JNLister

Here's a massive collection of clippings about the event and the various closed circuit shows: https://rapidshare.com/files/3434091359/ali...20clippings.pdf

Just an FYI, the references to ITO in my McManus bio should read ITV. No idea how they got changed, though the printing out/retyping e-mails story mentioned on here would possibly explain it.

This thread won't really get going for the first 15 posts.

89 is notable because it did better than the following WrestleMania. Part of that was just inevitable decline as the product called and the PPV market got more saturated, but there was definitely a degree of "Jeez, Hogan-Warrior drew less than Zeus."

The WM4 figures are from the 1988 Observer yearbook. I'm not 100% on where I got the WM2 figure. The 1986 Observer yearbook has the 250,000 PPV you mention plus 350,000 for closed circuit, though notes both of them are estimates. Though I don't recall the precise source, the 319,000 I had for closed circuit sound like a more precise figure that emerged later on, perhaps after Dave got to see the company books. My gut instinct is that 250,000 for PPV seems a little high, but I don't think I've seen a precise figure to contradict it.

Most of the talk I've seen of Hogan-Andre being horrible is from 87 itself, either in post-show reviews or year end awards. With that context you have to remember that people were looking at it without the benefit of 25 years of it being hyped as the most iconic moment in wrestling industry, and on the night itself you're talking about people watching it barely half an hour after seeing Steamboat-Savage.

In the UKFF thread we noticed the weirdness of IX bucking the trend. However, judging by the buyrate (the percentage figure) it seems there was a very significant increase in PPV availability between VIII. That would explain the sudden leap in raw number of buys and if you take that out, you're left with a consistent pattern of decline from 1989 to 1997, which certainly fits in with the popularity of the product as a whole. Why the PPV universe grew so much I'm not sure -- the only notable change I can find is Request TV adding satellite rather than just being cable.

One way to do it is 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, minus one point for a loss. That way you need both a high win percentage and a lot of matches to come out top.

I think you've probably got all this in the edited original post now, but here's a list I put together a few months back for the Mania shows. I think they all came directly or indirectly from the Observer: o WrestleMania 1 - 398,000 (Closed Circuit Television) and literally a handful on PPV. o WrestleMania 2 - 319,000 (Closed Circuit Television) and Andre the Giant's handful on PPV. o WrestleMania III - 450,000 (Closed Circuit Television) and another 400,000 on PPV o WrestleMania IV - 175,000 (Closed Circuit Television), Approx 650,000 on PPV o WrestleMania V - 767,000 o WrestleMania VI - 550,000 o WrestleMania VII - 400,000 o WrestleMania VIII - 360,000 o WrestleMania IX - 430,000 o WrestleMania X - 420,000 o WrestleMania XI - 340,000 o WrestleMania XII - 290,000 o WrestleMania 13 - 237,000 o WrestleMania XIV - 730,000 o WrestleMania XV - 800,000 o WrestleMania 2000 - 824,000 o WrestleMania X-Seven - 1,040,000 (950,000 domestic) o WrestleMania X8 - 880,000 (domestic/intl split unknown) o WrestleMania XIX - 560,000 (north america only?) o WrestleMania XX - 885,000 (WWE figure, lower than that on the original version of this list) ( (domestic/intl split unknown) o WrestleMania 21 - 1,085,000 (approx 650,000 domestic) o WrestleMania 22 - 975,000 (approx 584,000 domestic) o WrestleMania 23 - 1,250,000 (825,000 domestic) o WrestleMania XXIV - 1,041,000 (697,000 domestic) o WrestleMania XXV - 960,000 (605,000 domestic) o WrestleMania XXVI - 885,000 (498,000 domestic) o WrestleMania XXVII - 1,042,000 (617,000 domestic) For reference, 21 was the first show on PPV in the UK, which will have added a fair chunk to the international figure.