, and it's not over yet.

Before people bitch .. it was obvious this was going to happen.

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Before people bitch .. it was obvious this was going to happen.

It's the safe business move.

The night is still young, though. Anything can happen.

[molson]

HHH is hugely over, and hasn't had a world title in 2 1/2 years.

Still, odd that they would do that off the bat, after this show was largely sold as a "mystery WWE title match" event.

The night's not over indeed - but does the Punjabi Prison Match HAVE to be last, with all the time it might take to tear it down?

[Neon_Chaos]

And HHH defends the title against Umaga.

So, we have Orton given the title, HHH win the title, and then HHH defend the title all in one night.

[DeToxRox]

HHH vs Orton tonight, Last Man Standing .. yes apparently the third defense of the night.

[Neon_Chaos]

Jesus christ. Are they treating this like a toy?

[Deattribution]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Before people bitch .. it was obvious this was going to happen.

I think that's the reason people would bitch - everything they do is obvious and predictable.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Deattribution

I think that's the reason people would bitch - everything they do is obvious and predictable.

Exactly so there hopes shouldn't be up.

[DeToxRox]

Apparently Orton wins the belt clean and the show ends. No Save_US. Nothing.

[hoosierdude]

Well I have to say I am surprised, HHH giving the belt up. There isn't anyone else to hold it right now either HHH or Orton. I was hoping they would wait for Jericho just a little longer... glad to see he didnt come.

[molson]

I wonder if the people complaining actually watched the show, or if they're just pissed that Jericho wasn't there (even though he wasn't advertised, and they haven't even announced he's back with the company).

The main event was a great match.

[Toddzilla]

A guy recapping for the Torch said the title switches were probably just to increase the number of times Hunter has held the title, so he can eventually pass Flair. Feh.

[hoosierdude]

Flair is a legend, and HHH will never be able to match Rick's long storied career. The guy is a good wrestler, but, I don't think he would have the run he has if he wasn't married to Stephanie.

I just believe Rick carried a huge load all his career until the late 90's when WCW fell. He sold out arenas and small towns, and even if Hogan had a flashier run at WWF, Flair did it the match by match all over the country.

I think HHH is a great Heel. I just don't think he is a guy that can carry a company like others from the old NWA territories. Backlund, Flair, Rhodes, Von Erichs, Freebirds, Steamboat, etc....so many wrestlers... so little time.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Toddzilla

A guy recapping for the Torch said the title switches were probably just to increase the number of times Hunter has held the title, so he can eventually pass Flair. Feh.

I'm sure that's part if it (though you gotta love the torch watching something, speculating, and then reporting it as news on their website), but the other issue is that you have a PPV with a main event that was going to have zero build whatsoever. Typically, a main event storyline has been built for AT LEAST 6 weeks, usually longer. (Orton/Cena had been built for more than three months). Here, they could have just thrown two (or more) guys into the main event, or they could have made some attempt to build up a storyline over the course of 3 hours. They went for the latter.

[Neon_Chaos]

Singing Santino is the greatest thing ever on RAW.

[Neon_Chaos]

SHAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWNNNNN MICHAAAAAAAAAAAEELLLLLLLSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


MOTHER FUCKER!!!!!

[Neon_Chaos]

He's looks fruity with that cowboy hat and vest though.

[Neon_Chaos]

Oh my. That was a fun RAW. Wow. Nice.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Okay, this is bad.

Last night, coming off a PPV even, Raw posted the lowest rating it's had in 10 YEARS, a 2.8 cable rating. The last time so few people watched, Austin was throwing Rock's Intercontinental title into the river in December '97.

And since Smackdown did a 2.5 broadcast rating (larger universe than cable) that means more people watched Smackdown last Friday than watched the flagship last night.

If Jericho doesn't pull the numbers up (since he's reportedly a specific request by USA), things may start to get awfully tense around the office.

Here's the link to Scherer's article on PW Insider
http://pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=26982&p=1

Meanwhile, that same article notes that AM Raw (the Saturday morning recap show) did a 0.8 cable rating this past weekend and that's not too danged shabby considered TNA still can't beat a 1.2 in primetime and has recently dipped back down to around a 1.0 and even into a 0.9 for some quarter-hours for last week's two hour debut. Also worth noting, IMO, from the TNA ratings is that their highest rated demographic cell is still M12-17, almost 25% higher than their M18-34 rating.

What it suggests to me, based on this partial data, is that wrestling may be drifting back toward having middle school & high school viewers as the core again, much like the Rock N' Wrestling era in spite of a very different product. I've seen this in my own household so it isn't a totally foreign idea to me, but it is a little surprising that the it may not be such an isolated thing as I would have thought. What I've been seeing at local indies would also match up to that possibility, as the audiences are getting younger & younger in the past year or so.

[Deattribution]

I actually hope it continues to go down for a few more weeks until they decide to really shake things up and not just pretend to change things for the shake of a ratings pop.

Just bringing in Jericho won't be enough if he just ends up being an eventual job boy for HHH, HBK and Orton.

[Maple Leafs]

Wow, that rating is terrible.

People must be really mad that HHH didn't keep the belt.

</wwe thinking>

[molson]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

What it suggests to me, based on this partial data, is that wrestling may be drifting back toward having middle school & high school viewers as the core again, much like the Rock N' Wrestling era in spite of a very different product. I've seen this in my own household so it isn't a totally foreign idea to me, but it is a little surprising that the it may not be such an isolated thing as I would have thought. What I've been seeing at local indies would also match up to that possibility, as the audiences are getting younger & younger in the past year or so.

Could be. The thing about wrestling is that overall rating numbers are largely meaningless (except for morale, etc). Wrestling works well on TV because it attracts a demo that is otherwise difficult to get consistently (young males). Raw ads are sold, I would guess, pretty much exclusively on that young male demo (though those numbers are never reported - it's logical that they're declining too, of course).

So if they're striking out with a more mainstream audience, it makes perfect sense to focus on their old niche again. 16-year olds aren't going to watch much else on network prime time.

[JonInMiddleGA]

A couple of things I found interesting on PWI today.

Looks like Teddy Hart is abruptly gone from the WWE (no explanation yet) and with his departure so ends the New Hart Family angle that was believed by many to be just weeks away from starting.

http://pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=27007&p=1

And although I personally despise the sumbitch so much that I rarely read his opinion stuff anymore, this might be the best column I ever recall Mike Johnson writing.
I don't agree with everything in it, but he's a lot closer to getting it right than anyone on the TNA staff seems to be
http://pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=27004&p=1

[finketr]

Originally Posted by JIMGA's article

What is TNA?

for me, TNA is the X division from way back during the team canada days (sorry i know there not synch) but that's what caught my eye and kept it in my tivo. now i can watch impact in <= 20 minutes by ff'ing through all the crap.

[Maple Leafs]

Were there any details about the new Hart angle? I'm afraid to click on pwinsider links...

[finketr]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Were there any details about the new Hart angle? I'm afraid to click on pwinsider links...

i didn't see any in that article and yeah.. i had to restart firefox since it was taking an insane amount of memory..

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Okay, this is bad.

Last night, coming off a PPV even, Raw posted the lowest rating it's had in 10 YEARS, a 2.8 cable rating. The last time so few people watched, Austin was throwing Rock's Intercontinental title into the river in December '97.

And since Smackdown did a 2.5 broadcast rating (larger universe than cable) that means more people watched Smackdown last Friday than watched the flagship last night.

If Jericho doesn't pull the numbers up (since he's reportedly a specific request by USA), things may start to get awfully tense around the office.

Here's the link to Scherer's article on PW Insider
http://pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=26982&p=1

Meanwhile, that same article notes that AM Raw (the Saturday morning recap show) did a 0.8 cable rating this past weekend and that's not too danged shabby considered TNA still can't beat a 1.2 in primetime and has recently dipped back down to around a 1.0 and even into a 0.9 for some quarter-hours for last week's two hour debut. Also worth noting, IMO, from the TNA ratings is that their highest rated demographic cell is still M12-17, almost 25% higher than their M18-34 rating.

What it suggests to me, based on this partial data, is that wrestling may be drifting back toward having middle school & high school viewers as the core again, much like the Rock N' Wrestling era in spite of a very different product. I've seen this in my own household so it isn't a totally foreign idea to me, but it is a little surprising that the it may not be such an isolated thing as I would have thought. What I've been seeing at local indies would also match up to that possibility, as the audiences are getting younger & younger in the past year or so.

Expect the numbers to be low all October (MNF and Baseball Postseason). If they pop up at below 3.0 in November, that's when you push the panic button.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Neon_Chaos

Expect the numbers to be low all October (MNF and Baseball Postseason). If they pop up at below 3.0 in November, that's when you push the panic button.

Agreed to a point, but those things have existed before but haven't been able to drive them down to this level for a decade, making this a little more concerning (if you're them or USA at least).

[JonInMiddleGA]

Home from Bound For Glory.

Not really one highlight that stands out above the others, just a darned solid show from top to bottom. Crowd was smaller than they might have hoped for I suspect, but it was consistently hot throughout. Very very cool to see "Consequences Creed" and recognize him as one-half of the NWA-Anarchy tag team champions (apparently a last minute fill-in for their first choice, 2 Cold Scorpio). I've talked to Creed a little bit at the indy shows, seems like a really down to earth nice young guy & I'm thrilled for him to have gotten such an opportunity and to have done a more than respectable job in the role he had to play.

Best match of the night? Probably the one you didn't see at home. Motor City Machine Guns versus the debuting team of Johnny Parisi (Swinger) and Joey Matthews (Mercury). Oddest thing I noticed might have been facey pops for Killings even though the crowd was pretty solidly behind Styles & Tomko. Skipper's dive from the rigging looked scary sick in person. And while it might not be the greatest long term booking move in the world, I have no problem with Sting getting one more title on his resume in what really has to be like a second hometown for him, he certainly was treated as though he was one of our own. And after the cameras went dark, he stopped at the top of the ramp & acknowledged the crowd with several "I'm not worthy" bows to the fans, which I thought was a nice touch.

Probably not a perfect show, but a darned fun experience all the way around.
Some quality family time with my son afterwards, as the hour drive home just flew by and we were both kind of shocked to realize that we were home & had been talking non-stop the whole way.