Post by andrew8798 on Jan 3, 2007 4:25:09 GMT -5
Claudio Castagnoli appears to have been fired before he ever even worked one day for the company. As expected, it was a visa issue, and we’re told that Claudio was not exactly forthcoming about the issue, and that Simon Dean (head of developmental) also got heat for assuming that a guy from Europe would have all of his legal papers squared away. Both guys made mistakes and it bit Claudio in the ass.
WWE Films may turn out OK in the end. See No Evil has now done over $10 million in rentals, putting the total revenue generated up past $25 million. The budget was approximately $8 million, so this film will come out a winner (although you also have to take into account factors such as percentages paid to theatres, distributors, etc., so it’s not like they’ve made even close to $18 million in profit thus far). Marine is far more iffy with nearly the same domestic gross and a much higher initial budget. The key for WWE if they want to continue doing theatrical movie projects is to keep the budget as low as humanly possible (ideally as far below $10 million as is feasible), plug the shit out of the movies on TV (as annoying as it can be), and then plug the shit out of the DVDs on TV for another six months or so.
If they can do that, they can make a mild profit on future film projects, and also get the benefit of having the wrestlers perceived as minor mainstream movie stars. In other words, if all the press for Cena and Kane and WWE helped the company even the slightest bit and they didn’t lose tons of money to achieve it (or even made a little bit of money), then this will ultimately be well worth the investment.
Regarding Shawn Michaels’ comment on Raw where he talked about wrestling “the greatest in-ring performer of his generation”, but then paused and said he hadn’t faced that guy yet, he was referring to both Bret Hart and Kurt Angle. Basically, the promo was designed to be vague about who he was talking about in order to build up controversy, and that’s exactly what went down. Of course, the question remains, what’s the point since neither of them are coming in for a match?.
We’re told that Vickie Guerrero did end up selling the house Eddy bought in 2005 and moved back to El Paso. They had a $630,000 mortgage at the time of the sale, so after property taxes and commission to the realtor, she likely lost money on the deal.
Booker’s first show last week in Pasadena drew approximately 400. Their next show is January 25th with Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin vs. La Resistance in the main event.
The Federline vs. Cena match got some press, including on MTV.com. The MTV story was great because it only mentioned that Federline had pinned WWE Champion Cena, not mentioning any sort of outside interference. An AP story wrote: “Maybe he isn’t a hit as a rapper, but Britney Spears’ estranged husband, Kevin Federline, is a winner in the ring. Federline was victorious in his pro-wrestling debut Monday Night. He ‘beat’ WWE champ John Cena on ‘Monday Night Raw,’ after Cena was supposedly knocked out by another wrestler.” It also featured the best line ever: “Federline didn’t get the title, because the bout was a non-title exhibition fight.” EXHIBITION FIGHT~!!~~!.
New Year’s Revolution will be airing in the UK on Sky Sports 1 instead of Sky Box Office, meaning folks can see it for free. Full line-up for the PPV, from the Savvis Center in St. Louis: WWE Championship Match: John Cena vs. Umaga; Degeneration X (Triple H & Shawn Michaels) vs. Rated RKO (Randy Orton & Edge); Steel Cage Match - WWE Intercontinental Title: Jeff Hardy vs. Johnny Nitro; WWE Women’s Championship Match: Mickie James vs. Victoria; Ric Flair vs. Kenny Dystra; Carlito vs. Chris Masters. Top three matches should be good, and Kenny vs. Flair should be fun if they give them some time. I’m worried about Mickie vs. Victoria and Carlito vs. Masters. They’ll be fighting for worst match.
Hogan Knows Best returns with a new episode next week, and it sounds like a good one~! “When the Hogans moved out of Clearwater, they left everything behind, including Hulk’s buddy, Brian ‘Nasty Boy’ Knobs. So Hulk invites Knobs to the new pad in Miami Beach for a weekend without asking Linda. But when this 300-pound loaf strolls around in his underwear, belches, and plays constant pranks, he quickly becomes the family’s worst nightmare.”
credit F4W Newsletter
WWE Films may turn out OK in the end. See No Evil has now done over $10 million in rentals, putting the total revenue generated up past $25 million. The budget was approximately $8 million, so this film will come out a winner (although you also have to take into account factors such as percentages paid to theatres, distributors, etc., so it’s not like they’ve made even close to $18 million in profit thus far). Marine is far more iffy with nearly the same domestic gross and a much higher initial budget. The key for WWE if they want to continue doing theatrical movie projects is to keep the budget as low as humanly possible (ideally as far below $10 million as is feasible), plug the shit out of the movies on TV (as annoying as it can be), and then plug the shit out of the DVDs on TV for another six months or so.
If they can do that, they can make a mild profit on future film projects, and also get the benefit of having the wrestlers perceived as minor mainstream movie stars. In other words, if all the press for Cena and Kane and WWE helped the company even the slightest bit and they didn’t lose tons of money to achieve it (or even made a little bit of money), then this will ultimately be well worth the investment.
Regarding Shawn Michaels’ comment on Raw where he talked about wrestling “the greatest in-ring performer of his generation”, but then paused and said he hadn’t faced that guy yet, he was referring to both Bret Hart and Kurt Angle. Basically, the promo was designed to be vague about who he was talking about in order to build up controversy, and that’s exactly what went down. Of course, the question remains, what’s the point since neither of them are coming in for a match?.
We’re told that Vickie Guerrero did end up selling the house Eddy bought in 2005 and moved back to El Paso. They had a $630,000 mortgage at the time of the sale, so after property taxes and commission to the realtor, she likely lost money on the deal.
Booker’s first show last week in Pasadena drew approximately 400. Their next show is January 25th with Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin vs. La Resistance in the main event.
The Federline vs. Cena match got some press, including on MTV.com. The MTV story was great because it only mentioned that Federline had pinned WWE Champion Cena, not mentioning any sort of outside interference. An AP story wrote: “Maybe he isn’t a hit as a rapper, but Britney Spears’ estranged husband, Kevin Federline, is a winner in the ring. Federline was victorious in his pro-wrestling debut Monday Night. He ‘beat’ WWE champ John Cena on ‘Monday Night Raw,’ after Cena was supposedly knocked out by another wrestler.” It also featured the best line ever: “Federline didn’t get the title, because the bout was a non-title exhibition fight.” EXHIBITION FIGHT~!!~~!.
New Year’s Revolution will be airing in the UK on Sky Sports 1 instead of Sky Box Office, meaning folks can see it for free. Full line-up for the PPV, from the Savvis Center in St. Louis: WWE Championship Match: John Cena vs. Umaga; Degeneration X (Triple H & Shawn Michaels) vs. Rated RKO (Randy Orton & Edge); Steel Cage Match - WWE Intercontinental Title: Jeff Hardy vs. Johnny Nitro; WWE Women’s Championship Match: Mickie James vs. Victoria; Ric Flair vs. Kenny Dystra; Carlito vs. Chris Masters. Top three matches should be good, and Kenny vs. Flair should be fun if they give them some time. I’m worried about Mickie vs. Victoria and Carlito vs. Masters. They’ll be fighting for worst match.
Hogan Knows Best returns with a new episode next week, and it sounds like a good one~! “When the Hogans moved out of Clearwater, they left everything behind, including Hulk’s buddy, Brian ‘Nasty Boy’ Knobs. So Hulk invites Knobs to the new pad in Miami Beach for a weekend without asking Linda. But when this 300-pound loaf strolls around in his underwear, belches, and plays constant pranks, he quickly becomes the family’s worst nightmare.”
credit F4W Newsletter