Week in Wrestling #33
Wrestling News From the week of
March 26th- April 8th, 2016
March 26th- April 8th, 2016
Wrestlemainia Weekend Reaction
I was in attendance in Dallas for Wrestlemania as well as multiple wrestling related shows over this past weekend. For my full review and thoughts, please check out my Wrestlemania review here, RAW review here, and my overall Dallas Live review here.
I was in attendance in Dallas for Wrestlemania as well as multiple wrestling related shows over this past weekend. For my full review and thoughts, please check out my Wrestlemania review here, RAW review here, and my overall Dallas Live review here.
Mania Appearances
In the past, when they had to sell PPVs, promotion of celebrities was a big part of the hype. Other than commercials mentioning The Rock, there was little push for him. In the past, if Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Foley, Cena and Shaquille O’Neal were on the show, they’d have been promoted like crazy. None were promoted at all. The feeling is they were looking for surprise pops. With the network low price, the idea is that people who may have missed it not knowing they were there, would then want to see it.
Plus, aside from the fact they could have promoted the Battle Royal around Show and Shaq and actually made it a big deal mainstream, with the other guys, if they told you the others’ roles ahead of time, people wouldn’t have been that excited. A few years ago, Shaq was telling everyone he had a deal for a match with Big Show at Mania, but it never happened. Now, the WWE is already pushing the idea of Shaq vs. Show in a singles match for next year in Orlando.
John Cena didn’t even bother to make it a surprise in the sense he was strongly hinting involvement in the show and said he had been cleared. At one point there was talk of Cesaro debuting in the Battle Royal, but it was for the best that he wasn’t one of the geeks and instead debuted in a Raw main event where he could shine a lot more.
In the past, when they had to sell PPVs, promotion of celebrities was a big part of the hype. Other than commercials mentioning The Rock, there was little push for him. In the past, if Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Foley, Cena and Shaquille O’Neal were on the show, they’d have been promoted like crazy. None were promoted at all. The feeling is they were looking for surprise pops. With the network low price, the idea is that people who may have missed it not knowing they were there, would then want to see it.
Plus, aside from the fact they could have promoted the Battle Royal around Show and Shaq and actually made it a big deal mainstream, with the other guys, if they told you the others’ roles ahead of time, people wouldn’t have been that excited. A few years ago, Shaq was telling everyone he had a deal for a match with Big Show at Mania, but it never happened. Now, the WWE is already pushing the idea of Shaq vs. Show in a singles match for next year in Orlando.
John Cena didn’t even bother to make it a surprise in the sense he was strongly hinting involvement in the show and said he had been cleared. At one point there was talk of Cesaro debuting in the Battle Royal, but it was for the best that he wasn’t one of the geeks and instead debuted in a Raw main event where he could shine a lot more.
Mania Attendance
Never have more fans attended more events, nor has more talent been in the same place then in Dallas last weekend. WrestleMania took over Dallas. You couldn’t go anywhere without the signs of it in town. The show itself drew the most fans of any pro wrestling event that can be verified outside of North Korea. The gate broke the previous all-time record.
The attendance as would be normally announced for an event was 93,730 people, breaking the WWE’s all-time total attendance (paid plus comps) record of 79,127 set at the 1992 SummerSlam show at Wembley Stadium, which barely beat out the 1987 WrestleMania III show which did more than 78,000. The actual number in the building was 97,769.
This year’s show looks to have sold somewhere around 30,000 or so tickets than last year, even with ratings far lower, higher ticket prices, and all the complaints about the weak lineup and bad build. The reality is they charged higher prices and drew far more then last year. Perhaps part of the lure was being part of history, and breaking the mythical 93,173 number from WrestleMania III.
The WWE announced the number at 101,763, which is the mythical number “for entertainment purposes” as Vince McMahon told me about the difference between real numbers and announced numbers years ago. It was announced as the fifth largest crowd ever in the stadium. Stadium officials confirmed it was legitimately the fifth largest.
The five biggest of all-time are now WrestleMania 32, SummerSlam in Wembley Stadium, WrestleMania III, WrestleMania 23 (74,287) and WrestleMania 29 (72,000).
Never have more fans attended more events, nor has more talent been in the same place then in Dallas last weekend. WrestleMania took over Dallas. You couldn’t go anywhere without the signs of it in town. The show itself drew the most fans of any pro wrestling event that can be verified outside of North Korea. The gate broke the previous all-time record.
The attendance as would be normally announced for an event was 93,730 people, breaking the WWE’s all-time total attendance (paid plus comps) record of 79,127 set at the 1992 SummerSlam show at Wembley Stadium, which barely beat out the 1987 WrestleMania III show which did more than 78,000. The actual number in the building was 97,769.
This year’s show looks to have sold somewhere around 30,000 or so tickets than last year, even with ratings far lower, higher ticket prices, and all the complaints about the weak lineup and bad build. The reality is they charged higher prices and drew far more then last year. Perhaps part of the lure was being part of history, and breaking the mythical 93,173 number from WrestleMania III.
The WWE announced the number at 101,763, which is the mythical number “for entertainment purposes” as Vince McMahon told me about the difference between real numbers and announced numbers years ago. It was announced as the fifth largest crowd ever in the stadium. Stadium officials confirmed it was legitimately the fifth largest.
The five biggest of all-time are now WrestleMania 32, SummerSlam in Wembley Stadium, WrestleMania III, WrestleMania 23 (74,287) and WrestleMania 29 (72,000).
WWE Network Number
The network numbers on the surface were disappointing when released on the day after WrestleMania. But to properly evaluate the numbers you probably have to wait until the next number is released at the end of June.
On 4/4, the WWE network had 1,824,000 subscribers, broken down as 1,454,000 paying subscribers and 370,000 free subscribers. In the U.S., the paid subscribers were listed at 1,109,000 and free at 281,000. Outside the U.S., the paid subscribers were listed at 345,000 paid and 89,000 free.
The usual percentage of people who sample the network for free than then either decide they like it, or in many cases, simply forget or decide against the hassle of canceling, is about 70 to 75 percent. So in theory, in one month or so, they should have a bump of somewhere between 259,000 and 277,500 new subscribers stemming from the free month offer.
As far as the number itself goes, the company right now is projecting OIBDA of between $70 million and $85 million for 2016. That would be in the range of what the company was doing from 2005 to 2010, so essentially this year should be back at pre-network levels. With continued network growth, they should be above those levels in 2017, so while it is taking longer than expected, they are going to be ahead at some point.
The network numbers on the surface were disappointing when released on the day after WrestleMania. But to properly evaluate the numbers you probably have to wait until the next number is released at the end of June.
On 4/4, the WWE network had 1,824,000 subscribers, broken down as 1,454,000 paying subscribers and 370,000 free subscribers. In the U.S., the paid subscribers were listed at 1,109,000 and free at 281,000. Outside the U.S., the paid subscribers were listed at 345,000 paid and 89,000 free.
The usual percentage of people who sample the network for free than then either decide they like it, or in many cases, simply forget or decide against the hassle of canceling, is about 70 to 75 percent. So in theory, in one month or so, they should have a bump of somewhere between 259,000 and 277,500 new subscribers stemming from the free month offer.
As far as the number itself goes, the company right now is projecting OIBDA of between $70 million and $85 million for 2016. That would be in the range of what the company was doing from 2005 to 2010, so essentially this year should be back at pre-network levels. With continued network growth, they should be above those levels in 2017, so while it is taking longer than expected, they are going to be ahead at some point.
Mania Revenue
WWE announced the live gate at $17.3 million while other sources with access to actual numbers said it was almost $17 million. The number destroyed the record of $12.6 million set last year in Santa Clara at Levi’s Stadium.
No number was released at press time, but it almost surely broke the all-time merchandise record for a WWE event of $3.3 million set in Santa Clara last year at WrestleMania. According to building sources, it broke the all-time record for food and drinks ever served at the stadium “by a mile,” which has to do with the length of the show being six hours and 10 minutes, much longer than any other event in that stadium that drew a comparable attendance.
WWE announced the live gate at $17.3 million while other sources with access to actual numbers said it was almost $17 million. The number destroyed the record of $12.6 million set last year in Santa Clara at Levi’s Stadium.
No number was released at press time, but it almost surely broke the all-time merchandise record for a WWE event of $3.3 million set in Santa Clara last year at WrestleMania. According to building sources, it broke the all-time record for food and drinks ever served at the stadium “by a mile,” which has to do with the length of the show being six hours and 10 minutes, much longer than any other event in that stadium that drew a comparable attendance.
Next PPV: Payback
The next WWE PPV show will be Payback on 5/1 from the All-State Arena in Chicago. The main event will be Reigns vs. Styles for the WWE title. It’s an interesting match up because it does get Styles into the PPV main event position, which he belongs in based on his ability and crowd reactions. But given that, it makes absolutely no sense that he was pinned clean by Jericho at Mania. (Stupid).
The other title program set up that may be on the show include Charlotte vs. Natalya. Natalya is probably Charlotte’s best opponent the way the two gel together. One could argue Sasha Banks as they tore it up constantly in NXT together. But most likely they are saving Banks for a bigger show down the line and not beating her until they get there.
Other matches include, Jericho vs. Dean Ambrose and Owens vs. Zayn. They also started a Wyatts vs. League of Nations (who eliminated King Barrett from the group on Raw) program, Dudleys vs. Enzo Amore & Big Cass and Emma vs. Becky Lynch.
The next WWE PPV show will be Payback on 5/1 from the All-State Arena in Chicago. The main event will be Reigns vs. Styles for the WWE title. It’s an interesting match up because it does get Styles into the PPV main event position, which he belongs in based on his ability and crowd reactions. But given that, it makes absolutely no sense that he was pinned clean by Jericho at Mania. (Stupid).
The other title program set up that may be on the show include Charlotte vs. Natalya. Natalya is probably Charlotte’s best opponent the way the two gel together. One could argue Sasha Banks as they tore it up constantly in NXT together. But most likely they are saving Banks for a bigger show down the line and not beating her until they get there.
Other matches include, Jericho vs. Dean Ambrose and Owens vs. Zayn. They also started a Wyatts vs. League of Nations (who eliminated King Barrett from the group on Raw) program, Dudleys vs. Enzo Amore & Big Cass and Emma vs. Becky Lynch.
NXT Call Ups
The debuts from NXT after WrestleMania were Enzo, Cass, Apollo Crews, The Vaudevillains and Baron Corbin. Corbin sucks in my opinion, but whatever. Crews has potential if they let him be himself and stop scripting dumb promos for him. The Vaudevillains will become the Ascension pretty soon, and Enzo has ridiculous charisma and presence and Cass has size, and with their promos, they’ll do fine because the crowd will get behind the entrance.
The guy on the show that fans thought was the least like a star, Baron Corbin, was the one being brought up with a push to the main roster. Corbin has potential and he’s the exact type of guy who should be touring in developmental so that when he comes to the main roster, he’s ready for a top spot.
It’s pretty clear that Balor, Joe, Nakamura, Zayn, Asuka, Bayley, Austin Aries, Jordan & Gable should all not only be on the main roster, but most should be top tier stars. Balor should be one of the top guys, and as a high flier who is 34 with a lot of miles on him, he shouldn’t be wasting his remaining bump card for a salary with one less zero at the end.
In a company weak on top heels today, the idea of bringing up Corbin instead of Joe, who at 37, also shouldn’t be wasting his remaining best earning years both for himself and for the company when he’s probably the best opponent on the entire roster right now for Brock Lesnar, as well as a strong opponent for Roman Reigns, and even a viable opponent for The Rock, as well as every other top babyface. Joe, just standing there, has a face and carries himself the closest to Lesnar as anyone.
WWE just called up two women from developmental, Emma and Eva Marie, while leaving Bayley and Asuka here. Asuka is easily the best woman wrestler in the company, and is as good as any of the men as far as the wrestling aspect goes. There’s also a really good chance the talent evaluators who see Eva Marie as a top star even though she’s got nothing but a killer body and very limited talent will totally miss the boat on Bayley. She’s a very good wrestler, but her key is she’s got the perfect face for her role and if they play their cards right she has more value to the company than any woman on the roster.
Jordan & Gable are a fantastic team. They are the best team in the company. Jordan & Gable can be a tag team that main events and carries a show. But they were left in NXT because its not really developmental, its HHH's pet project.
The debuts from NXT after WrestleMania were Enzo, Cass, Apollo Crews, The Vaudevillains and Baron Corbin. Corbin sucks in my opinion, but whatever. Crews has potential if they let him be himself and stop scripting dumb promos for him. The Vaudevillains will become the Ascension pretty soon, and Enzo has ridiculous charisma and presence and Cass has size, and with their promos, they’ll do fine because the crowd will get behind the entrance.
The guy on the show that fans thought was the least like a star, Baron Corbin, was the one being brought up with a push to the main roster. Corbin has potential and he’s the exact type of guy who should be touring in developmental so that when he comes to the main roster, he’s ready for a top spot.
It’s pretty clear that Balor, Joe, Nakamura, Zayn, Asuka, Bayley, Austin Aries, Jordan & Gable should all not only be on the main roster, but most should be top tier stars. Balor should be one of the top guys, and as a high flier who is 34 with a lot of miles on him, he shouldn’t be wasting his remaining bump card for a salary with one less zero at the end.
In a company weak on top heels today, the idea of bringing up Corbin instead of Joe, who at 37, also shouldn’t be wasting his remaining best earning years both for himself and for the company when he’s probably the best opponent on the entire roster right now for Brock Lesnar, as well as a strong opponent for Roman Reigns, and even a viable opponent for The Rock, as well as every other top babyface. Joe, just standing there, has a face and carries himself the closest to Lesnar as anyone.
WWE just called up two women from developmental, Emma and Eva Marie, while leaving Bayley and Asuka here. Asuka is easily the best woman wrestler in the company, and is as good as any of the men as far as the wrestling aspect goes. There’s also a really good chance the talent evaluators who see Eva Marie as a top star even though she’s got nothing but a killer body and very limited talent will totally miss the boat on Bayley. She’s a very good wrestler, but her key is she’s got the perfect face for her role and if they play their cards right she has more value to the company than any woman on the roster.
Jordan & Gable are a fantastic team. They are the best team in the company. Jordan & Gable can be a tag team that main events and carries a show. But they were left in NXT because its not really developmental, its HHH's pet project.
ROH, Evolve, and WWN in Dallas
Everybody did huge business over WrestleMania weekend. Evolve and WWN sold out the 1,075 seat Eddie Dean’s Ranch for three shows, with tons of standing room for the 4/2 afternoon show to see Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay, which ended up with more than 1,500 in total in the building, the all-time record for the promotion.
The Wrestlecon show and the two ROH shows sold out Hyatt Regency with 1,400 fans paid for each show. ROH sold out going head-to-head with NXT, while both Wrestlecon (1,500 total and 1,350 paid) and WWN (1,200) sold out going head-to-head with the Hall of Fame. All could have drawn significantly more in a larger location as the secondary market tickets prices were huge for almost all the shows, easily the biggest in ROH history.
Evolve did a Friday late afternoon show and did about 1,200 for that one. The numbers for Evolve were roughly double what they were last year in San Jose.
The WrestleCon show had the widest variety of talent, using indies from everywhere. Lots of guys worked multiple shows in one day. For example, Evolve had to do its tag team title change where Tracy Williams & Drew Gulak (the tag team of Catch Point) beat Drew Galloway & Johnny Gargano (a team of the TNA champion and a WWE contracted wrestler) in the opener because Gargano had to rush down the street for NXT. Gargano, Chris Hero, Zack Sabre Jr. and Will Ospreay all worked three times on 4/2.
Hero and Sabre Jr. worked the opener for WWN and then late in the show for Wrestlecon. Ospreay worked the second match for Wrestlecon and came back for the main event for WWN.
Evolve’s business is way up on iPPV ever since WWE started making mentions of the brand in social media, and the big increase came after HHH ended the Evolve show in Florida the weekend of the Royal Rumble. The bad news is that on their two biggest events in their history, the iPPV crashed.
Those who ordered the live show the first night were allowed to get it on VOD, and those who ordered the VOD service (for a higher price you get it live and can watch it over and over) were allowed to get one more show via VOD. On the second show, for those who ordered live plus VOD, they were given the choice of getting five more shows from the past via VOD at no extra charge. Other shows from the same location over the weekend streamed fine
Everybody did huge business over WrestleMania weekend. Evolve and WWN sold out the 1,075 seat Eddie Dean’s Ranch for three shows, with tons of standing room for the 4/2 afternoon show to see Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay, which ended up with more than 1,500 in total in the building, the all-time record for the promotion.
The Wrestlecon show and the two ROH shows sold out Hyatt Regency with 1,400 fans paid for each show. ROH sold out going head-to-head with NXT, while both Wrestlecon (1,500 total and 1,350 paid) and WWN (1,200) sold out going head-to-head with the Hall of Fame. All could have drawn significantly more in a larger location as the secondary market tickets prices were huge for almost all the shows, easily the biggest in ROH history.
Evolve did a Friday late afternoon show and did about 1,200 for that one. The numbers for Evolve were roughly double what they were last year in San Jose.
The WrestleCon show had the widest variety of talent, using indies from everywhere. Lots of guys worked multiple shows in one day. For example, Evolve had to do its tag team title change where Tracy Williams & Drew Gulak (the tag team of Catch Point) beat Drew Galloway & Johnny Gargano (a team of the TNA champion and a WWE contracted wrestler) in the opener because Gargano had to rush down the street for NXT. Gargano, Chris Hero, Zack Sabre Jr. and Will Ospreay all worked three times on 4/2.
Hero and Sabre Jr. worked the opener for WWN and then late in the show for Wrestlecon. Ospreay worked the second match for Wrestlecon and came back for the main event for WWN.
Evolve’s business is way up on iPPV ever since WWE started making mentions of the brand in social media, and the big increase came after HHH ended the Evolve show in Florida the weekend of the Royal Rumble. The bad news is that on their two biggest events in their history, the iPPV crashed.
Those who ordered the live show the first night were allowed to get it on VOD, and those who ordered the VOD service (for a higher price you get it live and can watch it over and over) were allowed to get one more show via VOD. On the second show, for those who ordered live plus VOD, they were given the choice of getting five more shows from the past via VOD at no extra charge. Other shows from the same location over the weekend streamed fine
RAW Rating
The Raw after WrestleMania on 4/4, which has been the highest rated episode of the show each year for the past several years, did a hugely disappointing 2.92 rating and 4,079,000 viewers, actually lower then the show after the day after the Royal Rumble (2.93 rating, 4,091,000 viewers).
For a comparison, last year’s Raw after WrestleMania did a 3.67 rating and 5.35 million viewers, or a 20.4 percent ratings drop and a 23.7 percent audience drop. Last year’s show didn’t go head-to-head with the NCAA basketball championship game.
For a comparison, last year’s Raw after WrestleMania saw the audience grow 1.2 million from the go-home show. This year’s growth from the go-home show was 318,000 viewers.
The Raw after WrestleMania on 4/4, which has been the highest rated episode of the show each year for the past several years, did a hugely disappointing 2.92 rating and 4,079,000 viewers, actually lower then the show after the day after the Royal Rumble (2.93 rating, 4,091,000 viewers).
For a comparison, last year’s Raw after WrestleMania did a 3.67 rating and 5.35 million viewers, or a 20.4 percent ratings drop and a 23.7 percent audience drop. Last year’s show didn’t go head-to-head with the NCAA basketball championship game.
For a comparison, last year’s Raw after WrestleMania saw the audience grow 1.2 million from the go-home show. This year’s growth from the go-home show was 318,000 viewers.
Highest Paid WWE Wrestlers
Forbes had a story this week on the highest paid WWE wrestlers. They cited using court documents, SEC filings, WWE booking contracts and industry sources. Chris Smith did the story and he talked with people who know how WWE handles its payoffs. These numbers would be for 2015 and they are estimated as the only people who actually know would be the company.
Forbes had a story this week on the highest paid WWE wrestlers. They cited using court documents, SEC filings, WWE booking contracts and industry sources. Chris Smith did the story and he talked with people who know how WWE handles its payoffs. These numbers would be for 2015 and they are estimated as the only people who actually know would be the company.
- Cena at $9.5 million
- Lesnar at $6 million
- HHH at $2.8 million
- Orton at $2.7 million
- Rollins at $2.4 million
- Reigns at $2.1 million
- Undertaker at $2 million
- Big Show at $1.5 million
- Kane at $1.3 million
- Ambrose at $1.1 million
Nikki Bella May be Done
Pro Wrestling Sheet reported that Nikki Bella’s career as a full-time wrestler is over as she got bad news from her doctor this past week. She was scheduled to appear on Raw this week but her doctor ordered her to stay away from the ring. Even though she wasn’t booked to do anything physical, but was to be at ringside for an angle, that any kind of accident could severely set her recovery back. Her next important appointment will be in July where she will find out how well the bone in her neck fused after surgery.
She was told that even the best news, she shouldn’t return to wrestle full-time, but may be able to wrestle on a lighter schedule in a few months
Pro Wrestling Sheet reported that Nikki Bella’s career as a full-time wrestler is over as she got bad news from her doctor this past week. She was scheduled to appear on Raw this week but her doctor ordered her to stay away from the ring. Even though she wasn’t booked to do anything physical, but was to be at ringside for an angle, that any kind of accident could severely set her recovery back. Her next important appointment will be in July where she will find out how well the bone in her neck fused after surgery.
She was told that even the best news, she shouldn’t return to wrestle full-time, but may be able to wrestle on a lighter schedule in a few months
Total Divas Changes
With Total Divas having by far its lowest rated season, with the past five weeks being the five lowest rated episodes in the show’s history, they are making some major changes for next season.
Even though Brie Bella has retired as a wrestler, since the Bellas and Natalya have been focal points from the start and are the most popular characters on the show (along with Paige), they are staying.
They are getting rid of Mandy Rose, Mendes and Alicia Fox. They are adding Maryse (which explains her return as a character), Lana (since they can do the Rusev and Lana wedding episode), Renee Young (which would reveal that she and Ambrose are a couple living together in Las Vegas) and bringing back Trinity (Naomi).
With Total Divas having by far its lowest rated season, with the past five weeks being the five lowest rated episodes in the show’s history, they are making some major changes for next season.
Even though Brie Bella has retired as a wrestler, since the Bellas and Natalya have been focal points from the start and are the most popular characters on the show (along with Paige), they are staying.
They are getting rid of Mandy Rose, Mendes and Alicia Fox. They are adding Maryse (which explains her return as a character), Lana (since they can do the Rusev and Lana wedding episode), Renee Young (which would reveal that she and Ambrose are a couple living together in Las Vegas) and bringing back Trinity (Naomi).
Ricochet to WWE Soon
Independent promoters looking for summer dates on Ricochet (Trevor Mann, 27), have been told that he isn’t taking any dates after June. It appears to be a lock he’s signing with WWE, although one person close to him said it’s not his immediate next move, but it is where he’ll wind up.
WWE has wanted him as soon as he was contractually available after they missed on him the first time, which was a series of weird situations. We had already heard New Japan was looking for a new partner for Sydal. His Lucha Underground deal gave him an out after the third season, and the third season finishes taping in mid-May. It’s unclear if his Prince Puma character will be viewed as dead, or if he’ll come back in mid-May to finish.
The contract with Lucha Underground actually wouldn’t allow him to go to WWE until six months after the season finishes airing, so that would be late 2017, but I can’t see a situation where somebody stops being paid in May and they aren’t allowed to get work elsewhere. When WWE holds people to non-competes, they pay them during the period for non-compete so that’s the difference.
Independent promoters looking for summer dates on Ricochet (Trevor Mann, 27), have been told that he isn’t taking any dates after June. It appears to be a lock he’s signing with WWE, although one person close to him said it’s not his immediate next move, but it is where he’ll wind up.
WWE has wanted him as soon as he was contractually available after they missed on him the first time, which was a series of weird situations. We had already heard New Japan was looking for a new partner for Sydal. His Lucha Underground deal gave him an out after the third season, and the third season finishes taping in mid-May. It’s unclear if his Prince Puma character will be viewed as dead, or if he’ll come back in mid-May to finish.
The contract with Lucha Underground actually wouldn’t allow him to go to WWE until six months after the season finishes airing, so that would be late 2017, but I can’t see a situation where somebody stops being paid in May and they aren’t allowed to get work elsewhere. When WWE holds people to non-competes, they pay them during the period for non-compete so that’s the difference.
Daniel Bryan Update
Over the weekend, a lot of people in wrestling expressed concern for Bryan since he disappeared and it was reported as being a health issue, although him doing media and his training Jiu Jitsu several times this past week would seem to indicate it was more he just didn’t want to be around wrestling just yet.
Bryan did an interview on 3/11 that appeared this week in the Middle East version of Esquire. In that interview, he said, “I really didn’t want to do the retirement speech. I wasn’t ready for it. Raw just happened to be in my home city of Seattle, and two days earlier, I had heard from doctors that for the sake of my health, I probably shouldn’t wrestle again. I didn’t want to retire, but if I had to, at least all my friends and family could be there to see it, so I just sucked it up and did it.”
As noted on the WWE 24 special from Bryan’s interview, it was Vince McMahon’s original idea and based on everything said, it would have been suggested to him the Saturday before the Monday of the speech. “Ultimately, I think that it helped me focus on the reality of my situation, and helped me move on.”
He said part of him wants to stay in wrestling, saying he loves the travel and interaction with fans, but doing so with being unable to wrestle would be tough. He also talked about interest in environmental and ecological issues, so he may go in that direction.
Over the weekend, a lot of people in wrestling expressed concern for Bryan since he disappeared and it was reported as being a health issue, although him doing media and his training Jiu Jitsu several times this past week would seem to indicate it was more he just didn’t want to be around wrestling just yet.
Bryan did an interview on 3/11 that appeared this week in the Middle East version of Esquire. In that interview, he said, “I really didn’t want to do the retirement speech. I wasn’t ready for it. Raw just happened to be in my home city of Seattle, and two days earlier, I had heard from doctors that for the sake of my health, I probably shouldn’t wrestle again. I didn’t want to retire, but if I had to, at least all my friends and family could be there to see it, so I just sucked it up and did it.”
As noted on the WWE 24 special from Bryan’s interview, it was Vince McMahon’s original idea and based on everything said, it would have been suggested to him the Saturday before the Monday of the speech. “Ultimately, I think that it helped me focus on the reality of my situation, and helped me move on.”
He said part of him wants to stay in wrestling, saying he loves the travel and interaction with fans, but doing so with being unable to wrestle would be tough. He also talked about interest in environmental and ecological issues, so he may go in that direction.
Orton, Rollins, Neville Injury Updates
Orton this week was estimating it would be three more months before he could return to the ring. Nothing has been said regarding the return of Rollins, but he was in Dallas and still noticeably limping, so he’s probably not returning right away. His return would have been delayed anyway since he’s going to be based in New Orleans for several weeks filming a WWE movie called “Temple,” a horror movie that will star Wesley Snipes and Anne Heche.
Neville said to IGN this week that he broke his ankle in two places but they were clean breaks. “The bone has remained in position. I don’t require surgery. I will have to rest it, though. It’s a broken ankle. I can’t put any weight on it. That’s gonna be the case still for a few weeks to come. I’ve started trying out a little bit of rehab. I have a light bit of mobility, but it’s very difficult.
Orton this week was estimating it would be three more months before he could return to the ring. Nothing has been said regarding the return of Rollins, but he was in Dallas and still noticeably limping, so he’s probably not returning right away. His return would have been delayed anyway since he’s going to be based in New Orleans for several weeks filming a WWE movie called “Temple,” a horror movie that will star Wesley Snipes and Anne Heche.
Neville said to IGN this week that he broke his ankle in two places but they were clean breaks. “The bone has remained in position. I don’t require surgery. I will have to rest it, though. It’s a broken ankle. I can’t put any weight on it. That’s gonna be the case still for a few weeks to come. I’ve started trying out a little bit of rehab. I have a light bit of mobility, but it’s very difficult.
New Foley TV Show
When he was on the “Stone Cold Podcast” on 3/31, Foley pushed that he’s got a new family reality TV show on the network called “Holy Foley.” It was pushed during WrestleMania and will star Mick and Noelle Foley. People have jokingly already called it “Foley Knows Best,” given the retired wrestler father and hot young daughter.
The main storyline of the show will be that Noelle is trying to become a pro wrestler and the show will track her training. Noelle was also a guest on the podcast. Mick’s son Mickey did a video interview that went around where he said how everyone knows that HHH hates his father and talked openly about it. Given that Mick has a TV show on the network, that his son Dewey works in creative and Noelle does wrap-around segments for the network and is trying to get into the promotion as a wrestler, well, that probably wasn’t the best thing that ever happened.
When he was on the “Stone Cold Podcast” on 3/31, Foley pushed that he’s got a new family reality TV show on the network called “Holy Foley.” It was pushed during WrestleMania and will star Mick and Noelle Foley. People have jokingly already called it “Foley Knows Best,” given the retired wrestler father and hot young daughter.
The main storyline of the show will be that Noelle is trying to become a pro wrestler and the show will track her training. Noelle was also a guest on the podcast. Mick’s son Mickey did a video interview that went around where he said how everyone knows that HHH hates his father and talked openly about it. Given that Mick has a TV show on the network, that his son Dewey works in creative and Noelle does wrap-around segments for the network and is trying to get into the promotion as a wrestler, well, that probably wasn’t the best thing that ever happened.
MITB in Vegas
Money in the Bank is confirmed for 6/19 at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It means they are beating the UFC into the new MGM Arena by a few weeks, and also because it’ll be one of the first events at the arena, means they’re almost guaranteed a big crowd and you can charge more in Las Vegas then anywhere
Money in the Bank is confirmed for 6/19 at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It means they are beating the UFC into the new MGM Arena by a few weeks, and also because it’ll be one of the first events at the arena, means they’re almost guaranteed a big crowd and you can charge more in Las Vegas then anywhere
Global cruiserweight tournament
Two more promotions will be working with WWE and holding qualifying matches for the Global cruiserweight tournament. Progress Wrestling out of London announced they will be holding two qualifying matches, which are expected to take place on their 4/24 show. Revolution Pro Wrestling, which is based out of Portsmouth, England, and headed by Andy Quildan, and promotes in the Southeastern part of England with big shows in London, announced they also had a deal with WWE. They are expected to have a qualifying match shortly, although the date and place as well as participants have not been announced.
The 32-man tournament that will air on Wednesday nights, starting 7/13, on the WWE Network at 9 p.m., right after NXT, is expected to be filmed in its entirely from 6/20 to 6/24 at Full Sail University in Orlando. They will be taping two episodes per night over the five nights, with the finals airing on 9/14. The plan is to make this the first of what would be an annual tradition with the company.
At this point the qualifying matches are all to be taped, but probably not air in their entirety on the WWE Network as at this point production is of the belief that no WWE production people will be involved in shooting the qualifiers and they will just use the footage that the promotion itself would be filming.
What’s noted is that Revolution Pro does have a relationship with both New Japan and ROH, and that’s where things can get sticky. Revolution Pro has brought the biggest New Japan stars to the U.K. and were instrumental in Will Ospreay getting his New Japan deal, as Ospreay is geared for a push there due to his being introduced by Kazuchika Okada and being added to the Chaos stable.
It will be interesting how politics play out since ROH is obviously looked at as a competitor to NXT and it’s pretty much inherent that New Japan and WWE are going to be major competitors in the Japanese market going forward, not to mention WWE stripped New Japan of four major stars in January.
HHH at a media press call prior to NXT Takeover announced Zack Sabre Jr., Rich Swann, Tommaso Ciampa, Noam Dar, Johnny Gargano, Ho Ho Lun and Akira Tozawa as the first seven names for the tournament.
Later, Lince Dorado was added. Swann, Ciampa and Gargano are under contract to WWE. Dar is a U.K. independent wrestler. Tozawa is a top star with Dragon Gate, which is notable because it shows Dragon Gate didn’t block his participation. While not announced, the belief is that Kota Ibushi will be involved since he spoke in Japan about being interested and he’d be one of the first guys you’d want in it.
Cedric Alexander’s name has bounced around for the tournament. He isn’t under contract with ROH and recently had a tryout. Lun, 28, wrestles for Middle Kingdom Wrestling out of Hong Kong, a small promotion barely on the radar. He’s been wrestling for about seven years. He’s thin, and his gimmick is that he sings on his way to the ring. My gut on him is that they are looking for someone from that part of the world and he’s the best they could find. The standard of Middle Kingdom Wrestling is really like backyard wrestling and Lun does the moves that the smaller guys in Japan do and that seems to be his influence, but he’s like a guy copying moves from Japanese junior heavyweights
Announcements regarding the qualifying matches in Evolve, Progress and Revolution Pro are expected in the next week or two
Two more promotions will be working with WWE and holding qualifying matches for the Global cruiserweight tournament. Progress Wrestling out of London announced they will be holding two qualifying matches, which are expected to take place on their 4/24 show. Revolution Pro Wrestling, which is based out of Portsmouth, England, and headed by Andy Quildan, and promotes in the Southeastern part of England with big shows in London, announced they also had a deal with WWE. They are expected to have a qualifying match shortly, although the date and place as well as participants have not been announced.
The 32-man tournament that will air on Wednesday nights, starting 7/13, on the WWE Network at 9 p.m., right after NXT, is expected to be filmed in its entirely from 6/20 to 6/24 at Full Sail University in Orlando. They will be taping two episodes per night over the five nights, with the finals airing on 9/14. The plan is to make this the first of what would be an annual tradition with the company.
At this point the qualifying matches are all to be taped, but probably not air in their entirety on the WWE Network as at this point production is of the belief that no WWE production people will be involved in shooting the qualifiers and they will just use the footage that the promotion itself would be filming.
What’s noted is that Revolution Pro does have a relationship with both New Japan and ROH, and that’s where things can get sticky. Revolution Pro has brought the biggest New Japan stars to the U.K. and were instrumental in Will Ospreay getting his New Japan deal, as Ospreay is geared for a push there due to his being introduced by Kazuchika Okada and being added to the Chaos stable.
It will be interesting how politics play out since ROH is obviously looked at as a competitor to NXT and it’s pretty much inherent that New Japan and WWE are going to be major competitors in the Japanese market going forward, not to mention WWE stripped New Japan of four major stars in January.
HHH at a media press call prior to NXT Takeover announced Zack Sabre Jr., Rich Swann, Tommaso Ciampa, Noam Dar, Johnny Gargano, Ho Ho Lun and Akira Tozawa as the first seven names for the tournament.
Later, Lince Dorado was added. Swann, Ciampa and Gargano are under contract to WWE. Dar is a U.K. independent wrestler. Tozawa is a top star with Dragon Gate, which is notable because it shows Dragon Gate didn’t block his participation. While not announced, the belief is that Kota Ibushi will be involved since he spoke in Japan about being interested and he’d be one of the first guys you’d want in it.
Cedric Alexander’s name has bounced around for the tournament. He isn’t under contract with ROH and recently had a tryout. Lun, 28, wrestles for Middle Kingdom Wrestling out of Hong Kong, a small promotion barely on the radar. He’s been wrestling for about seven years. He’s thin, and his gimmick is that he sings on his way to the ring. My gut on him is that they are looking for someone from that part of the world and he’s the best they could find. The standard of Middle Kingdom Wrestling is really like backyard wrestling and Lun does the moves that the smaller guys in Japan do and that seems to be his influence, but he’s like a guy copying moves from Japanese junior heavyweights
Announcements regarding the qualifying matches in Evolve, Progress and Revolution Pro are expected in the next week or two
WWE Scouting Indy Shows
Canyon Ceman, Matt Bloom and William Regal attended an Evolve training seminar and tryout camp in Dallas and there were people from WWE that were there for both the Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay and Ospreay vs. Sabre matches. The things we’ve heard about the scouting is that one person felt Ospreay vs. Sabre was the best thing of the weekend and that a scout was at the Shimmer show and the person they were said to be most interested in was Nicole Savoy
Canyon Ceman, Matt Bloom and William Regal attended an Evolve training seminar and tryout camp in Dallas and there were people from WWE that were there for both the Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay and Ospreay vs. Sabre matches. The things we’ve heard about the scouting is that one person felt Ospreay vs. Sabre was the best thing of the weekend and that a scout was at the Shimmer show and the person they were said to be most interested in was Nicole Savoy
Gawker wants Hogan ruling dropped
Gawker attorney Gregg Thomas filed court papers on 4/3 saying that the $140 million awards to Hulk Hogan should be dropped to no more than $1,875,000, claiming the jury was guided by passion and prejudice rather than the facts of the case. Thomas claimed the $140 million verdict would be ruinous to Gawker, claiming the company is only worth $83 million
Gawker attorney Gregg Thomas filed court papers on 4/3 saying that the $140 million awards to Hulk Hogan should be dropped to no more than $1,875,000, claiming the jury was guided by passion and prejudice rather than the facts of the case. Thomas claimed the $140 million verdict would be ruinous to Gawker, claiming the company is only worth $83 million
New Japan News
- Invasion Attack, the biggest show since the Tokyo Dome, takes place on 4/10 with a 3 a.m. Eastern time start and a late Saturday night at midnight U.S. start. There will be both English language and Japanese commentary on New Japan World.
- The lineup has Ryusuke Taguchi & Juice Robinson vs. Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi, Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata & Jushin Liger vs. Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba & Yoshi-Hashi, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto vs. Evil & Bushi, Matt Sydal & Ricochet vs. Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta for the IWGP jr. tag titles, Kushida vs. Will Ospreay for the IWGP jr. title, Young Bucks & Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin & Yoshitatsu for the six-man titles, Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan for the Never title, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa for the IWGP tag titles and Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP heavyweight title
- The 4/1 show at Korakuen Hall drew 1,458, so they didn’t sell out which is never a good sign. They did an elimination match which is usually a good draw because New Japan doesn’t do it often and historically the ones they do are good. It was Tanahashi & Elgin & Makabe & Honma & Robinson over Omega & Fale & Tonga & Roa & Takahashi.
- Another bad sign is the 4/5 show in Minakami, the company’s final show before Invasion Attack, only drew 352 fans, the lowest crowd for a New Japan touring show in recent memory. If anything, the loss of Shinsuke Nakamura is hurting far more than expected. This may be just Nakamura’s appeal, but it also could be psychological, in the sense New Japan fans saw their promotion as No. 1 because from a match quality standpoint they’ve been, and have shown great growth in recent years while much of the rest of the industry is declining. What happened with WWE taking four guys at once hit home that they are not No. 1 nor can they compete to be No. 1.
TNA News
- There are very serious talks regarding a new investor coming in. Right now a key point in the negotiations is the new company wants to purchase 55% of the company while Dixie Carter is trying to keep negotiate it to 49%, so she would still have controlling power. The problem is TNA is in a money crunch and very much living hand-to-mouth and the investor may already be involved in a limited fashion.
- One of the reasons the last set of tapings weren’t announced until the last minute and flights weren’t booked until late was that aspect as they apparently can’t announce dates officially at Universal until Universal gets a deposit.
- We’ve heard a lot more regarding late pay and while nobody wants to put that out publicly, there are those still there as well as those who recently left who were way behind either at times or even still currently. A key part of this is the revenue sharing on ad revenue as part of the Pop TV deal has been bleak, given the numbers that the show is pulling and that it has been very difficult to sell the TNA-specific ads that were part of the revenue sharing deal given it’s wrestling and that the show isn’t doing anywhere near the kind of numbers station President Brad Schwartz was talking about (he was throwing around numbers like 1.3 million viewers) when the deal was made.
- The company announced TV tapings on 4/21 to 4/24 at Universal Studios in Orlando. At least they announced the dates farther ahead than the last set of tapings.
- TNA and The Fight Network out of Toronto have reached a deal where TNA will produce digital content for The Fight Network app starting in the second quarter, and the two sides will partner in cross promotion and joint sales efforts worldwide.
- The promotion announced five new signings, who were Jesse Guilmette (Pepper Parks) and Laura Dennis (better known as Cherry Bomb), who are real-life husband-and-wife, plus Marshe Rockett, a long-time Chicago-based independent wrestler along with Thomas LaRuffa (formerly Sylvester Lefort in NXT) and Mikael Vierge (who worked at the last tapings as Pierre Marceau and was Marcus Louis in NXT).
Evolve News
- Evolve is going to focus less on using talent that has contracts with Lucha Underground, TNA and ROH. That’s part of the WWE relationship as I’m sure WWE doesn’t like the idea of a guy they have under contract like Gargano working as a tag team with the TNA champion. Gabe Sapolsky said they aren’t closing the doors to talent under contracts to those groups, but the focus will be to use the promotion to showcase people who would be able to move to WWE.
- Thatcher will be off the May shows. Stokely Hathaway will be a regular in Evolve managing TJP. The plan is also to run more shows with the WWE relationship, with the plan of running two shows a weekend once every month instead of every six to eight weeks.
- Callihan finished up with Evolve this weekend. He signed a Lucha Underground contract which made getting regular dates on him difficult, but doors were left open.
- Many felt the match of the weekend was on the 4/1 show where Sabre Jr. beat Ospreay. I didn’t see that match and there were some who thought the Ricochet match was better because the moves were better, but the Sabre match had the best technical wrestling.
ROH News
- After the 5/8 PPV with the New Japan talent kicking off a major week of action with four shows, they will return to PPV quickly with Best in the World on 6/24 coming from the Cabarrus Arena in Concord, NC (outside of Charlotte). They will be doing a PPV on Friday night and follow it up the next day with a TV taping at the same arena
- Katsuyori Shibata and Kenny Omega are expected in for the next tour and PPV, but it’s not definite because of Visa issues. It would be Shibata’s first ROH tour
- Colt Cabana returned as a surprise at the 4/1 show in Dallas and he challenged Jay Lethal for the next night. He pinned Lethal in a non-title match so they immediately made him a player
- There has been at least talk regarding Chris Hero as well although there’s nothing definite on that one.
- Lio Rush has signed a contract. This led to some controversy as Rush was pulled from Evolve shows in May, but then is back on because his contract wasn’t one of the ROH higher money exclusive deals that don’t allow U.S. indie appearances like the top guys like the Briscoes, Young Bucks, Jay Lethal, Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly, Adam Cole, Roderick Strong and others have
- O’Reilly suffered a right eye injury during his match with Adam Cole. We don’t have any details yet on the severity of the injury past confirmation he was hurt
- The next show is 4/23 in San Antonio. The main event is a six-way with Lethal vs. ACH vs. Moose vs. Strong vs. Jay Briscoe vs. O’Reilly. The title isn’t at stake in this match, but if anyone but Lethal wins, there will be an instant title match with the winner. Also Adam Page vs. B.J. Whitmer in a street fight and Young Bucks vs. Cheeseburger & Delirious
- They ran two shows billed as “Supercard of Honor” in Dallas on 4/1 and 4/2, both drawing sellouts of 1,400 fans paid at the Hyatt Regency and there looked to be a lot more than that in the building, especially for the first show.
Lucha Underground
- Regarding the iTunes deal, iTunes is pretty standard that the producers of the show get a 70/30 cut of the revenue, so if someone orders a season pass for the first season of the show for $44.99, Lucha Underground would make $31.50. But there also could be middle men taking 10 to 20 percent out of the Lucha Underground side
- There were two major investors that put up the majority of the money for seasons two and three, which were not AAA but were people brought to the table by AAA.
- Regarding Netflix, the money Netflix pays for programs are very small licensing fees unless it’s their own original content. There are a lot of shows on Netflix that get paid in the low thousands or hundreds, even those with multiple seasons of taping.
- As noted, they are in talks with Netflix, but it was noted that once season one is on Netflix for free, that would badly hurt or kill the idea of spending $44.99 for it on iTunes. But neither of these deals are the game changing ones like a Televisa or Univision deal would have been
- Talks with Univision have stalled once again
- The situation with King Cuerno is up in the air right now. What we know is that he was offered a spot in the WWE’s Global cruiserweight tournament and wanted to go, but neither AAA nor LU would allow it. That explains his cryptic tweets from a week or two back. He has the seven season deal. He hasn’t worked for AAA since 3/4 and wasn’t at the tapings for season three.
- They absolutely should have run Dallas over the weekend as they’d have been able to draw 2,500 people easy, and would have sold a ton of merchandise on the show. Their key talent was in Dallas and were big hits at Wrestlecon.
- At WaleMania, MVP was there and said that he was now working with Lucha Underground. He later said that he might wrestle for the group but that he’s working as an agent for the promotion. I believe he started in that role when they started taping the new season.
- WWE has expressed interest in a number of the wrestlers here and with the long break between seasons they’ll probably make pitches. There are quota issues to a point in the sense there are a limited number of spots they have for Mexicans.
- Virtually every top Mexican wrestler in CMLL and AAA would be interested in going, but La Sombra was the only one picked last year because they only wanted one who would be the best prospect, and Sombra was picked over Rush. They would like several, a number going around was about five, for the cruiserweight tournament but that’s being taped right after the season ends. Melissa Santos, who they are also interested in as a ring announcer, was at WrestleMania backstage (she was in as part of the Lucha Underground crew for WrestleCon already)
- Reports are now that Ivelisse, due to her latest ankle injury, may be out for the rest of the season.