andrew "the ref" coyne

Bo teamed up with Curtis Axel as the B Team (after they left Miz) and actually won the tag titles together.

But surely that's a VERY different example? A game companies profits are always going to be highest when they release people. A) They've just released a game and B) There is less work for their employees.

This. Why would I watch 3 hours of Raw when I can read a review on a news site, and catch the clips I want to see on YouTube? We never had access to those back in the early to mid 90s (at least not to the same level as now). Hence why looking at the ratings as a sole measurement is foolish. Statistic on YouTube, Social Media Channels, Network Numbers etc are also taking in as a barometer. Hell even Wrestlemania. I had planned to watch it, but then I got tempted to read the results and watch a highlight clip of Rhea Ripley getting DDT'ed to the apron. Job done. I'm up to date.

Of course. But seeing them in isolation without taking into context other measurements is naïve considering we're in a era where watching traditional tv is a dying model.

You jest, but however often here has this community chatted at length about things talked about in quarterly calls, political decisions WWE makes, subscriber numbers, the consequences of the Peacock deal etc etc. Face it, for fans like us, "reading the annual stock report" is part and parcel for fans like us here on the UKFF.

When you've literally never been this profitable and (whether we like it or not) the most popular wrestling promotion in the world, what is there to "turn around" per se? What measurement are we using? I mean I understand many people here don't like the creative direction, but they are a business primarily. What will give them reason to change?

In fairness she WAS off camera at the time. She was caught by a ringside fan. However it's not as bad as the time she won the NXT championship and WWE actually ran a interview with her where she started doing a heel promo talking about how she was better than Charlotte Flair, only for the interview to say "but how does the real Sasha feel" and Banks breaks into tears and cut the biggest babyface "I can't believe this is happening" promo ever. In fact here it is... watch it. It's lovely to see, but also infuriating.

It's easy saying that with hindsight. When stuff is going on then and there at a million miles an hour it isn't that straight forward. You can clearly see Austin communicating with the ref and may of said "yo Earl, I'm hurt, can you tell Owen to back up and I'll roll him up" not realising HOW hurt he was. Nowadays there would be way more strict with these sort of things (thank god), but in the mid 90s not so much. And on a weird side note, that match did have a stipulation where if Austin lost he had to kiss Owen's ass live at Summerslam. I'd like to think WWE wouldn't think of

I think this list good double for "how the hell did you fuck this up wwe"? Sometimes they are handed stuff on a silver platter and they just end up sabotaging it.