Wrestling: The Baron Corbin Era

[mikeyg27]

From the camera angle it looked like a diving headbutt but am I right in thinking it was a shoulder charge with his right shoulder that just looked like a headbutt?

Yeah, I thought it was a headbutt at first too but on the replay it just looked like a spear without the arms wrapped around.

Also, I just want to say that Jay White's beard is the missing piece of the puzzle for him. Looks like a villainous shit now instead of an emo teenager.

[Mobius]

Jay White reminds me of Ziggy Sobotka

Love Dragon Lee's tope suicida. Tozawa's is nice too

So Mark Calloway, I hear you're a racist now?

[sevendaughters]

I'd been fine with all the Ibushi-Naito matches up to this one. They're not safe but they know what they're doing. Yesterday just went a bit too far.

[Deanjam]

I'm already a big fan of the Moxley/Shota Umino pairing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL1-mg00s1c

[sevendaughters]

can't tell you how excited I am for KENTA in G1. the real upside of WWE just forgetting people or burying them is that people know the score now and welcome people like heroes. anyway, NJPW has needed someone who can get rowdy since Shibata self-owned.

[kitsofan34]

Are you confident his body can hold up to a G1, sevendaughters?

[sevendaughters]

Are you confident his body can hold up to a G1, sevendaughters?

I suppose he is prone to breakdown more than most. I'd give him Yano in his block and a couple of quick finishes (flash pin, blood-boiling hatebrawl double count-out) and maximise him for the big matches. I expect him to get a big win over a top name and then headline a show later in the year for a title.

[Spode]

'WWE has confirmed that Triple H will be teaming with AJ Styles, Anderson and Gallows for the Japanese tour.'

Never change, Triple H

[boki]

'WWE has confirmed that Triple H will be teaming with AJ Styles, Anderson and Gallows for the Japanese tour.'

Never change, Triple H

Mallet Club

[Ja'moke]

AEW Fyter Fest is going to be streaming on B/R Live for FREE. I hope that means it'll just air on ITV4 here.

[Deanjam]

Megalolz.

As was predicted, Raw last night, in doing 2.13 million viewers, did the lowest mark in its modern history with the exception of Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

[Timothy]

Thats due to NBA Finals as predicted.

The big NBA Finals game between the Raptors and the Warriors drew 18.217 million viewers at 9pm on ABC.   

[hummingofevil]

Thats due to NBA Finals as predicted.

It's due to Raw being absolute toss. What other thing to people get away with the constant excuses because people are actively chosing to do something other than watch their thing? Its football season, NBA playoffs, a holiday, Trump is doing a speech, etc, etc. Raw is down 20% year on year because it is 20% shitter than it was last year which was very shit anyway. IF Raw wasn't toss people would watch it anyway. The basketball WAS really good though TBF.

The point isn't that this weeks was some record low (it was) but that the overall trend is that is sinking. Numbers dropping week after week and year after year. Hardly surprising with the fact SS Down was so grotty and the card for Stormfront or whatever the next PPV is called is so unappealing.

Looking at the UK ratings that puts RAW as equivalent to an episode of University Challenge or The Chase or Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls. And that is just viewers the percentage and actual ratings would be a lot lower. $1,000,000,000. Mental.

[An Actual Propeller]

Thats due to NBA Finals as predicted.

Raw and Nitro both did over double the ratings last Monday's show got while clashing with the NBA finals in 1998, when the finals got 18.3 million viewers.

Raw did the lowest non-holiday figure in modern history because far fewer people these days want to sit through three hours of shit.

[Moribunderast]

It's anecdotal (re: WWE viewership) but it's been very noticeable on the (often awful) Wrestling Observer/F4O board that the drop-off in fandom is becoming more rapid and pronounced. The Smackdown threads on there barely reach 3 pages now when they used to be 10+ and the Raw threads are tracking the same way. Even the staunchest WWE loyalists and/or trolls have given up on it there. You actually don't see anyone praising WWE's current output as good in that place - and there have ALWAYS been people willing to do that until the past few months. I think the double-pronged push of Corbin and Shane is doing a real number on people.

Got front row seats for NJPW in Melbourne in a few weeks. The card is hit and miss (no Naito, Ibushi or Suzuki, which saddenes me - especially Ibushi) but I'm very excited to get a singles Ospreay title defence and the El Phantasmo vs. Rocky Romero rematch. Going to be great to see Tanahashi in person, even if he is practically a Weekend At Bernie's version of himself at the moment. And I get to see Yano live for the first time, which will be a delight.

AEW Fyter Fest being free in the US is good - hopefully that translates into it being free for non-Americans. Good little card shaping up.

Also, just to echo some others: Moxley taking Umino as his own personal Young Boy is fantastic and if they tag during the G1 I'll end up having to watch the undercards for those matches.

[sevendaughters]

Raw and SD threads way down on DVDVR. People not even criticising it. They just make a few gags and leave.

I do have some sympathy when something huge goes head-to-head with the show, especially in the fragmented media marketplace, but huge drops generally indicate you put on a show people did not want to see. They think that they just need to get to the FOX deal and they'll be fine, "a rising tide" as they keep calling it. But the NBA games draw less than the big football games by a fair chunk. So it doesn't stack up.

[cliggg]

Megalolz.

Last weeks's Raw:
8pm: 2,380,000
9pm: 2,086,000
10pm: 1,909,000

The week before that:
8 p.m. 2.58 million viewers
9 p.m. 2.39 million viewers
10 p.m. 2.08 million viewers

400,000-500,000 people watching live couldn't finish it. Not to worry though, Shane o' Mac will fix everything when he is champ-champ.

[BeardFaceMan]

Thats due to NBA Finals as predicted.

Its not just the viewing figures is it though, its the live attendance too. There was that picture of huge draw Becky Lynch during her entrance where most of the hard camera side of the venue was empty and all the upper levels were tarped off. Everyone is starting to give up on WWE now, the hardcore wrestling fans, the hardcore WWE fans, the casuals, the tv viewers, the people going to live shows, everything is down.

[up_the_hampipe]

They still do big numbers on YouTube.

[An Actual Propeller]

They still do big numbers on YouTube.

Not much consolation to USA Network who pay WWE hundreds of millions of $$$ for this bollocks.

[up_the_hampipe]

Not much consolation to USA Network who pay WWE hundreds of millions of $$$ for this bollocks.

Nope, just saying to BeardFaceMan that they're not quite down on everything.

[cliggg]

Its not just the viewing figures is it though, its the live attendance too. There was that picture of huge draw Becky Lynch during her entrance where most of the hard camera side of the venue was empty and all the upper levels were tarped off. Everyone is starting to give up on WWE now, the hardcore wrestling fans, the hardcore WWE fans, the casuals, the tv viewers, the people going to live shows, everything is down.

Profit is not down, until the profits drop it will stay the same. Every now and then Vince will get fired up and decide to change things to fix the ratings and the rest but will lose enthusiasm for it soon after, probably after seeing the most recent quarterlies.

[An Actual Propeller]

Nope, just saying to BeardFaceMan that they're not quite down on everything.

It's a metric that doesn't mean anything for the bottom line though.  It's meaningless.

[up_the_hampipe]

It's a metric that doesn't mean anything for the bottom line though.  It's meaningless.

I'm just pointing out that there's still interest from somewhere in terms of fan engagement, not business.

[An Actual Propeller]

I'm just pointing out that there's still interest from somewhere in terms of fan engagement, not business.

More fans opting to watch five minute clips on YouTube rather than three hours on the telly means that fan engagement is down.

(Depends what you mean by "fan engagement" I suppose.)

[sevendaughters]

They're still incredibly profitable and there is little chance of them WCW-ing themselves for a while. That said they are also incredibly vulnerable to the next round of TV rights signings being not quite as generous as the current ones. The real issue is insufficient motivation on behalf of the wrestlers, though. They have absolutely zero incentive beyond the vagaries of professional pride (which is often stripped from them) to deliver something compelling within the straitjacket they have to wear. When people want to walk out to be part of a total unknown...that's bad. Imagine if AEW takes off.

[Ja'moke]

More fans opting to watch five minute clips on YouTube rather than three hours on the telly means that fan engagement is down.

(Depends what you mean by "fan engagement" I suppose.)

Also, YouTube is worldwide (not Titus), so you'd expect the viewing figures to be higher there anyway.

I haven't watched Raw or SD properly for weeks, except for that Raw I switched on when everyone was saying what a trainwreck it was. I pretty much just watch the Firefly Fun House and 24/7 title clips on YT at this point.

[Mobius]

You would really think in 2019 with the roster they have that a McMahon wouldn't be taking up 30 minutes of Raw and Smackdown. No wonder the writers don't give a fuck. No wonder half the roster seem to want out.

It's so fucking boring. But I suppose they're making more money than ever so what do they care?

[sevendaughters]

What is kind of amazing for the Shane run is that he's not part of creative at all. There is clear will from Vince to have his non-wrestler son (who I maintain had some good matches at the turn of the century) on the telly all the time. Additional problem is that you can't say it is definitively holding any one person back; the organic break-out star era is long dead.

[Delete Delete Delete]

Pretty much one of the only Attuide "Wrestlers" they still have on the roster. I wonder if Vince thinks Shane is the a big star because he came from that era?