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WrestleMania XXXI Discussion thread *SPOILERS*


IANdrewDiceClay

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Probably bring Hulk Hogan out. That's been the plan for months. Dont know if they are still doing it, but Cena with Hogan in the Apolo Creed corner man role against Rusev was what has been touted for ages. With the two Real Americans bringing the gold home for the feel good moment.

 

Losing the US title wont hurt Rusev in the least either. Probably going to be elevated into the main event this year. At least he wont be losing the US title to Dean Ambrose in the undercard of a C-show.

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Do they release actual viewing figures for individual events on the Network? Do we know how many actually watched Mania on their last year?

 

No, they just pretend everyone who has the network watches it. That's how they got the number they got last year, when lots of people who subscribed to the network also bought the PPV because they didn't trust the stream. This year, the PPV number should be way down from last year, but the network subscriptions way up.

 

Regardless of how or if they are paying, I honestly can't imagine as many people being invested in this year's event as much as the last 2 or 3 at least. Over the last 6 years or so we've had two main events with The Rock, the awesome streak matches with HHH and HBK, Lesnar returning and Bryanmania running wild last year. No offense to Real Estate Steve but there's nothing like any of that this time around that's creating such buzz.

 

 

Yeah, but $9.99. WrestleMania's an odd one now, because it only has to be a better-than-usual $10 show, rather than a big megashow. But if they strip it down, eventually it loses a lot of appeal as far as fans traveling to it etc.

 

It was also inevitable that eventually the part-timer bubble would burst. If this one is mostly a transitional year making Reigns a star, and introducing Sting, they might pull out whatever big guns they've got left for next year in Texas. After that, I think we'll be back in the pre-2011 days of doing WrestleMania with the roster they have. Which will seem like a big step down.

 

 

You'd have thought that they'd have to tell their stockholders how many people actually watched their biggest show of the year, using real, accurate numbers from the on-demand service they clearly have viewing figures for? I imagine it's the usual fudging of numbers and subtle moving of goalposts that most businesses do when it comes to PR to make themselves look better. I'd love to know the exact numbers of people watching.

 

It will be both a huge shame as a fan and a huge detriment to the company's year-round product if Wrestlemania starts to become "just another show" like Summerslam and Survivor Series did. It may be the part-time Megastar returns, giant stadiums, celeb appearances and famous musical acts that make Mania look and feel "special" but it's real role is as the pinnacle of the year's biggest stories. The build to Mania is always the best bit of the year, with the biggest stories and rivalries coming to a head. It would be a real shame if it started to feel like just another PPV. 

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Without part-timers around, they'd have to put more focus on the stories anyway. Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan and Seth Rollins aren't the crutches that The Rock, Brock Lesnar and Undertaker are.

 

I don't think the shareholders particularly care how many people actually watch the show once they've ordered it, or at least WWE can consider that as a default stance. They haven't done any "most popular shows on the network" rankings in ages have they?

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Meltzer said a few months ago that WWE were shocked by how popular WCW content was. They seem to have always underrated their WCW library, for some reason. It was only a few years ago they started doing WCW-specific DVDs etc, which have sold well. You would have thought that after the Rise and Fall of ECW did so well they would have been all over the WCW equivalent, but it came out years after.

 

I guess the answer may be simply "'cause Vince".

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There's a "most popular" list on the Network site (under the Search tab) though it's not clear what time period it covers. It doesn't really tell you much as it's dominated by the most recently uploaded stuff for logical reasons.

 

Current top 10 is:

 

1) Fast Lane

2) First Look at the Shield DVD

3) Countdown: Smackdown moments

4) Latest NXT episode

5) NXT Rivals

6) Rumble 2015

7) WrestleMania 30

8) Fast Lane KickOff

9) DX DVD documentary

10) Austin podcast with HHH

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The most watched stuff on there is the original docs, Total Divas, and NXT and the PPVs. Last year's Mania is still one of the most watched shows. All the episodes of Nitro added together probably get a lot of views, but individual episodes are unlikely to get enough views to make the list.

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Meltzer said a few months ago that WWE were shocked by how popular WCW content was. They seem to have always underrated their WCW library, for some reason. It was only a few years ago they started doing WCW-specific DVDs etc, which have sold well. You would have thought that after the Rise and Fall of ECW did so well they would have been all over the WCW equivalent, but it came out years after.

 

That's somewhat understandable though. It seems like it's only relatively recently that people have missed WCW instead of thinking of it as a joke, whereas there were always ECW chants. WCW never seemed to have the cult appeal that lived on after the company died in the same way.

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