Really Big Shoe

Re: Hasbro orange cards. Had a look on Wrestlingfigs forum and they are questioning the authenticity of the sketches. They seem off to me too. The guy who did the design artwork (Ron Rudat) when asked before if he had any unreleased artwork didn't mention it, so unless he recently found it or something I think these are more like a fans sketch. Some Hasbro sketches have been shown before and they were more detailed and descriptive, like which parts were mechanised and such. So unless there's proof from Ron from Hasbro I'd say these aren't legit. Plus Owen was reportedly strongly rumoured to be part of the Orange card set in his King of Harts attire.

Drink more water. I'd stick to liquids or soft food for a few days and abit TMI but was their any blood?. If so, the straining etc might have torn something, hence why it hurts when you fart. I'd see the doctor if it keeps hurting too. Also once it's healed I'd recommend a high fibre diet free and laying off anything hard to digest. Certain food, anything rustic for example I'd avoid or keep to a minimum.

The Miz. Been a superb year for him, Maryse by his side is the added icing on the cake for his character.

Miz has been a revelation this year, but Bill gets my vote.

All very tough choices but it has to be Bill beating Brock. No one could have called that, a real OMG moment for sure.

Mike gets my vote, bro!

Wand, but Eggs been good too, especially with Bellator.

Angaar, Rohit and the lads should be on a bigger stage.

Raw is shown 7 days later, 1 hour version but its on Sky 1 the day before anyway.

 

Main Event is shown 6 days later. Not on this week though.

 

Experience is on Mix too, not sure when though.

Thanks. I assume there was no Main Event last Wednesday, it didn't record it anyway. Also Raw on Sky1 was a David Attenborough special instead.

Now Mike Goldberg is leaving the UFC are WWE interested in bringing him in again?. I think him and Mauro on SmackDown would be good or they could replace Cole and have Mike as the lead announcer on Raw. Otherwise I'm guessing he'll likely turn up at Bellator.

Last Impact on Challenge tonight. Doesn't look like there's any new UK TV deal on the horizon either. I'd be interested to know why the TNA/Challenge deal went south, I know low ratings but surely they could have renegotiated a new deal and moved Impact to say Saturday night or got it close to US broadcast as possible. If WOS hits a homerun I'm guessing a few networks might want to pick up wrestling programming so TNA might strike it lucky and end up on another Freeview channel. I think maybe on Spike as a lead in to their Bellator coverage.

Read through the majority of it. The prediction WWE is done by 2020 is a humorous observation. If they can survive Vinces steroid trial, the abuse scandal, almost being run out of business by WCW among other forks in the road, then ratings declining a little doesn't even factor into the equation.

Granted they need strong ratings for the USA Network to keep them on board but their ads sales team is apparently one of the best in the industry. The move to PG really is ad sales motivated since they get Mattel et al on board. Going back to TV14 again will mean losing the family orientated brand advertisers. Plus WWE marketing towards children and families is much more lucrative. If TV14 was so profitable they'd never have switched back to PG. The Attitude Era audience eventually got tired of the product so they tuned out because there's only so much you can do to push the envelope. In hindsight some of the Attitude era stuff doesn't stand up well at all, especially the Ruthless Aggression stuff like Katie Vick which would even elicit a WTF Bro from Vince Russo. That stuff I guess with it being outside the box etc is akin to stuff on HBO but if people want to watch things like that they won't tune into WWE to see it.

IMO WWE changing and evolving into becoming more of a pro wrestling show is the smartest move they've made in a long time. You have a women's division where they can actually wrestle now and women's wrestlers who put on great matches. Crusierweights are back, tag teams are back to prominence, Miz has the old school heel Schtick down pat. NXT is tearing it up. WWE might be more indie than it used to be but I'd rather see wrestlers who can go than 20 hour monologues each week like it used to be.

I also thinking bringing back Bundy, Bret et al as supposed saviours makes no sense. If ratings are tanking so badly bringing in the legends is exactly what about 20 years ago fans were moaning about with WCW. A one off old school Raw is a cool nostalgia kick but every week? I think even the biggest old school fan would tune out.

Also if by chance USA ever does drop WWE I think they'd be a lot of networks who'd step in to bring them on board. Plus there's the WWE Network as a safety net, ticket sales, merchandise sales etc. If there is one promotion that might not be around by 2020 I think that would be TNA, WWE however will be a omnipresent force in pro wrestling for a long, long time to come. I'd say 99.9% of the members of the UKFF watch WWE or used to watch it and for many WWE is professional wrestling. Plus if WWE ceased to exist, I'd imagine it would set off a domino effect where a number of wrestling promotions would too. WWE isn't infallible but unlike WCW and ECW they aren't mismanaged, have a steady flow of income and a super loyal fanbase, plus they are resilient. Again if they survived the huge drop off in the 90s in popularity its plain sailing for them going forward.

I've noticed WWE have removed some of the documentary specials in 'Beyond the Ring', will they be brought back?, they also took off Mick's 'Cheap Pops' standup show too.

Are the Skysportsmix broadcasts of Raw/Main Event a few weeks behind? and when are their first run showings?. For Raw I'm assuming it's Sunday & Main Event is Wednesday's.

Does the Network work on a Roku Streaming Stick (model # is 3500EU). WWE.com don't have it on the list of supported Roku devices, but they have one on the WWEshop here so I'm assuming it *could* work:

http://shop.wwe.com/roku-streaming-stick-starter-kit-with-wwe-network-setup-guide/W07575.html

Edit: The Roku works fine with the WWE Network, if anyone else is interested in getting one.

I think Caldwell v Taimanglo is on this weekend on Spike/Channel 5. On the 17th, the TV guide has Bellator 168 at 9pm and King Mo v Ishii at 11pm, however it's just listed as Mixed Martial Arts in "Whats on TV", although its really Bellator 169, so two Bellator shows next Saturday. Also does anyone else get pixelated/lower video quality on 5 on demand?. In future I think I'll record the normal shows on the box instead of watching the on demand ones. 

OK thanks, I read a bit more about it and the NowTV box (the latest one) is a rebranded Roku3. Shame they don't allow you to allow the WWE Network & some other apps. Although because of the Sky branding and Sky Sports being an option it's more than likely they'll locked the Network out so to speak because of WWE being on Sky Sports. Would be interesting to see the ratio of customers who subscribe to Sky Sports for WWE only though. I'd imagine the ratio for UFC fans and BT Sports is a little higher since the UFC PPVs are on BT Sports.  

Does anyone know if the WWE Network will work on NowTV?. Looked online and it says you can't download the app but I wondered if this has changed since then, thanks

Yep & I think they have a boxing show on instead tonight. Also you can watch the Bellator shows online too: https://www.my5.tv/spike-fight-night-2017-bellator/season-20162017

Isn't the lack of Thunder likely due to the WCW video library being in a right mess? Sure someone on these boards mentioned that.

From what I've read/heard, some of the WCW master tapes were unlabelled and not sorted/catalogued correctly. Some footage is missing or in a poor state too. IIRC one of the WCW PPV's on the network has the start missing due to the master being messed up. I guess once they manage to sort through and digitize it all then Thunder will be up eventually. As for the older footage, can't they just use the footage they digitized for WWE 24/7 as there was a ton of footage - Wrestling Challenge being just one example they had on there which I'm surprised isn't up on the Network yet.

I think Paddy Pimlett got lucky in that fight. I don't think he's UFC ready as of yet, unless they start him out slowly. If they put him up against an established fighter then I think he'll fall flat. He's somebody who'll definitely benefit from sticking around with Cage Warriors for a few more fights, especially those which test him and one's where he has to really show his skills as a fighter. I kinda liked the studio setting. I think the cage was positioned weirdly though, it should be more central but it was off to the side. I also wonder whether if they had a ring set up ala Pride whether it would get casuals more interested since there's that whole negative "cage fighting" nonsense and connotations it gives off to those who arent familar with MMA. But there's the argument the cage/octagon is synonymous with western MMA so why should they change it. I also think the announce team did a good job. Bringing outsiders isn't a good idea, unless they are knowledgable about MMA. Mike Golberg was a sideline reporter for the Bulls during the early 90s and he's covered other sports too - ice hockey & college football and he transitioned well into being a UFC announcer. I think Paul Dempsey's like Mike as he's covered other sports too, notably boxing & football, so if somebody has the credentials so to speak I think if they just learn on the job and/or are enthaustic about the sport they cover it translates over well to the audience.

I check out Bellator when it's on. It's usually up on Channel5 on demand the next day or a few days later if you check under sports. I've seen most of them this year apart from the one with Bobby Lashley fighting (Bellator 162) as I deleted the recording from Sky+ and the ondemand download expired.

Kel's is married to a former NHL hockey player so it's not a reality show just for her but other sports stars Wags. The medium guy has his own show on E! In the first episode he contacted Brie Bella's ex and said he approved of D-Bry and predicted her pregnancy. But going back to Wags it's scripted ala Total Divas but K2 gets quite a lot of screen time and on one episode she went to a wrestling convention. Some Divas turned up to her wedding too (Maryse) IIRC which aired on one of the episodes.

Cool collection of VHS. Storing is an issue because mold can develop in them and make VHS unplayable. I think if they aren't too bad and just had a few white specks in you can fast forward and rewind them in a VCR and it's removes it. I'd advise not to play a tape which has got a ton of mold in it as it'll snap in the VCR and damage the heads. If possible you should try and convert the rarer films into DVD or mp4. I still have quite a lot of VHS (wrestling, music, boxing, action movies etc). I've got Krush Groove on VHS, also Thunder in Paradise (the two episode pilot)and some other rarer ones too ex rental big box. If i find the rarer ones i will post a pic. The Mirror did an article saying some VHS are worth a lot

http://www.mirror.co.uk/money/old-vhs-tapes-now-worth-7657114

I also like the VHS cover art as some of it is better than the actual movie itself.

Anyone else realise that Vice's TV channel has launched over here now? Channel 153.

Yea I watched a good doc about Kendrick Lamar on it recently, its on their ondemand channel on Sky too and it's titled 'Noisey'. Where they meet up with him and his mates who are trying to break into the rap game too.