Wrestling: Probs mostly about AEW TNT debut and Smackdown on Fox

[cliggg]

Seemingly this NXT TV deal is worth somewhere around $50,000,000 per year to WWE. They are already making lots more money from this than AEW will in their first 5 years if they last that long. There is no war, WWE have already won. The best I can hope for is that AEW survive and put on a good show and all WWE programming improves.
There is also talk of keeping Smackdown 2  hours long when they move channel but then have an hour of 205 Live or a wrap up show like Talking Smack. Apparently they have a 3 hour slot on the Friday nights so hopefully it won't become a 3 hour Smackdown.

[sevendaughters]

hmm. don't know about the war being won. the battles might be won in terms of mid-term financial success. but right now WWE risk tunnelling under their own foundations with too much irrelevant content, overpaying middling talent just to stay, Saudi flirtation, XFL, an increasingly out of touch owner, and not making any real stars. it's a show without any cool factor whatsoever and is total herpes to advertisers. they won't die in 5 years but there's real Founder's Syndrome there.

[hummingofevil]

Yeah. Using money as a basis for who "wins" is nonsense. Shah Khan, Tony's father owns Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham. Just to put that into context before the Saudi money it was said Brock Lesnar was earning $3million a year. Let's assume that with the Saudi money and FOX/USA deals he is now on $10million a year. The Jaguars have 4 players on their roster who are earning +$10million a year and another 25 who earn more than $1million. Fulham have dropped out of the Premier League where the real big money is but they were paying 22 players over $1million a year. Shah Khah has $4billion to his name - money really isn't an issue.

It has been reported that AEW has a working budget and that they are still within that budget and that budget did not expect sold out shows at every event. Financially, for now they are doing just fine.

In fact I would be more concerned for WWE as what Vince has done with RAW and Smackdown is reach a level of financial success that reflects in the stock price. If this deal is not bettered next time round then that stock will come a tumbling. NXT is a gamble (though USA has relatively low ratings so should be fine) and the XFL is DESIGNED to leak money for the next 3 years. Vince has that cash for now but if NXT fails to draw, XFL is a flop and the Network continues to hemorage subscriptions then being a public company they could be in real trouble (eventually).

---

The whole thing should be judged on the quality of their output. Are the shows good? Do we want to watch them? The idea of a "war" should be fun if it gets people watching wrestling but beyond that there is a great deal of hot air being blown.

[Huxleys Babkins]

You only need to look at the Monday night wars to see why the amount of money being thrown around is irrelevant. No money could save WCW once Time Warner dropped Nitro and Thunder from TBS due to poor ratings.

[sevendaughters]

right now I'm not sure I want to sit down and watch weekly 2hr shows of absolutely any wrestling. even if UWF arose from the grave with its 1989 roster i would be like "i'll wait to the ppv". actually no wait I'd watch Maeda crush soupcans all day.

[Famous Mortimer]

So, my lovely new home*, St Louis, is getting an XFL team. I guess I'll go and see at least one game?

The local alternative paper is having a laugh with the terrible name the team has been given, too.

https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2019/08/21/here-are-some-better-name-ideas-for-st-louis-new-xfl-team-the-battlehawks




* unbearably humid shithole, but whatever

[sevendaughters]

the presser for the XFL team names was hilariously shit and weirdly homoerotic.

also Hawks are cool on their own, don't need to stick 'battle' on to make some sad point. that said I think the logos and names are mostly...fine.

[Deanjam]

No idea why St Louis weren't called the Vipers to tie them to Randy Orton. Especially since they used it for Tampa.

[boki]

weirdly homoerotic

That's Vinnie Mac for ya.

[peanutbutter]

If Vince isn't planning on selling up in 3 years I'd be pretty surprised tbh, surely within WWE they must realise that the most recent round of deals has been down to a crazily fortunate environment. WWE as an independent entity seems like it'd be on really shakey ground for a few years from now. As a subsidiary of Fox or Universal or Disney or someone else, they'll be just fine.

[Ja'moke]

Becky and Seth engaged. Wonder if Vince will make them have the wedding in the ring on Raw.

[cliggg]

Becky and Seth engaged. Wonder if Vince will make them have the wedding in the ring on Raw.

There has to be a live sex celebration first.

[Mobius]

I'm stanning for Andrade and Charlotte

[Deanjam]

Well this sucks for many reasons.

[Ja'moke]

I was worried that was going to happen after Meltzer mentioned he was suffering from an elbow injury the other day. Terrible timing.

[sevendaughters]

PAC replaces

[Ja'moke]

Sucks about Mox, but PAC v Omega will be ace.

[up_the_hampipe]

While I enjoy the 24/7 Championship shenanigans, and Drake Maverick having a prominent role, the "I haven't consummated my marriage" joke got old after like the second mention of it. WWE really love to hammer at the same punchline like an excited child that has just made the grown ups laugh.

[peanutbutter]

Does anyone else find that youtube RELENTLESSLY pushes that Wrestling With Regret channel on them? I'm a Between the Sheets and Lapsed Fan listener, so that channel is horribly lacking in new detail for me, the presenter guy is horrifically unfunny too. I repeatedly flag them as not interested but it keeps coming...

[hummingofevil]

Does anyone else find that youtube RELENTLESSLY pushes that Wrestling With Regret channel on them? I'm a Between the Sheets and Lapsed Fan listener, so that channel is horribly lacking in new detail for me, the presenter guy is horrifically unfunny too. I repeatedly flag them as not interested but it keeps coming...

It must be what you watching. I don't know how YouTube algorithms work but all I get is Grammerly and it is enought to want to find out Mr Grammerly and throw him (it's bound to be a him) and throw him and his analytical interface into the fucking Sun.

Take it everyone has stopped watching Raw then. I have. So have this instead. PC legit fucked his face up and needed 17 stitches to his forehead. "Oh what for? Must have been worth it!" I hear you ask. Nope

https://twitter.com/BodyslamNet/status/1165400915257565184?s=20

Daft cunt. I genuinely think he has some terminal illness and has months to live. Can't be any other explanation. The daft cunt.

Edit: just realised there is a hard cam angle of it that is geniuely funny as fuck.

https://twitter.com/NhatHoangRBLX/status/1165404319585361920

If that isn't the most GIF-able thing I have seen in years I don't know what is.

[Ja'moke]

I skimmed through Raw. Vince really hates tag team wrestling doesn't he? Not only are the tag champions a thrown together team, but now so are the number one contenders too. They couldn't even be bothered to give a short backstage segment to explain Ziggler and Roode teaming up. It was just... these fuckers are a team now, deal with it while they beat the entire tag division in one night.

[peanutbutter]

Jesus, I forgot Raw was on last night! Hearing Vince has tore up the script for Smackdown tonight

[Ja'moke]

If anyone ever doubts Bayley's in ring skill, she just got a really solid match out of Lacey Evans. (Evans did well too to be fair, but Bayley took the lead there).

[Huxleys Babkins]

Gable vs. Benjamin is every bit the clinic you'd expect it to be. Wonderful stuff.

[Ja'moke]

All the matches on Smackdown were enjoyable actually. Ali versus Murphy was every bit as good as you'd expect, and Big E whooping Orton was great.

[hummingofevil]

I saw the Ali match and it was decent. Tempted back in by these King of the Ring matches. Will keep closer eye next week。

Have a little bit of extra time now having given up on Cornette. Even though I don't agree with this Young Bucks rant from a couple a weeks ago I thought it was funny (in it's nonsense stupidity) but his doubling down on Jordynne Grace is just pathetic. The obvious bullying aspect would enough for me to switch anyone off normally but with Cornette it is always a fine line with what you can put up with from him but him calling out for her wrestling is just stupid. The Impact Women's division is very good at the moment and she is a big part of that so it's obvious Cornette is just playing up his gimmick to his sycophantic followers. The fact that it is he who is like Trump preaching to his selected audience of arse-kissers is totally lost on him.

Just another Hillary loving centrist who has lost his mind.

And Brian Last can go fuck himself. Toadying cunt.

[Utter Shit]

If anyone ever doubts Bayley's in ring skill, she just got a really solid match out of Lacey Evans. (Evans did well too to be fair, but Bayley took the lead there).

You forgot to mention that it produced one of the funniest moments of the year!

https://twitter.com/Maffewgregg/status/1166668660162879488

[Ja'moke]

You forgot to mention that it produced one of the funniest moments of the year!

https://twitter.com/Maffewgregg/status/1166668660162879488

You talk too much... you never shut up!

[boki]

Does anyone else find that youtube RELENTLESSLY pushes that Wrestling With Regret channel on them?

I'm subscribed to the channel, so I'd expect to see it pop up in my recommended vids, so I'm probably no use to you here.  I really like Brian's work and personality, but I can see how it wouldn't be to everyone's tastes.  WwW's one of the more successful wrestling channels, so it stands to reason that YT would shove it at you a fair bit.

[Ja'moke]

I wrote about AEW's All Out, for those interested: https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a28843987/aew-all-out-all-elite-wrestling-2019-matches-predictions-wwe/