Week in Wrestling - Friday, January 20, 2017
WWE's International Expansion
Last weekend the WWE held its first major event in the new expansion movement, which I believe will soon change the business. The United Kingdom Tournament held on 1/14 and 1/15 in Blackpool was the beginning of the idea for the WWE to set up satellite promotions in various countries around the globe. This would have never happened 10 years ago, but in 2017, the WWE is very publicly opening the door to work with other promotions, which has happened in the past but the ultimate outcome changed the business in many ways those promoters never saw coming.
Last weekend the WWE held its first major event in the new expansion movement, which I believe will soon change the business. The United Kingdom Tournament held on 1/14 and 1/15 in Blackpool was the beginning of the idea for the WWE to set up satellite promotions in various countries around the globe. This would have never happened 10 years ago, but in 2017, the WWE is very publicly opening the door to work with other promotions, which has happened in the past but the ultimate outcome changed the business in many ways those promoters never saw coming.
There are so many questions coming out of this. Promoters from Progress, ICW and OTT were at the event and shown on camera. This is Paul Levesque’s (HHH) baby and not Vince McMahon’s. It’s been so long ago that people don’t remember this, but when Vince McMahon was about to make his move, it wasn’t just the bold move into others’ territories first. Before he made any moves into new territories, he worked with the other promoters that he later tried to put out of business.
At the time the different promotions were sending McMahon tapes, they thought he was doing them a favor by putting their talent on his national platform. But in reality, he was putting their talent on that platform, and then signing most of that talent up and running against those who supplied the tapes with their own former stars.
At the time the different promotions were sending McMahon tapes, they thought he was doing them a favor by putting their talent on his national platform. But in reality, he was putting their talent on that platform, and then signing most of that talent up and running against those who supplied the tapes with their own former stars.
WWE has sent talent, including Finn Balor to ICW, the most successful of the U.K. promotions, which draws 500 to 1,000 fans at most of their shows, and they peaked with 6,000 fans in November for their flagship Fear and Loathing card. They allowed Tommy End this weekend to work for Progress wrestling.
The key to those promotions being mentioned prominently, with the owners shown on camera and different references during the broadcast is that WWE is working on deals for all three groups to appear on the network. The deal with ICW already broke and multiple UK sources believe a deal with Progress is also completed and OTT has been mentioned as well. The deal, which comes across as a great one for WWE, is that WWE is paying an annual fee, the story going around wrestling is the number is $50,000 per year on a three-year deal.
All three groups being mentioned in talks about being on the network and also being the only groups mentioned and pushed on the show makes sense.
The key to those promotions being mentioned prominently, with the owners shown on camera and different references during the broadcast is that WWE is working on deals for all three groups to appear on the network. The deal with ICW already broke and multiple UK sources believe a deal with Progress is also completed and OTT has been mentioned as well. The deal, which comes across as a great one for WWE, is that WWE is paying an annual fee, the story going around wrestling is the number is $50,000 per year on a three-year deal.
All three groups being mentioned in talks about being on the network and also being the only groups mentioned and pushed on the show makes sense.
Some were surprised to hear about the ICW deal before Progress, although the Progress deal is likely happening. But many expected it first, given that William Regal is close with Progress owner Jim Smallman, and had come to their shows in person in the past. Regal had never attended an ICW show. The tournament featured more Progress wrestlers than ICW wrestlers. Dunne is the current Progress champion and Bate & Trent Seven are the current tag team champions. All three, as well as Andrews, will be appearing for Progress, not for WWE, over WrestleMania weekend with a show on 3/31.
It was also notable that Revolution Pro, which WWE did work with in the past for a qualifying match in the cruiserweight tournament was not mentioned. The key is that Revolution Pro books New Japan and ROH talent (and Marty Scurll and Will Ospreay are two of their bigger regular stars).
It was also notable that Revolution Pro, which WWE did work with in the past for a qualifying match in the cruiserweight tournament was not mentioned. The key is that Revolution Pro books New Japan and ROH talent (and Marty Scurll and Will Ospreay are two of their bigger regular stars).
The UK tournament, won by Tyler Bate over Pete Dunne in the finals, had to be viewed as a huge success. The goal was clearly to create a local superstar in the 19-year-old Bate, and the story of him overcoming a shoulder injury to beat Dunne in the finals couldn’t have played out better.If the tournament was a test to see if WWE could put together a weekly television show using the currently signed talent, if you judge by crowd reactions, it couldn’t have gone better.
Besides Bate and Dunne, two others who really stood out as stars were Mark Andrews, the former TNA wrestler, and Wolfgang, the champion of the ICW promotion. The crowd made the so-so matches appear good, made the good appear to be great, and made the Bate vs. Dunne final come across like a match of the year candidate.
Besides Bate and Dunne, two others who really stood out as stars were Mark Andrews, the former TNA wrestler, and Wolfgang, the champion of the ICW promotion. The crowd made the so-so matches appear good, made the good appear to be great, and made the Bate vs. Dunne final come across like a match of the year candidate.
For now, WWE is working with the groups, and the WWE signed talent will continue to work for the other promotions. But Thursday evening it was announced that changes had to be made to upcoming cards for FloSlam broadcasts as it seems WWE is setting guidelines for where their UK contracted talent is allowed to appear.
IPW:UK, who will be airing a supershow on FloSlam live on Sunday, posted on Facebook that Pete Dunne will now face Tom Dawkins in a bonus match for the live crowd that won't be streamed on the service. Dunne had been scheduled to face Matt Riddle, who will now face Ryan Smile instead. Joseph Conners has been pulled from the show entirely. So it appears that WWE sees FloSlam as its direct competition and want to stop them from growing any further. If you didn't see this one coming, you need to brush up on your history.
IPW:UK, who will be airing a supershow on FloSlam live on Sunday, posted on Facebook that Pete Dunne will now face Tom Dawkins in a bonus match for the live crowd that won't be streamed on the service. Dunne had been scheduled to face Matt Riddle, who will now face Ryan Smile instead. Joseph Conners has been pulled from the show entirely. So it appears that WWE sees FloSlam as its direct competition and want to stop them from growing any further. If you didn't see this one coming, you need to brush up on your history.
Not everyone in the tournament was signed, but all the key players who were put over were. The big stars from this tournament will only become bigger for being in the tournament. But if any of those companies got television in the U.K., I wonder what would happen.
But this benefits WWE. Its stars can augment their $20,000 a year WWE deals with bookings from other promoters, and probably can up their price and value with the exposure. It will be interesting if the key talent on this show, Dunne and Bate, become bigger stars on the indies or actually help those groups actually increase ticket sales. The ability to work so many dates is one of the reasons the U.K. talent is developing so quickly as it’s believed some U.K. wrestlers who really hustle at it work more matches per year than anyone in the world. But if WWE starts running regular shows, we’ll see what happens.
But this benefits WWE. Its stars can augment their $20,000 a year WWE deals with bookings from other promoters, and probably can up their price and value with the exposure. It will be interesting if the key talent on this show, Dunne and Bate, become bigger stars on the indies or actually help those groups actually increase ticket sales. The ability to work so many dates is one of the reasons the U.K. talent is developing so quickly as it’s believed some U.K. wrestlers who really hustle at it work more matches per year than anyone in the world. But if WWE starts running regular shows, we’ll see what happens.
WWE is also at least thinking of making a similar move in Mexico, with the idea of more directly competing with CMLL, which is one of the few truly successful major promotions left standing, and AAA. They sent a questionnaire this week to WWE Network subscribers in that country, asking about their interest in different Mexican promotions, if they’d want them on the network, their thoughts on a Lucha Libre tournament on the network, and more localized regular content.
The Death of Jimmy Snuka
Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, who was the WWF’s biggest star in 1982-83 and the supreme American high flyer of his era passed away on 1/15 at the age of 73. His most famous match, where he lost to Don Muraco in a cage match on October 17, 1983, in Madison Square Garden, a result largely forgotten and obscured by the moment when the match ended, and Snuka climbed to the top of the cage, and with flashbulbs going off all over the building, leaped off the top and splashed onto Muraco. It was the most famous moment of the post-Bruno and pre-Hogan era of Northeast wrestling.
Snuka died just 12 days after third degree murder and involuntary manslaughter charges were dropped against him. If you don't know the full story, please read this article I wrote in 2015, which has all the details here.
Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, who was the WWF’s biggest star in 1982-83 and the supreme American high flyer of his era passed away on 1/15 at the age of 73. His most famous match, where he lost to Don Muraco in a cage match on October 17, 1983, in Madison Square Garden, a result largely forgotten and obscured by the moment when the match ended, and Snuka climbed to the top of the cage, and with flashbulbs going off all over the building, leaped off the top and splashed onto Muraco. It was the most famous moment of the post-Bruno and pre-Hogan era of Northeast wrestling.
Snuka died just 12 days after third degree murder and involuntary manslaughter charges were dropped against him. If you don't know the full story, please read this article I wrote in 2015, which has all the details here.
Kurt Angle to Headline WWE Hall of Fame
After some talk and teases, the reconciliation of Kurt Angle and WWE officially happened when Angle was told this past week he would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. There had been rumors of Angle’s return for months, and his management had told independent promoters that he wouldn’t be taking any bookings after April for some time. Whether Angle, 48, would wrestle in WWE on a part-time basis is unknown.
There were rumors he would be in the Royal Rumble. Usually the surprises in the Rumble aren’t told until the last week for fear of them getting out, although a Rumble appearance would be an easy one to do and he’d get a gigantic reaction for it.
After some talk and teases, the reconciliation of Kurt Angle and WWE officially happened when Angle was told this past week he would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. There had been rumors of Angle’s return for months, and his management had told independent promoters that he wouldn’t be taking any bookings after April for some time. Whether Angle, 48, would wrestle in WWE on a part-time basis is unknown.
There were rumors he would be in the Royal Rumble. Usually the surprises in the Rumble aren’t told until the last week for fear of them getting out, although a Rumble appearance would be an easy one to do and he’d get a gigantic reaction for it.
The usage of Angle is a major change of heart by Vince McMahon, who had turned down all requests internally and externally to involve Angle with the company for years. At first, the reasoning was, aside from McMahon’s concerns, was that he was one of the top stars with TNA. But he had continued that feeling even after Angle’s career with TNA ended including turning down key pitches. Angle, a 1996 gold medalist and first ballot Observer Hall of Famer, had left WWE under very negative circumstances in 2006 when he was believed to have very serious pill addiction issues. Angle was one of TNA’s top stars from 2006 until his contract expired in early 2016.
Several times when his TNA contract was expiring, Angle had tried to open doors for a return to WWE, but Vince made the call fearing the negative coverage if something bad happened to an Olympic gold medalist while working for his company.
Several times when his TNA contract was expiring, Angle had tried to open doors for a return to WWE, but Vince made the call fearing the negative coverage if something bad happened to an Olympic gold medalist while working for his company.
Angle is the headliner of a disappointing class overall, with the other names being bandied about being Diamond Dallas Page, Rick Rude, Beth Phoenix, Christian, William Regal, Mike Rotunda, Earthquake John Tenta and Fred “Typhoon” Ottman. It should be noted that often things change. As of right now, that means Leon “Vader” White is not on the list. White had pushed trying to get in with the idea that he has a severe heart issue and has been told by doctors he only has a few years left to live.
Angle said he signed a contract with WWE that runs through April. He also has already said that he would like Steve Austin to induct him.
Angle said he signed a contract with WWE that runs through April. He also has already said that he would like Steve Austin to induct him.
WWE Network Women's Tournament
In an interview with the Wrestling Connection at Fox Sports, Paul Levesque said it would probably be this summer when the proposed women’s tournament takes place on the WWE Network. The idea is to do something similar to what they did with the cruiserweight tournament, with it being a ten week or so series and a single elimination tournament.
Levesque said that the difficult thing has been trying to find the right time for the tournament, given their current schedule and the ever-changing landscape of WWE. The plan is to recruit very similarly to the WWE Cruiserweight Classic where they "scour the globe" and find some talents that may be flying under the radar, increasing the talent pool for WWE as a whole.
In an interview with the Wrestling Connection at Fox Sports, Paul Levesque said it would probably be this summer when the proposed women’s tournament takes place on the WWE Network. The idea is to do something similar to what they did with the cruiserweight tournament, with it being a ten week or so series and a single elimination tournament.
Levesque said that the difficult thing has been trying to find the right time for the tournament, given their current schedule and the ever-changing landscape of WWE. The plan is to recruit very similarly to the WWE Cruiserweight Classic where they "scour the globe" and find some talents that may be flying under the radar, increasing the talent pool for WWE as a whole.
Positive
- The building popped huge when Brock's music hit and he came down to destroy people. Ending the segment with Brock giving Reigns the F5 was good because they have teased so many different directions over the past several weeks, that this added another element. We have seen teases for Brock vs Reigns, Goldberg vs Reigns, Brock vs Stroman, Taker vs Stroman, and so on. I like it when the options are left open.
- Zayn returning to hit Stroman with the kick was excellent.
- Anderson and Gallows had their best match since coming to the WWE, when they failed to win the tag team titles from Cesaro and Sheamus.
- I loved the Kurt Angle Hall of Fame package. Much deserved.
- The main event was good action, but I think they really need to start mixing up the main event players.
Negative -
- I really hated alot this week.
- Enzo Amore sucks so bad in the ring and Cass isn't good either. Rusev deserves a way better program than with these jobbers.
- I am so over this Titus O'Neal bull crap. LET IT DIE!!!
- The Charlotte and Bayley segment completely sucked!!! I really don't like the Bayley character and really don't see it guys.
Positive
- La Luchadora ended up being Mickie James, which many of us expected. She cost Becky Lynch the women’s title in the steel cage main event.
- AJ Styles is a great pro wrestler, NEWS FLASH!!
- I liked the Dean Ambrose win over Randy Orton, and especially the break up angle they are building with Orton and the Wyatt's. The crowd is clamoring for them to finally spilt and this is being well done.
- Shane announced the WWE Championship would be defended at Elimination Chamber, which happens two weeks after the Rumble.
Negative -
- Mickie James is too big of a babyface star to return as a heel in my opinion. I don't get it. The fans are going to want to cheer for her, so what is the point?
- I hated the Jerry Lawler segment with Dolph Ziggler. It was so bad. Jerry needs to put a damn shirt on. And I didn't like them playing on the serious heart attack Jerry had on RAW a few years ago, by super kicking the guy in the chest. Tasteless.
- The horrible Nikki Bella and Natalya confrontation was hard to watch. Natalya has been better, but this was terrible. He voice is so annoying and fake sounding. And that horrible brawl in the stands was just plain bad. Really bad. Smh.
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Updated Royal Rumble Card
The Rumble, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, is being built around the idea of a monsters show with Goldberg, Undertaker, Lesnar and Strowman all in the match. Others announced thus far are Jericho, Rollins, Corbin, Ambrose, Miz, The New Day and Ziggler.
There is no secondary market buzz on the San Antonio shows as compared to Toronto. You can get secondary market tickets for NXT Takeover for $25 and Rumble tickets for $40. Granted, I didn’t expect any kind of a secondary market inflation for Rumble when playing such a big building because the secondary market goes nuts when the primary market has little inventory. Rumble wasn’t going to be an advanced sellout at the Alamodome.
But the key is that Rumble tickets must be selling well and it’s just a question of how many seats they are going to open up. It also means NXT has no great demand. Right now NXT has the floor section sold out but there are good seats in the 100s with great views still available. For the Rumble, 11th row ringside was still available and there were good seats in every price range available.
- 30-man Royal Rumble match
- Kevin Owens (c) vs. Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship
- AJ Styles (c) vs. John Cena for the WWE Championship
- Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Bayley for the WWE Raw Women's Championship
- Rich Swann (c) vs. Neville for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship
The Rumble, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, is being built around the idea of a monsters show with Goldberg, Undertaker, Lesnar and Strowman all in the match. Others announced thus far are Jericho, Rollins, Corbin, Ambrose, Miz, The New Day and Ziggler.
There is no secondary market buzz on the San Antonio shows as compared to Toronto. You can get secondary market tickets for NXT Takeover for $25 and Rumble tickets for $40. Granted, I didn’t expect any kind of a secondary market inflation for Rumble when playing such a big building because the secondary market goes nuts when the primary market has little inventory. Rumble wasn’t going to be an advanced sellout at the Alamodome.
But the key is that Rumble tickets must be selling well and it’s just a question of how many seats they are going to open up. It also means NXT has no great demand. Right now NXT has the floor section sold out but there are good seats in the 100s with great views still available. For the Rumble, 11th row ringside was still available and there were good seats in every price range available.
NXT News
- There will be an NXT Awards show airing on the WWE Network on 1/28 at 7 p.m. Eastern time, right before the Takeover show starts. They are doing a fan voting on awards for Male Wrestler of the Year (Nakamura should win), Female Wrestler of the Year (Bayley or Asuka), Breakout Star of the Year (Dillinger), Tag Team of the Year (Revival), Match of the Year (Nakamura vs. Zayn) and Takeover of the Year (they were all good but Dallas or Toronto will probably win).
- Steve Corino started up at the Performance Center as a coach.
- Hideo Itami was finally cleared to wrestle after a neck injury from when he was dropped on his neck badly on a twisting powerslam by Riddick Moss.
New Japan Pro Wrestling News
- New Japan owner Takaaki Kidani gave an interview to Weekly Pro Wrestling which emphasized an expansion into the U.S. market in 2018, with a regional territory based in Southern California.
- The plan would be to have California as a base and run tours in a similar way to how they run things in Japan, with a few shows further afield. He said that in Japan it’s 75/25 Japanese wrestlers, so in America, 75/25 American would be the best mix.
- I see a major problem in this way of thinking. There is no significant money that can be made with touring pro wrestling unless you are WWE, and even WWE’s numbers for regular house shows are declining.
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Ring of Honor News -
- Adam Cole, or whoever is the ROH champion, will defend the title against Christopher Daniels in the main event of the 3/10 Anniversary show in Las Vegas.
- With Cole’s contract expiring at the end of April, and WWE having been hot for him for a long time, that leaves three potential new champions if he does decide to leave, with Fish, Castle and Daniels.
- Keith Lee signed a deal with WWN and is expected to be one of the flagship stars this year with Evolve, which must have been just put together. What’s notable is that Shane Taylor, his tag team partner, just signed with ROH.
TNA News -
- It appears that Anthem Sports & Entertainment will be dropping the TNA initials and just calling the product Impact Wrestling.
- As far as the three key contracts that were coming due, neither Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy nor Drew Galloway have signed new deals yet.
- While the Hardys haven’t signed, things look good for them to stay. There are two options on the table, a guaranteed deal where they would have full control of their bookings outside the promotion, or a higher guaranteed deal where TNA would at least have to approve of their outside bookings. TNA likely wouldn’t nix anything unless it was maybe ROH and of course WWE. Matt right now is leaning toward staying.
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Lucha Underground News -
- With the season in the books, even if called a half-season, the show averaged 101,000 viewers at 8 p.m. and 55,000 at 9 p.m. So the 8 p.m. hour declined 17 percent and the 9 p.m. hour declined eight percent, for an overall decline in viewers of 14 percent.
- There are a lot of different things that can be said as to why the audience is falling, but ultimately it’s because the product isn’t connecting. As the show has gotten more and more sci-fi oriented, people have stopped caring.There’s also been very little promotion of the show itself as far as major media has gone.
- El Rey is still pushing Lucha Underground as one of its flagship shows.
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By: Larry Causion Jr. CausionCreations.com
Posted: Friday, January 20, 2017
Credit: Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Posted: Friday, January 20, 2017
Credit: Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter