nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
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Post by nisidhe on Aug 9, 2021 14:44:37 GMT -5
Not only do I not want to see a "Diva Search" if it's just Laurinaitis 2.0 "model-actresses" getting half-trained, I suspect that the networks would not want to see it either.
This is the kind of sophomoric-level BS that allowed the indies to really push something different, for TNA to build up on the strength of its women's division, and to send fans to places like ROH and New Japan and giving them enough to allow the cream of the crop to make a living _outside_ WWE.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
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Post by nisidhe on Aug 8, 2021 18:26:06 GMT -5
None of the others, in my view, would have the power to make the decisions they have without Vince's permission to do so. The buck still stops with Vince McMahon.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
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Post by nisidhe on Aug 8, 2021 7:05:06 GMT -5
No storyline with a wrestler going “broke” has ever been good. The Big Show and HBK storylines were terrible. What about DDP in WCW? Cocky, arrogant heel lost his ‘fortune’, progressively got scruffier & sleazier, lost his girl, lost the blowoff to the feud he was in, kayfabe lost his job but that was the beginning of a transition into one of the most over everyman babyface heroes of the last 30 years. May well be what they’re trying for with Corbin but sadly I doubt it’ll work very well given today’s tone-deaf booking that has all the nuance & subtlety of a shotgun blast to the face…. There is also a question of timing. DDP's fall from grace came during a time when the economy was actually good. Doing the same schtick in the midst of a pandemic that has utterly gutted the labor force, in sheer numbers, in morale and in economic clout while the like of Jeff Bezos made an even greater fortune from the collective misery? Not a good look for WWE. Bad optics. Really, _really_ skeezy from a company which, let's face it, hasn't been kind to its fans for some time and now, apparently, has found an opportunity to show us up again.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
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Post by nisidhe on Aug 8, 2021 6:44:32 GMT -5
I'd say no, but only because Ted's outside the WWE "bubble" anyway and because it would seem tasteless to try.
Vince is not one _at all_ to mock the dead as some have suggested he would with Ted Turner. He also has far larger forces bearing down on his actions these days. Were he to do that I have no doubt that NBC and Fox would be renegotiating their TV deals tout de f***in' suite and not to Vince's benefit.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,732
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Post by nisidhe on Aug 7, 2021 14:40:18 GMT -5
I imagine Balor's going to end up exactly like Cesaro, built up for long enough to lose to Roman only to then plummet back into doing nothing of note. It really depends on how the company's fortunes go and how they respond to the shifts (which, lately, have not been good.) WWE can no longer afford to bury, to any significant extent, _anyone_ who is clearly and naturally over. Finn is a license to print money (though keep him at least nominally babyface because that's where the money lies); Cesaro could also be a top figure at this point _if_ they book to his strengths (as a more technically-proficient hoss who could go toe-to-toe with, say, Karrion Kross) and not make him a JTTS. If they're pulling a "Finn gunning for Cena" angle this soon into Cena's return, though, I can't really see it working for Finn. With the contract signing bitterness, it might have made more sense to play up the question of "did he or didn't he?" Did Finn's pen actually make marks on that contract where his signature would land _before_ he was attacked by Corbin? But, since they apparently murdered that narrative darling last night, we have to go with "Cena signed a contract that wasn't his," even though it was trumpeted from the rooftops that Cena was going to main-event Summerslam come hell or high water. So, we have a lot of ethical murkiness surrounding the Universal title picture and now the character who might have been the most "ethical" contender going into this program has the murk of "gonna take on the popular part-timer" having over him. That promo last night did Finn no favours, in my view.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,732
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Post by nisidhe on Aug 6, 2021 21:11:27 GMT -5
If they're cutting like this at NXT main, I can only imagine that NXT UK is hanging on by its fingernails at this point.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
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Post by nisidhe on Aug 6, 2021 21:03:47 GMT -5
Yep. Really digging this "not smiling" Finn. Thanks. /s
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,732
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Post by nisidhe on Aug 6, 2021 18:04:53 GMT -5
Headcanon for Balor/Corbin: whose scribble is that on the contract for Summerslam?
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,732
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Post by nisidhe on Aug 4, 2021 15:18:42 GMT -5
Besides the injuries...I think when teaming with Finn against Ascension, some of the shine came off when Balor introduced the Demon look. Hideo just looked kinda plain comparatively. If he didn't get injured when he did and made it to Beast in the East to dethrone Owens, things MIGHT have gone different though. I still think the idea was Finn to win there and Hideo was going to confront him as the guy that attacked him... but Hideo was still like 6 months away from recovering. Can you imagine if they pulled a "split personality" angle where Finn had lost control of the Demon and attacked Hideo, but had no memory of it? The length of Hideo's recovery might have derailed that, especially with how over the Demon became. Seriously, though, they _might_ have done okay called up as a tag team: a few swipes from Apollo 55(go-go) would have brought some energy into the tag division.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
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Posts: 5,732
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Post by nisidhe on Aug 4, 2021 13:55:02 GMT -5
In the best possible timeline, Finn manages to beat Roman and Cena in a three-way. Yes, there were pen marks on the signature line on that contract, goddamnit - and not just blue Sharpie. If anything, Finn should pin Cena so that Roman can say "you didn't beat me one-on-one" and keep the program going until at least Survivor Series. This might also allow a further side feud with the Mysterios and the Usos in which the Mysterios lend a hand to the outcome.
The worst outcome is that Finn eats the pin. He can't afford to do that anymore, and certainly not so soon after returning, _unless_ there are plans to release him shortly after.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
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Posts: 5,732
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Post by nisidhe on Aug 4, 2021 13:39:55 GMT -5
You go in, you stink up the joint with craptastic matches using endless rest holds and repeat until Vince's head explodes. Then repeat. What's he gonna do - fire you? Just botch the shit out of everything until Maffew has to start another three YT channels. The highest-paid pro wrestlers on the planet performing in the ring like two 18-year-old curtain-jerkers at a high-school gym show who'd just finished setting up the ring and _might_ get a hotdog at the end of the night. I was just making a Simpsons reference, didn’t want to get you all fired up. You've done no such thing. I'm just painting a picture in the context of pro wrestling of what Vince would prefer and accept. When you discourage excellence, you breed mediocrity.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
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Post by nisidhe on Aug 3, 2021 18:30:47 GMT -5
It you don’t like your job, you don’t strike, just go in and do it really half-assed. That’s the American Way! You go in, you stink up the joint with craptastic matches using endless rest holds and repeat until Vince's head explodes. Then repeat. What's he gonna do - fire you? Just botch the shit out of everything until Maffew has to start another three YT channels. The highest-paid pro wrestlers on the planet performing in the ring like two 18-year-old curtain-jerkers at a high-school gym show who'd just finished setting up the ring and _might_ get a hotdog at the end of the night.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,732
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Post by nisidhe on Aug 3, 2021 15:23:49 GMT -5
Flair's an adult man. If he can't manage himself at his age, that's now his own lookout.
This is the stage WWE is in. If there is anyone left on a Legends contract, they might want to avoid answering their phones for the next little while.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
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Posts: 5,732
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Post by nisidhe on Aug 3, 2021 12:58:29 GMT -5
It's become a bit of a negative feedback loop, now, hasn't it?
WWE cuts talent from the roster, then they start showing up elsewhere, taking fans with them; then WWE cuts again, and banks on their B2B making up for the losses in DTC revenue; then the fans get to know what's going on at HQ and start hijacking the shows to put pressure on Creative, Creative pushes back and puts on "shut down a market" shows, the fans stop watching, ratings drop, next thing you know the networks get nervous about ratings and fan responses, the ticket sales for live events start dropping off because fans aren't getting their money's worth (bear in mind that floor seats are upwards of $150 a piece even for the regular live events, and fan packages can run up to several hundred bucks), the talent get blamed for not getting over, then get cut, and so on and so on.
The public's knowledge of WWE's business side is impacting fan responses now, as well.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
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Posts: 5,732
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Post by nisidhe on Aug 3, 2021 6:41:18 GMT -5
WWE might be in the mindset that their stinkin' up the joint last night was going to kill the numbers for AEW's Chicago event in, what, two weeks' time?
How cute.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,732
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Post by nisidhe on Aug 2, 2021 20:01:09 GMT -5
Someone got a bedazzler for their birthday. If I had a BeDazzler I'd use it along the pockets of my jeans to take me back to my mid-80s adolescence.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,732
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Post by nisidhe on Aug 2, 2021 19:59:15 GMT -5
Okay, Chicago...who's brought a beachball?
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,732
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Post by nisidhe on Aug 2, 2021 19:15:15 GMT -5
In pro wrestling, you're selling tickets and merch on the backs of your talent - talent who need to be entertaining in the ring, charismatic and who connect with fans. With the gradual, then not so gradual shift in WWE's revenue from DTC to B2B (direct-to-consumer; business-to-business), those metrics no longer matter to Vince. He feels that he can throw Joe Blow into the ring and get the same ratings as if he had Hogan, or Austin or the Rock or Cena. He's betting on fans not giving a damn about who's in the ring and simply watching anyway. Why make another Rock when you can basically throw together American Gladiators and get the same money from the same people? You might be right. The question is why are you expecting corporate suits from some mega-media company who would probably buy out the WWE to either know this or care? I would expect them to care if their ratings start dropping precipitously through the floor because a) they can't sign the more prominent names in the business to help build up their roster because they're all working for other companies and b) Vince's thumb on the booking scale is still likely to send it all crashing because he's destroyed the trust of fans. None of this matters to the bean-counters in the short term, I get it; but an entertainment conglomerate needs to build a creative work using creative people, and be willing to take some risks on untried quantities, in order to build things up for long-term success, _especially_ if you're going to continue creating entertaining content to keep the momentum going. WWE stopped doing those things a long time ago and may have forgotten how to restart. Anyone buying out WWE is either taking a husk of a wrestling promotion not worth much more than Billy Corgan's NWA alongside a bundle of other non-wrestling assets, or is going to have to get back to the front line basics of running a wrestling promotion. An entertainment conglomerate willing to do pro wrestling is going to be inclined to do things right, which may or may not require the McMahons to achieve. A company like Disney isn't going to throw away that 20% of revenue from fan engagement if it's a) going to help build the overall profile of the business and b) it makes them money through ratings, merch, ticket sales, advertisements, etc. They're going to go for that revenue because it builds interest in other of its products and because consumer response is how it gauges what's working. A smaller company focusing on pro wrestling alone can do that, but throwing that front-line business under the bus the moment there are other opportunities to grow in income can cost one everything. Sears is my go-to for this argument because a) I used to work for Sears Canada when that was a damn near institution, and b) it is absolutely a textbook case of a company forgetting or throwing away what made it great.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
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Posts: 5,732
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Post by nisidhe on Aug 2, 2021 18:39:43 GMT -5
Question: what does "selling WWE" specifically mean since it's a publicly traded company? I mean, in that scenario, even if the new owners were to have no interest in Stephanie and Triple H being executives in the company, they would still have their stocks, right? Vince McMahon has controlling interest in the company just by himself and could probably persuade the rest of his family to go along with a sale to a new buyer for true majority control on top of it. The amount of actual ownership stake Trips has in WWE is minuscule. And while Stephanie has a lot more, she can't really start a shareholders' revolt or anything if she doesn't want to go along with a sale.
True, but there is other stock WWE has issued over the years that a) is still available to be traded in the general public and b) will need to be bought back by WWE in order to take the company fully private again or to sell the company to someone else. Stock buybacks usually demand that one offer a higher-than-market price to the shareholder as an incentive to sell.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
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Posts: 5,732
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Post by nisidhe on Aug 2, 2021 17:13:46 GMT -5
However, Vince's game plan the last five years has been to build the brand at the expense of its stars, the very resource you need to sell an entertainment product on first sight. There's no way that any buyer who cares about creating entertainment is going to let that continue. What do you mean by "at the expense of its stars"? As far as most corporate suits looking at the WWE are concerned, they have plenty of stars who all seem happy. In pro wrestling, you're selling tickets and merch on the backs of your talent - talent who need to be entertaining in the ring, charismatic and who connect with fans. With the gradual, then not so gradual shift in WWE's revenue from DTC to B2B (direct-to-consumer; business-to-business), those metrics no longer matter to Vince. He feels that he can throw Joe Blow into the ring and get the same ratings as if he had Hogan, or Austin or the Rock or Cena. He's betting on fans not giving a damn about who's in the ring and simply watching anyway. Why make another Rock when you can basically throw together American Gladiators and get the same money from the same people?
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