Week in Wrestling #46
Wrestling News From the week of
July 2nd - July 15th, 2016
July 2nd - July 15th, 2016
Raw and Smackdown Commissioners
As we expected from the beginning, the brand split was always to be a vehicle for a television competition between Stephanie and Shane McMahon over who inherits the keys to the kingdom. In reality, Shane McMahon is just a television personality with no front office position, who has told friends he has no idea how long he’ll even remain on TV.
The commissioners will be Shane on Smackdown and Stephanie on Raw. Vince McMahon claimed he wanted “real” competition for television ratings, social media followers and live attendance. The deck is stacked against Shane in all those categories. Both Shane and Stephanie will announce their General Managers on the 7/18 Raw in Providence, the day before the draft show in Worcester.
Smackdown is the show that needs juice and change. Shane’s storyline had him as the emissary for change. Plus, of the two, he’s obviously the more popular character, it made sense for him to be the figurehead there. On the 7/11 Raw show, Vince McMahon doubled down, as each show will have both a Commissioner, a term that for whatever reason replaced the COO term they were using last week, and a General Manager. The General Managers will be announced next week.
As we expected from the beginning, the brand split was always to be a vehicle for a television competition between Stephanie and Shane McMahon over who inherits the keys to the kingdom. In reality, Shane McMahon is just a television personality with no front office position, who has told friends he has no idea how long he’ll even remain on TV.
The commissioners will be Shane on Smackdown and Stephanie on Raw. Vince McMahon claimed he wanted “real” competition for television ratings, social media followers and live attendance. The deck is stacked against Shane in all those categories. Both Shane and Stephanie will announce their General Managers on the 7/18 Raw in Providence, the day before the draft show in Worcester.
Smackdown is the show that needs juice and change. Shane’s storyline had him as the emissary for change. Plus, of the two, he’s obviously the more popular character, it made sense for him to be the figurehead there. On the 7/11 Raw show, Vince McMahon doubled down, as each show will have both a Commissioner, a term that for whatever reason replaced the COO term they were using last week, and a General Manager. The General Managers will be announced next week.
Brand Stars
With the brand extension coming next week, there may be marked changes from the original plans of Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins as the two major stars on Raw and John Cena and A.J. Styles as the stars on Smackdown.
On Raw, they were pushing the idea of a first round draft choice. What was notable is that unlike the past year plus, where Roman Reigns was clearly presented as the company’s star, all of the talk was of John Cena in that role. The question was whether or not you pick Cena first, knowing he’s got other commitments in movies and television and won’t be there all the time.
Of course that’s silly given they’ll likely switch around the rosters regularly so nobody is going to spend 15 years on the same brand, if such a thing even exists after a few years. They also positioned Brock Lesnar as a top star, but the question of do you pick him, and Undertaker’s name was mentioned as well, knowing they’ll only be there a few times as opposed to picking someone who will be there weekly.
The key for that move was that Smackdown needed Cena for the credibility of being equal since it’s always been the secondary brand. But with Cena working a markedly decreased schedule, the Smackdown house shows would probably need another of the other members of the current big three full-time touring stars, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. And for touring, Rollins and Reigns feels stronger than Ambrose and Styles just because Reigns has the last two years of being pushed as the top guy instead of Cena, while Ambrose’s push until recently was secondary. Also, because of his tenure, I could see Randy Orton being positioned equal to the top tier of guys when balancing things out.
One person close to the situation noted to us that some major names may have been juggled in recent weeks, without saying why, but for different reasons, questions about both Cena as the lead guy for Smackdown and Reigns as the lead guy for Raw, as originally planned, do come into play. A lot of reports are out regarding Vince McMahon’s feelings and such which may not be completely accurate, but he was very upset at Reigns about failing the drug test and it will probably play into the roster split decision making. Reigns will still be pushed as one of the top guys going forward, but whether he’ll be pushed as the top guy, particularly with the fans rejecting it so harshly, is something only he knows. And he is likely to change his mind many times.
The attempt from the vignettes on television with Rollins is the hope of turning the negative into a positive and that fans will get behind Reigns. Thus far that doesn’t seem to be working.
With the brand extension coming next week, there may be marked changes from the original plans of Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins as the two major stars on Raw and John Cena and A.J. Styles as the stars on Smackdown.
On Raw, they were pushing the idea of a first round draft choice. What was notable is that unlike the past year plus, where Roman Reigns was clearly presented as the company’s star, all of the talk was of John Cena in that role. The question was whether or not you pick Cena first, knowing he’s got other commitments in movies and television and won’t be there all the time.
Of course that’s silly given they’ll likely switch around the rosters regularly so nobody is going to spend 15 years on the same brand, if such a thing even exists after a few years. They also positioned Brock Lesnar as a top star, but the question of do you pick him, and Undertaker’s name was mentioned as well, knowing they’ll only be there a few times as opposed to picking someone who will be there weekly.
The key for that move was that Smackdown needed Cena for the credibility of being equal since it’s always been the secondary brand. But with Cena working a markedly decreased schedule, the Smackdown house shows would probably need another of the other members of the current big three full-time touring stars, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. And for touring, Rollins and Reigns feels stronger than Ambrose and Styles just because Reigns has the last two years of being pushed as the top guy instead of Cena, while Ambrose’s push until recently was secondary. Also, because of his tenure, I could see Randy Orton being positioned equal to the top tier of guys when balancing things out.
One person close to the situation noted to us that some major names may have been juggled in recent weeks, without saying why, but for different reasons, questions about both Cena as the lead guy for Smackdown and Reigns as the lead guy for Raw, as originally planned, do come into play. A lot of reports are out regarding Vince McMahon’s feelings and such which may not be completely accurate, but he was very upset at Reigns about failing the drug test and it will probably play into the roster split decision making. Reigns will still be pushed as one of the top guys going forward, but whether he’ll be pushed as the top guy, particularly with the fans rejecting it so harshly, is something only he knows. And he is likely to change his mind many times.
The attempt from the vignettes on television with Rollins is the hope of turning the negative into a positive and that fans will get behind Reigns. Thus far that doesn’t seem to be working.
Future of John Cena
Cena has just signed a developmental deal with Leftfield Entertainment according to a story in Variety. In the deal, Cena will create and produce unscripted projects for both television and digital platforms with Leftfield. Cena has created his own production company, Hard Nocks South (Cena grew up training at a gym called Hard Knocks and then opened up his own private gym, Hard Nocks South), and through that company he will become an Executive Producer for any prospective series that he and Leftfield create. It’s very similar to how things work with Dwayne Johnson and his Seven Bucks Entertainment, where Johnson’s company is tied into all his projects and he gets an Executive Producer title in all those projects.
Cena is already working on different projects including reality shows in the Real Estate genre and the Construction genre. The point being that his time going forward will be more and more away from pro wrestling. Using him as the top star to carry the Smackdown brand and revitalize it into something stronger than it has been, particularly when it comes to house show touring, is a dynamic that is no longer available to WWE.
Cena has just signed a developmental deal with Leftfield Entertainment according to a story in Variety. In the deal, Cena will create and produce unscripted projects for both television and digital platforms with Leftfield. Cena has created his own production company, Hard Nocks South (Cena grew up training at a gym called Hard Knocks and then opened up his own private gym, Hard Nocks South), and through that company he will become an Executive Producer for any prospective series that he and Leftfield create. It’s very similar to how things work with Dwayne Johnson and his Seven Bucks Entertainment, where Johnson’s company is tied into all his projects and he gets an Executive Producer title in all those projects.
Cena is already working on different projects including reality shows in the Real Estate genre and the Construction genre. The point being that his time going forward will be more and more away from pro wrestling. Using him as the top star to carry the Smackdown brand and revitalize it into something stronger than it has been, particularly when it comes to house show touring, is a dynamic that is no longer available to WWE.
Brand Split Indicators to watch
Unless this extension has a lot of good new ideas, the odds are that copying what didn’t work 14 years ago and doing it again is not the best idea.
There are two keys here. The biggest thing to watch are the Smackdown ratings. The show is doing in the 2.1 million range these days. Staying the same while going live with the added expense wouldn’t be good. In fact, the catalyst for the changes are the Smackdown ratings. The USA Network wasn’t happy with the level of money they were paying and the numbers on Thursday, notable because WWE is eating the costs as opposed to getting a rights free increase for the added expense.
With early weeks of hot shotting and novelty, offset by the time it takes to get the creatures of habit audience moved to a new night, the Tuesday ratings right away aren’t going to give us an answer. About one month in we’ll at least have the beginnings of an answer, and two months in we’ll probably know where the momentum stands.
The other key is will the costs of doing an added PPV-style show most months be made up for with increases in network numbers. Because this doesn’t go into effect until September, the answer to this question won’t be evident until early February, when the end of the year network subscription numbers come out. The pattern for the WWE Network are strong gains from January through WrestleMania. This year, because of the free WrestleMania gimmick, and paid number will actually lag one month behind WrestleMania, with the peak number likely in April and May when you see how many of the free subscribers stick with it. With some minor variation, that number should remain pretty close through the end of December before the next rise.
If having two PPVs per month means new consumers will feel the added value gets them aboard will be answered pretty quickly. If it doesn’t make a difference after two months, the public will have spoken. If it does, they will have also spoken.
Hopefully the new name talent they are talking with will allow them to have names to put over newcomers so talent being brought up won’t fall into the 50/50 booking quagmire that has rendered this the generation of mid-carders. If there are changes in patterns, that should be evident in the first month.
Unless this extension has a lot of good new ideas, the odds are that copying what didn’t work 14 years ago and doing it again is not the best idea.
There are two keys here. The biggest thing to watch are the Smackdown ratings. The show is doing in the 2.1 million range these days. Staying the same while going live with the added expense wouldn’t be good. In fact, the catalyst for the changes are the Smackdown ratings. The USA Network wasn’t happy with the level of money they were paying and the numbers on Thursday, notable because WWE is eating the costs as opposed to getting a rights free increase for the added expense.
With early weeks of hot shotting and novelty, offset by the time it takes to get the creatures of habit audience moved to a new night, the Tuesday ratings right away aren’t going to give us an answer. About one month in we’ll at least have the beginnings of an answer, and two months in we’ll probably know where the momentum stands.
The other key is will the costs of doing an added PPV-style show most months be made up for with increases in network numbers. Because this doesn’t go into effect until September, the answer to this question won’t be evident until early February, when the end of the year network subscription numbers come out. The pattern for the WWE Network are strong gains from January through WrestleMania. This year, because of the free WrestleMania gimmick, and paid number will actually lag one month behind WrestleMania, with the peak number likely in April and May when you see how many of the free subscribers stick with it. With some minor variation, that number should remain pretty close through the end of December before the next rise.
If having two PPVs per month means new consumers will feel the added value gets them aboard will be answered pretty quickly. If it doesn’t make a difference after two months, the public will have spoken. If it does, they will have also spoken.
Hopefully the new name talent they are talking with will allow them to have names to put over newcomers so talent being brought up won’t fall into the 50/50 booking quagmire that has rendered this the generation of mid-carders. If there are changes in patterns, that should be evident in the first month.
Draft Night
The company has announced a second screen experience for the draft on the WWE Network at the same time as Smackdown is going on, as well as a draft pre-show at 7 p.m. and post show at 10 p.m.
The company has announced a second screen experience for the draft on the WWE Network at the same time as Smackdown is going on, as well as a draft pre-show at 7 p.m. and post show at 10 p.m.
Battleground Preview
Battleground will be the last major show with a cards that have nothing to do with the draft.
The 7/24 show in Washington, DC, is a weird show based on the build for a lot of the matches. It’s pretty clear that it’s more a show to build to SummerSlam and they are holding back on a number of matches for the big show, notably John Cena vs. A.J. Styles in a rematch, Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks for the women’s title and New Day vs. Wyatt family for the tag team title.
The original SummerSlam top SummerSlam matches were to be Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins for one world title which is most likely the WWE title, Cena vs. Styles for the other (perhaps called the world title since the word world was moved from the other title), Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton and Charlotte vs. Banks for the women’s title. But much has happened since those plans were made. So Battleground is likely to have finishes designed to go directly into SummerSlam.
Battleground has Dean Ambrose vs. Rollins vs. Reigns for the WWE title, Cena & Enzo & Cass vs. Styles & Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows, Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn, New Day vs. Wyatt Family in a six-man tag, Rusev vs. Zack Ryder for the U.S. title, Miz vs. Darren Young for the IC title, Charlotte & Dana Brooke vs. Banks &?, and Natalya vs. Becky Lynch, which at eight matches deep, looks like a full show. In addition, Orton will return doing the Highlight Reel with Chris Jericho.
Battleground will be the last major show with a cards that have nothing to do with the draft.
The 7/24 show in Washington, DC, is a weird show based on the build for a lot of the matches. It’s pretty clear that it’s more a show to build to SummerSlam and they are holding back on a number of matches for the big show, notably John Cena vs. A.J. Styles in a rematch, Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks for the women’s title and New Day vs. Wyatt family for the tag team title.
The original SummerSlam top SummerSlam matches were to be Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins for one world title which is most likely the WWE title, Cena vs. Styles for the other (perhaps called the world title since the word world was moved from the other title), Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton and Charlotte vs. Banks for the women’s title. But much has happened since those plans were made. So Battleground is likely to have finishes designed to go directly into SummerSlam.
Battleground has Dean Ambrose vs. Rollins vs. Reigns for the WWE title, Cena & Enzo & Cass vs. Styles & Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows, Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn, New Day vs. Wyatt Family in a six-man tag, Rusev vs. Zack Ryder for the U.S. title, Miz vs. Darren Young for the IC title, Charlotte & Dana Brooke vs. Banks &?, and Natalya vs. Becky Lynch, which at eight matches deep, looks like a full show. In addition, Orton will return doing the Highlight Reel with Chris Jericho.
Brock vs Orton
It was an interesting strategy with the announcement of Orton as Lesnar’s opponent on Smackdown on 7/7. They edited the announcement onto the show that aired in the U.S., and markets that aired after the U.S. In markets that get Smackdown prior to the U.S., like the U.K. and Canada, Lesnar’s name was never mentioned on the show. However, there were some signals crossed as on a show called “The Aftermath” on Sportsnet 360 in Canada, a post-Raw show, they did announce Orton as the opponent so they probably got their wires crossed in the sense that they wanted to save it for the U.S., but the decision made came late and they forgot to tell the Sportsnet team to hold off on it. But with Lesnar’s win, the Orton match seems kind of weird. Some have argued that Orton needs a win in his first match back, but he’s more than established enough to where that isn’t going to matter. But Lesnar should be pushed hard with his momentum. The tough thing is, what does pushed hard mean? You could have him win the title, because he’d be a world champion that people would take as a world champion. But he’s not working a full schedule and WWE didn’t do a good job of handling him last title reign when he wasn’t around.
From a logic standpoint, he destroyed Ambrose, the current champion, at Mania, so now him, on SummerSlam, a major show, being in anything but the title match makes no sense. But, you have issues with finishes. They could do another three-way for the title of his brand where he doesn’t win, but looks strong and the third guy gets pinned. Putting the belt on him makes sense if they’ve got someone they want to make into the new top star. That was the entire goal last time, that Lesnar broke Undertaker’s streak, and would then lose the next year to Reigns. But that fell through. They could still do that match, but it’ll be the same thing, where the crowd will boo Reigns like crazy so it won’t create what they want. The idea is Orton is a top star and Lesnar hasn’t worked with him on this run or ever in a major program. But Lesnar really should be main event now, and even more, main event at Mania. If Dwayne Johnson wants to wrestle at Mania, and he was originally planning on wrestling Lesnar after the second Cena match, this would be the time to do it. That again would depend on what Johnson is doing, because if he has any kind of movie commitments at the time, it would be impossible for insurance reasons to do.
Orton started training this week in Orlando for his return.
It was an interesting strategy with the announcement of Orton as Lesnar’s opponent on Smackdown on 7/7. They edited the announcement onto the show that aired in the U.S., and markets that aired after the U.S. In markets that get Smackdown prior to the U.S., like the U.K. and Canada, Lesnar’s name was never mentioned on the show. However, there were some signals crossed as on a show called “The Aftermath” on Sportsnet 360 in Canada, a post-Raw show, they did announce Orton as the opponent so they probably got their wires crossed in the sense that they wanted to save it for the U.S., but the decision made came late and they forgot to tell the Sportsnet team to hold off on it. But with Lesnar’s win, the Orton match seems kind of weird. Some have argued that Orton needs a win in his first match back, but he’s more than established enough to where that isn’t going to matter. But Lesnar should be pushed hard with his momentum. The tough thing is, what does pushed hard mean? You could have him win the title, because he’d be a world champion that people would take as a world champion. But he’s not working a full schedule and WWE didn’t do a good job of handling him last title reign when he wasn’t around.
From a logic standpoint, he destroyed Ambrose, the current champion, at Mania, so now him, on SummerSlam, a major show, being in anything but the title match makes no sense. But, you have issues with finishes. They could do another three-way for the title of his brand where he doesn’t win, but looks strong and the third guy gets pinned. Putting the belt on him makes sense if they’ve got someone they want to make into the new top star. That was the entire goal last time, that Lesnar broke Undertaker’s streak, and would then lose the next year to Reigns. But that fell through. They could still do that match, but it’ll be the same thing, where the crowd will boo Reigns like crazy so it won’t create what they want. The idea is Orton is a top star and Lesnar hasn’t worked with him on this run or ever in a major program. But Lesnar really should be main event now, and even more, main event at Mania. If Dwayne Johnson wants to wrestle at Mania, and he was originally planning on wrestling Lesnar after the second Cena match, this would be the time to do it. That again would depend on what Johnson is doing, because if he has any kind of movie commitments at the time, it would be impossible for insurance reasons to do.
Orton started training this week in Orlando for his return.
Cruiserweight Classic
WWE released the brackets for the Cruiserweight Classic on the 7/6 preview sow called “Cruiserweight Classic Bracketology” hosted by Mauro Ranallo and Daniel Bryan.
The show itself was exactly what Paul Levesque had said it would be, a concept of presenting pro wrestling as sport, almost like in Japan or the old St. Louis style, but really even more like MMA. What was notable is that all the talent was presented with legitimate weights from weigh-ins with a lot of the talent being less than 160 pounds, and some as light as in the 140 pound mark. They noted Alejandro Saez from Chile having to cut weight to make 205.
Weigh-ins will be done, as noted last week, prior to every set of tapings, although almost none of the talent remaining with the exception of Cedric Alexander will have an issue because very few were even 190 pounds. They didn’t shy away from backgrounds, unless it involved TNA with TJ Perkins. They talked about how Kota Ibushi was a major star in Japan and had wrestled in front of 40,000 fans, and that Gran Metalik (who was never talked about as being Mascara Dorada) was a star at Arena Mexico. They also noted that some of the talent had never performed before crowds larger than 250 fans.
On the preview show, they focused on the predictable guys, all of which advanced past the first round–Ibushi, Zack Sabre Jr., Metalik, Tajiri, The Brian Kendrick, TJ Perkins, and the NXT regulars, Rich Swann, Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano. They pushed the Ciampa vs. Gargano match, which from most accounts was the best match of the first tapings and airs on 8/3, as a battle between best friends and tag team partners who would be going all out to advance. Of those pushed, only Ciampa didn’t go forward.
They pushed the idea that there was no cruiserweight style, and it wasn’t about high flying, but it was like early MMA, the term they used, where people from different styles and around the world are there to show which style is best.
WWE released the brackets for the Cruiserweight Classic on the 7/6 preview sow called “Cruiserweight Classic Bracketology” hosted by Mauro Ranallo and Daniel Bryan.
The show itself was exactly what Paul Levesque had said it would be, a concept of presenting pro wrestling as sport, almost like in Japan or the old St. Louis style, but really even more like MMA. What was notable is that all the talent was presented with legitimate weights from weigh-ins with a lot of the talent being less than 160 pounds, and some as light as in the 140 pound mark. They noted Alejandro Saez from Chile having to cut weight to make 205.
Weigh-ins will be done, as noted last week, prior to every set of tapings, although almost none of the talent remaining with the exception of Cedric Alexander will have an issue because very few were even 190 pounds. They didn’t shy away from backgrounds, unless it involved TNA with TJ Perkins. They talked about how Kota Ibushi was a major star in Japan and had wrestled in front of 40,000 fans, and that Gran Metalik (who was never talked about as being Mascara Dorada) was a star at Arena Mexico. They also noted that some of the talent had never performed before crowds larger than 250 fans.
On the preview show, they focused on the predictable guys, all of which advanced past the first round–Ibushi, Zack Sabre Jr., Metalik, Tajiri, The Brian Kendrick, TJ Perkins, and the NXT regulars, Rich Swann, Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano. They pushed the Ciampa vs. Gargano match, which from most accounts was the best match of the first tapings and airs on 8/3, as a battle between best friends and tag team partners who would be going all out to advance. Of those pushed, only Ciampa didn’t go forward.
They pushed the idea that there was no cruiserweight style, and it wasn’t about high flying, but it was like early MMA, the term they used, where people from different styles and around the world are there to show which style is best.
WWE concussion lawsuits
There was a very interesting article in the Boston Globe this past weekend talking about the WWE concussion lawsuits, some of which are still alive even though the plaintiffs have been getting hammered in the court rulings thus far. It's noted that WWE has subpoenaed Dr. Bennett Omalu, the subject of the movie “Concussion,” who is credited for the discovery of CTE in the brain of Mike Webster and other NFL players, and also diagnosed it in the brain of Chris Benoit. The WWE is challenging the Benoit diagnosis of CTE and the story focused on Christopher Nowinski, who made his reputation touting the Benoit diagnosis by Omalu, then had a falling out with him and his Concussion Legacy Foundation is largely supported by WWE and Paul Levesque is on its Board of Directors. The company has donated $2.7 million to the Foundation since coming on board in 2013. The newspaper has run several stories on Nowinski claiming a conflict of interest and that he’s no longer attempting to get brains of former wrestlers for testing for CTE.
The subpoena is also attempting to get Omalu to turn over all his correspondence with Nowinski and the Concussion Legacy Foundation. The newspaper asked Nowinski if he stands behind the CTE diagnosis of Benoit, and he had the Foundation release a statement saying, “I am not a neuropathologist and I relied on Dr. Omalu’s statement that the brain met his criteria for a CTE diagnosis. I had no reason to question the diagnosis.” Nowinski was then asked if he has doubts about Omalu’s diagnosis and the foundation said that Nowinski had no further comment on the subject. The Benoit diagnosis was confirmed by Dr. Julian Bailes and Dr. Robert Cantu. WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt is very adversarial to Omalu from his representing Dr. Cyril Wecht in a case that involved Omalu (the relationship between Omalu and Wecht was very, very different than it was portrayed in the movie ). However, he has a good relationship with Bailes. The story said that if Omalu’s diagnosis is discredited in court, his stature and reputation would suffer greatly as an expert in the field and his other work on the subject would be questioned. But I doing so, Nowinski’s reputation would also take a hit because he so strongly promoted the Omalu diagnosis. The WWE for years has attempted to obtain the Omalu case history and research on the Benoit case.
Days after word came out that Omalu would be studying the brain of Joanie “Chyna” Laurer for CTE, the WWE filed to subpoena all of Omalu’s records regarding cases involving pro wrestlers for discovery in the current lawsuits. Omalu is also studying the brains of both Brian Knighton (Axl Rotten) and Jon Rechner (Balls Mahoney) to see if they had suffered from CTE. While Laurer didn’t have that many matches nor took major head trauma compared to most pro wrestlers, Rechner and Knighton took incredible amounts during their careers. Both were best known from ECW in hardcore matches which included hard weapon shots to the head. Lawyers for Singleton and LoGrasso had attempted to subpoena Nowinski for the case, but the WWE succeeded in blocking the subpoena when the judge ruled his testimony wasn’t relevant to the few remaining counts in the suits. McDevitt believes that Konstantine Kyros, the attorney representing LoGrasso and Singleton was behind the story. “For some reason, Kyros seems to think running negative stories will help his crummy lawsuits. It hasn’t and won’t, and the judge has twice noted that he is playing to an audience other than the court.”
McDevitt said LoGrasso twice perjured himself in a deposition, once when he claimed he was thrown head first into ring steps and got injured (the slow motion tape of the incident clearly showed LoGrasso’s head never hit the steps) and that he claimed not to have knowledge of the dangers of concussions but McDevitt said he obviously knew about Bret Hart’s career ending injury since both were in WCW at the same time and also knew about the Benoit case. McDevitt claimed Omalu has no chain of custody records proving the brain tissue on the slides that he publicly displayed was that of Benoit’s brain. He said he has also not provided one document or record regarding the four pro wrestlers whose brains he has claimed to examine, two of which he claimed did have CTE and two of which didn’t. McDevitt said he will submit a motion to the court to attempt to throw out the remaining counts left in the LoGrasso and Singleton cases on 8/1, which, if ruled in favor of WWE, would end those lawsuits. They also expect a ruling on whether the Nelson Frazier and Matt Osborne cases would continue by the end of this month.
There was a very interesting article in the Boston Globe this past weekend talking about the WWE concussion lawsuits, some of which are still alive even though the plaintiffs have been getting hammered in the court rulings thus far. It's noted that WWE has subpoenaed Dr. Bennett Omalu, the subject of the movie “Concussion,” who is credited for the discovery of CTE in the brain of Mike Webster and other NFL players, and also diagnosed it in the brain of Chris Benoit. The WWE is challenging the Benoit diagnosis of CTE and the story focused on Christopher Nowinski, who made his reputation touting the Benoit diagnosis by Omalu, then had a falling out with him and his Concussion Legacy Foundation is largely supported by WWE and Paul Levesque is on its Board of Directors. The company has donated $2.7 million to the Foundation since coming on board in 2013. The newspaper has run several stories on Nowinski claiming a conflict of interest and that he’s no longer attempting to get brains of former wrestlers for testing for CTE.
The subpoena is also attempting to get Omalu to turn over all his correspondence with Nowinski and the Concussion Legacy Foundation. The newspaper asked Nowinski if he stands behind the CTE diagnosis of Benoit, and he had the Foundation release a statement saying, “I am not a neuropathologist and I relied on Dr. Omalu’s statement that the brain met his criteria for a CTE diagnosis. I had no reason to question the diagnosis.” Nowinski was then asked if he has doubts about Omalu’s diagnosis and the foundation said that Nowinski had no further comment on the subject. The Benoit diagnosis was confirmed by Dr. Julian Bailes and Dr. Robert Cantu. WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt is very adversarial to Omalu from his representing Dr. Cyril Wecht in a case that involved Omalu (the relationship between Omalu and Wecht was very, very different than it was portrayed in the movie ). However, he has a good relationship with Bailes. The story said that if Omalu’s diagnosis is discredited in court, his stature and reputation would suffer greatly as an expert in the field and his other work on the subject would be questioned. But I doing so, Nowinski’s reputation would also take a hit because he so strongly promoted the Omalu diagnosis. The WWE for years has attempted to obtain the Omalu case history and research on the Benoit case.
Days after word came out that Omalu would be studying the brain of Joanie “Chyna” Laurer for CTE, the WWE filed to subpoena all of Omalu’s records regarding cases involving pro wrestlers for discovery in the current lawsuits. Omalu is also studying the brains of both Brian Knighton (Axl Rotten) and Jon Rechner (Balls Mahoney) to see if they had suffered from CTE. While Laurer didn’t have that many matches nor took major head trauma compared to most pro wrestlers, Rechner and Knighton took incredible amounts during their careers. Both were best known from ECW in hardcore matches which included hard weapon shots to the head. Lawyers for Singleton and LoGrasso had attempted to subpoena Nowinski for the case, but the WWE succeeded in blocking the subpoena when the judge ruled his testimony wasn’t relevant to the few remaining counts in the suits. McDevitt believes that Konstantine Kyros, the attorney representing LoGrasso and Singleton was behind the story. “For some reason, Kyros seems to think running negative stories will help his crummy lawsuits. It hasn’t and won’t, and the judge has twice noted that he is playing to an audience other than the court.”
McDevitt said LoGrasso twice perjured himself in a deposition, once when he claimed he was thrown head first into ring steps and got injured (the slow motion tape of the incident clearly showed LoGrasso’s head never hit the steps) and that he claimed not to have knowledge of the dangers of concussions but McDevitt said he obviously knew about Bret Hart’s career ending injury since both were in WCW at the same time and also knew about the Benoit case. McDevitt claimed Omalu has no chain of custody records proving the brain tissue on the slides that he publicly displayed was that of Benoit’s brain. He said he has also not provided one document or record regarding the four pro wrestlers whose brains he has claimed to examine, two of which he claimed did have CTE and two of which didn’t. McDevitt said he will submit a motion to the court to attempt to throw out the remaining counts left in the LoGrasso and Singleton cases on 8/1, which, if ruled in favor of WWE, would end those lawsuits. They also expect a ruling on whether the Nelson Frazier and Matt Osborne cases would continue by the end of this month.
Writers get the Blame
Even though writers take a lot of blame when it comes to the creative direction, the way the process works, all creative directions in the big picture are dictated to the writing team by Vince McMahon and Paul Levesque. The role of the writer is to write the scripts and produce the segments at television. They are encouraged to pitch stories on anything they want, but the bulk of what they do is take direction from Vince. In NXT, Levesque takes the lead role. He dictates the big picture to Joe Belcastro, who then writes the scripts for the show.
Even though writers take a lot of blame when it comes to the creative direction, the way the process works, all creative directions in the big picture are dictated to the writing team by Vince McMahon and Paul Levesque. The role of the writer is to write the scripts and produce the segments at television. They are encouraged to pitch stories on anything they want, but the bulk of what they do is take direction from Vince. In NXT, Levesque takes the lead role. He dictates the big picture to Joe Belcastro, who then writes the scripts for the show.
WWE stock
The WWE stock price has gone up all week, closing at $20.09 per share, giving the company a $1.53 billion market value. The growth started before the announcement of the UFC sale, but that has also played into the price. There is no obvious reason for the growth beforehand other than the stock does often increase leading into the quarterly investment conference. This quarter’s call is coming on 8/4. The key number is how many of the free subscribers from WrestleMania were retained through the end of June. The benchmark number for paid U.S. subscriptions is 1,297,000 subscribers on 6/30 and 1,661,000 worldwide. Anything above that would mean offering WrestleMania for free was a success. In that range means it was okay. A number significantly below that means this year’s growth is well below last year’s even with the free Mania essentially hotshotting growth for the next quarter. That’s a U.S. number, because of so many additions in markets, a worldwide number is harder to accurately figure out. The company projected 1,480,000 to 1,550,000 as its average paid number for the quarter (because that number is likely to be highest the first month after Mania and fall from there, the key number is more the 6/30 number as opposed to the quarter average number).
Wall Street will look at those figures as a benchmark, but WWE’s own figures do indicate slower growth during Mania season than last year. The company has become very accurate in projecting network numbers so I’d expect it to fall in that range. As we’ve seen with the last quarter, they may tout paid plus free number to give a misleading number to the media, although like with the last quarter, the investors will quickly figure that out. Sometimes, even with good numbers, the stock closes low after these conferences based on the sell on results axiom. And it is still possible that the UFC sale can drive the price up because so many people are making the comparison, and even at $1.53 billion, the WWE would seem (and is) greatly undervalued when compared to UFC. Even though UFC is a lot more profitable, WWE’s network is growing, whether slower than expected or not, it is on a year-by-year basis, and that’s a solid platform, while the PPV growth that UFC had last year is unlikely to sustain.
The WWE stock price has gone up all week, closing at $20.09 per share, giving the company a $1.53 billion market value. The growth started before the announcement of the UFC sale, but that has also played into the price. There is no obvious reason for the growth beforehand other than the stock does often increase leading into the quarterly investment conference. This quarter’s call is coming on 8/4. The key number is how many of the free subscribers from WrestleMania were retained through the end of June. The benchmark number for paid U.S. subscriptions is 1,297,000 subscribers on 6/30 and 1,661,000 worldwide. Anything above that would mean offering WrestleMania for free was a success. In that range means it was okay. A number significantly below that means this year’s growth is well below last year’s even with the free Mania essentially hotshotting growth for the next quarter. That’s a U.S. number, because of so many additions in markets, a worldwide number is harder to accurately figure out. The company projected 1,480,000 to 1,550,000 as its average paid number for the quarter (because that number is likely to be highest the first month after Mania and fall from there, the key number is more the 6/30 number as opposed to the quarter average number).
Wall Street will look at those figures as a benchmark, but WWE’s own figures do indicate slower growth during Mania season than last year. The company has become very accurate in projecting network numbers so I’d expect it to fall in that range. As we’ve seen with the last quarter, they may tout paid plus free number to give a misleading number to the media, although like with the last quarter, the investors will quickly figure that out. Sometimes, even with good numbers, the stock closes low after these conferences based on the sell on results axiom. And it is still possible that the UFC sale can drive the price up because so many people are making the comparison, and even at $1.53 billion, the WWE would seem (and is) greatly undervalued when compared to UFC. Even though UFC is a lot more profitable, WWE’s network is growing, whether slower than expected or not, it is on a year-by-year basis, and that’s a solid platform, while the PPV growth that UFC had last year is unlikely to sustain.
The Rock
Forbes Magazine reported that Dwayne Johnson is the highest paid actor in the world, earning $64.5 million this past year.
Dwayne Johnson will be getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2017. Vince McMahon is the only other person from the wrestling industry to have such an honor.
Forbes Magazine reported that Dwayne Johnson is the highest paid actor in the world, earning $64.5 million this past year.
Dwayne Johnson will be getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2017. Vince McMahon is the only other person from the wrestling industry to have such an honor.
Neville Back
Neville returned in a dark match on the 7/12 Smackdown tapings, pinning Dallas with the red arrow. He’d been out of action since breaking his ankle a few weeks before Mania in a Raw match with Jericho. He was scheduled for the ladder match at Mania, and his injury was the one that opened the spot in that match for Ryder, who won it.
Neville returned in a dark match on the 7/12 Smackdown tapings, pinning Dallas with the red arrow. He’d been out of action since breaking his ankle a few weeks before Mania in a Raw match with Jericho. He was scheduled for the ladder match at Mania, and his injury was the one that opened the spot in that match for Ryder, who won it.
Itami Back
Hideo Itami did return on 6/30 in Winter Haven, as he had teased a few days earlier. He started out in the main event of the show teaming with TM 61 against Wesley Blake & Samoa Joe & Tino Sabbatelli. He’s been out of action for 13 months after either one or two shoulder surgeries. He had one that didn’t go well, and there was talk he had a second one, or it may have been that he just needed an extra six months to recover from the first one.
Hideo Itami did return on 6/30 in Winter Haven, as he had teased a few days earlier. He started out in the main event of the show teaming with TM 61 against Wesley Blake & Samoa Joe & Tino Sabbatelli. He’s been out of action for 13 months after either one or two shoulder surgeries. He had one that didn’t go well, and there was talk he had a second one, or it may have been that he just needed an extra six months to recover from the first one.
Possible Signings
Some names WWE has shown interest in bringing in are Curt Hawkins, James Yun, Volador Jr., and Rush. Rush attended a tryout last year and at the time the WWE picked Sombra. Yun, who was Jimmy Wang Yang, was backstage at Raw and posted a photo of himself there saying he was waiting for his meeting. An idea going around was to bring back older guys who can still go to put over the younger guys after the brand split when they need more bodies for television.
Some names WWE has shown interest in bringing in are Curt Hawkins, James Yun, Volador Jr., and Rush. Rush attended a tryout last year and at the time the WWE picked Sombra. Yun, who was Jimmy Wang Yang, was backstage at Raw and posted a photo of himself there saying he was waiting for his meeting. An idea going around was to bring back older guys who can still go to put over the younger guys after the brand split when they need more bodies for television.
Roderick Strong
If Roderick Strong comes in, it’s expected to be along the lines of Austin Aries or Johnny Gargano (he won’t have to train daily at the Performance Center kind of a deal). A funny story about the difference between guys like Aries, Gargano or Tommaso Ciampa is that at least until they officially signed, Gargano & Ciampa were on per-show deals and not contracts (that has changed) but they got to wrestle the way they wanted so did really well at the house shows. The guys who trained in Orlando were mad, not at them, but at the idea they are taught to wrestle a style that doesn’t get over as much as the style they were wrestling, but they are allowed to wrestle a style the Orlando guys are taught is wrong and then it gets over.
If Roderick Strong comes in, it’s expected to be along the lines of Austin Aries or Johnny Gargano (he won’t have to train daily at the Performance Center kind of a deal). A funny story about the difference between guys like Aries, Gargano or Tommaso Ciampa is that at least until they officially signed, Gargano & Ciampa were on per-show deals and not contracts (that has changed) but they got to wrestle the way they wanted so did really well at the house shows. The guys who trained in Orlando were mad, not at them, but at the idea they are taught to wrestle a style that doesn’t get over as much as the style they were wrestling, but they are allowed to wrestle a style the Orlando guys are taught is wrong and then it gets over.
WWE Network Possible Programs
The company sent out a survey to some of its mailing list fans asking about interest level in potential WWE Network programs. So these must be shows under consideration. “Ask Me Anything Live?” would be a live Q&A show with talent. “Everyone Has Price” would be a reality show finding people around the country who have old WWE merchandise and memorabilia and determining the price value of things in their collection. “Extreme Eats” would have Tommy Dreamer and Bubba Ray Dudley go around the country and eat at their favorite restaurants. I guess that tells you that they’re looking to bring Dreamer back. “50 States, 50 Dates” would follow a WWE wrestler on 50 states with different women around the country with the idea of showing how difficult it is to maintain a romance on a WWE traveling schedule.
“Goldberg’s Garage,” which would be a show about Bill Goldberg’s muscle car collection. This is clearly a sign that they’re on much better terms with Goldberg after okaying him for the 2K role. “History of WWE” would be a ten week series. Those type of shows always have problems because WWE is very creative about its history. “Legends House: Attitude.” This would be a remake of the “Legends House” show, but using talent from the 1998-2001 era. “Miz & Mrs,” which would be reality show with Miz and Maryse. “Tapout Fitness” would have WWE talent take fans through their personal workouts and give them training and nutrition tips and ideas. “The Third Wheel” is an idea of following WWE fans on blind dates without them knowing a WWE star is going to show up.
“Totally NXT,” would be a weekly reality show following six women beginning in NXT and trying to make it from scratch. “The Wives of Flair,” would be a reality show on the lives of Ric Flair’s four ex-wives. I don’t know about that one. “WWE All Access” would be a reality show which follows main eventers as they prepare for the biggest shows of the year. That’s the old UFC All Access idea. “WWE Game Night,” would be performers facing celebrities in various competitions, with things listed like pictionary, dodgeball and obstacle courses. “WWE Investigates” which would be WWE going deep into real subjects in the history of pro wrestling. “WWE Goes Viral” which will be a collection of WWE videos, both produced by the promotion and those put together by fans.
“WWE Kids,” which would be an offshoot of the original WWE Kids concept. This would have young kids doing interviews with WWE stars, compete with them in games and also have them announce WWE matches. “WWE Promo Battle” would have talent battle in improv promos wars in a tournament where fans on social media and a panel of judges will vote on who cuts the best promo. This is scary because a show like this may produce better promos than Raw or Smackdown and that would expose the overscripting aspect of those shows. “WWE Roast,” which would be to tape roasts of legends. “WWE Superstars Search” would be a new wording of the old Diva Search, a reality show where ten women compete for a WWE contract.
The company sent out a survey to some of its mailing list fans asking about interest level in potential WWE Network programs. So these must be shows under consideration. “Ask Me Anything Live?” would be a live Q&A show with talent. “Everyone Has Price” would be a reality show finding people around the country who have old WWE merchandise and memorabilia and determining the price value of things in their collection. “Extreme Eats” would have Tommy Dreamer and Bubba Ray Dudley go around the country and eat at their favorite restaurants. I guess that tells you that they’re looking to bring Dreamer back. “50 States, 50 Dates” would follow a WWE wrestler on 50 states with different women around the country with the idea of showing how difficult it is to maintain a romance on a WWE traveling schedule.
“Goldberg’s Garage,” which would be a show about Bill Goldberg’s muscle car collection. This is clearly a sign that they’re on much better terms with Goldberg after okaying him for the 2K role. “History of WWE” would be a ten week series. Those type of shows always have problems because WWE is very creative about its history. “Legends House: Attitude.” This would be a remake of the “Legends House” show, but using talent from the 1998-2001 era. “Miz & Mrs,” which would be reality show with Miz and Maryse. “Tapout Fitness” would have WWE talent take fans through their personal workouts and give them training and nutrition tips and ideas. “The Third Wheel” is an idea of following WWE fans on blind dates without them knowing a WWE star is going to show up.
“Totally NXT,” would be a weekly reality show following six women beginning in NXT and trying to make it from scratch. “The Wives of Flair,” would be a reality show on the lives of Ric Flair’s four ex-wives. I don’t know about that one. “WWE All Access” would be a reality show which follows main eventers as they prepare for the biggest shows of the year. That’s the old UFC All Access idea. “WWE Game Night,” would be performers facing celebrities in various competitions, with things listed like pictionary, dodgeball and obstacle courses. “WWE Investigates” which would be WWE going deep into real subjects in the history of pro wrestling. “WWE Goes Viral” which will be a collection of WWE videos, both produced by the promotion and those put together by fans.
“WWE Kids,” which would be an offshoot of the original WWE Kids concept. This would have young kids doing interviews with WWE stars, compete with them in games and also have them announce WWE matches. “WWE Promo Battle” would have talent battle in improv promos wars in a tournament where fans on social media and a panel of judges will vote on who cuts the best promo. This is scary because a show like this may produce better promos than Raw or Smackdown and that would expose the overscripting aspect of those shows. “WWE Roast,” which would be to tape roasts of legends. “WWE Superstars Search” would be a new wording of the old Diva Search, a reality show where ten women compete for a WWE contract.
TNA Changing Nights Again
TNA officially announced the move to Thursdays from 8-10 p.m. starting on 7/21 on both Pop TV in the U.S. and The Fight Network in Canada. The decision was finalized on 7/6, the day after their most-watched episode of the show in months aired, so it wasn’t plugged on the show. It left them with one television show, on 7/12, to publicize the change.
Everyone expected the move as there has been a mentality before with networks that people are conditioned to watching wrestling at 8 p.m. on Thursday (that’s why TNA moved to Friday at one point) and so now they can fill that void. That mentality was done with Destination America and really didn’t work, and every time TNA has moved days, it has eroded the ratings.
TNA officially announced the move to Thursdays from 8-10 p.m. starting on 7/21 on both Pop TV in the U.S. and The Fight Network in Canada. The decision was finalized on 7/6, the day after their most-watched episode of the show in months aired, so it wasn’t plugged on the show. It left them with one television show, on 7/12, to publicize the change.
Everyone expected the move as there has been a mentality before with networks that people are conditioned to watching wrestling at 8 p.m. on Thursday (that’s why TNA moved to Friday at one point) and so now they can fill that void. That mentality was done with Destination America and really didn’t work, and every time TNA has moved days, it has eroded the ratings.
Moose signs with TNA
Moose signed a two-year deal and debuted on the 7/12 TV show. It had been almost a sure thing this would happen ever since WWE backed off on signing him. TNA’s offer was above that of WWE or ROH. The final numbers we heard were $80,000 first year; $96,000 second year from one source involved with his talks and attempting to get him from anther promotion.
TNA sources claim $75,000 and it’s a similar deal to the one the company has attempted but not yet signed with the Hardys, Ethan Carter III and Drew Galloway but does have with Eddie Edwards, Davey Richards, Lashley and some others where TNA will try to recoup the money by having the rights to book him on a maximum 110 total dates per year with the remainder being indie dates. He retained his rights to book himself out of the contract with certain indie groups but TNA has the rights to book him with all others.
The deal was agreed to and creative was worked on for the last few weeks with the idea of debuting him as a surprise with a confrontation with Lashley, the top guy, on the “live” show. The actual deal wasn’t signed until the day of the show although it had been agreed to at the time the story first broke. There was at least one version of creative that wanted the surprise to be announced on the Internet before the debut feeling that would help ratings of the show and get a last minute buzz.
Moose signed a two-year deal and debuted on the 7/12 TV show. It had been almost a sure thing this would happen ever since WWE backed off on signing him. TNA’s offer was above that of WWE or ROH. The final numbers we heard were $80,000 first year; $96,000 second year from one source involved with his talks and attempting to get him from anther promotion.
TNA sources claim $75,000 and it’s a similar deal to the one the company has attempted but not yet signed with the Hardys, Ethan Carter III and Drew Galloway but does have with Eddie Edwards, Davey Richards, Lashley and some others where TNA will try to recoup the money by having the rights to book him on a maximum 110 total dates per year with the remainder being indie dates. He retained his rights to book himself out of the contract with certain indie groups but TNA has the rights to book him with all others.
The deal was agreed to and creative was worked on for the last few weeks with the idea of debuting him as a surprise with a confrontation with Lashley, the top guy, on the “live” show. The actual deal wasn’t signed until the day of the show although it had been agreed to at the time the story first broke. There was at least one version of creative that wanted the surprise to be announced on the Internet before the debut feeling that would help ratings of the show and get a last minute buzz.
Bound for Glory
The listing of 9/11 for Bound for Glory may have to be changed since WWE has added a Backlash show in Richmond, VA that date. At this point we don’t know if it’s changed or a new date. TNA started pushing Bound for Glory on television this week without mentioning a date. TNA had planned on that date before WWE changed its schedule. WWE is going to have priority with cable carriers (DirecTV dropped WWE some time back) since it draws more, even now with WWE’s PPV business dwindling down. But even if PPV companies went with TNA since they may have asked for the date first, it makes no sense for TNA to run when WWE has a major show on the network meaning the most hardcore fans who have the network would have a choice between essentially a major show they aren’t paying extra for or a paid show.
As far as the main event on the show, it’ll be determined by the Bound For Glory playoffs, an eight-man tournament with Ethan Carter III, Drew Galloway, Eli Drake, Jeff Hardy, Mike Bennett, Bram, Matt Hardy and James Storm. Yes, exactly one week after the match where Jeff Hardy lost and had to give up the name Jeff Hardy, they were billing him for the tournament under that name.
The listing of 9/11 for Bound for Glory may have to be changed since WWE has added a Backlash show in Richmond, VA that date. At this point we don’t know if it’s changed or a new date. TNA started pushing Bound for Glory on television this week without mentioning a date. TNA had planned on that date before WWE changed its schedule. WWE is going to have priority with cable carriers (DirecTV dropped WWE some time back) since it draws more, even now with WWE’s PPV business dwindling down. But even if PPV companies went with TNA since they may have asked for the date first, it makes no sense for TNA to run when WWE has a major show on the network meaning the most hardcore fans who have the network would have a choice between essentially a major show they aren’t paying extra for or a paid show.
As far as the main event on the show, it’ll be determined by the Bound For Glory playoffs, an eight-man tournament with Ethan Carter III, Drew Galloway, Eli Drake, Jeff Hardy, Mike Bennett, Bram, Matt Hardy and James Storm. Yes, exactly one week after the match where Jeff Hardy lost and had to give up the name Jeff Hardy, they were billing him for the tournament under that name.
Final Deletion
Matt and Jeff Hardy did their Final Deletion segment which aired on the 7/5 Impact show, a match in the dark in a ring set up on their property in Cameron, NC.
It felt like a B-movie version of a wacky blow-off pro wrestling match, filled with crazy special effects including shooting fireworks guns at each other and Jeff climbing high on a tree which hung over the ring and jumped off with a swanton on Matt, which was supposed to put in through a ladder.
IT WAS HILARIOUS!!!!!
It was something completely different than has ever been done by a major promotion and featured numerous attempts to kill the other including an attempt to drown Jeff, who theoretically came back from the river as Willow. But when Matt killed Willow, it was Señor Benjamin under the mask, the gardener, who was a prominent participant in the vignette.
It got the company more attention than anything they’ve been doing and they are out there trying to market it, such as creating a Señor Benjamin character and marketing T-shirts. Immediately they were selling Señor Benjamin T-shirts writing, “Señor Benjamin Landscaping Company: Lawn, Landscaping, Battlefield Preparation for Massacre, Cameron, NC.”
The scene was as wacky as Matt’s new character has been. Different is usually good, unless it’s different in a way that’s rejected, and TNA needs something different. When things are desperate you have to figure out ways to be creative. Ultimately, the public will decide one way or the other if they do or don’t care about this kind of different.
TNA tried to get a lot of social media buzz on the segment beforehand, so it’ll be interesting to see if it means something to the ratings this week or next week and where the storyline goes with Matt and his new character. It got significant talk within wrestling and as such, it’ll be copied probably incessantly going forward. There were people championing it because it trended several topics on Twitter, but trending on Twitter has never shown much of a connection to anything of value and indie promotions with no television have trended many times simply based on the percentage gain aspect.
Regarding the production, it was mostly masterminded by Matt Hardy with Jeremy Borash and Billy Corgan having some input and Jeff Hardy coming up with a few ideas as well. Borash handled the production, editing and the direction of the segments. The rest of creative and Dixie Carter didn’t even know what they were doing but at least gave them the okay to do it. This was not meant as a blow-off but as a start of something new. Hopefully it doesn’t end up like the Angle/Samoa Joe shoot direction that got over so well, did a record buy rate for the company, and was then dropped cold and turned back into a normal pro wrestling program.
Señor Benjamin isn’t actually Matt’s gardener, but he’s his father-in-law who they are now going to try and market. Everyone in wrestling ended up talking about it and it’s the first time TNA has had this kind of a buzz in a long time. The entire WWE creative team watched it together which led to the copy. It will also be replayed in longer form on the first Thursday night show and they will be doing an overrun that night.
Matt and Jeff Hardy did their Final Deletion segment which aired on the 7/5 Impact show, a match in the dark in a ring set up on their property in Cameron, NC.
It felt like a B-movie version of a wacky blow-off pro wrestling match, filled with crazy special effects including shooting fireworks guns at each other and Jeff climbing high on a tree which hung over the ring and jumped off with a swanton on Matt, which was supposed to put in through a ladder.
IT WAS HILARIOUS!!!!!
It was something completely different than has ever been done by a major promotion and featured numerous attempts to kill the other including an attempt to drown Jeff, who theoretically came back from the river as Willow. But when Matt killed Willow, it was Señor Benjamin under the mask, the gardener, who was a prominent participant in the vignette.
It got the company more attention than anything they’ve been doing and they are out there trying to market it, such as creating a Señor Benjamin character and marketing T-shirts. Immediately they were selling Señor Benjamin T-shirts writing, “Señor Benjamin Landscaping Company: Lawn, Landscaping, Battlefield Preparation for Massacre, Cameron, NC.”
The scene was as wacky as Matt’s new character has been. Different is usually good, unless it’s different in a way that’s rejected, and TNA needs something different. When things are desperate you have to figure out ways to be creative. Ultimately, the public will decide one way or the other if they do or don’t care about this kind of different.
TNA tried to get a lot of social media buzz on the segment beforehand, so it’ll be interesting to see if it means something to the ratings this week or next week and where the storyline goes with Matt and his new character. It got significant talk within wrestling and as such, it’ll be copied probably incessantly going forward. There were people championing it because it trended several topics on Twitter, but trending on Twitter has never shown much of a connection to anything of value and indie promotions with no television have trended many times simply based on the percentage gain aspect.
Regarding the production, it was mostly masterminded by Matt Hardy with Jeremy Borash and Billy Corgan having some input and Jeff Hardy coming up with a few ideas as well. Borash handled the production, editing and the direction of the segments. The rest of creative and Dixie Carter didn’t even know what they were doing but at least gave them the okay to do it. This was not meant as a blow-off but as a start of something new. Hopefully it doesn’t end up like the Angle/Samoa Joe shoot direction that got over so well, did a record buy rate for the company, and was then dropped cold and turned back into a normal pro wrestling program.
Señor Benjamin isn’t actually Matt’s gardener, but he’s his father-in-law who they are now going to try and market. Everyone in wrestling ended up talking about it and it’s the first time TNA has had this kind of a buzz in a long time. The entire WWE creative team watched it together which led to the copy. It will also be replayed in longer form on the first Thursday night show and they will be doing an overrun that night.
Billy Corgan
The deal with Billy Corgan and ownership is that Corgan fronted money for the last tapings in exchange for a percentage of ownership as opposed to it being a loan.
The deal with Billy Corgan and ownership is that Corgan fronted money for the last tapings in exchange for a percentage of ownership as opposed to it being a loan.
Cody Rhodes News
Cody Runnels will be appearing on the current season of “Arrow.” Runnels, who studied acting before he got into pro wrestling, has become friends with Stephen Amell, the star of the show. This may have come from their WWE program last year to lead to SummerSlam. Amell announced that Cody Rhodes would be a guest star this season at a pro wrestling convention both were at on 7/2.
He’s also going to write a book about his father. He said WWE has given him permission to do so. I’m really confused in the sense of why would you need to ask anyone for permission to write a book about your father. The only thing I can think of would be if, when they released him from his contract, they banned him from doing certain things for the length of the contract and writing a book would be on that list.
Cody Runnels will be appearing on the current season of “Arrow.” Runnels, who studied acting before he got into pro wrestling, has become friends with Stephen Amell, the star of the show. This may have come from their WWE program last year to lead to SummerSlam. Amell announced that Cody Rhodes would be a guest star this season at a pro wrestling convention both were at on 7/2.
He’s also going to write a book about his father. He said WWE has given him permission to do so. I’m really confused in the sense of why would you need to ask anyone for permission to write a book about your father. The only thing I can think of would be if, when they released him from his contract, they banned him from doing certain things for the length of the contract and writing a book would be on that list.
Super J Cup
New Japan announced the 16 men in this year’s Super J Cup and while it will feature a lot of good talent from different places, when it comes to top established stars or even rising name stars, it’s nothing like its '90s predecessors.
The first round, which takes place on 7/20 at Korakuen Hall, will feature Matt Sydal (New Japan) vs. Kaji Tomato of the K-Dojo promotion; Gurukun Mask (Masanori Ishikura), the 44-year-old owner of Ryukyu Dragon Pro Wrestling out of Okinawa vs. Kenou (NOAH); Yuma Aoyagi, an All Japan prelim wrestler against Taichi (Suzuki-Gun and NOAH), Jushin Liger (New Japan) vs. Eita (Dragon Gate); Titan (CMLL), who does some cool stuff based on spots off handstands vs. Will Ospreay (New Japan); Bushi (New Japan) vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru (Suzuki-Gun and NOAH); Ryusuke Taguchi (New Japan) vs. Daisuke Harada (NOAH) and Kushida (New Japan) vs. Taiji Ishimori (NOAH).
The eight winners will advance to the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals which take place on 8/21 at the Ariake Coliseum. That will likely be a strong final eight. That show starts at 11 p.m. on a Saturday night Pacific time, which means that where will NXT Takeover, the Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz UFC, and the final night of this tournament all on the same night. A number of other top junior heavyweight stars, notably from ROH, will be appearing on the show in non-tournament matches.
New Japan announced the 16 men in this year’s Super J Cup and while it will feature a lot of good talent from different places, when it comes to top established stars or even rising name stars, it’s nothing like its '90s predecessors.
The first round, which takes place on 7/20 at Korakuen Hall, will feature Matt Sydal (New Japan) vs. Kaji Tomato of the K-Dojo promotion; Gurukun Mask (Masanori Ishikura), the 44-year-old owner of Ryukyu Dragon Pro Wrestling out of Okinawa vs. Kenou (NOAH); Yuma Aoyagi, an All Japan prelim wrestler against Taichi (Suzuki-Gun and NOAH), Jushin Liger (New Japan) vs. Eita (Dragon Gate); Titan (CMLL), who does some cool stuff based on spots off handstands vs. Will Ospreay (New Japan); Bushi (New Japan) vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru (Suzuki-Gun and NOAH); Ryusuke Taguchi (New Japan) vs. Daisuke Harada (NOAH) and Kushida (New Japan) vs. Taiji Ishimori (NOAH).
The eight winners will advance to the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals which take place on 8/21 at the Ariake Coliseum. That will likely be a strong final eight. That show starts at 11 p.m. on a Saturday night Pacific time, which means that where will NXT Takeover, the Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz UFC, and the final night of this tournament all on the same night. A number of other top junior heavyweight stars, notably from ROH, will be appearing on the show in non-tournament matches.
PWG: BOLA
The Super J Cup, Best of the Super Juniors, cruiserweight classic and G-1 tournaments coming up will all be higher profile, but as strong as some or all of them may be, the Battle of Los Angeles when it comes to talent blows everything away.
The lineup was already loaded before the final four participants, Zack Sabre Jr., Will Ospreay, Pentagon Jr. and Jushin Liger were added.
There will be first round matches on 9/2 and 9/3, and then 12 winners will whittle their way down on 9/4.
The rest of the tournament has Cody Rhodes, Kamaitachi, Jeff Cobb, Mark Haskins, Dalton Castle, Pete Dunne, Sami Callihan, Tommy End, Trevor Lee, Adam Cole, John Hennigan (the name Johnny Mundo is going under here), Chris Hero, Mark Andrews, Ricochet, Matt Riddle, Marty Scurll, Matt Sydal, Kyle O’Reilly and Fenix.
When it comes to modern high-end matches this year, Sabre, Ospreay, Kamaitachi, Hero, Ricochet, Sydal and O’Reilly are almost impossible to beat. Fenix is an incredible flier. Hennigan has been great at challenging himself to keep up with the best Mexicans at their style and has been successful at it.
Others, like Haskins and Dunne are new to the U.S. Cobb is a great athlete but anything but a high flyer, like Hero, provding a stylistic contrast. And probably the guy with the biggest challenge of all, Rhodes, is probably the one the most motivated to prove something.
The Super J Cup, Best of the Super Juniors, cruiserweight classic and G-1 tournaments coming up will all be higher profile, but as strong as some or all of them may be, the Battle of Los Angeles when it comes to talent blows everything away.
The lineup was already loaded before the final four participants, Zack Sabre Jr., Will Ospreay, Pentagon Jr. and Jushin Liger were added.
There will be first round matches on 9/2 and 9/3, and then 12 winners will whittle their way down on 9/4.
The rest of the tournament has Cody Rhodes, Kamaitachi, Jeff Cobb, Mark Haskins, Dalton Castle, Pete Dunne, Sami Callihan, Tommy End, Trevor Lee, Adam Cole, John Hennigan (the name Johnny Mundo is going under here), Chris Hero, Mark Andrews, Ricochet, Matt Riddle, Marty Scurll, Matt Sydal, Kyle O’Reilly and Fenix.
When it comes to modern high-end matches this year, Sabre, Ospreay, Kamaitachi, Hero, Ricochet, Sydal and O’Reilly are almost impossible to beat. Fenix is an incredible flier. Hennigan has been great at challenging himself to keep up with the best Mexicans at their style and has been successful at it.
Others, like Haskins and Dunne are new to the U.S. Cobb is a great athlete but anything but a high flyer, like Hero, provding a stylistic contrast. And probably the guy with the biggest challenge of all, Rhodes, is probably the one the most motivated to prove something.