This Week in Wrestling - August 6, 2015
Wrestling News From the week of
July 31 - August 6, 2015
July 31 - August 6, 2015
RIP Rowdy Roddy Piper
TMZ.com reported Friday that "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (born Roderick George Toombs) has passed away at the age of 61. The site reported Piper died of cardiac arrest in his sleep Thursday night in Hollywood, CA.
On Friday we will post part 1 of our career biography of "Hot Rod".
Be sure to check it out.
TMZ.com reported Friday that "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (born Roderick George Toombs) has passed away at the age of 61. The site reported Piper died of cardiac arrest in his sleep Thursday night in Hollywood, CA.
On Friday we will post part 1 of our career biography of "Hot Rod".
Be sure to check it out.
John Cena Out with broken nose
Cena underwent surgery on 7/28 for his broken nose suffered in the match the night before in Oklahoma City against Rollins. The way the nose was broken affected his breathing. He also needed the thing straightened out given his looks are a big part of his package and it's not like a guy like Barrett where the crooked nose doesn't hurt and may even help having the rough look.
The Cena character both for kids and for future movie roles has to have a certain look. Right now, he's been removed from all advertising through the 8/17 Raw show in Minneapolis, which is the SummerSlam go-home show. It was weird because the company had gone completely quiet about the injury, and did not report anything about the surgery and remained advertising him for all dates, including a cage match with Owens on 8/1 in Ontario, CA as late as two days before the show, and advertised him for Fresno on 8/2 the day after that. Cena did go to San Diego for the house show on 7/31, but never appeared in front of the crowd, but his nose was a mess. However, he was back in the gym doing his power cleans on 8/2.
The removal of Cena from Australia means that the two biggest attractions on that tour, Hogan and Cena, were both pulled, which left fans upset. But in both cases, those were situations where you can't blame WWE as they did make the announcement in the Australian market (in the U.S. market they removed him from shows quietly with no announcement). As noted last week, they added Michaels in the role of acting General Manager to the three Australian shows when Hogan, who was scheduled for that role, was fired. Jericho replaced him at all the house shows this weekend, but Jericho couldn't go on the Australia tour because he has Fozzy concerts this weekend in Hamilton, ONT and Montreal. Jericho will be replacing him also on the 8/15 show in Detroit.
One question that can't be answered is will the Rollins match and fighting through the broken nose and having a great match change the reaction to him, in the sense will the audience that only comes to PPV shows and Raws and boo him heavily start gaining more of a grudging respect for him. I don't expect a complete turnaround, and his first Raw back will be misleading.
But SummerSlam should be interesting, because New York is traditionally as negative to Cena as any market, but that show is also drawing the most hardcore fan base and if anyone will accept his toughness and change their tune on him, that would be the audience. I don't expect him to be cheered wildly, but it'll be notable if he's not booed as much as usual in New York. A lot of people have brought this up to me over the past week within wrestling, but until SummerSlam, nobody will really know.
In San Jose, it appeared that nothing had changed. Every time Rollins talked about breaking Cena's nose, the fans cheered and chanted "Thank you Rollins."
Cena underwent surgery on 7/28 for his broken nose suffered in the match the night before in Oklahoma City against Rollins. The way the nose was broken affected his breathing. He also needed the thing straightened out given his looks are a big part of his package and it's not like a guy like Barrett where the crooked nose doesn't hurt and may even help having the rough look.
The Cena character both for kids and for future movie roles has to have a certain look. Right now, he's been removed from all advertising through the 8/17 Raw show in Minneapolis, which is the SummerSlam go-home show. It was weird because the company had gone completely quiet about the injury, and did not report anything about the surgery and remained advertising him for all dates, including a cage match with Owens on 8/1 in Ontario, CA as late as two days before the show, and advertised him for Fresno on 8/2 the day after that. Cena did go to San Diego for the house show on 7/31, but never appeared in front of the crowd, but his nose was a mess. However, he was back in the gym doing his power cleans on 8/2.
The removal of Cena from Australia means that the two biggest attractions on that tour, Hogan and Cena, were both pulled, which left fans upset. But in both cases, those were situations where you can't blame WWE as they did make the announcement in the Australian market (in the U.S. market they removed him from shows quietly with no announcement). As noted last week, they added Michaels in the role of acting General Manager to the three Australian shows when Hogan, who was scheduled for that role, was fired. Jericho replaced him at all the house shows this weekend, but Jericho couldn't go on the Australia tour because he has Fozzy concerts this weekend in Hamilton, ONT and Montreal. Jericho will be replacing him also on the 8/15 show in Detroit.
One question that can't be answered is will the Rollins match and fighting through the broken nose and having a great match change the reaction to him, in the sense will the audience that only comes to PPV shows and Raws and boo him heavily start gaining more of a grudging respect for him. I don't expect a complete turnaround, and his first Raw back will be misleading.
But SummerSlam should be interesting, because New York is traditionally as negative to Cena as any market, but that show is also drawing the most hardcore fan base and if anyone will accept his toughness and change their tune on him, that would be the audience. I don't expect him to be cheered wildly, but it'll be notable if he's not booed as much as usual in New York. A lot of people have brought this up to me over the past week within wrestling, but until SummerSlam, nobody will really know.
In San Jose, it appeared that nothing had changed. Every time Rollins talked about breaking Cena's nose, the fans cheered and chanted "Thank you Rollins."
Summerslam
For SummerSlam on 8/23 in Brooklyn, the Rollins vs. Cena match will be for both the WWE and the U.S. titles winner take all. Also announced is Lesnar vs. Undertaker, Reigns & Ambrose vs. Wyatt & Harper (so this would indicate McMahon is staying with his no Sting decision) and Ryback vs. Miz vs. Show for the IC title. It also looks like something like this: Owens vs. Cesaro, a multiple team tag title match with The Prime Time Players, New Day, Los Matadores and Lucha Dragons (and maybe The Ascension), Rusev vs. Ziggler, Neville vs. Stardust (with a possible Stephen Amell of The Arrow involvement) and almost assuredly be at least one if not two women's matches.
You can see where they need four hours plus because it looks like ten or 11 matches, most of which can use time, if everyone is healthy.
Cena vs. Rollins is scheduled to be a long-term program as it's booked as the main event at most of the key house shows in September (of course that changes weekly) and they will be marketing Anti-Cena T-Shirts for Rollins, one of which he debuted on Raw in San Jose including a "Never Shut Up" and "You Can't See Knee" shirt.
For SummerSlam on 8/23 in Brooklyn, the Rollins vs. Cena match will be for both the WWE and the U.S. titles winner take all. Also announced is Lesnar vs. Undertaker, Reigns & Ambrose vs. Wyatt & Harper (so this would indicate McMahon is staying with his no Sting decision) and Ryback vs. Miz vs. Show for the IC title. It also looks like something like this: Owens vs. Cesaro, a multiple team tag title match with The Prime Time Players, New Day, Los Matadores and Lucha Dragons (and maybe The Ascension), Rusev vs. Ziggler, Neville vs. Stardust (with a possible Stephen Amell of The Arrow involvement) and almost assuredly be at least one if not two women's matches.
You can see where they need four hours plus because it looks like ten or 11 matches, most of which can use time, if everyone is healthy.
Cena vs. Rollins is scheduled to be a long-term program as it's booked as the main event at most of the key house shows in September (of course that changes weekly) and they will be marketing Anti-Cena T-Shirts for Rollins, one of which he debuted on Raw in San Jose including a "Never Shut Up" and "You Can't See Knee" shirt.
Ratings
Raw on 8/3 did 3.70 million viewers, which is almost identical to the 3.68 million the week before.
In the past, Raw after major deaths of wrestling stars have shown major increases as the Raw after the death of Randy Savage did 5.41 million viewers (about 700,000 more than they were doing at the time), after Ultimate Warrior drew 4.76 million (about 380,000 more than the show was usually doing although down from Raw-after-Mania numbers), and after Dusty Rhodes did 4.10 million viewers (about 440,000 more than the show averaged this summer).
The first hour was up from the summer average so there probably was a little curiosity bump early, as the pattern of late has been second hour growth. The 8 p.m. hour did 3.74 million viewers, the 9 p.m. hour did 3.70 million viewers and the 10 p.m. hour did 3.67 million viewers. Raw was second for the night on cable.
Smackdown on 7/30 did a 1.77 rating and 2.44 million viewers (1.47 viewers per home) which put the show in fourth place on cable for the night.
Tough Enough on 7/28 fell to 980,000 viewers, down 14 percent from the previous week.
Total Divas on 7/28 did 1,083,000 viewers, which was up nine percent from the prior week.
Raw on 8/3 did 3.70 million viewers, which is almost identical to the 3.68 million the week before.
In the past, Raw after major deaths of wrestling stars have shown major increases as the Raw after the death of Randy Savage did 5.41 million viewers (about 700,000 more than they were doing at the time), after Ultimate Warrior drew 4.76 million (about 380,000 more than the show was usually doing although down from Raw-after-Mania numbers), and after Dusty Rhodes did 4.10 million viewers (about 440,000 more than the show averaged this summer).
The first hour was up from the summer average so there probably was a little curiosity bump early, as the pattern of late has been second hour growth. The 8 p.m. hour did 3.74 million viewers, the 9 p.m. hour did 3.70 million viewers and the 10 p.m. hour did 3.67 million viewers. Raw was second for the night on cable.
Smackdown on 7/30 did a 1.77 rating and 2.44 million viewers (1.47 viewers per home) which put the show in fourth place on cable for the night.
Tough Enough on 7/28 fell to 980,000 viewers, down 14 percent from the previous week.
Total Divas on 7/28 did 1,083,000 viewers, which was up nine percent from the prior week.
Ryback Update
Ryback posted a photo on 8/3 showing his entire right leg badly swollen (and his legs naturally look swollen because they are so jacked up) and this was three weeks after he woke up on 7/15 after a Raw show and was hospitalized due to a staph infection in the knee. He wrote, "And this is the best it has looked and felt. Wouldn't wish this on anyone, but it will be overcome. Staying upbeat and positive even in frustration."
Ryback posted a photo on 8/3 showing his entire right leg badly swollen (and his legs naturally look swollen because they are so jacked up) and this was three weeks after he woke up on 7/15 after a Raw show and was hospitalized due to a staph infection in the knee. He wrote, "And this is the best it has looked and felt. Wouldn't wish this on anyone, but it will be overcome. Staying upbeat and positive even in frustration."
Divas News
The WWE debuted the name The Submission Sorority for Charlotte, Lynch and Paige on Raw, but that may be short-lived. The company didn't do its research and quickly found out that was the name of a porn site. I've heard it could be changed to Submission Sisters and the idea of Horsewomen has always been thrown around although that would be stepping on Ronda Rousey's toes.
There has also been talk internally regarding the added emphasis on women to create a Divas tag team title. I'm not against it, but they would really be a lot better off in the long run dropping the Divas name, because that in and of itself is exactly the opposite direction of what is working in society as far as the increased popularity of women's sports in the U.S. and the Rousey phenomenon.
Apparently the rocket on Lana's ass, so to speak, is about to be switched to Eva Marie per the people at the top. To Eva Marie's credit, she is busting her own ass in training now but they are going with the storyline of the woman that everyone shunned and made fun of for being so bad who works hard and makes herself into a superstar.
The WWE debuted the name The Submission Sorority for Charlotte, Lynch and Paige on Raw, but that may be short-lived. The company didn't do its research and quickly found out that was the name of a porn site. I've heard it could be changed to Submission Sisters and the idea of Horsewomen has always been thrown around although that would be stepping on Ronda Rousey's toes.
There has also been talk internally regarding the added emphasis on women to create a Divas tag team title. I'm not against it, but they would really be a lot better off in the long run dropping the Divas name, because that in and of itself is exactly the opposite direction of what is working in society as far as the increased popularity of women's sports in the U.S. and the Rousey phenomenon.
Apparently the rocket on Lana's ass, so to speak, is about to be switched to Eva Marie per the people at the top. To Eva Marie's credit, she is busting her own ass in training now but they are going with the storyline of the woman that everyone shunned and made fun of for being so bad who works hard and makes herself into a superstar.
Tough Enough News
It was actually two weeks ago when those in charge of WWE wanted ZZ out. This week it turned it into a full court press in all the commercials and in social media video releases to portray the guy as lazy and not getting it for fear that he could actually win the thing. Even on the show, it was made clear he wasn't in shape, and that in the ring, he was not good at all. But he wasn't even put into a bottom three, surprisingly with his performance. They did a women's elimination.
Miz teased he was going to put Amanda in for his saying last week that she was hot going to her head. It was pretty much shown last week that she wouldn't do well in an audience vote. But he instead put Chelsea in the bottom three, while Bryan put Gigi and Paige put Sara Lee. Paige then gave her lone save for Gigi, who would have been voted out since she got 22% for 25% for Chelsea and 53% for Sara Lee.
It's pretty clear the audience is going to vote for Sara Lee, and from interviews with the contestants, they also feel she was the weakest of the women. It's also pretty clear they want Josh to win the guys side as there was nothing but praise for him and he looked good in every clip shown. He's also the only person to beat ZZ in a head-on vote.
It was actually two weeks ago when those in charge of WWE wanted ZZ out. This week it turned it into a full court press in all the commercials and in social media video releases to portray the guy as lazy and not getting it for fear that he could actually win the thing. Even on the show, it was made clear he wasn't in shape, and that in the ring, he was not good at all. But he wasn't even put into a bottom three, surprisingly with his performance. They did a women's elimination.
Miz teased he was going to put Amanda in for his saying last week that she was hot going to her head. It was pretty much shown last week that she wouldn't do well in an audience vote. But he instead put Chelsea in the bottom three, while Bryan put Gigi and Paige put Sara Lee. Paige then gave her lone save for Gigi, who would have been voted out since she got 22% for 25% for Chelsea and 53% for Sara Lee.
It's pretty clear the audience is going to vote for Sara Lee, and from interviews with the contestants, they also feel she was the weakest of the women. It's also pretty clear they want Josh to win the guys side as there was nothing but praise for him and he looked good in every clip shown. He's also the only person to beat ZZ in a head-on vote.
"Cesaro Section"
Regarding the identical "Cesaro Section" signs at the SAP Center in San Jose for Raw, while it would look like something a promotion would do to jump start a character and make them look super over, WWE actually had nothing to do with it. It was a Cesaro fan who printed out a ton of signs and passed them around at the show asking fans to wave them when Cesaro appeared.
Luckily, since he's in the program with Owens, it was pretty much a lock he would be booked in a good spot on Raw, even though he didn't wrestle. A few months ago you'd be taking your chances if he'd even be on Raw. That also led to Cesaro getting one of the better reactions of the night.
Regarding the identical "Cesaro Section" signs at the SAP Center in San Jose for Raw, while it would look like something a promotion would do to jump start a character and make them look super over, WWE actually had nothing to do with it. It was a Cesaro fan who printed out a ton of signs and passed them around at the show asking fans to wave them when Cesaro appeared.
Luckily, since he's in the program with Owens, it was pretty much a lock he would be booked in a good spot on Raw, even though he didn't wrestle. A few months ago you'd be taking your chances if he'd even be on Raw. That also led to Cesaro getting one of the better reactions of the night.
Owen Hart DVD
The company will be releasing an Owen Hart DVD on 12/7, even though Martha Hart came out publicly against it. WWE absolutely has the legal right to do this, but it sure feels weird to produce a DVD on someone who died on the company's watch when his widow made it clear she didn't want them doing it..
The company will be releasing an Owen Hart DVD on 12/7, even though Martha Hart came out publicly against it. WWE absolutely has the legal right to do this, but it sure feels weird to produce a DVD on someone who died on the company's watch when his widow made it clear she didn't want them doing it..
G-1 Climax tournament
There have been no major surprises with all of the big names remaining in contention at press time in the G-1 Climax tournament.
After the 8/5 show in Iwate, the tournament heads into its next to last week, including the beginning of the six dates in Tokyo. What is clear from this year's experiment is that it is too long this year, as the interest level still isn't close to most years.
In the A block, Bad Luck Fale, Tetsuya Naito, Katsuyori Shibata, Hiroshi Tanahashi and A.J. Styles are all tied for first place with 4-2 records, with Togi Makabe and Kota Ibushi at 3-3.
In the B block, Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii are in first place with 4-1 records, with Shinsuke Nakamura, Hirooki Goto, Karl Anderson and Michael Elgin at 3-2.
The shows this past week in Sendai, Nagoya and Iwate sold out. But the show with the best lineup of the past week, and it turned out to be the best show so far in the tournament, on 8/1 at the Bodymaker Colosseum in Osaka, drew 4,523 fans. That would be the smallest New Japan crowd in that building since the 2010 G-1 Climax, which was when the company had bottomed out and more than a year before the beginning of the business turnaround.
Part of this is because this came less than a month after the blow away Dominion show. It tells the story of coming back to a market too soon, following up a major show, and more important, how putting on an incredible show does not mean those people will buy tickets for the next one. That was followed by the worst show so far the next night in Nagoya, with a dead crowd in what has historically been a great New Japan market since the beginning of time.
Complete standings:
A BLOCK - 1. Fale, Naito, Shibata, Tanahashi and Styles 4-2; 6. Makabe and Ibushi 3-3;8. Toru Yano 2-4; 9. Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Doc Gallows.
B BLOCK - 1. Okada and Ishii 4-1; 3. Nakamura, Goto, Anderson and Elgin 3-2; 7. Yujiro Takahashi and Satoshi Kojima 2-3; 9. Yuji Nagata 1-4; 10. Tomoaki Honma 0-5.
There have been no major surprises with all of the big names remaining in contention at press time in the G-1 Climax tournament.
After the 8/5 show in Iwate, the tournament heads into its next to last week, including the beginning of the six dates in Tokyo. What is clear from this year's experiment is that it is too long this year, as the interest level still isn't close to most years.
In the A block, Bad Luck Fale, Tetsuya Naito, Katsuyori Shibata, Hiroshi Tanahashi and A.J. Styles are all tied for first place with 4-2 records, with Togi Makabe and Kota Ibushi at 3-3.
In the B block, Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii are in first place with 4-1 records, with Shinsuke Nakamura, Hirooki Goto, Karl Anderson and Michael Elgin at 3-2.
The shows this past week in Sendai, Nagoya and Iwate sold out. But the show with the best lineup of the past week, and it turned out to be the best show so far in the tournament, on 8/1 at the Bodymaker Colosseum in Osaka, drew 4,523 fans. That would be the smallest New Japan crowd in that building since the 2010 G-1 Climax, which was when the company had bottomed out and more than a year before the beginning of the business turnaround.
Part of this is because this came less than a month after the blow away Dominion show. It tells the story of coming back to a market too soon, following up a major show, and more important, how putting on an incredible show does not mean those people will buy tickets for the next one. That was followed by the worst show so far the next night in Nagoya, with a dead crowd in what has historically been a great New Japan market since the beginning of time.
Complete standings:
A BLOCK - 1. Fale, Naito, Shibata, Tanahashi and Styles 4-2; 6. Makabe and Ibushi 3-3;8. Toru Yano 2-4; 9. Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Doc Gallows.
B BLOCK - 1. Okada and Ishii 4-1; 3. Nakamura, Goto, Anderson and Elgin 3-2; 7. Yujiro Takahashi and Satoshi Kojima 2-3; 9. Yuji Nagata 1-4; 10. Tomoaki Honma 0-5.
TNA Ratings
Impact on 7/29 did 343,000 viewers for the first-run episode and 64,000 for the midnight replay, for a total of 407,000 viewers. It was the best numbers they had done since 7/8 for the first-run show and overall, up from 388,000 the week before.
Impact on 7/29 did 343,000 viewers for the first-run episode and 64,000 for the midnight replay, for a total of 407,000 viewers. It was the best numbers they had done since 7/8 for the first-run show and overall, up from 388,000 the week before.
James Storm done
Storm, 38, finished up at the TV tapings this week. His contract expired at the end of June but he returned, like Austin Aries, just to be written out storyline wise. In this case, Storm had the Revolution break up and all turn on him and they left him laying. It will be very interesting to see if WWE gives him a look because the age works against him, but he's got promo and acting ability that's an A in this business and guys like that don't grow on trees, or in Performance Centers. Storm was one of the company's longest lasting performers, as he was the last guy left from the debut show on June 19, 2002
Storm, 38, finished up at the TV tapings this week. His contract expired at the end of June but he returned, like Austin Aries, just to be written out storyline wise. In this case, Storm had the Revolution break up and all turn on him and they left him laying. It will be very interesting to see if WWE gives him a look because the age works against him, but he's got promo and acting ability that's an A in this business and guys like that don't grow on trees, or in Performance Centers. Storm was one of the company's longest lasting performers, as he was the last guy left from the debut show on June 19, 2002
Bound for Glory
The top two matches at Bound for Glory on 10/4 in Charlotte will be Ethan Carter III vs. Drew Galloway for the TNA title with Jeff Hardy as referee, plus Bobby Roode defends the King of the Mountain title against Bobby Lashley. The belief is that they taped all the TV leading up to the show yet those were the only two matches pushed in angles. They are still backstage angles that people didn't see. But it is believed the next tapings will start on 10/5 or 10/6.
The top two matches at Bound for Glory on 10/4 in Charlotte will be Ethan Carter III vs. Drew Galloway for the TNA title with Jeff Hardy as referee, plus Bobby Roode defends the King of the Mountain title against Bobby Lashley. The belief is that they taped all the TV leading up to the show yet those were the only two matches pushed in angles. They are still backstage angles that people didn't see. But it is believed the next tapings will start on 10/5 or 10/6.
TNA vs GFW Angle
On the 7/29 TV tapings, Team TNA of Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards & Drew Galloway & Bram & Bobby Lashley beat Team GFW of Jeff Jarrett & Eric Young & Chris Mordetzky & Brian Myers & Sonjay Dutt in a Lethal Lockdown match where the stipulation was that the winner would get full control of TNA. Not sure how far in advance this will air but it would seem to be the high point of the promotion vs. promotion program. On the last day of taping, which would be for late September, there was no sign of GFW guys with the exception of a Trevor Lee match (who hasn't actually appeared yet on a GFW show but was a GFW guy in the taped feud), so the promotion vs. promotion seems like it's only a few weeks of TV between the angle and the blow-off, which is weird.
There was definitely a lot of pushing and pushing back between Jeff Jarrett and John Gaburick as far as how to do it and things weren't exactly smooth nor were the ideas each had on how to approach it that similar. The match ended when Galloway pinned Myers. We're already in August and the feud will start on TV in a few weeks and be over probably by early September, so the whole thing looks like it's done in about a month.
On the 7/29 TV tapings, Team TNA of Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards & Drew Galloway & Bram & Bobby Lashley beat Team GFW of Jeff Jarrett & Eric Young & Chris Mordetzky & Brian Myers & Sonjay Dutt in a Lethal Lockdown match where the stipulation was that the winner would get full control of TNA. Not sure how far in advance this will air but it would seem to be the high point of the promotion vs. promotion program. On the last day of taping, which would be for late September, there was no sign of GFW guys with the exception of a Trevor Lee match (who hasn't actually appeared yet on a GFW show but was a GFW guy in the taped feud), so the promotion vs. promotion seems like it's only a few weeks of TV between the angle and the blow-off, which is weird.
There was definitely a lot of pushing and pushing back between Jeff Jarrett and John Gaburick as far as how to do it and things weren't exactly smooth nor were the ideas each had on how to approach it that similar. The match ended when Galloway pinned Myers. We're already in August and the feud will start on TV in a few weeks and be over probably by early September, so the whole thing looks like it's done in about a month.
Thank you for Reading
And that's the news for the week. Be sure to check Causioncreations.com front page, everyday, for TV reviews, PPV previews, breaking news and commentary articles.
And that's the news for the week. Be sure to check Causioncreations.com front page, everyday, for TV reviews, PPV previews, breaking news and commentary articles.