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Wrestling In The Time Of COVID-19: the new thread

Started by sevendaughters, April 06, 2020, 09:29:30 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Ja'moke

Quote from: Old Thrashbarg on April 08, 2020, 07:14:33 PM
I don't really know what to make of Jimmy Havoc. Instinctively, he seems good in the ring and he can talk. He seems a bit too nice, though, to be the nasty, sadistic heel he presumably is based on his style and actions. But then is that part of the character, being slightly disarming, making him more menacing? Or is he just not a good enough actor to hide his genuine pleasantness?

I don't know anything about him prior to AEW, so maybe I'm just completely misreading his character.

His best work was in the early days of Progress. A proper nasty bastard.

Timothy

Fun Dynamite!!!!

Only negative point: Hardy is in no way an addition. Hope he reinvents himself because this shtick is getting old.

Ja'moke

Jericho had some many great lines on commentary. "I'll take a fork and cut a bitch," being a stand-out. I also enjoyed his growing hatred of the guy in the pineapple shirt.

That Britt Baker vs Shida match was really good too, and Jericho helped put it over huge. Also, Britt having her nose bust open made her look insane.

BeardFaceMan


magval

Feels to me like the weaknesses of that gimmick will be in harsh light in AEW. It made sense that people liked the stuffed he filmed at home, it was fun, but only TNA were stupid enough to put that shit on TV and I honestly think it's damaging Jericho to have to pretend to take this idiot seriously.

hummingofevil

Really enjoyed AEW. Agree that Jericho was utterly brilliant on commentary and the extra crowd was great. Well, unless they all catch the COVID and die but there was more than enough atmosphere to make it work. Britt Hiraku was highlight but Cody Spears certainly better than I expected.

Jake's delivery of the "better to remain silent and assumed a fool" proverb was magnificent too. :)

Going to actually watch NXT now. First time since it's been a 2 hour show. Sounds like this Gargaon Ciampa match is a (no) crowd splitter. I've read an article this afternoon claiming it is the worst wrestling match ever. I suspect that is slightly harsh.


Deanjam

UFC 249 was cancelled due to pressure from their TV backers. Finally some sense. Would like to see a similar thing in WWE [edit] and AEW, but I doubt it.

Deanjam

Also, NXT beat AEW in the ratings by 1000 viewers. 693,000 to 692,000.

up_the_hampipe

AEW's dead, Ja'moke in shambles. Somewhere Triple H smiles, Jack Whitehall sheds a single tear.

Deanjam

Hey guys, were a miniscule militia of malcontents.


Ja'moke

Quote from: up_the_hampipe on April 09, 2020, 11:57:38 PM
AEW's dead, Ja'moke in shambles. Somewhere Triple H smiles, Jack Whitehall sheds a single tear.

Haha. BUT THE DEMOS.

For real though, NXT was still ranked outside the Top 50 shows (because ratings are ranked by demos), which surprised me as I expected them to get a decent bump with them billing it as TakeOver USA.

But overall it seems a lot of people just don't want to watch wrestling in an empty arena, which is understandable.

You've got to worry about the financial hit AEW is taking too. For a new company couldn't this be devastating? Losing all that revenue from live shows and merch sold at shows. I know the Khans are billionaires but that doesn't mean they're just going to funnel money into the company.

hummingofevil

In the AEW podast with Tony Khan* the general figure being bandied around was $30million to set up AEW and that with the signing of the new TV deal they are profitable 12 months ahead of time.
Financially, I think they wil be absoultely fine even if this goes on for best part of this year.

TK mentioned that he "put a business proposal to his dad" so basically AEW is all Shad Khan's cash and they have a budget and want to run it as a business but if it all goes to shit I am sure they will cope.

In comparison Fulham lost about £40million the year they got promoted to the Premier League but then spent £100 million + wages (top earn of £5 million a year but not many over £2million - squad of 22 - somewhere between £30 -£50 million). Then they got prize money of £100million for getting relegated and another £60million to come in parachute payments.

Point is, looking at all that it doesn't seem that the Khan family are that arsed about a lost £50million investment here or there. H

But then if you compare this with the Jags then it is (literally and metaphorically) a different ball game. You pretty much looking at a scale of x10 the Fulham numbers. Near billions. The money in NFL is insane and with a lack of relegation there is a guaranteed income (unless the Autumn season doesn't go ahead - if that is the case then AEW being fucked will be the last thing on all of our minds)

How did they make their money? Car parts?  Going to take a hit in short term but surely that is a business that is here to stay long term. And wasn't there accusations of something dodgy too? Oh well...

In summary AEW will be fine.

*The AEW Podcasts with Tony and Aubrey are really good and I would also recommend The Fight Game podcast that is GG from WOR doing his own thing. It is free and if you like me you are burning through podcasts it's a nice addition to the list.

sevendaughters

Jimmy Havoc is a proper embarrassment of a wrestler. Not even a good deathmatch worker. Nothing about him screams hardman at all. He's like Dani Filth.


Ja'moke

Some good points there, hummingofevil.

And glad to see Revival finally released. Surely AEW bound. Just a shame it's admist a pandemic lockdown. Actually that's probably why WWE released them now, because they know AEW can't immediately capitalise.

Deanjam

XFL is done. Can't see it restarting in 2 years.


BeardFaceMan

That's probably the best outcome to the XFL that Vince could have ever had.

up_the_hampipe

It sounded like XFL was doing okay before corona came along. I know it had a lot of fans on social media, at least.

Ja'moke

PWInsider:

QuoteWWE has been and will continue to tape a ton of content over the next several days at the WWE Performance Center, taking the company (if all works out as planned) all the way through to the Money in the Bank PPV.

Similar to Wrestlemania, the company brought in a number of talents and have them all sequestered in one hotel that the company has taken over, and will tape all their material in waves to insure they follow CDC standards under the current environment. Talents began traveling in Wednesday AM with local talents who live in Florida driving directly in for tapings.

We are told that WWE will be taping content for future episodes of Raw, Smackdown, Main Event, 205 Live and NXT and that the company will change the ropes, turnbuckles, canvas and aprons in between matches as well as do a complete sanitizing of the PC to insure talents are kept healthy. All talents and staff have to be cleared by medical personel before they are allowed to enter the PC, need to wear facemasks whenever they are not on camera and much practice social distancing with the exception of when they are putting matches together or performing."

Deanjam

Wear masks and keep apart and then get in the ring and rub your arses in each other faces. Brilliant.

Ja'moke

They're also totally ignoring that you can contract the virus and not show symptoms and still spread it. So they really have no way of telling all their staff and talent are virus free.

Ja'moke

That was a genuinely really good Smackdown tonight. The benefit of them taping multiple shows like this means they have to plan out several weeks of storylines, rather than Vince rewriting them 10 minutes before they go live. So there is a cohesiveness to them.

Also the no crowd has allowed them to let loose a bit and have more fun. The whole Usos, New Day, Miz and Morrison bit a great example of that. But also Bayley and Sasha have finally found their groove on the mic, some real Owens and Jericho vibes tonight.

So as much as it feels dirty for them continuing to do these shows, at least their good.

Moribunderast

Quote from: Ja'moke on April 11, 2020, 03:49:09 AM
That was a genuinely really good Smackdown tonight. The benefit of them taping multiple shows like this means they have to plan out several weeks of storylines, rather than Vince rewriting them 10 minutes before they go live. So there is a cohesiveness to them.

WADE BARRETT: I'm afraid I have some BAD NEWS...

Apparently they taped that Smackdown during the day and then Vince scrapped the taped version and made them do it live for FOX. Seems WWE are worried because their contracts stipulate all but three shows a year need to be live so they did the show twice. That's some genuine Death Of WCW shit.


Ja'moke

Quote from: Moribunderast on April 11, 2020, 09:47:25 AM
WADE BARRETT: I'm afraid I have some BAD NEWS...

Apparently they taped that Smackdown during the day and then Vince scrapped the taped version and made them do it live for FOX. Seems WWE are worried because their contracts stipulate all but three shows a year need to be live so they did the show twice. That's some genuine Death Of WCW shit.

Yeah, according to Ryan Satin, all shows will now be going live again:

https://www.prowrestlingsheet.com/wwe-raw-smackdown-nxt-resume-live-performance-center/

peanutbutter

Hearing someone in WWE was diagnosed with it today last week

up_the_hampipe

Quote from: peanutbutter on April 11, 2020, 11:21:04 PM
Hearing someone in WWE was diagnosed with it today last week

Yeah, apparently they went out for dinner with some health care professionals after a batch of tapings. Fucking genius there pal.

Hoping this Ronda shit currently causing a stir on Wrestling Twitter is all just a work. If not, everyone involved (except for Ronda, surprisingly) should be embarrassed.

Ja'moke

From Fightful:

QuoteWWE experienced a positive COVID-19 test, if several members of the roster are to be believed.

Throughout the week, Fightful has been approached by nearly a dozen members of the WWE roster, and within the industry about an alleged COVID-19 positive test in WWE. Days later, Fightful was able to obtain a WWE memo that was sent out via the company's internal app on April 5. We are not including the name of the person noted to have been infected.

It read as follows:

We have just been notified that (name redacted by Fightful) was diagnosed with COVID-19. WWE doctors spoke with (redacted) this morning and reported (they) last had contact with anyone at WWE on March 26 at the Performance Center. As you know, (redacted) is not an in-ring performer and we believe this matter is low-risk to you per the following chronology:

The memo stated that the person infected did provide their consent to share their name and status, noting that they're feeling much better. However, for the privacy of said person, we'll summarize the next paragraph in saying that the person tested positive for COVID-19 after they and their roommate became symptomatic.

The memo continued:

Those of you who were potentially exposed would be cleared for travel by the evening of Thursday, April 9 at the latest, since the last possible exposure to any WWE talent personnel should have been at least 14 days prior.

It closed with Paul Levesque (Triple H) signing off.

Fightful contacted WWE reps multiple times throughout the week, and initially did not gain a confirmation or denial on the story. Towards the end of the week, we did not get a response for a follow up, but were told the memo would be looked in to. We've also reached out to the individual themselves, but can't verify if they've received the inquiry. Please do not inquire about the identity of the positive result, as we will not be providing it.

We should note that we can not confirm the positive test, as we don't have official word from WWE or the person in question, only multiple reports of the memo being issued. When asking members of the roster and team, one said they "would not dispute" the findings. Fightful heard back from talent across all brands about the memo. Others were unhappy with the work environment, while another stated they didn't fear the illness and were willing to work as they need to work to justify their pay.

Just yesterday, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon deemed that WWE programming would resume live after originally planning to tape weeks of content ahead of time.

Later confirmed by WWE via Ryan Satin:

QuoteWWE confirmed this in a statement released to Pro Wrestling Sheet which says:

    "A WWE employee has tested positive for COVID-19. We believe this matter is low risk to WWE talent and staff, as the individual and a roommate became symptomatic in the days following exposure to two people working in acute health care on the evening of March 26, after WWE's TV production on a closed set was already complete. The employee had no contact with anyone from WWE since being exposed to those two individuals, is doing well, and made a complete recovery."

BeardFaceMan

Quote from: up_the_hampipe on April 11, 2020, 11:41:40 PM
Yeah, apparently they went out for dinner with some health care professionals after a batch of tapings. Fucking genius there pal.

Hoping this Ronda shit currently causing a stir on Wrestling Twitter is all just a work. If not, everyone involved (except for Ronda, surprisingly) should be embarrassed.

Yeah, embarrasing is the right word. Wrestlers have this huuuuuge chip on their shoulder about the word 'fake', they always take it that people mean that there's no physicality involved or it doesn't hurt "wahh I got injured doing the thing I love, it really hurts actually, want me to show you how much it hurts motherfucker?!?!". Ronda has wrestled for WWE and fought for UFC, she knows damn well that wrestlers actually hit each other, she's clearly using the word "fake" to mean "pre-determined outcome"as in, not a real fight, the same way the majority of people who use that word mean it. So to see some of the reactions from wrestlers that Ronda got, yeah, it's fucking embarrassing.