Monthly News Thread (April 2019)

[Disclose]

I was reading: wwe Also managed to pull Taker and Angle off Starrcast II in Vegas.
(They both signed “new” contracts)

 

[GarbageGoal]

SI reporting Dean Malenko has quit. He apparently was the main agent for tag matches.

 

[ColePens]

That "we're going to add more months on to your contract because you were injured" thing they do is such BS. Literally no other organization in professional sports does that. Del Rio and Lesnar way back when basically took WWE's contracts and metaphorically wiped their asses with them in court. I hope (but understand it might not be financially viable) Harper does the same.

This is the main thing I want to see gone. Someone file a lawsuit. It's unacceptable as an independent contractor to have that language in a contract. I desperately want to see that gone. The story of DB was also ridiculous.

 

[xtra]

As sad as it is to say the wrestling world will be better off when Vince no longer has anything to do with it.

 

[GKJ]

Vince McMahon: Talent absences to blame for declining WWE numbers

"
On Thursday's Q1 call for investors, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon pointed to 15 top and mid-card talents being out as the reason for declining numbers.
"When you don't have talent, you don't have storylines. When you don't have storylines, you're not going to do that well in terms of live events and television ratings. It was like a cascade of things that happened," he said.
McMahon followed that up by saying that all those talents were back and that they "made new talent." He was optimistic for the future, citing new additions to the writing team and a new live events team that is now in place.
WWE Co-President George Barrios later said it wasn't just talent absences, but "the magnitude all at one time that felt unique." He said in his time at the company, he can only remember one similar time that happened: spring/summer 2010.
The company announced Q1 revenue was down 3% year-over-year to $182.4 million due to lower merchandise and lower ticket sales. Live event revenue was down 15% year-over-year to $26.2 million while consumer products were down 11% year-over-year to $20.8 million."

Imagine the problem with this company being not enough talent!

 

[Fro]

I cant believe he tried that as an excuse

 

[GKJ]

I cant believe he tried that as an excuse

People investing deserve whatever they get.

Luke Harper was scheduled for the feud with Sami Zayn but they canceled it and that's when he asked for his release.

 

[JackSlater]

WWE is laughably corporate now.

We have new additions to the writing team and a new live event team though! We'll be making moments and be trending worldwide with our new group of WWE Superstars like The Viking Experience and Aleister! What a time to be a sports entertainment fan and a member of the WWE Universe!

 

[PeterSidorkiewicz]

WWE is laughably corporate now.

We have new additions to the writing team and a new live event team though! We'll be making moments and be trending worldwide with our new group of WWE Superstars like The Viking Experience and Aleister! What a time to be a sports entertainment fan and a member of the WWE Universe!

And I have always contended this is the main root of the issue nowadays. NXT? Not nearly as corporate.

It's like TV shows or radio shows where the lawyers get involved, and the sponsors, and the non-creatives in the creative process. Those shows usually go downhill really really fast.

It's why HBO can produce a lot of quality content, they let the right people do their thing.

 

[Hypernova]

Vince McMahon: Talent absences to blame for declining WWE numbers

"
On Thursday's Q1 call for investors, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon pointed to 15 top and mid-card talents being out as the reason for declining numbers.
"When you don't have talent, you don't have storylines. When you don't have storylines, you're not going to do that well in terms of live events and television ratings. It was like a cascade of things that happened," he said.
McMahon followed that up by saying that all those talents were back and that they "made new talent." He was optimistic for the future, citing new additions to the writing team and a new live events team that is now in place.
WWE Co-President George Barrios later said it wasn't just talent absences, but "the magnitude all at one time that felt unique." He said in his time at the company, he can only remember one similar time that happened: spring/summer 2010.
The company announced Q1 revenue was down 3% year-over-year to $182.4 million due to lower merchandise and lower ticket sales. Live event revenue was down 15% year-over-year to $26.2 million while consumer products were down 11% year-over-year to $20.8 million."

Imagine the problem with this company being not enough talent!

What talent absence is he even talking about? They had AJ, Dean, Seth, DB, Braun, Finn, Joe, Rey, Orton, Lashley, Roman came back. Only guy i can think of being out was Bray but he could have come back if they needed him.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

What the f*** is Vince even talking about?

Also no one really cares about live events anyways. Have y’all seen the lineups lately? Those look like a straight guaranteed waste of time these days.

 

[Dr Pepper]

What talent absence is he even talking about? They had AJ, Dean, Seth, DB, Braun, Finn, Joe, Rey, Orton, Lashley, Roman came back. Only guy i can think of being out was Bray but he could have come back if they needed him.

Harper, Rowan (for a while), Alexa, Sami, KO.

Still not even close to an excuse for the ratings, that is 100% on creative's complete incompetence.

 

[GKJ]

What talent absence is he even talking about? They had AJ, Dean, Seth, DB, Braun, Finn, Joe, Rey, Orton, Lashley, Roman came back. Only guy i can think of being out was Bray but he could have come back if they needed him.

John Cena

 

[JackSlater]

And I have always contended this is the main root of the issue nowadays. NXT? Not nearly as corporate.

It's like TV shows or radio shows where the lawyers get involved, and the sponsors, and the non-creatives in the creative process. Those shows usually go downhill really really fast.

It's why HBO can produce a lot of quality content, they let the right people do their thing.

That's part of it. Part of it is that Vince is an old, very strange man with complete creative control over the product. Part of it is that there has been no competition to spur WWE to do better. Part of it is the corporate aspect where WWE has too many people pushing for a sanitized product and a focus on quarterly earnings instead of doing what would be best in the long run.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

What the **** is Vince even talking about?

Also no one really cares about live events anyways. Have y’all seen the lineups lately? Those look like a straight guaranteed waste of time these days.

With all the travel expenses and booking fees, I can't see the WWE making much $$ off house shows.

 

[Cor]

- Dean Malenko was reportedly released from WWE Creative. He didn’t quit like initially reported.

- Dave Schilling, who was hired for WWE Creative at the end of February, has already left/been released by the company

 

[GKJ]

Even if Vince stuck with the writers, they go through so many in such a short period of time that they'd always change everything anyways.

 

[WingsMJN2965]

Any shareholder that buys that injury excuse deserves to lose their money. Moreover, it's hilarious that Barrios claims he's, "Never seen anything like it, except 2010."

It's like these f***ing idiots think anybody forgot about three years ago, when they went into WM32 with:

Cena - Shoulder surgery (Did an unadvertised appearance)
Orton - Shoulder surgery
Rollins - Terrible Triad
Sting - Neck (Was supposed to have another WM match)
Daniel Bryan - Concussions
Cesaro - Shoulder
Zayn - Shoulder
Neville - Broken Ankle

 

[GKJ]

Any shareholder that buys that injury excuse deserves to lose their money. Moreover, it's hilarious that Barrios claims he's, "Never seen anything like it, except 2010."

It's like these ****ing idiots think anybody forgot about three years ago, when they went into WM32 with:

Cena - Shoulder surgery (Did an unadvertised appearance)
Orton - Shoulder surgery
Rollins - Terrible Triad
Sting - Neck (Was supposed to have another WM match)
Daniel Bryan - Concussions
Cesaro - Shoulder
Zayn - Shoulder
Neville - Broken Ankle

Sami was in that one. That was the ladder match and fought Nakamura at Takeover. He had returned the previous December.

 

[Devilsfan92]

You can't use literally and arguably at the same time.

Granted it wasn't the correct grammer on my part. However Charlotte Flair is literally the best female wrestler in WWE right now and she's arguably the best that has ever been in WWE.

 

[CaptainCrunch67]

I don't disagree, I'm not a far of Charlotte's to be honest, but she just grates on me and not in a good villain way.

I was up late last nigh and the network was replaying money in the bank 2012 and they had the rivalry between Punk and Bryan with AJ as the villain in the middle, and I had forgotten about how good AJ Lee actually was as a character, and I still loved her finisher submission. It makes me wonder how she would have held up with this generation or woman wrestlers.

 

[Kimi]

Granted it wasn't the correct grammer on my part. However Charlotte Flair is literally the best female wrestler in WWE right now and she's arguably the best that has ever been in WWE.

I think you can make a case for her being the biggest star they've got, but I don't think you can say she's the best wrestler. Especially when they've got Kairi an Io under contract.

 

[tony d]

Injuries are a poor excuse and I'm Vince sympathizer more often than not. 2000 was the best year the WWF ever had. Guess who missed most of that year; Stone Cold and The Undertaker. 2 bigger talents than anyone the WWE has today. They still had a great year, injuries weren't an excuse back then nor should they be today.

 

[xtra]

The claim is simply because the ones investing in the company don’t watch and follow the product like we do. They see 15 names out regardless of their usage and go oh ok...
They see superstar Luke Harper out and go ok makes sense we didn’t meet expectations while we go....Harper is a jobber in the wwe and won’t affect ratings

 

[Devilsfan92]

I think you can make a case for her being the biggest star they've got, but I don't think you can say she's the best wrestler. Especially when they've got Kairi an Io under contract.

I was more so talking the main roster, Raw and SmackDown .I haven't seen enough of Kairi to comment, mostly a couple matches against Bazler and the four way at Brooklyn, which had Io, and that was the first full match I've seen of hers. I've been trying to get up to date with NXT, and if you're talking outside of the WWR umbrella I've seen very minimal.

However I still feel Charlotte doesn't get the credit she deserves. I can completely understand the backlash of her getting all the main event opportunities, but she preforms each time she does get them. I'm not trying to come across as a Charlotte fan or mark or what have you, im just saying her matches are normally a highlight of each card she is on. Just look at her match Tuesday vs Bayley. It was the first time I've been invested in a Bayley match is the longest time. Sure a lot of it is the booking, but some people, Charlotte in this case, make the most of those bookings and she is great.