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Post by eJm on May 13, 2024 17:58:53 GMT -5
John84 says he absolutely wouldn't be interested in a UFC-WWE Supercard. I love UFC, I love WWE, I have zero interest in mixed cards. Back to back Saturday and Sundays I’m cool with, but no Rizin/IGF style shows Honestly, the only way that would really happen is if TKO absolutely bottoms out in the next few months and becomes Private along with the rest of Endeavor and they get super desperate but unless WWE does something really terrible and they lose a tonne of money and makes TKO shares drop, it’s not likely.
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Post by eJm on May 13, 2024 17:42:03 GMT -5
While the subject is up, I might as well have a side tangent about something that is sort of political but it’s less beliefs and more the policy.
The week before the London Mayor election, the present mayor, Sadiq Khan (no relation to Nick or Tony) said he wanted to bring events like the Super Bowl and WrestleMania, saying both by name, to London and it felt like the most populist BS you could possibly use.
One, you’re not going to be guaranteed either. The NFL loves London and has been trying to get an NFL team there for years (Spurs’ new stadium’s been rumored for long enough to be pitching itself as a home for an NFL team) but there is a real long shot the Super Bowl will ever go out of North America without a damn good reason to do it. Especially when it’ll be airing hours later and most of the audience is staying up late on a Sunday. WrestleMania, I mean…it could happen but you’d have to make a lot of sides happy and I highly doubt London gets a WrestleMania before, say, Saudi Arabia because, frankly, that cash cow is way bigger.
Two, frankly, London doesn’t need either. Performances happen there all the time and even with other stuff that’s happened (let’s call it Eggsit for the benefit of those aware), it’s still a location to go to so boosting tourism and not to try and make this a “WWE vs. AEW” thing but another company has willingly paid for one of the few spots Wembley Stadium has every year to use it and yes, WrestleMania would sell it out but it feels weird to throw that under the bus to chase that instead of developing that as YOUR WrestleMania.
I also just hate the idea that a city that has, admittedly, has had budget problems with transport and the like over the last 5 years (for many reasons I won’t go into) using tax payer’s money for an event that, quite frankly, won’t have the significant tourism in comparison to the other stuff going on and it’s just a weird thing to even promise. But I also hate how taxpayer’s money is used for all these places, especially when WWE is right now trying to stop Brendan Thurston from getting information he’s entitled to find out about how much public money was used to pay for the Royal Rumble last year.
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Post by eJm on May 13, 2024 9:28:00 GMT -5
The reaction to MITB was more "oh Dolph is gonna be a big deal now" whereas the reaction to SS was more "oh yeah Dolph should be a big deal by now". The real question might be what was the biggest moment that made people give up on poor Dolph. Oh, post Miz title win for sure. The cash in I "got" only because a concussion ground plans to a halt, SS14 a lot of people got buried six feet under after that and the Royal Rumble the next year but even after all of that, they did a storyline that got Dolph over to the audience after so long of him being treated like a nobody, did a happy ending to that storyline and then he just...lost it back to the Miz and did nothing. To the point where him facing Ambrose and Kofi for the WWE title were basically stories revolving around how much of a loser Dolph Ziggler is which is an excellent ways of selling Network subscriptions for your big shows.
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Post by eJm on May 13, 2024 8:31:18 GMT -5
Around the same prices that Backlash and no one complained lol French>>>>>>>>>Scottish People definitely complained. Maybe it didn't get a BBC report online but people absolutely complained because the insane cost of live events has been a consistent, regular pain point people have spent years complaining about, accusing Ticketmaster of deeply unethical shit, and slamming artists for creating a perception that only their affluent fans actually matter to them. People super complained. Yeah, I absolutely remember seeing people talking about it. Especially after WWE called it the "highest grossing arena show in WWE history" which a) that's a weird thing to brag about to anyone but shareholders, I just can't imagine being a viewer and giving a shit and b) makes it more obvious you did price gouge.
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Post by eJm on May 12, 2024 14:29:33 GMT -5
Dana: "Hey Levesque I've got a memo I have to send someone over to you" HHH: "Dont you f***ing dare!" Dana: "McGreggor's your problem now bitch!" HHH: Well, hopefully he won’t be a problem with us now he’s on the road and travelling rather than going back to his pub in Ireland and punching old men. Pritchard: Sir, Conor just went back to his pub in Ireland and punched an old man. HHH: HOW?! WE’RE IN TULSA!
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Post by eJm on May 12, 2024 14:27:17 GMT -5
In his defense (which I HATE saying about Dana White but hey), I’d be stunned if that wasn’t the long term goal for TKO since UFC was Saturdays for the longest time and WWE was Sundays for the longest time. Slap Fight being Fridays should be the worry because for some reason someone in TKO that isn’t Dana really wants to keep that around which is great if you want a sport that isn’t football where athletes are affected by long term CTE. Slap Fight still exists? Well, enough for Dana to want it on a Friday in a triple header at least.
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Post by eJm on May 12, 2024 12:58:07 GMT -5
More like they told him he had to. Doesn’t sound like something he’d go for at all back in the day. I mean, no, because Vince (and WWE in general) wouldn’t know a co-operative relationship if it went up to them and had a step by step guide. The only reason it’s likely to happen now is that they’re under the same umbrella so have to.
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Post by eJm on May 12, 2024 12:55:37 GMT -5
More worryingly, he said that he wants TKO weekends where UFC has Saturdays and WWE's PLEs are back on Sundays. LEARN TO CO-EXIST, ASSHOLE. In his defense (which I HATE saying about Dana White but hey), I’d be stunned if that wasn’t the long term goal for TKO since UFC was Saturdays for the longest time and WWE was Sundays for the longest time. Slap Fight being Fridays should be the worry because for some reason someone in TKO that isn’t Dana really wants to keep that around which is great if you want a sport that isn’t football where athletes are affected by long term CTE.
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Post by eJm on May 12, 2024 12:22:19 GMT -5
I can see Cody/Rock at the Rumble or maybe a long shot but the Raw Netflix debut. Look at the hype the Raw Homecoming to USA got in 2005 or the Smackdown Fox debut in 2019. They’re going to want this Netflix debut to have as many eyes as possible so it wouldn’t shock me if they advertise a match as big as that and/or a Roman return to confront Rock afterwards (if he hasn’t already returned by then). My counter to that idea is that, unlike those, there isn’t any more extra money from advertising to be made from having a big match on a debut. You could argue that they could go on lower tiers but I also can’t really see people wanting to pay for adverts and rather just get what they want live without interruption. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong but there’s also no way Peacock is letting Netflix get Rock/Cody on anything not a PLE in America.
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Post by eJm on May 12, 2024 6:33:11 GMT -5
Yeah, SummerSlam should be the time to lose it to Gunther so you can sell last minute tickets to Bash at Berlin for his first PPV defense. Worked like hell for Rhea at EC this year so go for it.
You can build Cody as a guy having to go deep to defeat Gunther when he’s in a higher level or whatever.
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Post by eJm on May 12, 2024 6:29:41 GMT -5
Oh and what about Phil? I was thinking if he doesn't break something else, they are going to give him his main event. I can see him and Seth's program get going in time for Mania, Might not main event but it's sure to be one of the hottest programs going into Mania if that happens. Hell Punk could be world champ by then. So I guess they could main event night 1. Oh, we’re pretty much getting Drew/Punk/Seth at ‘Mania whether for the belt or otherwise. Considering how long people will be out for, that seems like the most logical outcome. I also can’t see them letting Drew leave without blowing that all off.
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Post by eJm on May 12, 2024 6:18:56 GMT -5
If it were me, I’d have Gunther beat Cody at SummerSlam, Cody wins it at the Rumble after a time to rebuild, Rumble winner challenges whoever the other champ is and Rock faces Cody at ‘Mania.
Best outcome for a lot involved.
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Post by eJm on May 12, 2024 6:17:38 GMT -5
I'm not mad about this as a program it will make for tv. However I'm mad that this leaked now. This may make everything revolving Cody to be heatless filler until next mania season, even if the matches are good. Makes weekly tv very skippable imo. I mean, that's pretty much what happened last year by having Cody lose at 'Mania, just not with the title. Realized I got your context wrong so editing my post; The issue was more that Cody was doing storylines he’d be doing if he was world champion and Roman was doing stuff he’d be doing if he lost the world title except the outcome made both sides make less sense narratively.
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Post by eJm on May 10, 2024 13:37:26 GMT -5
Not just questions, remember that weird tangent he went on after WrestleMania last year where he was complaining about people being impatient and not waiting and seeing how the storyline goes? I’d like to remind people that, if it wasn’t for the crowd reactions, the storyline of Cody/Roman would have lead to Roman Reigns vs. The Rock. Oh, I remember the tangent. I was talking strictly about the topic of this thread though which was about the most recent press conference No, you’re right, just adding some context to how weird HHH is with press stuff.
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Post by eJm on May 10, 2024 13:33:00 GMT -5
Plenty of people have been having a go at Hunter for the way he's dealt with the question. Not just questions, remember that weird tangent he went on after WrestleMania last year where he was complaining about people being impatient and not waiting and seeing how the storyline goes? I’d like to remind people that, if it wasn’t for the crowd reactions, the storyline of Cody/Roman would have lead to Roman Reigns vs. The Rock.
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Post by eJm on May 10, 2024 12:12:37 GMT -5
Wait...If SD is on US in America, will it still be on TNT in UK? Or would it be on Netflix? WWE gets on Netflix in January for the UK so for all we know, it’ll stop showing on TNT in June but nobody has said one way or another.
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Post by eJm on May 10, 2024 11:42:21 GMT -5
I'm kinda surprised people are taken back by this. PR's entire purpose is to make sure the company doesn't get into any trouble or have rough moments. If they thought his question was stupid, so be it. And for the reporter, he got an answer anyway so everybody played their part well Like, not being funny, if it’s a dumb question, you’re still a part of a billion dollar public facing company. There are ways of saying it without coming off like spoilt children, especially from people in public relations.
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Post by eJm on May 10, 2024 11:40:21 GMT -5
Absolutely. But you don’t really think the Gulak question was a GOOD question, do you? To me, it was settled and we all knew it was. Except it wasn’t settled. Heck, the answer we got was that his contract was being let expire. Why, if it was to do with Ronda, is it treated differently from other incidents like when Ric Flair’s Legends deal was cut? Again, it felt like the easiest question in the world to just say “We had discussions and it was best not to renew the deal. We can’t clarify the reasons at this time.” Leaves things vague for a follow up but gives something to the person asking. It’s really not that hard. I mean, you said yourself that asking the Drew question would drop the tone. Why would the Brock question be that different of a standard? Especially when HHH’s answer already was “We’ve talked and he’s doing Brock things”?
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Post by eJm on May 10, 2024 9:40:07 GMT -5
Yeah, sorry, if you’re caring about how these sorts of events should end, don’t have them. In terms of reading the room, you’re there as a member of the press covering an event with questions concerning the company you’re there to cover. There is very few wrong reads of that room unless you’re a total asshole.
EDIT: Also, I’ll say again; it wasn’t even that hard a question to ask. “Was Drew Gulak fired in relation to the Ronda Rousey accusations?” is a question that could, if anything, demonstrate you take these things more seriously than the lawsuit said to you at best and, at worst, you could say “After talks, we both couldn’t come up with a solution so his contract is expiring” which would be nothing but it’d at least be an answer. HHH couldn’t even answer the question!
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Post by eJm on May 10, 2024 4:10:41 GMT -5
Moved the recent SD news to this thread since it relates to all of it. what recent SD news ? Smackdown staying on Fridays on USA.
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