Week in Wrestling #6 - September 3, 2015
Wrestling News From the week of
August 28- September 3, 2015
August 28- September 3, 2015
Jimmy Snuka
On Wednesday, WWE suspended the Legends contract of Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka and began removing him from WWE.com. The process included removing his profile from the Hall of Fame section.
On Tuesday, the 72-year-old Snuka, one of the most popular pro wrestlers of the 1980s, was charged with third degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in the 1983 death of Nancy Argentino, someone he traveled the Northeast with during the last year of WWF as a Northeast territory.
He posted $100,000 bail. One of his lawyers said Wednesday that Snuka isn't fit to stand trial due to years of abuse in the ring.
We have a detailed article on the story, on the front page of the site here.
On Wednesday, WWE suspended the Legends contract of Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka and began removing him from WWE.com. The process included removing his profile from the Hall of Fame section.
On Tuesday, the 72-year-old Snuka, one of the most popular pro wrestlers of the 1980s, was charged with third degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in the 1983 death of Nancy Argentino, someone he traveled the Northeast with during the last year of WWF as a Northeast territory.
He posted $100,000 bail. One of his lawyers said Wednesday that Snuka isn't fit to stand trial due to years of abuse in the ring.
We have a detailed article on the story, on the front page of the site here.
Hulk Hogan Apologizes
There was little doubt that Hulk Hogan would resurface in a very public way at some point and ask for forgiveness after the stories in late July about him admitting being racist, using the n-word, and more in a 2006 taped conversation.
Hogan took a hit which included WWE washing its hands of him, firing him and erasing all mentions of him on the web site with the exception of not taking his archived footage off the WWE Network.
The question was whether Hogan would be able to return as anything but a heavily damaged brand, and how long it would take, given the nature of the racial remarks.
Hogan clearly didn’t have much patience, or believed that it would blow over quickly given barely five weeks after the story broke, he did a round of media with ABC including appearing a taped interview on 8/27 that appeared on the 8/31 episodes of “Good Morning America” and “Nightline.”
Hogan’s appearance was predictable. He said he was sorry, claimed the use of the N word had to do with his upbringing. It was noted in graphics that he had black celebrity friends like George Foreman and Dwayne Johnson,.who had defended him. And of course, he talked about wanting to get back in with WWE.
The interview was also covered with clips shown during ESPN Sports Center and in other media outlets.
In the interview, it was spoken as if WWE had attempted to remove Hogan from its history. Hogan, it can be argued, was the biggest star in company history. Without a question, on a worldwide basis, he was the most famous wrestler of modern times.
WWE has not commented on questions as to whether or not they consider Hogan part of the company’s Hall of Fame. Hogan was removed from the web site listing of the Hall of Fame when the company made the decision to remove mentions of him on the site, but at the time we were told that doesn’t constitute his not being considered in the Hall of Fame. The company has not made any updated clarifications and questions about his status have gone unanswered.
It was noted to us that while McMahon downplayed his role, Hogan was very valuable when it came to public relations. For example, when it came to doing major event publicity, there was nobody in the company who could deliver as much mainstream media interest in a market as Hogan. But he couldn’t do that role now, because if put in that role, all the questions would be about himself and his racial remarks as opposed to questions about whatever events WWE was trying to promote.
Hogan was almost in tears at different points of the interview.
“Please forgive me,” he said. “I’m a nice guy. I’m not the Hulk Hogan that rips his shirt off and bang, bang slams giants. I’m Terry Bollea. I’m just a normal man.”
“Just because a person makes a mistake, you don’t throw them away completely,” he said. “If everybody at their lowest point was judged on one thing they said and all of a sudden their entire career was wiped out because of one thing they said, ten or 20 years ago, it’d be a sad world.”
There was little doubt that Hulk Hogan would resurface in a very public way at some point and ask for forgiveness after the stories in late July about him admitting being racist, using the n-word, and more in a 2006 taped conversation.
Hogan took a hit which included WWE washing its hands of him, firing him and erasing all mentions of him on the web site with the exception of not taking his archived footage off the WWE Network.
The question was whether Hogan would be able to return as anything but a heavily damaged brand, and how long it would take, given the nature of the racial remarks.
Hogan clearly didn’t have much patience, or believed that it would blow over quickly given barely five weeks after the story broke, he did a round of media with ABC including appearing a taped interview on 8/27 that appeared on the 8/31 episodes of “Good Morning America” and “Nightline.”
Hogan’s appearance was predictable. He said he was sorry, claimed the use of the N word had to do with his upbringing. It was noted in graphics that he had black celebrity friends like George Foreman and Dwayne Johnson,.who had defended him. And of course, he talked about wanting to get back in with WWE.
The interview was also covered with clips shown during ESPN Sports Center and in other media outlets.
In the interview, it was spoken as if WWE had attempted to remove Hogan from its history. Hogan, it can be argued, was the biggest star in company history. Without a question, on a worldwide basis, he was the most famous wrestler of modern times.
WWE has not commented on questions as to whether or not they consider Hogan part of the company’s Hall of Fame. Hogan was removed from the web site listing of the Hall of Fame when the company made the decision to remove mentions of him on the site, but at the time we were told that doesn’t constitute his not being considered in the Hall of Fame. The company has not made any updated clarifications and questions about his status have gone unanswered.
It was noted to us that while McMahon downplayed his role, Hogan was very valuable when it came to public relations. For example, when it came to doing major event publicity, there was nobody in the company who could deliver as much mainstream media interest in a market as Hogan. But he couldn’t do that role now, because if put in that role, all the questions would be about himself and his racial remarks as opposed to questions about whatever events WWE was trying to promote.
Hogan was almost in tears at different points of the interview.
“Please forgive me,” he said. “I’m a nice guy. I’m not the Hulk Hogan that rips his shirt off and bang, bang slams giants. I’m Terry Bollea. I’m just a normal man.”
“Just because a person makes a mistake, you don’t throw them away completely,” he said. “If everybody at their lowest point was judged on one thing they said and all of a sudden their entire career was wiped out because of one thing they said, ten or 20 years ago, it’d be a sad world.”
WWE Ratings
Raw on 8/31 did its best audience since 6/15, which was the show after Money in the Bank and after the death of Dusty Rhodes.
The show did a 2.73 rating and 3.89 million viewers (1.49 viewers per home), up five percent from the show after SummerSlam, likely caused by the buzz of that show with challenges by Lesnar (not followed up), the return of Sting and the return of the Dudleys.
The final episode of the Tough Enough season on 8/25 only did 981,000 viewers, which has to be a disappointment. It was essentially flat from the previous week.
Total Divas on 8/25 did 920,000 viewers, an 11 percent drop from the prior week.
Raw on 8/31 did its best audience since 6/15, which was the show after Money in the Bank and after the death of Dusty Rhodes.
The show did a 2.73 rating and 3.89 million viewers (1.49 viewers per home), up five percent from the show after SummerSlam, likely caused by the buzz of that show with challenges by Lesnar (not followed up), the return of Sting and the return of the Dudleys.
The final episode of the Tough Enough season on 8/25 only did 981,000 viewers, which has to be a disappointment. It was essentially flat from the previous week.
Total Divas on 8/25 did 920,000 viewers, an 11 percent drop from the prior week.
Wrestlemania 34 in Philly?
Phillymag.com reported this past week that the city has put in a bid for WrestleMania 34, in 2018. The story stated that Lincoln Financial Field, the home of the Philadelphia Eagles, would host the show. It’s notable that Lincoln Financial Field is an outdoor stadium, and in the Northeast, that could be trouble due to weather, although WWE set the precedent running New Jersey.
Lincoln Financial Field holds 69,000 for football, so a WrestleMania set up would be about 64,000 legit. The story stated it would also include NXT and Raw Events at the Wells Fargo Center (the story did not mention the Hall of Fame, which would also be part of the week) as well as the Fan Fest at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
Phillymag.com reported this past week that the city has put in a bid for WrestleMania 34, in 2018. The story stated that Lincoln Financial Field, the home of the Philadelphia Eagles, would host the show. It’s notable that Lincoln Financial Field is an outdoor stadium, and in the Northeast, that could be trouble due to weather, although WWE set the precedent running New Jersey.
Lincoln Financial Field holds 69,000 for football, so a WrestleMania set up would be about 64,000 legit. The story stated it would also include NXT and Raw Events at the Wells Fargo Center (the story did not mention the Hall of Fame, which would also be part of the week) as well as the Fan Fest at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
10/3 MSG show
The updated 10/3 Madison Square Garden show is headlined by Lesnar vs. Show, which was decided upon this past week. The rest of the current card, which will likely be changed almost weekly, has Rollins vs. Cena but only the U.S. title will be at stake, Jericho vs. Owens, Ziggler vs. Rusev, Sheamus vs. Orton plus appearances by the Dudleys, Henry, New Day, Bellas and Stardust
The updated 10/3 Madison Square Garden show is headlined by Lesnar vs. Show, which was decided upon this past week. The rest of the current card, which will likely be changed almost weekly, has Rollins vs. Cena but only the U.S. title will be at stake, Jericho vs. Owens, Ziggler vs. Rusev, Sheamus vs. Orton plus appearances by the Dudleys, Henry, New Day, Bellas and Stardust
Blue Pants gets Heat in NXT
If you don’t think Sara Lee, who will be making $250,000 on her new one-year contract, isn’t going to have it bad, think about this. According to one person in the company, Leva “Blue Pants” Bates has a ton of heat, and none of it is her doing.
There is the resentment that she was flown to Brooklyn, put in an angle with the tag champs and Alexa Bliss that every woman on the roster would have wanted, that she has and sells her own merchandise and doesn’t have to split the cut, isn’t under contract so he’s not at the Performance Center going through all the daily training, and can do indies, and her rate has increased, so they believe she’s making more than they are, and being pushed more and getting over.
But HHH in NXT, totally unlike the main roster, goes with people who get over to the Full Sail crowd, and to be fair, as shown in Brooklyn, San Jose, Philadelphia, etc. that unlike the day after WrestleMania crowd whose actions are forgotten the next week on Raw, the Full Sail crowd leads the NXT crowd when it comes to reactions and getting people over wherever they go.
If you don’t think Sara Lee, who will be making $250,000 on her new one-year contract, isn’t going to have it bad, think about this. According to one person in the company, Leva “Blue Pants” Bates has a ton of heat, and none of it is her doing.
There is the resentment that she was flown to Brooklyn, put in an angle with the tag champs and Alexa Bliss that every woman on the roster would have wanted, that she has and sells her own merchandise and doesn’t have to split the cut, isn’t under contract so he’s not at the Performance Center going through all the daily training, and can do indies, and her rate has increased, so they believe she’s making more than they are, and being pushed more and getting over.
But HHH in NXT, totally unlike the main roster, goes with people who get over to the Full Sail crowd, and to be fair, as shown in Brooklyn, San Jose, Philadelphia, etc. that unlike the day after WrestleMania crowd whose actions are forgotten the next week on Raw, the Full Sail crowd leads the NXT crowd when it comes to reactions and getting people over wherever they go.
TNA Future
Even though we are now in September, nobody from Discovery, Destination America or TNA has said anything about the future of Impact. As noted here before, the Discovery Network sent out a memo in May stating that it would be dropping TNA programming at the end of September.
While TNA signed a multi-year contract with the Discovery Network, its first option period to cancel was at the end of September. At the time it was stated that the issue wasn’t ratings, but the cost of the programming and the difficulty in selling ad time.
Since that memo went out, TNA was moved from Friday to Wednesday, and put in a wrestling block with ROH (whose deal with Destination America would expire in December unless it is renewed). Ratings declined with the move from Friday to Wednesday, and never bounced back to the Friday levels. Wednesday should have been a better night and the addition of ROH should have given synergism to help both shows. One would have to consider ratings for both shows of late to be disappointing, and Destination America already removed the prime time version of ROH at 8 p.m., leaving it only with an 11 p.m. airing.
Nobody from TNA to this day has said anything when asked if they would be on the air on Destination America next month. Worse, with all the shows taped through the end of September, there has still not been an announcement of an October television taping. What can’t be considered a good sign is that Discovery en Espanol, which would air Impact replays in Spanish on Saturday afternoons, has pulled the show, while Discovery Romania and the Discovery-owned Eurosports Finland have also pulled the show as of this week. One of the deal points when the new contract was made was that Discovery would be able to syndicate Impact in any market that TNA didn’t already have an existing television contract.
Even though we are now in September, nobody from Discovery, Destination America or TNA has said anything about the future of Impact. As noted here before, the Discovery Network sent out a memo in May stating that it would be dropping TNA programming at the end of September.
While TNA signed a multi-year contract with the Discovery Network, its first option period to cancel was at the end of September. At the time it was stated that the issue wasn’t ratings, but the cost of the programming and the difficulty in selling ad time.
Since that memo went out, TNA was moved from Friday to Wednesday, and put in a wrestling block with ROH (whose deal with Destination America would expire in December unless it is renewed). Ratings declined with the move from Friday to Wednesday, and never bounced back to the Friday levels. Wednesday should have been a better night and the addition of ROH should have given synergism to help both shows. One would have to consider ratings for both shows of late to be disappointing, and Destination America already removed the prime time version of ROH at 8 p.m., leaving it only with an 11 p.m. airing.
Nobody from TNA to this day has said anything when asked if they would be on the air on Destination America next month. Worse, with all the shows taped through the end of September, there has still not been an announcement of an October television taping. What can’t be considered a good sign is that Discovery en Espanol, which would air Impact replays in Spanish on Saturday afternoons, has pulled the show, while Discovery Romania and the Discovery-owned Eurosports Finland have also pulled the show as of this week. One of the deal points when the new contract was made was that Discovery would be able to syndicate Impact in any market that TNA didn’t already have an existing television contract.
Bram Arrested and Suspended
Thomas Latimer, 29, who works as Bram with TNA, was suspended on 8/31, the day after an arrest on felony counts of domestic battery by strangulation and false imprisonment of his girlfriend Ashley Allen.
Latimer is the former husband of Ashley Fliehr, who is Charlotte in WWE. Fliehr was not involved in the incident. The two split up earlier this year and, according to a family source, are officially divorced.
The arrest took place after officers responded to a call about a disturbance.
According to a release by the Gulfport Police Department, the officers observed evidence of a physical altercation and their investigation revealed that, after the couple had been arguing, the woman felt threatened and sought refuse in her bedroom.
The release stated that Latimer followed her into the bedroom, closed the door, and refused to allow her to leave. He then pushed the woman onto the bed and was holding her down by the throat.
TNA released a statement saying:
TNA has been advised by the Gulfport, Florida Police Department that Thomas Latimer, known as Bram, has been arrested and charged with two felony counts of domestic battery and false imprisonment. TNA is working to gather facts and obtain additional information related to the arrest.
“The charges against Thomas Latimer are serious, and he is immediately and indefinitely suspended from any future TNA-sanctioned events awaiting the outcome of the case,” said TNA Executive Vice President of Television and Talent John Gaburick.
Thomas Latimer, 29, who works as Bram with TNA, was suspended on 8/31, the day after an arrest on felony counts of domestic battery by strangulation and false imprisonment of his girlfriend Ashley Allen.
Latimer is the former husband of Ashley Fliehr, who is Charlotte in WWE. Fliehr was not involved in the incident. The two split up earlier this year and, according to a family source, are officially divorced.
The arrest took place after officers responded to a call about a disturbance.
According to a release by the Gulfport Police Department, the officers observed evidence of a physical altercation and their investigation revealed that, after the couple had been arguing, the woman felt threatened and sought refuse in her bedroom.
The release stated that Latimer followed her into the bedroom, closed the door, and refused to allow her to leave. He then pushed the woman onto the bed and was holding her down by the throat.
TNA released a statement saying:
TNA has been advised by the Gulfport, Florida Police Department that Thomas Latimer, known as Bram, has been arrested and charged with two felony counts of domestic battery and false imprisonment. TNA is working to gather facts and obtain additional information related to the arrest.
“The charges against Thomas Latimer are serious, and he is immediately and indefinitely suspended from any future TNA-sanctioned events awaiting the outcome of the case,” said TNA Executive Vice President of Television and Talent John Gaburick.
Ratings
TNA Impact on 8/26 did 279,000 viewers at 9 p.m., and the replay at midnight did 83,000 viewers. The combined 362,000 viewers was down nine percent from the prior week.
ROH on 8/26 did 149,000 viewers, which is what the show is doing just about every week with one show airing in the 11 p.m. time slot.
A real bad sign is that both TNA and ROH both had an median viewership age that night of 57.
TNA Impact on 8/26 did 279,000 viewers at 9 p.m., and the replay at midnight did 83,000 viewers. The combined 362,000 viewers was down nine percent from the prior week.
ROH on 8/26 did 149,000 viewers, which is what the show is doing just about every week with one show airing in the 11 p.m. time slot.
A real bad sign is that both TNA and ROH both had an median viewership age that night of 57.
ROH PPV
The updated 9/18 PPV lineup from San Antonio is Silas Young vs. Dalton Castle with Young getting possession of The Boys if he wins, Cedric Alexander vs. Moose in a no DQ match, ACH vs. Matt Sydal in match three of a best-of-five series, Mark & Jay Briscoe vs. a mystery team, Michael Elgin vs. A.J. Styles vs. Roderick Strong vs. Adam Cole in a match where the winner gets an ROH title shot, Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian defend the tag titles in a three-way against Matt Taven & Michael Bennett and The Young Bucks, Jay Lethal vs. Bobby Fish for the TV title and Lethal vs. Kyle O’Reilly for the ROH title headlines
The updated 9/18 PPV lineup from San Antonio is Silas Young vs. Dalton Castle with Young getting possession of The Boys if he wins, Cedric Alexander vs. Moose in a no DQ match, ACH vs. Matt Sydal in match three of a best-of-five series, Mark & Jay Briscoe vs. a mystery team, Michael Elgin vs. A.J. Styles vs. Roderick Strong vs. Adam Cole in a match where the winner gets an ROH title shot, Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian defend the tag titles in a three-way against Matt Taven & Michael Bennett and The Young Bucks, Jay Lethal vs. Bobby Fish for the TV title and Lethal vs. Kyle O’Reilly for the ROH title headlines
Thank you for Reading
And that's the news for the week. Be sure to check Causioncreations.com front page, everyday, for TV reviews, PPV previews, breaking news and commentary articles.
And that's the news for the week. Be sure to check Causioncreations.com front page, everyday, for TV reviews, PPV previews, breaking news and commentary articles.