Loss Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 Lots of WWE news here. Thanks to HTQ for the initial recap. Thinks the new WB/UPN combined network is a big benefit for WWE for at least the next two years, as they signed for two more years, after which it could be anyone?s guess. Thinks the deal will see more eyeballs watching Smackdown come the fall than are watching it now, unless they tank creatively. Regarding Raw ratings, he was surprised at Monday?s rating. He attributes it to Edge, Cena and Flair, with the biggest demographic growth in Males 35-49. Says that Flair can raise the ratings but only short-term and is never the guy to turn a company around. The plan was to bury Flair, and was mean to drop the IC belt to Trevor Murdoch but that got forgotten in the chaos of going to Afghanistan. Flair was put in with Cena as a desperation move to get Cena over. Believes Flair didn?t cut a promo on Monday because of fear he would overshadow Cena. They have no such care about Edge getting overshadowed. The plan is for Cena to be ?The Guy?, with Flair to be the set-up guy to get Cena over. Still set to be Cena vs. Hunter at WM, but it could change by Sunday, at which point they should be set in stone. Says Rey winning the Rumble is a distinct possibility. Thinks they?ve crossed a line with the Rey story, because they can?t do it without Eddie which is a detriment. Thinks WWE are unable pass up a chance to exploit a tragedy or story for gain. Thinks it would be a mistake to take the belt off Edge. Feels Hunter?s promo on Monday was Hunter?s way of letting people know Edge is just holding the belt and the position of Edge having to come to Hunter for help was more of making it clear that Hunter was the real star. If Hunter beats Cena in Chicago, or even loses, Hunter will be the babyface, and Meltzer jokes that he?d like to see Hunter try to be a heel against Cena. Thinks Shawn vs. Vince at WM will be horrible, and that Shawn would have to really pull out all the stops to get something out of the match. Right now, Hogan has no role at WM, but thinks that come February, due to panic and Hogan?s show having a second season, they?ll try and put something together, possibly with Foley. Dave calls the Rumble undercard horrible, with three possible winners of the Rumble match. If the belt has to be taken off Angle, Meltzer thinks they?d go with Orton vs. Mysterio, and that there is a possibility of Henry getting the belt. Called Vince?s speech to Shawn Vince being Vince, and that Vince is going nuts but nobody outside of the company really knows it. Angle isn?t taking an MRI so they don?t have to face the results and can ignore it. Calls Angle going to Dr. Jho a mistake and that it backfired. Says The Spirit Squad laid an egg the first week. Thinks it?s a good gimmick for Mike Mondo, but terrible for Ken Doane or Johnny Jeter as they?re too good for it. Says Heyman is less stressed over having to write OVW to WWE whims than Cornette as Heyman just sees it as what he?s got to do and simply tries to do his best with what he?s got. Thinks some of the ratings increase could be down to TiVO and DVR viewing now being taken into account. The quarter hour ratings, on Raw at least, have been more consistent. On Smackdown, the quarter hours are highest for Rey Mysterio, with them being ?way above everyone else?. The Bob Orton hepatitis deal is still an issue. Johnny Ace and Vince both knew, but nothing will be done because doing anything to Ace would kill his credibility and it would only be done if Vince wanted rid of Ace. Said the Shawn vs. Benjamin match on Raw dragged a lot and generally found it boring, despite a couple of good spots. Said Shawn didn?t look good, and that he hasn?t in a while. Dave sees WWE on a slight upswing which may not last, but they potentially have a lot going for them, including the NBC special. Dave mocks the decision to have all the developmental guys cut their hair, and says it?s indicative of WWE only wanting one kind of look and says that so many legends would have been ruined in OVW were they there today, due to WWE only wanting that one kind of look. Dean Visk was cut because of a problem between him and Ted DiBiase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 Crediting Flair for the ratings increase! COME ON It couldn't have anything to do with a fresh start on top and Cena in the chasing role? Shawn "not looking the same" Dave's been saying that since November and I don't see it and really have no idea what he's talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dangerous A Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 Actually, I've heard this F4D show, and Meltzer states that the there was a significant increase in viewership of Males 35 and older for the Edge/Cena/Flair matches and segments. Most of that can be attributed to Flair being in the main event slot for the last couple of weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjh Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 Crediting Flair for the ratings increase! COME ON It couldn't have anything to do with a fresh start on top and Cena in the chasing role?I'd usually agree as Meltzer is such a fan of Flair's that he sometimes puts him over more than he deserves to be, but with the biggest demographic increase being in 35-49 year old males, many of whom will be long time fans who have followed Flair's career for years and years, Flair probably deserves some of the credit for the high ratings the past couple of weeks. Thinks Shawn vs. Vince at WM will be horrible, and that Shawn would have to really pull out all the stops to get something out of the match. Bah, most of Vince's matches have been surprisingly watchable even without the great Shawn Michaels carrying him. It should be fine as long as they make it a brawl. Angle isn?t taking an MRI so they don?t have to face the results and can ignore it. Gee, Angle's more of a nut now than he was 3 years ago, not that that should be any surprise. It's nice to see Vince has learnt nothing from Batista's injury and is continuing to flog his injured wrestlers until their body completely breaks down on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheShawshankRudotion Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 But it's not like this is the first time Flair has been put in that position in the WWE, why only now is there a ratings increase associated with it? Meltzer will be "surprised" with McMahon/HBK because the match will be heated, like all McMahon matches, and will have various highspots, like all HBK matches, and Meltz marks for hot matches that don't have Hogan in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted January 27, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 But it's not like this is the first time Flair has been put in that position in the WWE, why only now is there a ratings increase associated with it? I'm not defending Flair so much, but I will point out that last time he was in a babyface position getting lots of TV time, back in 2002, he was the biggest ratings draw they had. His short-term face turn in 2003 sparked a brief ratings spike as well. So, for whatever reason, there is somewhat of a pattern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest teke184 Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 If the belt has to be taken off Angle, Meltzer thinks they?d go with Orton vs. Mysterio, and that there is a possibility of Henry getting the belt. There's a possibility of Mark Henry getting the belt?!? Jesus tapdancing Christ, that would be a stupid decision... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted January 27, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 I wouldn't have a problem with Henry getting the belt if: (1) it wasn't for a Wrestlemania main event and (2) the plan was for Rey to avenge his clean loss by conquering what he could not conquer before, and winning the title Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 But it's not like this is the first time Flair has been put in that position in the WWE, why only now is there a ratings increase associated with it? It's the first time since 2002 though that he's been getting some serious air time without being HHH's lapdog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjh Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 If the belt has to be taken off Angle, Meltzer thinks they?d go with Orton vs. Mysterio, and that there is a possibility of Henry getting the belt. There's a possibility of Mark Henry getting the belt?!? Jesus tapdancing Christ, that would be a stupid decision... The if is a very big one, because Angle isn't taking an MRI so he can ignore his health problems, which indicates that he plans to gut it out and headline WrestleMania again as champion. Of course, I don't think that's really a sensible decision by Angle, because his long term health should come before his career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 They need to just send Angle home. If he dies the McMahons will be extremely responsible for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 Wasn't HBK working through a knee injury right around the time he started back full time again? I don't think he ever got it repaired, and it could be what Dave's talking about now. I agree 100% with his opinion on the Spirit Squad. I actually thought their debut was pretty funny (WHEN COACH ROCKS THE HOUSE!) but anyone who's watched OVW since Heyman took over knows what a waste of Johnny Jeter this is. His gimmick in OVW was basically Shawn Michaels at the height of his dick heel mode, and now he's another generic short haired WWE newbie in a group that all looks the same. I wish Elijah Burke would have taken the gimmick since it probably would have spared one of the guys in it now, and it would have added a bit of visual comedy seeing a black guy in a group with a bunch of preppy looking white boys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dangerous A Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 If they let Elijah Burke talk, he'd become a star. I'm mad he ditched the mini-fro for cornrows, although I haven't seen an OVW episode since October. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 In fact, after Jeter turned heel in OVW, Burke delivered an awesome promo basically promising to kill Jeter for what he did and the crowd went batshit for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 So would Mark Henry winning a World Title be the lowest moment ever in WWF history? I don't see how the big gold belt could ever be credible if he held it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 So would Mark Henry winning a World Title be the lowest moment ever in WWF history? I don't see how the big gold belt could ever be credible if he held it. Vince McMahon winnig it was a pretty low moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 Yeah, I think I'd have to put Vince and Stasiak as worse champions if Henry won it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted January 27, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 Luckily, the belts no longer mean anything anyway, since too many guys with Midcard4Life tattoos on their foreheads have worn it, and there are two world titles, so everyone gets a turn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dangerous A Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 The belt would certainly need to be built back up something fierce if Henry were to be given even a transitional run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest brian Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 Angle is such a fucking mess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 People need to get over the irrational Henry hate. They guy's shown improvement, and he's had some good matches in the last couple weeks. He'll never be Lou Thesz but he's not the Shockmaster either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted January 27, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 Not that I'm calling Mark Henry a great worker yet, but I have to ask ... ... what is he not doing that you want to see from him that it would make sense for him to do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 He could stop hurting other workers. He's been the final nail in the coffin for the last 2 world champs in a matter of weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted January 27, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 He could stop hurting other workers. He's been the final nail in the coffin for the last 2 world champs in a matter of weeks. Neither of which were injured by anything he did according to everything from Meltzer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest teke184 Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 Henry, like Big Show before him, has a long history of being abused by the WWE to the point where he's a detriment. At least Show had Paul Heyman to help him out after they pulled the swerve and had Heyman sabotage Brock to give Show the title. Show's been rehabilitated in the eyes of the fans but it took a VERY large effort, as he was on par with Brock, Angle, and others for months and treated like a killer in that time. I don't see Henry having that kind of character rehabilitation in the short term, ESPECIALLY if it means him being a co-main at Mania. If Henry was going to be the annual December Transitional Champ like Jericho in 2001, it wouldn't be as bad. However, him holding the belt going into a huge PPV devalues it and, as a result, devalues Rey winning the title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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