The Wrestling Thread is a team player - - - Part 186

[chamber-music]

I've been enjoying Nattie's wife

 

[Donnie Darko]

He probably would have been given the name "Yoshi Fuji" and the gimmick of a Sushi Chef and his finisher would be named "The Beni-Hana."

Didn't you they were going to do the same thing to Kenta? I'd say he's doing pretty well in NXT so far, gimmick-wise.

 

[TheNextNolan22]

Rewatched Devitt's NXT debut. Even if you've never seen a match of his before, they still put it over like a big deal. Great debut.

 

[Kane52630]

 

[sweetre15]

Source: WWE

WWE's website recently caught up with former Women's Champion Beth Phoenix. Phoenix currently lives in Asheville, North Carolina with her husband, WWE Hall of Famer Edge, and their baby.

Beth commented on how her life as a mom compares to her life in WWE:
"It's challenging, but in different ways. The challenge with WWE was keeping up with the schedule and trying to stay healthy and uninjured during that time. Now, with motherhood, the biggest responsibility is trying to protect this little baby and care for her and her needs. So the shift has gone from a very egocentric world to making sure that she's okay. So it's just a shift in your priorities. I'm learning so much about myself. That's the biggest difference. I'd say the speed doesn't change, but it's just in different areas. It's still a fast-moving life."

Beth also gave props to NXT trainer Sara Amato (Sara Del Rey) and offered some advice for the NXT Divas:

"I guess the only advice I could give is to keep your eyes and ears open, but don't necessarily keep your mouth shut. Don't give anybody a reason to second-guess you. Be ready for your opportunity when it comes. When I was in developmental, the status quo was to be like Trish. But I was like, "You already have a Trish. You don't need another Trish." I wanted to be the first me."

Regarding a potential return to WWE for The Glamazon, Beth commented:

"Hey, I would say there's always a chance. Never say never. I can't tell you what tomorrow brings, let alone next year. But I'm physically capable and it's always possible."

 

[Dr. Evil]

Didn't you they were going to do the same thing to Kenta? I'd say he's doing pretty well in NXT so far, gimmick-wise.

Yes but I don't trust the WWE to continue with successful gimmicks. They have a bunny on their roster, which is stupid.

 

[E-Man]

One of my all time favorites.

 

[sweetre15]

Yes but I don't trust the WWE to continue with successful gimmicks. They have a bunny on their roster, which is stupid.

Unlike Raw, NXT is a Mcmahon and Kevin Dunn free environment.

 

[sweetre15]

While multiple sources have reported that Cesaro did not receive backstage heat from his recent interview comments about John Cena vs. Randy Orton, his recent booking has some people thinking otherwise within WWE.

Some of those same people questioning how Cesaro is being booked feel that the roster is short on heels and Cesaro should be used to make an impact.

On a related note, Cesaro was put through concussion testing after needing staples in the head last week. He obviously was cleared.

Source: Dailywrestlingnews

 

[Donnie Darko]

Cesaro-Cena matches are always good, so you would think pushing Cesaro as a main event opponent for Cena would make too much sense to not do.

 

[sweetre15]

Ok so I watched Impact this week and it was....bleh

- don't care for the feud with EC3 and Spud

- The match with Taryn and Madison was bleh

- The inter gender mixed tag was bleh

- This whole thing with Lashley and Aries was relatively entertaining

- Kenny King is showing more potential as a character than he had before but he's still not quite there yet

- I like James Storm/Sanada/Manik together but think it's stupid that Storm and Abyss would be tag champs. They could have let Manik and Sanada hold it instead because atleast we know they'd have great matches with The Wolves.

 

[sweetre15]

Here's some info from Dave Meltzer on the viewership of the WWE product:

The latest breakdown of the TV viewers of Raw, Smackdown and Total Divas is this. The average viewer is 41.4 years old, so viewership is getting older, not younger. Because of the preponderance of viewers over the age of 50, that neither UFC nor soccer have to anywhere near this degree, the wrestling audience skews older than both, but still younger than most other sports not mainstream. The audience is 63% male (Total Divas skews that number as it would be closer to 68% for Raw and Smackdown).

The viewership is 19% under the age of 17, 21% between 18-34, 22% between 35-49 and 37% over the age of 50. Once again it shows if you ever attend a live event how the TV viewership does not even come close to reflecting the live crowd. In most sports, the live crowd reflects the viewership but Pro-wrestling doesn’t do a good job of getting half of its audience base to attend events.

Ironically, anyone who has attended wrestling historically over time would know that it wasn’t that case in other generations as there were millions of older fans who would fill arenas and now virtually none attend.

I have a minor suggestion...Maybe if they booked a more serious yet PG product with flow to the storylines, quality matches and characters the fans can support instead of OVERpushing the kid friendly agenda to Barney levels then they could see that change.

 

[Wheels]

WWE's main audience is older males and yet you wouldn't know that by the way the product is presented.

 

[sweetre15]

WWE's main audience is older males and yet you wouldn't know that by the way the product is presented.

I'd assume that the age demographic 41 and up still watch simply because they've been watching wrestling for a long time and it's become a habit. If they made a product that represented the more mature fanbase they'd probably attend shows more.

 

[OctaviusINC]

I've been going to Pro wrestling shows (mostly WWE) for 20 years. I remember going to Raw is War in 1997-1998 and a large percentage of the audience were loud rowdy *****faced adults. I learned A LOT of new cuss words and during commercial breaks women in the audience would flash their boobs.

Last year my girlfriend and I went to a Raw and were surrounded by parents on their cell phones and disinterested Cena shirted children looking at everything but the ring. We were also told to sit down during Chris Jericho's entrance by a bunch of people behind us who just complained about the show the entire time.

So, yeah, I'm surprised by those statistics. Very interesting stuff.

 

[TheNextNolan22]

Scott Hall just tweeted that his son is heading off to New Japan to train with Karl Anderson. New member of the Bullet Club confirmed!

 

[Donnie Darko]

I've been going to Pro wrestling shows (mostly WWE) for 20 years. I remember going to Raw is War in 1997-1998 and a large percentage of the audience were loud rowdy *****faced adults. I learned A LOT of new cuss words and during commercial breaks women in the audience would flash their boobs.

Last year my girlfriend and I went to a Raw and were surrounded by parents on their cell phones and disinterested Cena shirted children looking at everything but the ring. We were also told to sit down during Chris Jericho's entrance by a bunch of people behind us who just complained about the show the entire time.

So, yeah, I'm surprised by those statistics. Very interesting stuff.

I remember a house show in 1998/99 with the flashing. Good times for a 14-15 year old.

 

[Slushy]

As noted, WWE and Alberto Del Rio recently reached a settlement regarding his non-compete clause. The settlement was announced by both WWE and Del Rio.

It’s believed that both sides agreed that Del Rio would not make any more negative public comments about WWE, most notably implying racism from top officials in the company and talking about racial jokes that went on. In return, Del Rio reportedly got a financial settlement that included the non-compete being dropped.

WWE has long been worried about keeping their Hispanic audience and officials were very conscious about being tied to any kind of racism against Hispanics.

A source close to the talks between WWE and Del Rio notes that the settlement was last minute. There was reportedly a joint settlement at one point that was expected to include a stipulation where WWE had to issue an apology for inappropriate comments. WWE had agreed to that but then it was taken out of the deal in their written settlement agreement. Apparently Del Rio had already agreed to the financial settlement and the non-compete being dropped so he didn’t press the apology issue.

It’s also believed that the settlement includes an agreement where Del Rio would not sue the company.

As noted, Alberto Del Rio’s settlement with WWE is going to allow him to work for AAA’s Lucha Underground promotion in 2015. The next set of tapings begin January 17th so he should start then. Del Rio is proving to be a draw outside of WWE as he recently helped sell out an 8,000 seat arena in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico for a AAA live event.

ADR getting that last, big paycheck and giving the middle finger in return. t:

 

[cabel]

Gonna check out the WWNlive Roku channel after NXT. Loving Balor's entrance. Not just the theme, the whole entrance.

 

[zeroapoc]

I remember a house show in 1998/99 with the flashing. Good times for a 14-15 year old.

Yep. I as well have many fond memories of boob flashing at live shows.

 

[cabel]

First ECW show I went to Sandman and Dreamer closed out the show by inviting some ladies into the ring for some drinks and hijinks.


And Kalisto was about 10 degrees away from a split skull.

 

[NDX]

Tyson Kidd really has become a key player in NXT and a wrestler to watch. Justin Gabriel even sounded natural on the mic in the opening. I can see this as a way to reestablish him in the midcard as well. NXT might not just make new careers but revive old ones.

Stiff Kicks: The Wrestling Match. Because **** teeth.

Buddy Murphy is a generic name but is he ever fun to watch in the ring. I really enjoy his team with Wesley Blake.

 

[JabarR]

While multiple sources have reported that Cesaro did not receive backstage heat from his recent interview comments about John Cena vs. Randy Orton, his recent booking has some people thinking otherwise within WWE.

Some of those same people questioning how Cesaro is being booked feel that the roster is short on heels and Cesaro should be used to make an impact.

On a related note, Cesaro was put through concussion testing after needing staples in the head last week. He obviously was cleared.

Source: Dailywrestlingnews

Cesaro-Cena matches are always good, so you would think pushing Cesaro as a main event opponent for Cena would make too much sense to not do.

They should have Cesaro take on Rusev if they wanna push him as a face.

 

[cabel]

Watching Bucks vs Hardys. And Steen's on commentary.

 

[TheNextNolan22]

Added to Wrestle Kingdom 9
Tomoaki Honma & Yoshi Tatsu vs. Bad Luck Fale & Jeff Jarrett
AJ Styles vs. Tetsuya Naito