Jimmy Smith is out as Raw lead announcer. Kevin Patrick and Corey Graves will announce Raw and Cole and Wade Barrett will announce Smackdown
Cathy Kelley is also returning to wwe as an interviewer
Wrestlemania was six months ago today. Think about all the change, turnover and backstage chaos that has gone on in the company since. Feels like a lifetime ago
1,175,000 viewers last night!
.39 in the demo
#1 in demo for original cable.
damn did not see that coming. Probably not sustainable but that's impressive
Maybe 3-5 years ago there was a discussion here about wrestling becoming part of nerd culture. Whether you think it's had a positive or negative impact is obviously a personal choice but it's a pretty huge deal that probably isn't discussed enough.
even wwe has tried to placate the nerd crowd while still trying to please a general audience.
The size issue stands out the most to me. Still having this size/credibility debate means that nearly 2 generations of fans were brainwashed and conditioned to accept Vince's ideal body type for his wrestlers.
also these fans seem to know exactly what these "casual" fans want to see and what they don't
Holy shit at the Punk/Mox finish. Honestly I loved it as well. A very MNW feel to this show that anything can happen.
i would guess Punk was not fully ready to come back but they wanted the interim tag of Mox and planted some seeds for the future.
Was Terry Taylor still booking then? He takes over for Sullivan around August/Sept. 97. Still not clear who was booking between then and when Nash takes over in fall of 98. I don't think Taylor lasted long.
I do remember when Taylor took over the midcard matches got much more time and the midcard belts got much more attention.
Wrestlingnews.co is reporting Sasha and Naomi are returning to wwe. Possibly even tonight.
don't know if they have broke any stories in the past so I'd wait for more confirmation
I remember a few occasions where MSG Network would air house shows on Monday Nights going up against Prime Time Wrestling on USA. WWF essentially competing against itself. I want to say the MSG show the day after Royal Rumble 88 was one of those times.
Yeah I felt like it was a sense of relief that there could a possibility of different types of wrestlers getting pushes instead of big guys and less screwy finishes. Obviously don't know yet but man I can't remember Dave or Bryan being that excited for wwe in two decades.