FMKK

TNA's ratings with Sting as top babyface will be higher than WWE ratings within six months too....

Sting as a top babyface was far more engaging than Seth imo. Seth could never pull off as effective an underdog performance as Sting did with Vader.

https://www.itv.com/news/2019-05-08/itv-announces-major-wrestling-event-for-itv-box-office/ Double or Nothing will be on ITV Box Office in the UK. PPV isn't as big a thing here as in the US - although big time boxing matches with Ricky Hatton or Anthony Joshua have been known to pull in big buyrates - but ITV is the biggest commercial network and second biggest overall in Britain so if the channels of communication are opened up there then it's promising for future television coverage. WWE TV in in the UK and Ireland is on Sky, which is a satellite subscription service, so if AEW manage to get their shows even onto one of the lesser ITV channels, they'll be in more homes than WWE. It's interesting because ITV already tried their hand with wrestling when they tried to run that crappy World of Sport rebrand a year or two back so the fact that they're open to trying again is maybe a sign that there's someone at executive level who wants to have wrestling programming. WWE responded to the WoS thing by trying to buy up the entire British wrestling scene and putting it under their umbrella so it's clear that they see the UK as a major market. If this does ok and something more comes out of it in terms of working relationship, it'll be interesting to see the fallout.

The Fox switch is an opportunity to reboot the whole thing and they should really be looking to debut Smackdown as if it's an all new TV show - new sets, graphics, slick video packages to introduce all the main characters, announcers who welcome fans at the top of the show and explain what they're going to see etc. One of the big issues is that, while they're burning off more and more of the core audience, the shows are also absolutely impenetrable to someone watching for the first time. There's no sense of hierarchy in how the matches are worked to give people an idea of who the top stars are supposed to be, everyone speaks in absolutely unnatural and unintelligible vocabulary, there's 500 titles to try to keep track of and the camera work actively obscures what's happening in the ring. If you watched for the first time, I don't even know what your entry point into the show would be.

Why the fuck do they never put their best promos on television? These backstage bits are always far more entertaining than the stuff that makes the show.

Yeah, I've went from kinda sceptical about AEW while still interested to being absolutely desperate for them to debut and shake things up a bit.

His performances on the mic and with his body language have been entertaining, even if it isn't clear where it's leading

What if they book some actual fucking feuds with storyline development instead of just tinkering about with roster reboots?

A good few years back I wondered why they didn't make more a deal about statistics and title reigns etc because I'm a nerd for that stuff but now I'm absolutely sick of it because it seems like 50% of their feuds are based around how many days a certain person or team has held the belts for. Did it all start with Punk's 434 day WWE Championship reign? That was cool because it set him apart but now it seems to be the blueprint for all the title feuds.

Doesn't mean that the guy should be getting such shitty payoffs from WWE

I'd like, if they're going for a more realistic sports style presentation, some backstage punditry or something. Like a more serious version of the kick-off panels where guys who aren't being used can comment on kayfabe strategy ahead of main events and stuff.

I like the idea of them having a host for the shows, someone who is apart from the commentary team. Renee is good at interacting with the wrestlers but isn't so good behind the desk so they should pull her out from there and have her opening the shows with announcements about who's on the card, what's coming up next etc. And then she can handle the promos by conducting them as in-ring interviews. Basically how Mean Gene was in Nitro but with a little more responsibility re introducing the show and being the first port of call for the viewer.

I'm interested in these stories about the data because to me, the key is as much who they're collecting data from as much as what they do with it. If its from the sort of fan that bitches about WWE but always stays in touch with wrestling in some form, I'm not sure entirely how useful that is.

Supposedly Goldberg is booked for the next blood money show. They should just get the belt off Seth and put it on him tbh.

Hopefully he shows at Double or Nothing. I'm pretty hot and cold on him but he'd bring some decent buzz and give WWE a kick in the ass.

How can they be coming out of Wrestlemania with three feelgood babyface victories and have such a dead, lifeless show within a couple of weeks. There are absolutely no storylines ongoing whatsoever other than Shane vs Miz.

Wasn't Borash seen as a HHH hire? Maybe that's the connection.

Malenko gone as an agent. There's lots going on behind the scenes that we don't know a lot about in terms of comings and goings. I wonder if all the recent TNA acquisitions are considered more 'HHH alligned' or anything.

I watched that angle with my brother yesterday, who usually only watches older stuff with me from the network, and that really stood out to him as being off-putting. As well as them having some ridiculously wordy graphic like "Charlotte Flair Has Earned A Future Championship Opportunity For The Smackdown Live Women's Championship Against Becky Lynch" appearing on screen after she beat Bayley instead of "Charlotte Flair: Number One Contender"

You have to grab the brass ring! While also being so humble and so proud and so pleased to have this wonderful opportunity.

Sorry, it wasn't for me. Maybe it's country dependant or something.

https://www.ft.com/content/fc3ebb8e-6769-11e9-9adc-98bf1d35a056

Tony Khan fund a lawsuit please

Is it beyond the realm of possibility that WWE contracts could ever be challenged in court?

I think it might have worked if Owens had stuck with the team for about a month or two but I guess Bryan being injured means they had to go to the turn quicker than hoped. Agree with Loss about Kofi - his office is pretty shitty. At the time, I said the Mania title match was a Bryan carry job. Having watched it back, I do think Kofi brings something to the table in that match but Bryan is still the obvious guiding force. It's funny, I think Big E and Woods are the superior workers in New Day and have more potential character range but Kofi kinda got this run through tenure.