simonworden

would make sense if we go

All pre spike episodes S1

2005-2006 - S2

2006 - 2007 S3

2007 - 2008 -S4

2009 -2010 - S5

2010 - 2011 - S6

2011 -2012 - S7

2012 - 2013 - S8

2013 - 2014 - S9

Approx sep 2014 - now S 10

think it would work for a smaller promotions rumble rip off or perhaps a WWE TV version if they needed to do one.

Think it woulde be interesting if 27-28 got eliminated and then have a heal come out for 29 with 30 being a top or returning face who rips through them

Anyway, I just saw apparently Orton Vs Cena will be the main event at HIAC, not sure if its the good old fanboy in me but dissapointed it wont be Rollins Abrose and therefore hope the orton cena bout gets shat on

Wasn't that the concept of Hogans Celebrity Championship Wrestling a few years ago though. Celebs wrestled each other and the best match was judged with eliminations each show. From my memory it did ok on TV

My recollection (and i could be wrong) was a combination of some of the above. Either his hard man act was talked about in WWE and went against him or he did it there as well. I know he thought he was that hard allegedly in ECW. His size couldn't have helped

He spent a lot of time out just being the Smackdown commentator in early 2001 and I don't think he really worked that much again until his tag title run and then that was it in early 2002 so his neck could have been a problem

Benoit and the rest of the radicalz would have stolen some of his buzz and submission gimmick prominence I definitely think

Other things such as his difference of working style etc probably didn't go in his favor either  

To be honest I doubt he has any regrets or issues with his WWE career. Plenty of PPV bouts at a hot time and a long announcing career to boot. His bank balance should be prettyish

So what do you do if you're in TNA's shoes?

Throw in the towel unless you can get a certain figure to keep at least what you have left going/ get back on track. Sell off the tape library  and become a distant memory

or

Accept a lower TV deal, decide on a handful of solid name talents and vets to keep on with a some cheaper names to fill out alongside pay per appearance guys. Use smaller cheaper non arena venues for TV holding 500-100 people, get rid of all but the necessary staging, lighting and ring. Hope you can find something to make your product take off and in the mean time just accept you have a minimal but profitable company.

Personally I hope if it comes to these two choices they take the latter, really don't want to see them disappear

So strange to hear that. Not a big footy fan myself but I'm a local boy who has friends/ inlaws who are friends with him.

Heard about the sunday league and assumed he was fine. Last I heard he wasn't living in a 3 mil place but a bedsit in Boscombe which is a low income area as he is often seen in a barber shop there and a few of the drinking haunts. Not sure if that was true and if so how he got back into Sandbanks. 

Shouldn't live the in his state anyway as none of the arrogant rich fuckers give a shit about each other.

My brothers father in law did some youtube interview with him that had a lot of hits apparently. Sadly being in Vietnam a don't think I can honestly ask my sister in law for the latest scope till November when I'm back

Saw a live show is labelled as an international TV Taping? is this a special or for other TV shows im not aware of shown around the world etc?

Whats the date of the next show?

I'd much rather see a face Wyatt against a heel Lesnar with Brock losing his shit over a demented Wyatt who he can't quite put down. But the Wyatts are not equals like the shield were so they might lose mystique if they all turned face.

In regards to Reigns, I still really want to love the guy but he still needs something. A good feud would probably do it. With everything going on the stuff with Orton is just mediocre especially in comparison to his former team mates feud. He really needs a high profile bout asap against HHH would do it. Cena maybe but the feud would have less heat I think. Can't think of anyone else active that's going to increase his star aura significantly apart from Brock and I see that as the current culmination at Mania. They need some extra ingredient first though

What about PPV/ Gate and merch bonuses. Do you loose those if you break the 90 Day rule. If thats the case then I can understand if someone didn't want to break it because of the bonuses even if there basic was shit. Also do wrestlers still get a share of the live gates?

Strange question here and one I expect to perhaps only get speculation over. But living in Asia at the moment it's apparent how many Asians fucking love the UK and our supposed culture. So when promotions like Rev Pro etc bring over the Japanese guys do they get a better rate as than perhaps a US promotion does because the Japanese workers see it as an opportunity to see the UK for free and earn some money at the same time?

 

I guess the coming out the crowed thing is to "stay true to his roots" and keep the crowed popping kind of thing but he is going to need a bit more of a costume and music change in my opinion. Very soon to if he doesn't want to come across as the guy clinging onto his former stable character that falls down the card.

 

Hard as that may be to see now, I think without clarifying some individual character his mega push is going to stall sooner than later

 

His music is already familiar to the crowd. They pop big time when it hits. He looks great too. The other have moved away from the Shield look so he doesn't have to. He won't fall down the card because of his entrance, music or look. He's doing great. He'll only fall down the card if they lose interest in him.

 

And why would they? He's the closest thing they've had to their idea of a new top babyface since Batista turned on Triple H.

 

I really want to keep liking him I really do, but at times i'm struggling to see what makes him so special that he is the next top guy, I can see big things for him. But the next face of the company I'm not sure on. Actually I hope he is but for me at the moment that segment of his personality that makes him sit atop the tree is eluding me.

Could be me being blind or subconsciously not wanting to follow the general consensus but i'm not seeing it. 

Also being the one to stay the same after the shield implies a bit to me that he is the number 3 of the group in a way. An example would be Triple H who said himself to reach the top he had to move away from the Triple H in DX. I know this is different times and situations but I just feel if he keeps up the shield act the crowed will loose interest eventually

I guess the coming out the crowed thing is to "stay true to his roots" and keep the crowed popping kind of thing but he is going to need a bit more of a costume and music change in my opinion. Very soon to if he doesn't want to come across as the guy clinging onto his former stable character that falls down the card.

Hard as that may be to see now, I think without clarifying some individual character his mega push is going to stall sooner than later

Not to keep bringing Austin up but on his push to the top he had a number of title shots at least 2 on ppv (final 4 and cold day in hell) which did him no harm because the finish was done well.

To me Reigns won't suffer from mitb and battleground if he stays well away from the finish like the ladder match. Have him an Orton brawl away or something. Then he needs to stay more away from the title scene till next year. Smash through some main eventersnor something

Admittedly have yet to watch Raw this week but I'm really into Ambrose's character at the moment. What do people see for him in the future. I think if they keep going with him he could be huge as an Austin style face in the future.

I hope so I heard they brought the dress code back but maybe not looking at this picture. If they did and this is his way to stick it to them by going OTT then that's fantastic

I think it would work much better if Bray was a face and Bo as an antagonist.

Couple of questions about 1999-2000

One of the reasons Russo went to WCW was because he hated writing for 2 shows a week. Did he not write Thunder and if not who did?

When did Heat stop being a B show equivalent to Smackdown and just a C level show?

and while im here did channel 4 know they were getting a C show when they took Heat?

couple of recent reads I would recommend

The 1PW book, being a southerner with limited money I never got to see 1PW for myself and only heard the stories, so it was nice to see all the opinions on the product

Greg Lambert's book as someone mentioned was very insightful about the FWA and related promotions and projects with some fantastic anecdotes and plenty of light shed on some of the urban legends around that time eg. rings never arriving etc

John Lister's Turn the tables is a good read if your looking for a more statistical and analytical approach to the story of ECW. The WWE published book is good to read at the same time as its got more opinions from people at the time but doesn't really look closely at numbers and some less known mistakes which John does.

Also reading the Raw files from 1993, not a bad read I would say as a second book. Something to pick up as an alternative when you have 5-10 minutes here and there and read a few Raw reports and opinions looking back on 1993

Still some really good seats left for the PPV. Floor seems sold out though. Guess this won't be totally identical to the baseball stadium. Absolutely no where near to the crowd achieved two years ago, then again. Slammiversary 2012 might be their best PPV ever so.

Taken the pic out as really not needed again for clutter reasons.

Bear in mind that probably most of the grey tiers have not been opened and I wouldnt be surprised if the floor seats were only 3 -4 rows on each side. TNA do that a lot to make the shows look bigger. A good example was lockdown 2011 I think with this optical illusion of a massive tier behind with loads of people but fuck all on the floor. This was caused by a Grand Canyon sized gap between floor and tier which they showed a few times

Thats so depressing, when an indie show is drawing more than a supposedly top promotion. I know the crowd attendance Spike really dont give a shit about if the ratings are steady but surely they could just buy or partner another indie promotion that gets good crowds and put the budget into making them look bigger and better and stop wasting there time with Toilet Show TNA

Sorry if this has been mentioned already. Something I noticed which was class and added to the shock was Rollins having the forsight to bring in 2 chairs. I was certain that Ambrose would pick one up and they would both turn on reigns. So when he hit Reigns and Ambrose looked on with shock it really added to the intensity. Just something simple and easy to miss. But pushed my prediction of the turn off and shocked me more that it was 1 person turning and not 2

1986 sometime he did on Saturday Nights Main Event. I cant remember the date and cant be bothered to search for it. Wikipedia or history of WWE should solve that for you. It was on the first 3 disc hogan anthology from about 07 I believe. From my memory it was ok pretty standard match for the time

I sometimes wonder if any attempts by TNA or other wrestling companies to succeed with a more legitimate style promotion on TV have been hampered by TV companies wanting more of a sports entertainment feel, or that in recent years nobody with much money/ drive has tried it

Didnt Wrestlemania 2 get a very small PPV showing. Could be wrong but sure i've heard that somewhere which would add another to The All State?

Apart from Rowan (I think) sitting miles away from the others like his feet stink Im far more interested in JBL chilling out in his chair before the show than those guys working through there match