"100,001" Replies (Wrestling Forum)

[Emperor Smeat]

[Simple Fan]

Who's the dude to the left of Big E?

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Sheamus showing off his dancing skills:

Originally Posted by Observer A key story to watch for next month are the Shinsuke Nakamura contract negotiations. There is WWE interest in Nakamura, and unlike with Kazuchika Okada, who has made it clear his goal is to build New Japan up and already had his taste of U.S. wrestling, Nakamura has never had any kind of a U.S. run. From a WWE standpoint, Nakamura is tall enough, which is a current management knock on Hideo Itami on the main roster, but his age, as he’d be 36 before he’d start, is a factor as WWE traditionally doesn’t like to start guys of that age in NXT (Samoa Joe or James Storm are different as the ideas for them were strictly NXT and not main roster, while Nakamura would likely start in NXT but the goal is main roster). Nakamura is intrigued with the idea of being an American star, and the huge reaction he’s gotten on ROH shows may give him the idea that his charisma would carry over. At the same time, owner Takaaki Kidani in the past has said that they may have to offer seven figure or near seven figure deals to top guys, so it’s not a situation like AAA with Alberto where they couldn’t match with WWE offer.

MLW Radio podcast with Court Bauer also hinted at the WWE interested in grabbing Nakamura.

Originally Posted by Observer Lethal is another one whose contract expires relatively soon and WWE has shown interest in for NXT. One of the perks for ROH is the New Japan connection and he’s doing the Dome show in a probable title match (unless he loses between now and then) with Michael Elgin.

Mick Foley has been very critical WWE’s creative direction in recent weeks, publicly grappling with the notion of completely giving up on watching the product. What Foley has failed to mention is that his son Dewey has secured a job with WWE’s writing staff. According to a source close to the situation, Dewey, 23, will begin working with WWE’s creative team shortly after the holidays. He had been running a blog for WWE creative writing samples, which is now set to private. Suddenly, Mick Foley’s public damnation of WWE creative suddenly takes on an entirely different perspective. It’s worth noting that Foley’s daughter Noelle could also be working for WWE in the not so distant future, as there is talk of her becoming a backstage interviewer. During a recent interview with Justin Labar of Chair Shot Reality, Noelle noted that she has done some training in the ring but is focusing on other things.

Puts some doubt if he was legit impressed at this week's RAW or only said it because he didn't want any negative backlash towards his son if he vented again. Also his son recently deleted Facebook comments that were critical of Creative and Triple H prior to taking the job. http://www.sescoops.com/dewey-foley-...eative-writer/

Originally Posted by Observer That all said, it is not a good thing that the audience watching is smaller, and even worse that the audience watching is significantly less engaged and switches off the show quicker than any time in history. The latter point is the key, in the sense if people watch out of habit but care about the product less, it’s a bad sign. I can recall Lance Russell in the late-80s, who was a successful program director before wrestling announcer became his full-time vocation, talking about the enormous ratings Memphis wrestling was still getting during a period when live attendance was falling greatly noting that on a show like wrestling, which draws based on people being creatures of habit, the ratings decline comes last, not first. That was the case with WCW, where there was a huge ratings decline as they went down the drain, but the decline in PPV, live events and other revenue streams was far greater ... In talking recently with someone who runs one of the major arenas in the country, WWE, even though live gates are $200,000 to $300,000 for a house show, and more for TV, has gone from an event that is a key regular franchise event for the building, to an event that is considered a low grossing event compared to most entertainment events (unless it’s a major PPV event, which is actually of more value than ever before because of the higher ticket prices), but is fine to have for an otherwise free night in the building. ... The big flaw is that the questions are being asked of the company’s most hardcore fans, given the Fan Nation status, meaning for the most part, they are not getting the input from the key fans they need to reach, the casual fan, sometime fan or lapsed fan, which are the fans who are the keys in growing the business and the ones dropping out now. The Fan Nation fan, while important to know their thoughts, are more likely to be satisfied and less likely to have the mindset to the product of those who are less interested or have faded away, or watch but aren’t nearly as invested and thus don’t stay for the whole three hours. Unfortunately, the audience that they need to contact is the one they can’t find ... In the mid-card era, they’ve created nobody new, with most of their efforts geared to Roman Reigns, a cosmetic pick in an era where cosmetics don’t connect as much as in the past. Ironically, the crowd has tried to pick stars on their own, who are either grudgingly accepted after a fight (Punk and Bryan), are given early lip service to and quickly put “in their place” (Owens) or on a much smaller level, are rejected and shoved in their faces (Cesaro).

Basically ratings are historically usually the last thing that plunges and a sign companies had been ignoring the more serious flaws (ex. WCW waited too late to fix their fatal flaws), venues are starting to see less value in holding WWE shows, and the recent Fan Council survey isn't targeting the actual groups leaving en mass.

Originally Posted by Observer Culturally, while the publicity is not good, this has not resulted in the type of reaction something like this would get if it was a similar-level star in the U.S. It’s notable because the press covers Japanese wrestling far more than in the U.S. (although the gap isn’t nearly as wide today as it was for most of the past 60 years), and while this incident got some mainstream publicity, many key people in the Japanese pro wrestling industry were unaware of it even after it had been covered in Japan and discussed in the U.S. Honma is still working nightly in the New Japan tag team tournament. However, the story did start to garner more interest in Japan when Honma responded by threatening a lawsuit and claiming all of the incidents described were him acting in self defense.

Update to the Honma story that might end up getting worse for Honma because of the lawsuit threat for making it public.

Originally Posted by Observer Both Multi Screen Media (MSM), or Sony Six, their television partner which was bringing TNA in for the tour, and TNA made an agreement that neither side would publicly give a reason for the tour being canceled. The announcement said the tour would be rescheduled for 2016. TNA’s contract with Sony Six that was recently signed calls for TNA to have to tour the country at least once a year, or the contract would be breached. Sony Six was on board with this cancellation so this won’t be held against TNA. It was believed to be a direct financial issue, since it was the Indian group that was financing much of the tour. It was not a ticket issue as no tickets were being sold for the three shows, and they were people who would be let in free.

Update to TNA's India tour being canceled.

Originally Posted by Observer Regarding Destination America, the station is going to be rebranding. Apparently after doing record numbers for the live exorcism, they are moving to a paranormal channel five nights per week as soon as possible, and moving to seven nights a week of paranormal programming in September, so wrestling didn’t fit into the new direction. They are also going to be changing the name of the channel. At least that was the internal plan announced within the company this past week. It has not been announced publicly yet.

Originally Posted by Observer In addition to the recently added episodes of NWA World Championship Wrestling, Smoky Mountain Wrestling and Mid South Wrestling, the WWE Network has added AWA All Star Wrestling to its lineup. They’ve also resumed adding WCCW shows after a long break. It appears that they’re focusing on shows featuring big name WWE legends to start with.

Some other sheet news includes:

• Was quickly discovered on the internet that the new Paige POP figurines are just the old AJ Lee figurines repainted to Paige's colors. http://officialfan.proboards.com/thr...unko-pop-paige
• If it wasn't for last week's disaster, this week's episode of RAW would have been a new record low for the WWE. As of now its just the 2nd lowest in the 3 Hour era.
• Chris Jericho announced Becky Lynch will be on this Friday's episode of Talk Is Jericho podcast. https://twitter.com/TalkIsJericho/st...85551449833472
• According to a recent interview with F4W, Brad Maddoz confirmed he was fired due to the "cocky pricks" promo and was getting frustrated with his role which is why he did the unscripted promo. http://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/br...d-times-202836
• In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, TNA has officially lasted longer than WCW going by official WCW launch and not counting the pre-JCP/GCW era. TNA has lasted so far for 12 years and 6 months while WCW was 12 years and 5 months.
• In a recent interview with the Miami Herald, the president of POP TV officially debunked rumors of TNA paying for their spot on the network. http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/fi...e47489355.html

Some TPWW News:

• This week's episode of TPWW's TLP podcast was released: http://tablesladderspodcast.podbean....st-132-120215/

[Nicky Fives]

Originally Posted by Simple Fan Who's the dude to the left of Big E?

Good question....

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

I think it's Finn Balor but it could be nxt announcer Greg Hamitlon.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Originally Posted by Smelly Meatball Is it wrong that I can already sort of see how the whole Lana-Rusev thing is going to end again. They are stressing too much on Lana and/or Rusev actually cheating with each other which probably gets revealed slide-show style when Ziggler and/or Summer interrupt their WWE wedding. Probably can already predict the punchline as well: SPOILER: show Hornswoggle was involved

Rusev is comedic gold.

Rusev: I joined this new thing Instagram.

Cole: It's not new.

Rusev:

[Emperor Smeat]

According to NeoGAF's wrestling thread, TNA's deal with POP TV includes a very similar opt out clause Destination America had with them. POP seems to care more about ad money and less on viewership as what will trigger the clause. DA was the inverse but ad money dropping was a big factor as well.

As long as TNA generates enough money to keep POP happy, the clause won't get invoked. If not, third year in a row TNA could end up getting kicked off a network.

[DAMN iNATOR]

Originally Posted by SlickyTrickyDamon Rusev is comedic gold. Rusev: I joined this new thing Instagram. Cole: It's not new. Rusev:

Just wait until Lana finds his SnapChat and AdultFriendFinder accounts!

[Big Vic]

I'd like to see CyNick defend TNA.

[drave]

He won't because Vince has nothing to do with TNA.

[Evil Vito]

"If Vince took over TNA, it would be the highest rated show on Thursdays within 3 months"

[Rammsteinmad]

Haven't seen this in a while. Not sure why there's annoying music in the background, but it's still funny, and there must be some people here who've never seen this gem.

[Tom Guycott]

Originally Posted by Smelly Meatball

Haha. Stingdust.

[Simple Fan]

Really want a Sting/Stardust feud.

[Big Vic]

I have mixed feeling on whether I want to see Sting have one last run.

[The CyNick]

Originally Posted by Big Vic I'd like to see CyNick defend TNA.

Despite dirt sheets writing weekly articles about how the company is doomed and could be facing their last year, they have managed to remain the only moderately successful alternative to the WWE. Company is now in its Xth year of existence when most people thought they wouldn't get past 18 months.

[The CyNick]

I wonder what pillar of wisdom Lance Russel provided Dirt Sheet Dave about where the VOD business fits into his little model.

I also wonder if he talked about how live event ticket sales are down across all major sports. Probably not.

[Emperor Smeat]

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Wrestling's Instant Regrets:

As previously noted, there have been rumors going around online about a potential Brock Lesnar vs. Kevin Owens match at WrestleMania 32. The rumor got started on Court Bauer’s podcast after Kevin Owens did an interview on the “Like Father, Like Son” podcast where he expressed interest in wrestling Lesnar. Bryan Alvarez asked Dave Meltzer about this on Wrestling Observer Live and Meltzer was skeptical of the story. He said that Lesnar is not aware of any plans for a match with Owens. Obviously, Lesnar would be made aware of plans that involve him since he is one of the top paid guys in the company. Meltzer said that he is skeptical because of the way Owens has been portrayed on WWE television and he is not treated as a top guy. In order to match him up with someone like Lesnar then Owens would need to run roughshod through the roster and he would need to win most (or all) of his matches leading up to WrestleMania if they want to make him credible enough for Lesnar.

The match itself could still end up happening but as of right now, its not one of the big matches planned for Mania. A recent interview Owens gave for a podcast might have been the source of the confusion. http://www.wrestlingnews.co/update-o...-wrestlemania/

Originally Posted by WWE The WWE Tag Team Champion Triple Threat Match at WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs between titleholders The New Day and challengers The Usos and The Lucha Dragons will now be contested under Ladder Match rules. Tom Phillips broke the news in a video posted on WWE’s official Facebook page.

Steve Austin was recently on the Taz Show: Bodyslams & Beyond: On Scripted Promos: “It’s a different PC world that those guys are operating in, so I feel for those guys. And I love WWE, I’m still part of the company, but it’s just tough these days on these kids,” Austin said. “I don’t like to be the bitter veteran that complains about the system, but, I don’t believe that promos should be ‘scripted’. A couple of bullet points, yes, to point a cat in the right direction, but you’ve got to be out there and be able to feel at home and believe with conviction and your heart and your soul with everything that you’re saying and if you’re just trying to be an orator or someone who delivers a speech, that’s not effective in my opinion. And to me, to draw money, you’ve got to be able to reach people’s heartstrings and reach some kind of guttural response or just anything that resonates with them.” On This Generation’s Wrestlers: “These guys are a step above our generation and the generations before us, athletically. What they can do in the ring is amazing and they’re great athletes, but I can give you [Ric] Flair/[Barry] Windham from ’87 or ’86 and those guys are working at today’s pace, but they’re selling everything, they’re not telegraphing anything, they’re not foreshadowing the next sequence of moves. It’s about 50-50 or 70-30 called in the ring and so it feels spontaneous and it feels different. It feels like a shoot. So there’s a real fine line between taking all that athleticism and you’re going to set up a little bit of stuff, but when it looks like you’re just going through the motions, you’re just going through the motions and people can see that. And you’ve got to be able to feel and really get behind a character and a personality and the human that’s doing that. I mean, that’s the money level.” On Finn Balor: “I’m wondering if he’s going to get lost in the shuffle a little bit [on the main roster]. He does that crawl to the ring and sometimes it takes so long. It’s a little disconcerting because I’ve seen the kid. Good looking kid, worked for many years in Japan, and he’s very technical from Ireland or wherever he’s from. Great kid! Great kid! Hell of a worker. Ten times the worker I ever was, but he [has] got to connect with those people. And so hopefully that gimmick allows him to do that. And it’s a great look. You can make a lot of action figures off of it, but put all the pieces together. People [have] got to care about him to become emotionally invested in him, but a great human being and a hellacious worker.”

Originally Posted by Observer The Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker blow-off at the 10/25 Hell in a Cell show did slightly smaller numbers as the year before, which is a positive given a substantial increase in network subscribers over the year ... did 87,000 buys on pay-per-view, broken down as 23,000 domestic and 64,000 overseas. It’s a drop domestically from the 31,000 the prior month’s Night of Champions did domestically ... Last year’s Hell in a Cell show did 29,000 domestic PPV buys, and 75,000 overseas buys, for a total of 104,000. ... But the network subscribers have increased significantly, both domestic and overseas, so a direct comparison isn’t as meaningful. What’s notable is that even with the push to actually even insult people who buy the show on PPV on broadcasts, that ever since last year’s Hell in a Cell, that the B show numbers in North America, which fell to 21,000 for last year’s TLC show, have never fallen below 22,000 since. The overseas numbers, at 64,000, have been increasing, as they ranged from 40,000 to 50,000 most of the year, before hitting 55,000 at Battleground, fell to 46,000 in September, and grew to 64,000 in October.

WWE insulting ppv buyers somehow has managed to lead to more international buys for ppvs. Either people overseas don't care or are not interested in the Network (if available there) for it to go up.

Originally Posted by Observer There is nothing new going on with GFW right now. We’d heard nothing about a U.S. deal being close and the U.K. deal that they were hoping for hasn’t been completed at this point. Some people have noted how ROH and TNA were able to get new TV quickly after Destination America canceled while GFW hasn’t been able to, but the circumstances are different. GFW needs television that pays or they can’t afford to run. They don’t have major money behind them. From what I understand, Toby Keith has told Jeff Jarrett he’s willing to come back to the table but Jarrett needs to get certain things done, which I presume is a viable television deal and a method to where the company can be profitable. ROH got on a new Sinclair Network, which likely isn’t paying them considering how hardline they’ve been about contracts of late, and TNA took a deal that didn’t pay them with POP TV. How they can afford that is a question but obviously Jarrett can’t afford that.

GFW still struggling big time to find a tv deal even at TNA range or lower level.

Originally Posted by Observer It was notable that the WWE web site put up articles on Rey Mysterio Jr. & Maria Kanellis recently. It’s well known WWE would like to get Mysterio Jr. back and keep him from going to Lucha Underground. Kanellis is a free agent as the contracts of Kanellis, Michael Bennett and Matt Taven have expired. It’s an interesting situation. It comes down to who and what WWE wants regarding the three, New Japan’s interest and ROH’s interest, in the three both as a group as well as individuals.

Originally Posted by Observer Neville has been added to at least some of the NXT shows on the upcoming tour. The tour is 12/10 to 12/16, and he’s advertised on the first two shows, which includes the opening night in Newcastle, where he’s from. Sami Zayn is advertised for the entire tour. He’s been back training of late and his return was being pushed on NXT TV this week. It’s not clear if he’ll be just appearing or wrestling at this point.

Originally Posted by Observer Right now the partnership between Del Rio and Colter is not looked at as being a long-term thing and there is already talk about him after they are broken up. Of course nothing is definitive here given they change their minds on stuff like this every day but there is a 2016 direction for him away from Colter.

Originally Posted by PWI The 9 p.m. airing of Impact on 12/2 did 221,000 viewers, down from last week’s 234,000 viewers. The replay did 73,000 viewers, down a little from the previous week's 78,000. Overall they did 294,000, down from last week's 312,000 viewers.. So, in the first week with no Ring of Honor, TNA's audience dropped.

Some other sheet news includes:

• Melina confirmed she was released by Lucha Underground although said it wasn't due to rumors of backstage issues or her public posting of Johnny Mundo's medicine.
• In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, today is the 3 year anniversary of Teddy Long's heel turn on random tag team matches. Turned a Kofi & R-Truth vs Ceasro and Barrett tag match into a random Fatal 4 Way match instead.
• According to reports, Kevin Owens is currently dealing with a flu which is why he missed RAW this week.
• According to the Observer, ticket sales for TNA's upcoming UK tour are not doing well to the point that TNA is giving a 40% discount to help generate interest.
• Recent article on WWE's official website dealt with Kevin Owens career and life as a father so far: http://www.wwe.com/inside/kevin-owen...s-dad-28314634
• WWE and Lionsgate's Codeblack Films have recently signed off for a new set of films to be made with the first called Brother's Blood starting production next month.
• Update to Mick Foley's son being signed by the WWE to a Creative job as it turns out he's not going to be a writer but just an assistant for a writer.

[Sixx]

What exactly is The Dudley Boyz' gimmick?

They dress like military but also kinda like dorks. Are they military accountants or something?

[Simple Fan]

Hope they go the Owens/Lesnar match at Mania.

[Tom Guycott]

Originally Posted by Sixx What exactly is The Dudley Boyz' gimmick? They dress like military but also kinda like dorks. Are they military accountants or something?

Well, is there something else to evolve to? They went from tye dye to camo... what would they do next, neon?

[Sixx]

I'm not asking where they're going with this. Just what are they supposed to be now.

I'm just drunk and thinking about meaningless shit.

[DAMN iNATOR]

Originally Posted by Sixx I'm not asking where they're going with this. Just what are they supposed to be now. I'm just drunk and thinking about meaningless shit.

Seems like they're just trying to appeal to older viewers who still remember their trademark glasses and camo and shirts and mannerisms from the Attitude Era.

[Fignuts]

Originally Posted by Sixx I'm not asking where they're going with this. Just what are they supposed to be now. I'm just drunk and thinking about meaningless shit.

They had the camo and glasses for most of their wwe run, so I'm not really sure what the issue is.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Holy shit WWE Network just hit the megaload. MidSouth, NWA Saturday Night, Smokey Mountain.

My free time is booked solid.

[DAMN iNATOR]

Front page article says they also added USWA.

[Dark One]

Brad Maddox--err---Mad Braddox The Mad Ox--has a hell of a shirt.

[Dark One]

Deceptively simple KICKOUT AT TWO:

SPOILER: show

Also an edited GIF BUT WHATEVER

[Rammsteinmad]

Just realized TNA's stupid world title series is still going on haha. Somewhere, there is someone who has actually followed it all right from the start.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Originally Posted by DAMN iNATOR Just wait until Lana finds his SnapChat and AdultFriendFinder accounts!

AshleyMadison is the site that got hacked though.

[Simple Fan]

I've watched most of it. Haven't watched the last 2 weeks will probably check it out this week. They have gotten out out the round robin part of the tournament and have started the16 person bracket, Gail Kim and Awesome Kong advanced, I think Gail lost in the first round though.

[DAMN iNATOR]

Originally Posted by SlickyTrickyDamon AshleyMadison is the site that got hacked though.

Yeah, but he pulled some strings with Putin to have the Russian government delete all traces of that account.

[Sixx]

Originally Posted by Fignuts HD Edition They had the camo and glasses for most of their wwe run, so I'm not really sure what the issue is.

There's no issue. I'm not saying something's changed, I always remembered them in camo and glasses.

It's just a weird gimmick, yo.

[Nicky Fives]

Originally Posted by Rammsteinmad Just realized TNA's stupid world title series is still going on haha. Somewhere, there is someone who has actually followed it all right from the start.

It was actually a great concept, but I'm a fans of tournaments....

[Anybody Thrilla]

Was it really necessary to have like 14 people in the Corporate Ministry? Looks ridiculous to have them all standing there during a Vince promo.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Attitude Era. They could do no wrong. Ratings and money.

[Disturbed316]

I miss Daniel Bryan

[GD]

Remember when Daniel Bryan cheated on Brie Bella and his sister-in-law Nikki Bella with Gail Kim?

[Blonde Moment]

They need Paul Heyman and Jim Cornette with 5 writers they can both agree upon