The Official UKFF RAW Thread...

[Otto Dem Wanz]

 

 

Does anyone have the last 4 weeks ratings comparison between Raw and SD?

 

I don't, but I did read via Meltzer that SDL beat Raw in the ratings this week.

[Merzbow]

It also had a better attendance which JBL loved pointing out.

[The Clint]

We all know by now to take the WWE attendance figures with a pinch of salt.

[Philjax]

They were in the same arena right?

[Merzbow]

Aye they were, that's why he hard such a hard on over it.

[PunkStep]

Not surprising that Smackdown had a higher rating, they pimped the hell out of it this week- three title matches and the return of John Cena. It was a brilliant episode too, it certainly delivered on their own hype. I haven't even watched Raw yet and I'm not sure I'll get round to doing so.

[Undefeated Steak]

That's a cracking post by Zaheer on the previous page. Really well put.

[FUM]

Proves John Cena is still the main draw if SmackDown posted a higher rating this week.

[Guest]

No Monday Night Football could be a factor too though

[PunkStep]

Loads of factors for and against really. One big obstacle that Smackdown will always have though is the fact that Raw is a much more recognised and established brand, in a slot that has become rather synonymous with pro wrestling for the past 20+ years.

[scotswizard]

lol guys.

 

 

Watching WWE on Youtube doesn't matter to Sky Sports or USA Network. They don't make any money from that, only WWE does and it's literally pennies.

Watching WWE on Hulu doesn't matter to Sky Sports or USA Network. They don't make any money from that.

Watching WWE on the WWE Network doesn't matter to Sky Sports or USA Network. They don't make any money from that.

 

It doesn't matter how you consume your TV programmes. The WWE was doing well over 4 million viewers on Monday nights for Raw alone just a few years ago when that contract was signed. In the space of 2 years they've dropped from well over 4 million viewers to 2.7 million viewers. That's a big drop in just 2 years.

 

 

And if you wanna nitpick what I said about FOX then nitpick, FOX make a ton of money from advertising, ads during wrestling have never sold for a lot of money and it has been that way for many years. That is a fact and whatever companies do pay to advertise during Raw in America, they're not paying as much as they did 2 years ago. Why pay the money you were paying when the show had over 4 million viewers and now it's edging closer to 2.5 million? Of course that third hour is gonna stay. USA Network is paying $160 million a year for Raw, there's no way they could scrape that money back over 2 hours, they NEED those extra advert breaks. I'll tell you one thing, FOX certainly don't pay $160 million a year for their shows. Nowhere near it and they have actual actors and script writers, the real deal.

 

And WWE on TV needs TV revenue but if they lost their TV deals they could still exist as a touring company. It's no different than Dancing On Ice or the X Factor tours. Come and see the local wrestlers.

There's the dark skinned man with dark hair and tattoos Randy Orton.

There's the white skinned surfer dude with blonde hair Dolph ZIggler.

There's the Action Man John Cena that loves the army and loves charity and helping the kids and making sure the Troops get their dinner at Christmas.

There's the panto villain The Miz.

The Barbie Doll Alexa Bliss.

There's the midgets in masks.

The bad ass Mexican dudes that walk with a swagger.

You got your natural every day looking women like Charlotte Flair representing the women in the audience there with their boyfriends.

There's the fat guy next door with the 3 kids and the wife on the dole that thinks he can fight but could never win a real fight Kevin Owens.

There's your English wrestlers that talk funny and think they're tough.

There's the foreigners that can't speak English.

There's the black wrestlers that try and act talk like their Eddie Murphy, Will Smith and Chris Rock all rolled into one.

 

 

You got all your characters there. All the ones you'd expect to see. GIve them a few hundred quid a night and they would be happy with that. And yes I did see the brilliance in Brock/Goldberg because that was how wrestling used to be. I don't give a shit about AJ Styles or any of these midgets jumping through tables. I could less what happens to them, they shouldn't be on TV making a mockery of a business that was once loved by millions. A business where the men were real men and the women were real women. They were people you could look at and respect. Even look at AJ, a middle aged man in his 40s and they try and dress him up younger.

 

 

Have none of you done that? I get the whole BSing thing on here, you like to fool around with each other but have any of you sat your friends or family down to WWE in the past few years? Go and do it. Go and sit your parents down to the New Day or Neville or Kevin Owens and come back and tell me their reaction. I know what the reaction is. What is this shower of shite you're watching son? I can't even say anymore, I know what the reaction would be and it wouldn't be good.

 

 

And if anyone tells me I'm wrong then I have to question your reality. You must be living inside that wrestling bubble too and I welcome you to join the rest of us in the real world, in 2016 cause it's kinda fun. You should get Netflix, you should look at Sky One and Sky Atlantic and FOX and AMC. Some of the best actors in the world are on TV. TV used to be a bad thing for actors. The big time was always the cinema. If you were a big deal or you wanted to be a big deal then the cinema is where you wanted to be, that's the where the real actors were. Not anymore. Some of the best actors in the world aren't in your local cinema. They're on your TV every night of the week. TV has changed so much in the last 20 years and is so sophisticated now that when you look at WWE and all wrestling for that matter, you see just how hokey it is. How old fashioned it looks. You wanna talk about people consuming TV? Why don't you look at what they're watching cause it ain't child's play. It ain't kiddy shows. It's GOTHAM. Walking Dead. Game Of Thrones. Scream Queens. The Big Bang Theory.  American Horror Story. Agents of SHIELD. Empire. Criminal Minds. NCIS. One of my favourite shows The Leftovers is coming back soon. Twin Peaks is returning. What about Stranger Things on Netflix? Man In The High Castle on Amazon Prime? That's what people are watching. They're watching some of the best actors in the world portraying some of the most interesting characters in the world and they're performing some of the best written scripts in the world. That's what's on TV and that's without talking about real live sport that's on TV at night.

 

You have TV that GOOD every day and WWE is doing Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens acting silly at 9pm at night? Can you imagine what a 16 year old or 20 year old or 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 year old flicking through their cable channels or Netflix or Amazon Prime accounts are coming across and then flicking that on? Forget about it. And i don't pay Sky any money so it doesn't affect me in anyway but it might not matter to any of you but the people WWE money it matters to them how many people are watching the show. DVR means nothing. Why? Cause people fast forward the adverts. Sponsors and advertisers don't care how many people tape wrestling and watch it the next day, they only care about the live number because when you watch something live YOU CANT FAST FORWARD THROUGH THE ADVERTS lol.I can't even get annoyed at all of you. You're all just fans and as just fans you shouldn't care too much but WWE should care. They should worry about those live attendances, they should worry about how many eyeballs are watching their shows LIVE, not taped, not DVRd and watched 4 days later, LIVE cause it's the live number that brings in the money.

 

 

That's why in 2020 I think you'll see massive changes in wrestling on TV. I think the same with football too. Far too much football on TV and the ratings are down big time, most people just follow their local clubs now and watch their games only. I think you'll see Raw on Sky and that's it. I don't see WWE footing the bill for Smackdown in America from 2020 going onwards, and I definately don't see Raw being on TV in America from 8pm till 11.15pm at night. It's a kids show. it should be on in the afternoons and it certainly wont be for $160 million a year. No chance at getting that kind of money again. They're on fault and I'm telling you, with Vince McMahon turning 75 in 2020 I think that is his plan. That'll be the WWE's end and I like i said earlier it's gonna happen eventually. All the good years have already happened and I'm glad I got to to see it for so long. I seen 30 good years of wrestling. Some of the best actors in wrestling like Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan and Jake Roberts and Shawn Michaels and Undertaker and Mick Foley. Those memories will live on forever on video. It's not like we can't watch them again. It's had it's day. Its time has been and gone and if any of you really took a step back and seen the whole picture you'd agree with me. Wrestling just isn't wrestling anymore and it hasn't been for many many years. It's just not the same and in the next 3 years until those contracts are negotiated, which is when I think the real big changes will happen, I hope they do bring back some of the legends, the real wrestlers like Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart, get King Kong Bundy back, I've seen a lot of interviews from him recently, he's doing great, get Bret Hart back and if these are the last few years of WWE on mainstream TV, get the big guns back on TV and let it go out with a bang, not a load of fake matches with people no one cares about. Forget the wrestling matches. Get the big stars on TV talking and entertaining us. Let it go off the air with one big hurrah.

[Frankie Crisp]

Fucking hell.

[Keith Houchen]

You fucking weapon.

[WWFChilli]

Fuck that.

[King Pitcos]

Is it crazyshady? It's someone who, judging by the username, is probably Scottish. And judging by the content of the posts, is definitely mentally unwell. That makes me think of crazyshady. What's this guy's opinion of the lighting at the Hydro?