Week in Wrestling #19
Wrestling News From the week of
November 28 - December 3, 2015
November 28 - December 3, 2015
RIP Tommy Gilbert
Tommy Gilbert, who wrestled full-time from 1969 to 1989, and on occasion many years after that, mostly as an mid to upper card wrestler and frequent tag team champion in Tennessee, passed away on Thanksgiving Day at the age of 75.
It was reported that Gilbert passed away due to a lengthy illness. Gilbert, perhaps best known to modern fans as the father of the late Eddie Gilbert and Doug Gilbert, was a soft-spoken babyface from Lexington, TN. He was a solid worker, usually in tag teams because he didn’t have the color or charisma of his son, and was compared a lot with Dory Funk Jr., a world champion of that era.
He was inducted into the first class of the Memphis Wrestling Hall of fame in 1994, with Al & Don Greene, Jerry Jarrett, Lance Russell and Sputnik Monroe.
Gilbert also held championships in Florida, Eastern Canada, Alabama and Puerto Rico, although spent most of his career raising a family in Tennessee. He had a number of partners, but after his team Marlin, he was best known for the father-and-son team with Eddie, and they often did father-and-son feuds with local star Buddy Wayne and son Ken.
Tommy Gilbert, who wrestled full-time from 1969 to 1989, and on occasion many years after that, mostly as an mid to upper card wrestler and frequent tag team champion in Tennessee, passed away on Thanksgiving Day at the age of 75.
It was reported that Gilbert passed away due to a lengthy illness. Gilbert, perhaps best known to modern fans as the father of the late Eddie Gilbert and Doug Gilbert, was a soft-spoken babyface from Lexington, TN. He was a solid worker, usually in tag teams because he didn’t have the color or charisma of his son, and was compared a lot with Dory Funk Jr., a world champion of that era.
He was inducted into the first class of the Memphis Wrestling Hall of fame in 1994, with Al & Don Greene, Jerry Jarrett, Lance Russell and Sputnik Monroe.
Gilbert also held championships in Florida, Eastern Canada, Alabama and Puerto Rico, although spent most of his career raising a family in Tennessee. He had a number of partners, but after his team Marlin, he was best known for the father-and-son team with Eddie, and they often did father-and-son feuds with local star Buddy Wayne and son Ken.
When all else fails, Create Factions
After the record-low rating, WWE tried a lot of new things. They set up a new top heel group, The League of Nations, with champion Sheamus and sidekicks King Barrett, Alberto Del Rio and Rusev. They also set up The New Day as affiliates of the League of Nations, and as seems to happen when WWE gets an entertaining act, greatly overexposed The New Day on the show.
The top face group, which may be called The Family, is Roman Reigns, clearly positioned as the company’s top star, along with Dean Ambrose and the Usos.
They also brought in Tommy Dreamer as part of the Dudleys vs. Wyatts feud (the Dreamer intro got the biggest reaction of the show), started a Charlotte heel turn and gave Adam Rose a new gimmick.
When it comes to the lead heel group, the New Day is entertaining but it feels like they are given so many segments they’re being overexposed; Sheamus is unique in look but has been around for years and is missing whatever that something is to be the top guy, and he’s had his chances. Barrett has the tools to be a star, a top star role is different but he’s been hurt badly by how he’s been booked over the past year. Del Rio has everything they want to be a top babyface, except he’s never gotten over at the level of his push, either as a heel or a face and has been there for years. His current role is a mess and he’s less over than ever before.
Rusev is really good, in the sense he’s got a good look, performs well for his gimmick, can talk, and as far as a guy being in the top heel group, he fits. Barrett with more talking time would fit as part of the group. The problem is, it comes off as a weak copy of what has been done for the last 30 years, and even TNA has consistently gone to the same well over and over. Every faction that has been successful has had that strong No. 1, and this faction lacks it.
After the record-low rating, WWE tried a lot of new things. They set up a new top heel group, The League of Nations, with champion Sheamus and sidekicks King Barrett, Alberto Del Rio and Rusev. They also set up The New Day as affiliates of the League of Nations, and as seems to happen when WWE gets an entertaining act, greatly overexposed The New Day on the show.
The top face group, which may be called The Family, is Roman Reigns, clearly positioned as the company’s top star, along with Dean Ambrose and the Usos.
They also brought in Tommy Dreamer as part of the Dudleys vs. Wyatts feud (the Dreamer intro got the biggest reaction of the show), started a Charlotte heel turn and gave Adam Rose a new gimmick.
When it comes to the lead heel group, the New Day is entertaining but it feels like they are given so many segments they’re being overexposed; Sheamus is unique in look but has been around for years and is missing whatever that something is to be the top guy, and he’s had his chances. Barrett has the tools to be a star, a top star role is different but he’s been hurt badly by how he’s been booked over the past year. Del Rio has everything they want to be a top babyface, except he’s never gotten over at the level of his push, either as a heel or a face and has been there for years. His current role is a mess and he’s less over than ever before.
Rusev is really good, in the sense he’s got a good look, performs well for his gimmick, can talk, and as far as a guy being in the top heel group, he fits. Barrett with more talking time would fit as part of the group. The problem is, it comes off as a weak copy of what has been done for the last 30 years, and even TNA has consistently gone to the same well over and over. Every faction that has been successful has had that strong No. 1, and this faction lacks it.
Why are Ratings Bad?
WWE sent out a survey on 11/30. Questions were asked on why viewers don’t watch Raw in its entirety, asking about why they watch certain segments and why they don’t watch others.
The first thing to look at is if audience ratings patterns have changed. We know the viewership is at a record low level. There are excuses to a degree, some with some validity such as YouTube viewership, some with less (the Hulu excuse given that Hulu has aired the show in abbreviated form for years) or DVR viewership (which is at the same level it’s been for a while, and it’s not like the DVR is a new invention, and prior to that, people could tape and watch shows later long before the existence of Raw).
But looking at the first three weeks of December (since the holiday weeks are unique), in 2012, the first hour averaged 3,871,000 viewers, the second hour 3,886,000 viewers and the third hour 3,674,000 viewers. In 2013, those numbers were 4,084,000, 4,012,000 and 3,792,000. Last year those numbers were 3,897,000, 3,745,000 and 3,462,000. This past three weeks this year averaged 3,346,000, 3,157,000 and 2,922,000.
So the viewership drop from hour one to hour three was 5.1%, in 2013 it was 7.1%, in 2014 it was 11.6% and the past three weeks it was 12.7%. So, in something that pretty much eliminates the other factors, there is an increasing number of people who tune the show out than in previous years. The start of the change of patterns was in 2014, and it’s gotten worse this year, but the difference between this year and other years is also the decrease in people starting with the show. Also, the other pattern change is people tuning out earlier. Football has always gone against Raw this time of year, so that’s factored out, but in 2012, the audience actually grew slightly in the second hour, in 2013 it dropped 1.8%, last year it dropped 3.9% and this year it’s down 5.6%.
So the problems are both less people interested, but even more, those who still watch are tuning out quicker than ever before and are less loyal to the show. The key is they are less interested in the main events, since that’s what goes on last, and the third hour decline is the strongest it’s ever been.
That all said, it is not a good thing that the audience watching is smaller, and even worse that the audience watching is significantly less engaged and switches off the show quicker than any time in history. The latter point is the key, in the sense if people watch out of habit but care about the product less, it’s a bad sign.
The company in the survey asked fans if things like specialty matches, in-ring interviews, championship matches, celebrity guest appearances, celebrities appearing in matches, legends appearing and legends wrestling matches would cause them to watch the show more frequently, or stick with the show.
The questions also asked how your viewing habits pertaining to Raw have changed from the past, and asked about watching Raw live, or just highlights, whether they check ahead of time to find out who is on the show (given that very little is advertised ahead of time, pretty much nobody knows anyway), who watches Raw in your household, they ask about changing channels as the show is going on, fast forwarding through segments and reasons you would fast forward (commercials, matches that aren’t exciting, performers you aren’t interested in, backstage interviews, in-ring interviews) and a primary reason you would fast forward during the show. They also asked about interest in Monday Night Football and to describe how much you are interested in different type of segments (broken down as in-ring talking, backstage interviews, matches, video packages, ring entrances and backstage interactions).
They also asked fans to rate the shows in a variety of categories, from match quality, to storylines, and asked if they think certain segments are given the right amount of time, too much time, or too little time, broken down as in-ring promos, interviews building up what is coming up on the show, commentators talking about what has happened, backstage interviews, backstage interactions, matches, matches with no impact on storylines, main events, matches that affect storylines, championship matches and recaps.
The big flaw is that the questions are being asked of the company’s most hardcore fans, given the Fan Nation status, meaning for the most part, they are not getting the input from the key fans they need to reach, the casual fan, sometime fan or lapsed fan, which are the fans who are the keys in growing the business and the ones dropping out now. The Fan Nation fan, while important to know their thoughts, are more likely to be satisfied and less likely to have the mindset to the product of those who are less interested or have faded away, or watch but aren’t nearly as invested and thus don’t stay for the whole three hours. Unfortunately, the audience that they need to contact is the one they can’t find.
But that doesn’t mean they can’t learn something from this.
WWE sent out a survey on 11/30. Questions were asked on why viewers don’t watch Raw in its entirety, asking about why they watch certain segments and why they don’t watch others.
The first thing to look at is if audience ratings patterns have changed. We know the viewership is at a record low level. There are excuses to a degree, some with some validity such as YouTube viewership, some with less (the Hulu excuse given that Hulu has aired the show in abbreviated form for years) or DVR viewership (which is at the same level it’s been for a while, and it’s not like the DVR is a new invention, and prior to that, people could tape and watch shows later long before the existence of Raw).
But looking at the first three weeks of December (since the holiday weeks are unique), in 2012, the first hour averaged 3,871,000 viewers, the second hour 3,886,000 viewers and the third hour 3,674,000 viewers. In 2013, those numbers were 4,084,000, 4,012,000 and 3,792,000. Last year those numbers were 3,897,000, 3,745,000 and 3,462,000. This past three weeks this year averaged 3,346,000, 3,157,000 and 2,922,000.
So the viewership drop from hour one to hour three was 5.1%, in 2013 it was 7.1%, in 2014 it was 11.6% and the past three weeks it was 12.7%. So, in something that pretty much eliminates the other factors, there is an increasing number of people who tune the show out than in previous years. The start of the change of patterns was in 2014, and it’s gotten worse this year, but the difference between this year and other years is also the decrease in people starting with the show. Also, the other pattern change is people tuning out earlier. Football has always gone against Raw this time of year, so that’s factored out, but in 2012, the audience actually grew slightly in the second hour, in 2013 it dropped 1.8%, last year it dropped 3.9% and this year it’s down 5.6%.
So the problems are both less people interested, but even more, those who still watch are tuning out quicker than ever before and are less loyal to the show. The key is they are less interested in the main events, since that’s what goes on last, and the third hour decline is the strongest it’s ever been.
That all said, it is not a good thing that the audience watching is smaller, and even worse that the audience watching is significantly less engaged and switches off the show quicker than any time in history. The latter point is the key, in the sense if people watch out of habit but care about the product less, it’s a bad sign.
The company in the survey asked fans if things like specialty matches, in-ring interviews, championship matches, celebrity guest appearances, celebrities appearing in matches, legends appearing and legends wrestling matches would cause them to watch the show more frequently, or stick with the show.
The questions also asked how your viewing habits pertaining to Raw have changed from the past, and asked about watching Raw live, or just highlights, whether they check ahead of time to find out who is on the show (given that very little is advertised ahead of time, pretty much nobody knows anyway), who watches Raw in your household, they ask about changing channels as the show is going on, fast forwarding through segments and reasons you would fast forward (commercials, matches that aren’t exciting, performers you aren’t interested in, backstage interviews, in-ring interviews) and a primary reason you would fast forward during the show. They also asked about interest in Monday Night Football and to describe how much you are interested in different type of segments (broken down as in-ring talking, backstage interviews, matches, video packages, ring entrances and backstage interactions).
They also asked fans to rate the shows in a variety of categories, from match quality, to storylines, and asked if they think certain segments are given the right amount of time, too much time, or too little time, broken down as in-ring promos, interviews building up what is coming up on the show, commentators talking about what has happened, backstage interviews, backstage interactions, matches, matches with no impact on storylines, main events, matches that affect storylines, championship matches and recaps.
The big flaw is that the questions are being asked of the company’s most hardcore fans, given the Fan Nation status, meaning for the most part, they are not getting the input from the key fans they need to reach, the casual fan, sometime fan or lapsed fan, which are the fans who are the keys in growing the business and the ones dropping out now. The Fan Nation fan, while important to know their thoughts, are more likely to be satisfied and less likely to have the mindset to the product of those who are less interested or have faded away, or watch but aren’t nearly as invested and thus don’t stay for the whole three hours. Unfortunately, the audience that they need to contact is the one they can’t find.
But that doesn’t mean they can’t learn something from this.
Failure to Create new Stars
In the last decade, the company has created one true money generating star in Cena, and a few effective characters like Dave Bautista, C.M. Punk, Daniel Bryan and for a few years Randy Orton. In the mid-card era, they’ve created nobody new, with most of their efforts geared to Roman Reigns, a cosmetic pick in an era where cosmetics don’t connect as much as in the past. Ironically, the crowd has tried to pick stars on their own, who are either grudgingly accepted after a fight (Punk and Bryan), are given early lip service to and quickly put “in their place” (Owens) or on a much smaller level, are rejected and shoved in their faces (Cesaro).
In WWE, all the crutches being used as to why the casual audience is dropping and people are tuning out in larger numbers are crutches when the very simple explanation is they haven’t been good at creating or identifying stars ahead of the curve, and have only fully gotten behind one, and thus far, he is lacking key elements of having something unique that connects that the usual game changer possesses.
In the last decade, the company has created one true money generating star in Cena, and a few effective characters like Dave Bautista, C.M. Punk, Daniel Bryan and for a few years Randy Orton. In the mid-card era, they’ve created nobody new, with most of their efforts geared to Roman Reigns, a cosmetic pick in an era where cosmetics don’t connect as much as in the past. Ironically, the crowd has tried to pick stars on their own, who are either grudgingly accepted after a fight (Punk and Bryan), are given early lip service to and quickly put “in their place” (Owens) or on a much smaller level, are rejected and shoved in their faces (Cesaro).
In WWE, all the crutches being used as to why the casual audience is dropping and people are tuning out in larger numbers are crutches when the very simple explanation is they haven’t been good at creating or identifying stars ahead of the curve, and have only fully gotten behind one, and thus far, he is lacking key elements of having something unique that connects that the usual game changer possesses.
Hell in a Cell Numbers Impressive
The Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker blow-off at the 10/25 Hell in a Cell show did slightly smaller numbers as the year before, which is a positive given a substantial increase in network subscribers over the year.
Lesnar vs. Undertaker in their blow-off Hell in a Cell match, with also featured a Seth Rollins vs. Kane WWE title match, John Cena vs. mystery partner U.S. title match (which turned out to be Alberto Del Rio) and a Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt Hell in a Cell match, did 87,000 buys on pay-per-view, broken down as 23,000 domestic and 64,000 overseas. It’s a drop domestically from the 31,000 the prior month’s Night of Champions did domestically .
Rollins worked twice on that show, defending the U.S. title against Cena and the WWE title against Sting, plus there was a Reigns & Dean Ambrose & mystery partner (Chris Jericho) match against The Wyatt Family of Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper & Braun Strowman.
However, throwing in international buys, it was the biggest number for a B show since the 2014 Survivor Series.
Last year’s Hell in a Cell show did 29,000 domestic PPV buys, and 75,000 overseas buys, for a total of 104,000.
That show was also built around two Hell in a Cell matches, Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose and Cena vs. Randy Orton, a weaker show since there was no WWE title match (Brock Lesnar was champion at the time), nor an outside attraction like Undertaker appearing. But the network subscribers have increased significantly, both domestic and overseas, so a direct comparison isn’t as meaningful.
What’s notable is that even with the push to actually even insult people who buy the show on PPV on broadcasts, that ever since last year’s Hell in a Cell, that the B show numbers in North America, which fell to 21,000 for last year’s TLC show, have never fallen below 22,000 since. The overseas numbers, at 64,000, have been increasing, as they ranged from 40,000 to 50,000 most of the year, before hitting 55,000 at Battleground, fell to 46,000 in September, and grew to 64,000 in October.
The Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker blow-off at the 10/25 Hell in a Cell show did slightly smaller numbers as the year before, which is a positive given a substantial increase in network subscribers over the year.
Lesnar vs. Undertaker in their blow-off Hell in a Cell match, with also featured a Seth Rollins vs. Kane WWE title match, John Cena vs. mystery partner U.S. title match (which turned out to be Alberto Del Rio) and a Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt Hell in a Cell match, did 87,000 buys on pay-per-view, broken down as 23,000 domestic and 64,000 overseas. It’s a drop domestically from the 31,000 the prior month’s Night of Champions did domestically .
Rollins worked twice on that show, defending the U.S. title against Cena and the WWE title against Sting, plus there was a Reigns & Dean Ambrose & mystery partner (Chris Jericho) match against The Wyatt Family of Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper & Braun Strowman.
However, throwing in international buys, it was the biggest number for a B show since the 2014 Survivor Series.
Last year’s Hell in a Cell show did 29,000 domestic PPV buys, and 75,000 overseas buys, for a total of 104,000.
That show was also built around two Hell in a Cell matches, Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose and Cena vs. Randy Orton, a weaker show since there was no WWE title match (Brock Lesnar was champion at the time), nor an outside attraction like Undertaker appearing. But the network subscribers have increased significantly, both domestic and overseas, so a direct comparison isn’t as meaningful.
What’s notable is that even with the push to actually even insult people who buy the show on PPV on broadcasts, that ever since last year’s Hell in a Cell, that the B show numbers in North America, which fell to 21,000 for last year’s TLC show, have never fallen below 22,000 since. The overseas numbers, at 64,000, have been increasing, as they ranged from 40,000 to 50,000 most of the year, before hitting 55,000 at Battleground, fell to 46,000 in September, and grew to 64,000 in October.
TLC PPV
The current TLC PPV show on 12/13 in Boston is Sheamus vs. Reigns in a TLC match for the title, Owens vs. Ambrose (stip to be named) in an IC title match, New Day vs. Usos vs. Lucha Dragons for the tag titles (stip not named yet), Charlotte vs. Paige for the Divas title (stip possibly to be named, and there could be additions to this mix ) and Del Rio vs. Swagger for the U.S. title (probable chairs match). So there’s probably 2-3 more matches coming and programs include Ryback vs. Rusev, Neville vs. Miz (at best a pre-show match program), Dudleys (probably with Dreamer) vs. Wyatt Family in what is probably a tables match).
The current TLC PPV show on 12/13 in Boston is Sheamus vs. Reigns in a TLC match for the title, Owens vs. Ambrose (stip to be named) in an IC title match, New Day vs. Usos vs. Lucha Dragons for the tag titles (stip not named yet), Charlotte vs. Paige for the Divas title (stip possibly to be named, and there could be additions to this mix ) and Del Rio vs. Swagger for the U.S. title (probable chairs match). So there’s probably 2-3 more matches coming and programs include Ryback vs. Rusev, Neville vs. Miz (at best a pre-show match program), Dudleys (probably with Dreamer) vs. Wyatt Family in what is probably a tables match).
WWE.com Dropping Hints?
It was notable that the WWE web site put up articles on Rey Mysterio Jr. & Maria Kanellis recently. It’s well known WWE would like to get Mysterio Jr. back and keep him from going to Lucha Underground. Kanellis is a free agent as the contracts of Kanellis, Michael Bennett and Matt Taven have expired. It’s an interesting situation. It comes down to who and what WWE wants regarding the three, New Japan’s interest and ROH’s interest, in the three both as a group as well as individuals.
It was notable that the WWE web site put up articles on Rey Mysterio Jr. & Maria Kanellis recently. It’s well known WWE would like to get Mysterio Jr. back and keep him from going to Lucha Underground. Kanellis is a free agent as the contracts of Kanellis, Michael Bennett and Matt Taven have expired. It’s an interesting situation. It comes down to who and what WWE wants regarding the three, New Japan’s interest and ROH’s interest, in the three both as a group as well as individuals.
AJ Styles Injury Update
A.J. Styles, who has been working hurt, is in a really bad way in Japan, due to what is believed to be a herniated disc and nerve pain in his lower back.
Styles, in Japan for the New Japan tag team tournament, hasn’t wrestled since 11/27, and according to those on the tour, has been in tremendous pain and is having a hard time moving. He has been resting and rehabbing as much as he can while in Japan.
Styles has two major matches in upcoming weeks, headlining the 12/18 ROH Final Battle PPV from Philadelphia, challenging Jay Lethal for the ROH championship, and then on 1/4, facing Nakamura at the Tokyo Dome for the IC title. Expectations for both matches were understandably high since Styles, Nakamura and Lethal have been three of the best all-around performers in wrestling of the past year. At this point there is no word on whether those matches will be able to take place.
A.J. Styles, who has been working hurt, is in a really bad way in Japan, due to what is believed to be a herniated disc and nerve pain in his lower back.
Styles, in Japan for the New Japan tag team tournament, hasn’t wrestled since 11/27, and according to those on the tour, has been in tremendous pain and is having a hard time moving. He has been resting and rehabbing as much as he can while in Japan.
Styles has two major matches in upcoming weeks, headlining the 12/18 ROH Final Battle PPV from Philadelphia, challenging Jay Lethal for the ROH championship, and then on 1/4, facing Nakamura at the Tokyo Dome for the IC title. Expectations for both matches were understandably high since Styles, Nakamura and Lethal have been three of the best all-around performers in wrestling of the past year. At this point there is no word on whether those matches will be able to take place.
TNA India Tour Disaster
Just a few days before the entire crew of performers and production people were scheduled to leave for India for TNA tapings on 12/2 through 12/4 in Mumbai, the entire tour was canceled for reasons that were never revealed publicly.
Talent was told after 5 p.m. on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving (in wrestling, after the end of normal business hours leading to a holiday weekend is prime time for that kind of news) and told the tour was off, with some people being told “logistical reasons” and others being told “security reasons.” There were hints that it was related to a flight that a lot of the talent was booked on to India connected through Paris, although the Paris airport has been open and flights haven’t been canceled and people had been going through the airport like nothing was amiss for several days before the announcement was made.
The plans were to tape episodes of Impact, which would include redoing the already taped semifinals of the TNA title tournament, plus tape a live PPV called “TNA One Night Only: Mumbai,” which would air as a live television special in India and eventually air as a taped PPV in North America.
Both Multi Screen Media (MSM), or Sony Six, their television partner which was bringing TNA in for the tour, and TNA made an agreement that neither side would publicly give a reason for the tour being canceled.
The announcement said the tour would be rescheduled for 2016. TNA’s contract with Sony Six that was recently signed calls for TNA to have to tour the country at least once a year, or the contract would be breached. Sony Six was on board with this cancellation so this won’t be held against TNA.
It was believed to be a direct financial issue, since it was the Indian group that was financing much of the tour. It was not a ticket issue as no tickets were being sold for the three shows, and they were people who would be let in free.
All talent and production had already received their travel itineraries and about 50 people, between talent, production people and others behind the scenes, had gotten working visas for India, so a great deal of work had been done in advance.
Talent was also told they would be paid for the tour, although many were scrambling to get new bookings.
There are no new TV events scheduled until 1/5.
Just a few days before the entire crew of performers and production people were scheduled to leave for India for TNA tapings on 12/2 through 12/4 in Mumbai, the entire tour was canceled for reasons that were never revealed publicly.
Talent was told after 5 p.m. on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving (in wrestling, after the end of normal business hours leading to a holiday weekend is prime time for that kind of news) and told the tour was off, with some people being told “logistical reasons” and others being told “security reasons.” There were hints that it was related to a flight that a lot of the talent was booked on to India connected through Paris, although the Paris airport has been open and flights haven’t been canceled and people had been going through the airport like nothing was amiss for several days before the announcement was made.
The plans were to tape episodes of Impact, which would include redoing the already taped semifinals of the TNA title tournament, plus tape a live PPV called “TNA One Night Only: Mumbai,” which would air as a live television special in India and eventually air as a taped PPV in North America.
Both Multi Screen Media (MSM), or Sony Six, their television partner which was bringing TNA in for the tour, and TNA made an agreement that neither side would publicly give a reason for the tour being canceled.
The announcement said the tour would be rescheduled for 2016. TNA’s contract with Sony Six that was recently signed calls for TNA to have to tour the country at least once a year, or the contract would be breached. Sony Six was on board with this cancellation so this won’t be held against TNA.
It was believed to be a direct financial issue, since it was the Indian group that was financing much of the tour. It was not a ticket issue as no tickets were being sold for the three shows, and they were people who would be let in free.
All talent and production had already received their travel itineraries and about 50 people, between talent, production people and others behind the scenes, had gotten working visas for India, so a great deal of work had been done in advance.
Talent was also told they would be paid for the tour, although many were scrambling to get new bookings.
There are no new TV events scheduled until 1/5.
Nakamura to WWE?
A key story to watch for next month are the Shinsuke Nakamura contract negotiations. There is WWE interest in Nakamura, and unlike with Kazuchika Okada, who has made it clear his goal is to build New Japan up and already had his taste of U.S. wrestling, Nakamura has never had any kind of a U.S. run. From a WWE standpoint, Nakamura is tall enough, which is a current management knock on Hideo Itami on the main roster, but his age, as he’d be 36 before he’d start, is a factor as WWE traditionally doesn’t like to start guys of that age in NXT (Samoa Joe or James Storm are different as the ideas for them were strictly NXT and not main roster, while Nakamura would likely start in NXT but the goal is main roster).
Nakamura is intrigued with the idea of being an American star, and the huge reaction he’s gotten on ROH shows may give him the idea that his charisma would carry over. At the same time, owner Takaaki Kidani in the past has said that they may have to offer seven figure or near seven figure deals to top guys, so it’s not a situation like AAA with Alberto where they couldn’t match with WWE offer.
A key story to watch for next month are the Shinsuke Nakamura contract negotiations. There is WWE interest in Nakamura, and unlike with Kazuchika Okada, who has made it clear his goal is to build New Japan up and already had his taste of U.S. wrestling, Nakamura has never had any kind of a U.S. run. From a WWE standpoint, Nakamura is tall enough, which is a current management knock on Hideo Itami on the main roster, but his age, as he’d be 36 before he’d start, is a factor as WWE traditionally doesn’t like to start guys of that age in NXT (Samoa Joe or James Storm are different as the ideas for them were strictly NXT and not main roster, while Nakamura would likely start in NXT but the goal is main roster).
Nakamura is intrigued with the idea of being an American star, and the huge reaction he’s gotten on ROH shows may give him the idea that his charisma would carry over. At the same time, owner Takaaki Kidani in the past has said that they may have to offer seven figure or near seven figure deals to top guys, so it’s not a situation like AAA with Alberto where they couldn’t match with WWE offer.