Week in Wrestling - Sunday August 5, 2018
Summerslam Preview Update
WWE's biggest show of the summer is taking shape and we have a much clearer picture of what we expect to see on the PPV that takes place August 19th in Brooklyn.
A few other matches being teased look like The B Team vs. The Revival for the Raw tag titles, perhaps a three-way also involving Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt, A Rusev vs. Andrade Cien Almas or a mixed tag with the women involved, and that still leaves Baron Corbin and Finn Balor as pushed wrestlers not on the show.
- Universal Championship: Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Roman Reigns
- WWE Championship: AJ Styles (c) vs. Samoa Joe
- Raw Women’s Championship: Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Ronda Rousey
- U.S. Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Jeff Hardy (vs. Randy Orton)
- Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz
- For the Money in the Bank Contract: Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens
- Intercontinental Championship: Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. Seth Rollins
- Smackdown Women’s Championship: Carmella (c) vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair
- Smackdown Tag titles: The Bludgeon Brothers vs. The Bar or New Day
- Cruiserweight Championship: Cedric Alexander (c) vs. Drew Gulak
A few other matches being teased look like The B Team vs. The Revival for the Raw tag titles, perhaps a three-way also involving Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt, A Rusev vs. Andrade Cien Almas or a mixed tag with the women involved, and that still leaves Baron Corbin and Finn Balor as pushed wrestlers not on the show.
WWE NEWS
Lesnar Update
An angle on Raw teased the idea that Lesnar and Paul Heyman have split up, which could be taken as a swerve, or a way for Heyman to remain with the company and cost Lesnar the match. While the expectation, given Lesnar has shot his UFC angle with Daniel Cormier and has been getting drug tested by USADA, is that he’s leaving and this is his last match of his latest contract, don’t ever think that’s a lock.
Lesnar is still 41. Vince McMahon still has unlimited money to try and keep him from leaving. In the end, for Lesnar, it’s about money and all things being equal, especially at his age, pro wrestling is the safer way to go. He turned down more money back in 2012, when he was six years younger, to do the safer pro wrestling limited schedule where he’d still earn big money. In 2015, after strongly hinting he has changed his mind and was going back to UFC, he signed with WWE. In April, when his WWE deal was up, he did the same thing.
Every time his contract has expired since 2015, he negotiated with UFC, UFC thought they had him, and he signed with WWE. For all the talk that he has really wanted out for some time, all indications are he wants to continually sign short-term deals, feeling that with both UFC and WWE coming into huge sums of money, being a free agent as often as possible is the way to go. Vince McMahon, and I’m sure Heyman has a lot to do with it since he thanks out of the normal box, look to surprise people with Lesnar finishes every time out.
Lesnar is still 41. Vince McMahon still has unlimited money to try and keep him from leaving. In the end, for Lesnar, it’s about money and all things being equal, especially at his age, pro wrestling is the safer way to go. He turned down more money back in 2012, when he was six years younger, to do the safer pro wrestling limited schedule where he’d still earn big money. In 2015, after strongly hinting he has changed his mind and was going back to UFC, he signed with WWE. In April, when his WWE deal was up, he did the same thing.
Every time his contract has expired since 2015, he negotiated with UFC, UFC thought they had him, and he signed with WWE. For all the talk that he has really wanted out for some time, all indications are he wants to continually sign short-term deals, feeling that with both UFC and WWE coming into huge sums of money, being a free agent as often as possible is the way to go. Vince McMahon, and I’m sure Heyman has a lot to do with it since he thanks out of the normal box, look to surprise people with Lesnar finishes every time out.
Matt Riddle Coming to WWE
With his time as an independent wrestler soon coming to an end, Matt Riddle lost the EVOLVE Championship at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Saturday. Shane Strickland defeated Riddle in a hardcore rules match at EVOLVE 108 to win the title. WWN confirmed last month that Riddle would be on all of EVOLVE's August shows and that he would be adding more dates if he was still champion after that. After receiving interest from both WWE and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Riddle is expected to be headed to NXT.
Obviously WWE won’t comment until he shows up and Riddle isn’t allowed to comment publicly, but has said he’s got offers from both sides (WWE and New Japan). It’s also not like WWE hasn’t had interest in him for three plus years and he’d have been signed immediately without all the positive marijuana tests coming from his MMA tenure. When he was in Evolve and under contract there, it was basically WWE, figuring time wasn’t of the essence since he wasn’t going to ROH due to his Evolve deal and New Japan seemingly nixed using him.
There are all kinds of rumors that he’ll be at the Takeover show in Brooklyn and the timing certainly lines up. The fact is he aced a WWE tryout camp there three years ago and he’s been on the radar since. Instead of signing him, because of the marijuana stigma, they told Evolve to take him and groom him so he could be evaluated by people close to WWE regularly and if it didn’t work out, he wouldn’t be with WWE. At the time, due to his lack of experience and the high standard expected in-ring for Evolve, that was a risk at first but he improved so ridiculously fast that he became their biggest star quickly. He’s gotten nothing but great reviews when it comes to pro wrestling past a few times where he’s double-booked himself.
Really, he was doing great in the indies but since the end of last year, it’s really been time for him to be a superstar with a major promotion. He has the in-ring, the look and the natural charisma. The question would be the promos, which he’d be able to overcome in NXT because his overall natural charisma would carry him with that fan base. That also wouldn’t even be an issue with Japan, where I think in little time he’d have become the No. 2 foreigner. He’s got a character that works and would sell merch. But on the main roster, the promos are a huge aspect.
Obviously WWE won’t comment until he shows up and Riddle isn’t allowed to comment publicly, but has said he’s got offers from both sides (WWE and New Japan). It’s also not like WWE hasn’t had interest in him for three plus years and he’d have been signed immediately without all the positive marijuana tests coming from his MMA tenure. When he was in Evolve and under contract there, it was basically WWE, figuring time wasn’t of the essence since he wasn’t going to ROH due to his Evolve deal and New Japan seemingly nixed using him.
There are all kinds of rumors that he’ll be at the Takeover show in Brooklyn and the timing certainly lines up. The fact is he aced a WWE tryout camp there three years ago and he’s been on the radar since. Instead of signing him, because of the marijuana stigma, they told Evolve to take him and groom him so he could be evaluated by people close to WWE regularly and if it didn’t work out, he wouldn’t be with WWE. At the time, due to his lack of experience and the high standard expected in-ring for Evolve, that was a risk at first but he improved so ridiculously fast that he became their biggest star quickly. He’s gotten nothing but great reviews when it comes to pro wrestling past a few times where he’s double-booked himself.
Really, he was doing great in the indies but since the end of last year, it’s really been time for him to be a superstar with a major promotion. He has the in-ring, the look and the natural charisma. The question would be the promos, which he’d be able to overcome in NXT because his overall natural charisma would carry him with that fan base. That also wouldn’t even be an issue with Japan, where I think in little time he’d have become the No. 2 foreigner. He’s got a character that works and would sell merch. But on the main roster, the promos are a huge aspect.
Mae Young Classic All Set
All 32 wrestlers have been confirmed for this summer's Mae Young Classic, which includes recently announced Toni Storm, Meiko Satomura, Madison Rayne, Xia Brookside, Priscilla Kelly, Hiroyo Matsumoto, Aerial Monroe, Vanessa Kraven, Sienna, Xia Li, Rachael Ellering, MJ Jenkins, and Zatara rounding out the lineup.
Tapings for the tournament will be held at Full Sail University this Wednesday and Thursday, leading into the finals taking place at WWE Evolution on October 28. This looks to be the best women’s wrestling tournament ever held in the U.S.
Tapings for the tournament will be held at Full Sail University this Wednesday and Thursday, leading into the finals taking place at WWE Evolution on October 28. This looks to be the best women’s wrestling tournament ever held in the U.S.
Additional Programming?
There’s been a lot of talk regarding the shoulder programming that FOX is going to do in conjunction with WWE. Keep in mind that FS 1 and FS 2 is losing tons of hours of programming with the loss of UFC, and when we listed the decline in hours for UFC, that was only live fight programming, not the loss of hype shows before and after the events and all the endless hours of replays on both networks.
The idea of NXT on FS 1 makes all the sense in the world, but those involved in the process told us it wouldn’t be happening. WWE is interested in keeping that as exclusive network property but FS 1 gives the show wider distribution and my belief is that distribution would also lead to larger crowds for the live events and more merchandise opportunities, plus it’s more programming WWE can sell and it’ll help FS 1 ratings.
What has been talked about are things like FS 1 doing pre-game shows every Friday night before Smackdown and post-game shows on Sundays after PPV shows. Richard Dietsch just reported on the Friday & Sunday ideas this past week. It’s already been reported they are looking at a weekly studio show, perhaps on Wednesday, the WWE version of UFC Tonight.
Those at FOX have said there are no announcements planned right now regarding any new programming and those involved in those deals have said the original FOX deal as far as in-ring wrestling programming goes only involved Smackdown and there was no talk of any other wrestling.
The idea of NXT on FS 1 makes all the sense in the world, but those involved in the process told us it wouldn’t be happening. WWE is interested in keeping that as exclusive network property but FS 1 gives the show wider distribution and my belief is that distribution would also lead to larger crowds for the live events and more merchandise opportunities, plus it’s more programming WWE can sell and it’ll help FS 1 ratings.
What has been talked about are things like FS 1 doing pre-game shows every Friday night before Smackdown and post-game shows on Sundays after PPV shows. Richard Dietsch just reported on the Friday & Sunday ideas this past week. It’s already been reported they are looking at a weekly studio show, perhaps on Wednesday, the WWE version of UFC Tonight.
Those at FOX have said there are no announcements planned right now regarding any new programming and those involved in those deals have said the original FOX deal as far as in-ring wrestling programming goes only involved Smackdown and there was no talk of any other wrestling.
Rest in Peace Brian Christopher Lawler
Brian Christopher Lawler, the much-troubled son of Jerry Lawler, and a one-time major regional star in his own right, passed away on 7/29 after what police believe was a suicide while in prison.
Lawler was found hanging in his cell at the Hardeman County Jail. Corrections officer administered CPR until paramedics arrived. He was transported to Regional One Medical Center in Memphis. He was declared brain dead at the hospital, but kept on life support so his father, who was in Raleigh, NC for a Comic Con, could rush back and say goodbye to him.
Born January 10, 1972, Lawler was 46.
Lawler was found hanging in his cell at the Hardeman County Jail. Corrections officer administered CPR until paramedics arrived. He was transported to Regional One Medical Center in Memphis. He was declared brain dead at the hospital, but kept on life support so his father, who was in Raleigh, NC for a Comic Con, could rush back and say goodbye to him.
Born January 10, 1972, Lawler was 46.
Rest in Peace Nikolai Volkoff
Josip Peruzovic, the native of Croatia who achieved fame as a Mongolian and a Russian, best known as Nikolai Volkoff, passed away on 7/29 at the age of 70.
According to long-time friend Brian Blair, the President of the Cauliflower Alley Club, Peruzovic had recently suffered a heart attack and was told that he needed open heart surgery, which he declined. He was then told that he needed to get a stent put in his heart, which would be only a temporary fix because he was going to need the major surgery. He refused that as well.
He had been hospitalized for dehydration and was released in the days before his death. His wife found him dead at their home.
According to long-time friend Brian Blair, the President of the Cauliflower Alley Club, Peruzovic had recently suffered a heart attack and was told that he needed open heart surgery, which he declined. He was then told that he needed to get a stent put in his heart, which would be only a temporary fix because he was going to need the major surgery. He refused that as well.
He had been hospitalized for dehydration and was released in the days before his death. His wife found him dead at their home.
Kane: Mayor of Knox County
Glenn Jacobs (WWE's Kane) is the next mayor of Knox County, Tennessee, winning with 66.39 percent of the vote. His opponent, Democrat Linda Haney criticized Jacobs for still wrestling while the campaign was going on, with Jacobs replying that his schedule was sporadic, that it wasn't different than if he had any other job, and that it didn't have an impact on his preparation. Jacobs told the Knoxville News Sentinel last month that he "may still do a few special things" with WWE after becoming mayor.
New Japan Pro Wrestling News
Takahashi Update
The last word anyone has heard regarding Hiromu Takahashi and is based on the belief from a few weeks ago. The New Japan doctors believe it will be nine to 12 months before he can return. The belief is that he suffered a broken neck, which sounds terrible and that’s why nobody has said anything public. The good news is that they had found no evidence of nerve damage so it’s all about the healing of the bone and making sure it can absorb the type of punishment in a New Japan ring. They were thinking he could get back to training and being athletic in six months, but were looking at the extra three to six months before letting him wrestle because of the type of style he works
They haven’t announced anything about the junior heavyweight title either, but that probably wasn’t going to be defended until September. I’m guessing whatever the plan is will be announced in the press conference after G-1 ends when they run down the September cards.
They haven’t announced anything about the junior heavyweight title either, but that probably wasn’t going to be defended until September. I’m guessing whatever the plan is will be announced in the press conference after G-1 ends when they run down the September cards.
G1 Climax 2018 Update
After almost a month of action, we’re approaching the last week of this year's G1 Climax. Just three shows remain until the finals. Here's a quick look at the current standings, as well as who is still alive in the tournament and who isn’t.
Current A Block Standings:
Tanahashi, White, and Okada are still alive heading into the block finals. Tanahashi and Okada will be facing off at Budokan Hall on August 10, while White is up against EVIL. If Tanahashi defeats Okada or draws with him, Tanahashi is through to the finals. For Okada to get through, he needs to defeat Tanahashi and have EVIL defeat White. White holds the tiebreaker over both Tanahashi and Okada, so he needs to beat EVIL and have Okada win against Tanahashi.
Current B Block Standings:
The three men still alive in this block are Omega, Ibushi, and Naito. Sabre and SANADA lose out to tiebreakers and everyone else is eliminated due to lack of points. Omega has Yano and Ibushi left, Naito has SANADA and Sabre, and Ibushi has Tonga and Omega. It is likely that the Omega/Ibushi match will determine the block winner. There are scenarios where Naito can still win, however. One of them would need Naito to win out, Omega to lose against Yano, and Omega vs. Ibushi would need to go to a draw.
Ibushi could lose to Tonga, but he'd need to hope Omega loses to Yano and then beat Omega to win. He would also need to hope Naito doesn't win both matches, as Naito would end up with 14 points over Ibushi's 12.
Current A Block Standings:
- Hiroshi Tanahashi - 14
- Jay White - 12
- Kazuchika Okada - 12
- Minoru Suzuki - 8
- EVIL - 8
- Michael Elgin - 6
- Bad Luck Fale - 6
- Hangman Page - 6
- Togi Makabe - 4
- YOSHI-HASHI - 4
Tanahashi, White, and Okada are still alive heading into the block finals. Tanahashi and Okada will be facing off at Budokan Hall on August 10, while White is up against EVIL. If Tanahashi defeats Okada or draws with him, Tanahashi is through to the finals. For Okada to get through, he needs to defeat Tanahashi and have EVIL defeat White. White holds the tiebreaker over both Tanahashi and Okada, so he needs to beat EVIL and have Okada win against Tanahashi.
Current B Block Standings:
- Kenny Omega - 12
- Kota Ibushi - 10
- Tetsuya Naito - 10
- Zack Sabre Jr. - 8
- SANADA - 8
- Hirooki Goto - 6
- Tomohiro Ishii - 6
- Juice Robinson - 4
- Tama Tonga - 4
- Toru Yano - 2
The three men still alive in this block are Omega, Ibushi, and Naito. Sabre and SANADA lose out to tiebreakers and everyone else is eliminated due to lack of points. Omega has Yano and Ibushi left, Naito has SANADA and Sabre, and Ibushi has Tonga and Omega. It is likely that the Omega/Ibushi match will determine the block winner. There are scenarios where Naito can still win, however. One of them would need Naito to win out, Omega to lose against Yano, and Omega vs. Ibushi would need to go to a draw.
Ibushi could lose to Tonga, but he'd need to hope Omega loses to Yano and then beat Omega to win. He would also need to hope Naito doesn't win both matches, as Naito would end up with 14 points over Ibushi's 12.
September Show in Long Beach, CA
Tickets for the 9/30 Long Beach show went on sale on 8/1 and it was very different from the instant sellouts of the past. They sold 1,500 tickets immediately, including virtually all the expensive tickets, but we never got a later figure. Tickets were more expensive than the previous shows and as we saw in San Francisco, a lot of the tickets went late because they didn’t announce the card until late, as it’s unlikely the full card will be announced until about 11 or so days out. There was also no ticket scalper interest even with the three previous immediate Long Beach sellouts, which was notable.
The last time they sold 4,400 tickets immediately. Even in San Francisco the last time they sold more than 3,000 right away. These are traveling shows and this is too fast after All In, plus tickets went on sale the day after PWG Battle of Los Angeles which is two weeks earlier (and all three days sold out the 650 or seats in five minutes) in the same market and tickets also went on sale one week before the joint NJPW/ROH show in MSG, which is clearly the next giant indie event after All In.
For this show, it doesn’t help that ROH is doing a PPV in Las Vegas two nights earlier. Really, the New Japan guys come so often that them just coming is no big deal, now it’s about delivering big matches and I don’t see them doing great first time in unless it’s a pure New Japan show in someplace like a Toronto or maybe Chicago where they announce all the stars are coming. The reality is that it doesn’t matter about how great the shows are, there is a limited but very fervent U.S. audience for the product and they’ll travel to what is perceived as the biggest event, but they’re not traveling twice in the same month.
The last time they sold 4,400 tickets immediately. Even in San Francisco the last time they sold more than 3,000 right away. These are traveling shows and this is too fast after All In, plus tickets went on sale the day after PWG Battle of Los Angeles which is two weeks earlier (and all three days sold out the 650 or seats in five minutes) in the same market and tickets also went on sale one week before the joint NJPW/ROH show in MSG, which is clearly the next giant indie event after All In.
For this show, it doesn’t help that ROH is doing a PPV in Las Vegas two nights earlier. Really, the New Japan guys come so often that them just coming is no big deal, now it’s about delivering big matches and I don’t see them doing great first time in unless it’s a pure New Japan show in someplace like a Toronto or maybe Chicago where they announce all the stars are coming. The reality is that it doesn’t matter about how great the shows are, there is a limited but very fervent U.S. audience for the product and they’ll travel to what is perceived as the biggest event, but they’re not traveling twice in the same month.
Ring of Honor News
Young Bucks Contracts
While this isn’t a secret, on the 7/20 ROH streaming broadcast, it was outright said that the Young Bucks contract with the promotion expires after the Final Battle show in December. That is correct. It’s just interesting that they noted it. They did that in context with the storyline idea that if they win the tag titles that they have great leverage in a new deal
IMPACT News
Bound for Glory
Bound for Glory will be on 10/14 at the Melrose Ballroom in Long Island City, NY. That’s the same location that MLW recently ran. Impact is going to pretty much monthly tapings, traveling to different locations, but not spending like it did when such a move years ago put the company deep in red ink. The new version of the company, headed by Ed Nordholm, Don Callis and Scott D’Amore, with Sonjay Dutt as the key when it comes to talent and creative, and a strong production crew, has in less than seven months, at least removed much of the negative stigma that has engulfed the company.
Jericho to Impact?
Chris Jericho, who at first said that he would never work in the U.S. for anyone (and turned down New Japan’s Long Beach and Cow Palace shows), but WWE, has teased the idea he’d be interested in doing the MSG show. He’s also teased he’d be open to work for Impact. Don Callis, who was the brains behind the original Jericho vs. Omega idea, since he was friends with both, may open the door and Jericho did love their PPV this past weekend. Callis and Jericho talk all the time.
INDEPENDENT NEWS
All In Update
Another official match for the All In is Young Bucks & Kota Ibushi vs. Rey Fenix & Bandido & Rey Mysterio Jr. It’s likely as one of Mysterio’s last indie matches (he’s got a booking the next day and I think that’s it). That basic idea has been around since day one. The first idea I’d heard was Bucks & Kenny Omega vs. Fenix & Penta 0M & Mysterio, but Bandido and Ibushi are hardly downgrades. Omega and Ibushi are different but this one is more unique and it leaves an Omega singles match out there, and Bandido is going to make himself a star to his largest U.S. audience possible here
ITV’s World of Sport
The single most important pro wrestling television series of 2018 when it comes to industry direction, ITV’s World of Sport show, debuted on 7/28, beginning its ten-week run. If the show becomes a regular part of ITV’s Saturday afternoon, just based on exposure alone, it has the ability to make non-WWE performers into real stars and create real competition on the British scene.
Whether these changes are good or bad is another issue. And there is no guarantee of success. Indeed, a month from now, if the writing is on the wall, this could also go down as a failed experiment that’s most important to its other result, the creation of the NXT U.K. promotion. But if it’s a failure, the question becomes what happens to the U.K. scene. It was noted that all of the NXT U.K. contracts, besides being low dollar amounts, can be canceled every quarter. But it’s hard to believe with as cash rich as WWE is right now, that they’d drop the division even if there isn’t the competition that spurred them into creating it.
If ITV succeeds, the U.K. will likely become the WWF/WCW era American scene, and if not, it’ll become the only significant game in town except for people who can hook up with ROH/NJPW or other talent, if those companies remain strong against WWE’s worldwide financial clout.
If ITV is a success with this show, the plan is to tour as well. The U.K. talent will go from working for various independents that put on great products, so being under contract with a “big two,” and the landscape in that sense would be like the late 80s and early 90s in the U.S., which led to the extinction of the regional promotions which couldn’t financially compete for the best talent and would no longer have access to it.
Those involved with the project were told that the fate of the show would likely be clear by the third week, and it will be a decision based on ratings. ITV and the top wrestlers were told the ratings were good, but it’s really the pattern that matters. The show did 937,000 viewers between ITV, ITV+1 and ITV HD, which meant that 8.6 percent of people in the U.K. watching television were watching the show. In the U.S. that would be unreal for a wrestling show to do that. Nothing like that has happened since the Attitude Era.
But for the No. 2 network in the country, it’s a different story. ITV had been averaging 1.5 million viewers in that time slot airing game shows. ITV pushed that the audience built throughout the show and the final quarter hour, built around Grado defending his WOS title against Justin Sysum and Rampage, did 1.2 million viewers according to an ITV tweet (others have that final quarter number as either 1.03 million or 1.1 million) and claimed it was the largest audience to watch British wrestling on television in more than 30 years. But that can’t be accurate since the 2016 New Year’s Eve pilot episode averaged 1.25 million viewers over two hours.
The biggest take is that the show was aimed to reach all families, but the mentality was to make it fun for kids. But only five percent of those viewers were under the age of 15. The ITV idea of creating a wrestling show fun for kids to watch didn’t happen. In the old days, kids would play in the streets and return home to watch wrestling. Today, kids don’t play in the streets, and aren’t watching television in large numbers on Saturday’s at 5 p.m.
Even though ITV pushed it as a success, the belief is the number was disappointing, but not disastrous. All decisions will likely be made based on whether it goes up or down over the next two weeks or so. But a key aspect is that in a few weeks, Premier League soccer will start with a 4 p.m. Saturday game, and going against that in the U.K. would be the same as going against football in the U.S., especially with this show doing an older audience, and ratings will almost certainly drop significantly once that starts. But all these decisions will likely be made very quickly.
But our networks are not the powerhouses in the culture like ITV is either. But if this does succeed at this level, or a higher level, it has potential if done right to make stars. It’s hard to say what the right mix is to attract the casual fan, but I think you want to present a show where things are memorable and resonate. I think you want U.K. based wrestlers on the show, but use world class wrestlers, create the best action, and use personality features to get them over. Again, part of the goal here is the successful TV show would also build to local touring, so they want to feature talent they could tour with, so that gets in the way of working with an ROH or NJPW to use the higher level of stars.
Whether these changes are good or bad is another issue. And there is no guarantee of success. Indeed, a month from now, if the writing is on the wall, this could also go down as a failed experiment that’s most important to its other result, the creation of the NXT U.K. promotion. But if it’s a failure, the question becomes what happens to the U.K. scene. It was noted that all of the NXT U.K. contracts, besides being low dollar amounts, can be canceled every quarter. But it’s hard to believe with as cash rich as WWE is right now, that they’d drop the division even if there isn’t the competition that spurred them into creating it.
If ITV succeeds, the U.K. will likely become the WWF/WCW era American scene, and if not, it’ll become the only significant game in town except for people who can hook up with ROH/NJPW or other talent, if those companies remain strong against WWE’s worldwide financial clout.
If ITV is a success with this show, the plan is to tour as well. The U.K. talent will go from working for various independents that put on great products, so being under contract with a “big two,” and the landscape in that sense would be like the late 80s and early 90s in the U.S., which led to the extinction of the regional promotions which couldn’t financially compete for the best talent and would no longer have access to it.
Those involved with the project were told that the fate of the show would likely be clear by the third week, and it will be a decision based on ratings. ITV and the top wrestlers were told the ratings were good, but it’s really the pattern that matters. The show did 937,000 viewers between ITV, ITV+1 and ITV HD, which meant that 8.6 percent of people in the U.K. watching television were watching the show. In the U.S. that would be unreal for a wrestling show to do that. Nothing like that has happened since the Attitude Era.
But for the No. 2 network in the country, it’s a different story. ITV had been averaging 1.5 million viewers in that time slot airing game shows. ITV pushed that the audience built throughout the show and the final quarter hour, built around Grado defending his WOS title against Justin Sysum and Rampage, did 1.2 million viewers according to an ITV tweet (others have that final quarter number as either 1.03 million or 1.1 million) and claimed it was the largest audience to watch British wrestling on television in more than 30 years. But that can’t be accurate since the 2016 New Year’s Eve pilot episode averaged 1.25 million viewers over two hours.
The biggest take is that the show was aimed to reach all families, but the mentality was to make it fun for kids. But only five percent of those viewers were under the age of 15. The ITV idea of creating a wrestling show fun for kids to watch didn’t happen. In the old days, kids would play in the streets and return home to watch wrestling. Today, kids don’t play in the streets, and aren’t watching television in large numbers on Saturday’s at 5 p.m.
Even though ITV pushed it as a success, the belief is the number was disappointing, but not disastrous. All decisions will likely be made based on whether it goes up or down over the next two weeks or so. But a key aspect is that in a few weeks, Premier League soccer will start with a 4 p.m. Saturday game, and going against that in the U.K. would be the same as going against football in the U.S., especially with this show doing an older audience, and ratings will almost certainly drop significantly once that starts. But all these decisions will likely be made very quickly.
But our networks are not the powerhouses in the culture like ITV is either. But if this does succeed at this level, or a higher level, it has potential if done right to make stars. It’s hard to say what the right mix is to attract the casual fan, but I think you want to present a show where things are memorable and resonate. I think you want U.K. based wrestlers on the show, but use world class wrestlers, create the best action, and use personality features to get them over. Again, part of the goal here is the successful TV show would also build to local touring, so they want to feature talent they could tour with, so that gets in the way of working with an ROH or NJPW to use the higher level of stars.
MLW loses Audience Reach
Bein Sports, which carries MLW, has been pulled off of Comcast due to a carriage dispute, and may be pulled off Verizon as well. The decision was made by Bein, which pulled its channel from Comcast after the two sides failed to reach a deal on subscribers fees for the channel, with the contract having ended on 7/31. Verizon said that its contract also expired on 7/31 and the sides were far apart on a deal. Bein was asking for a raise in subscribers fees. Bein had previously made a complaint that Comcast was holding them down since their station is heavy on soccer, and looking to promote NBC Sports Network, which they own, which is also heavy on soccer. Comcast claimed they offered reasonable renewal terms and got shot down.
Ring Warriors on WGN
The Ring Warriors promotion, run by Howard Brody, who for years was the NWA President, has announced a television deal with WGN America. The show will air at 8 a.m. Saturday mornings on WGN America starting on 9/15. That would give the promotion the second most potential homes of any pro wrestling promotion in the U.S. besides WWE, since WGN America reaches 79.1 million homes. Now, I don’t expect in that time slot for it to get anywhere near the number of viewers that Impact, ROH, New Japan or Lucha Underground get but they’ll have more homes available to see the shows than any of those shows.
They are taping shows at Sam’s Town in Las Vegas on 8/8 and 8/9 with names listed being Austin Aries, Jeff Cobb, Marty the Moth Martinez, Wes Brisco, Chase Stevens, Cassidy Riley, Michael Tarver, Eli Drake, Chaz Warrington (Headbangers tag team), Luke Hawx, Alexander Hammerstone, Santana Garrett and Melissa Anderson. The show is a joint venture with Goin Mobile Video Productions and the Global Genesis Group. Blake Chadwick, Ken Resnick and Larry Brannon (Vito DeNucci) will be the announcers.
They are taping shows at Sam’s Town in Las Vegas on 8/8 and 8/9 with names listed being Austin Aries, Jeff Cobb, Marty the Moth Martinez, Wes Brisco, Chase Stevens, Cassidy Riley, Michael Tarver, Eli Drake, Chaz Warrington (Headbangers tag team), Luke Hawx, Alexander Hammerstone, Santana Garrett and Melissa Anderson. The show is a joint venture with Goin Mobile Video Productions and the Global Genesis Group. Blake Chadwick, Ken Resnick and Larry Brannon (Vito DeNucci) will be the announcers.
By: Larry Causion Jr. CausionCreations.com
Posted: Sunday, August 5, 2018
Credit: Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Posted: Sunday, August 5, 2018
Credit: Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter