Monthly News Thread (February 2019)

[GKJ]

So, and this was in updates yesterday, a Fox exec talked about Smackdown on Friday on Fox was a 'short term' thing. Dave talking more about this on audio:

-They want to do a FS1 show I guess like UFC tonight had or whatever that's more of a news show, produced by FS1, which means Vince doesn't. Which means Vince can't control it and their writers aren't going to be able to script it. They compared it to ESPN trying to do it which was a disaster but they also had Coachman behind that and he's a doofus.

-Since Fox made this deal, they've had some comedy show (not sure what it is) that's gotten hot and drawing over 4m viewers weekly. Smackdown right now is touch-and-go to make 2m.

So Fox is already making contingency plans in case they made a bad deal, and they don't air the show for another 8 months.

 

[Jussi]

If you're 50+. you're more often than not talking about grandchildren.

I'm talking about the John Cena demographic.

 

[GKJ]

I'm talking about the John Cena demographic.

People who grew up with Cena are only slightly younger than I would guess most of the people who post here, and also have already left the product.

 

[Jussi]

People who grew up with Cena are only slightly younger than I would guess most of the people who post here, and also have already left the product.

Demographic, not literally Cena fans.

 

[Cor]

So, and this was in updates yesterday, a Fox exec talked about Smackdown on Friday on Fox was a 'short term' thing. Dave talking more about this on audio:

-They want to do a FS1 show I guess like UFC tonight had or whatever that's more of a news show, produced by FS1, which means Vince doesn't. Which means Vince can't control it and their writers aren't going to be able to script it. They compared it to ESPN trying to do it which was a disaster but they also had Coachman behind that and he's a doofus.

-Since Fox made this deal, they've had some comedy show (not sure what it is) that's gotten hot and drawing over 4m viewers weekly. Smackdown right now is touch-and-go to make 2m.

So Fox is already making contingency plans in case they made a bad deal, and they don't air the show for another 8 months.

Last Man Standing with Tim Allen is the comedy on Friday nights.

They’ve reached 6M usually and their premiere had over 8M.

Between that success and SmackDown (and WWE’s) overall viewership decline, I’m not shocked they are worried, and might make a change

 

[GKJ]

They put that on Fridays? I've seen some episodes, but they were in syndication. It is a decent show.

Dave also said that Tampa is the favorite for Wrestlemania 36.

I'd bet my house that Wrestlemania 37 will be in LA.

 

[iamjs]

Is he broke or something? I find it very odd that he'd do that and all these other weird things unless he needed money. Early interviews would tend to lean that he would have just gone away.

The only thing i can think of is that he is broke.

I thought Taker was one of the few that was smart with his money and did some investing in real estate.

 

[Cor]

Is he broke or something? I find it very odd that he'd do that and all these other weird things unless he needed money. Early interviews would tend to lean that he would have just gone away.

The only thing i can think of is that he is broke.

Keep in mind, Mark Callaway was never really able to interact with fans due to his character I don’t believe.

So maybe he’s now interested in doing some signings and get that interaction?

 

[Jussi]

Keep in mind, Mark Callaway was never really able to interact with fans due to his character I don’t believe.

So maybe he’s now interested in doing some signings and get that interaction?

I saw a clip of him doing a tv interview when he was BikerTaker and it seemed he was very comfortable in that role.

 

[Cor]

I saw a clip of him doing a tv interview when he was BikerTaker and it seemed he was very comfortable in that role.

Yeah, BikerTaker was the one part he was able to. He appeared on Fallon for a bit where he tombstoned Maddox dressed as a turkey a couple years ago too.

But other wise, the Deadman gimmick didn’t really let him do signings or meet and greets.

So if he’s now no longer under WWE contract, he can do those things if he wants.

Only thing that sucks is he may not be in the WWE video games anymore

 

[Dr Pepper]

This is still my favourite in-character signing moment.

It's a shame there's no version where Deadman Taker is goofing with some little kid like this.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Undertaker is charging $25,000 / hour for U.S. bookings.

 

[Cor]

This is still my favourite in-character signing moment.

It's a shame there's no version where Deadman Taker is goofing with some little kid like this.

Miz does this so much I find.

It's awesome. Probably one of the best people for fans to meet I think

 

[Kimi]

Only thing that sucks is he may not be in the WWE video games anymore

He probably will be. When WWE signs guys they make sure they get to keep their video game likeness for a long time, it might be indefinite.

 

[Cor]

He probably will be. When WWE signs guys they make sure they get to keep their video game likeness for a long time, it might be indefinite.

Ciampa isn't even in the game, so it's not apart of standard deals.

It's possible he will be, but it also opens the chance he won't be.

 

[Kimi]

Ciampa isn't even in the game, so it's not apart of standard deals.

It's possible he will be, but it also opens the chance he won't be.

NXT deals might be different, but main roster and legends deals 100% give WWE the rights to use them.

I'm sure when they started adding NXT guys to the games, maybe some deals pre-date that?

 

[M.C.G. 31]

 

[Kimi]

Exactly that!

Give me rules damn it! Wrestling is 1000000x better when there are actually rules that are consistently enforced.

 

[Cor]

NXT deals might be different, but main roster and legends deals 100% give WWE the rights to use them.

I'm sure when they started adding NXT guys to the games, maybe some deals pre-date that?

I don't think NXT deals do, as Ciampa was in 2K18, but not in 2K19 because they couldn't come to terms. Whatever that means.

I believe Main Event and Legend Deals do give video game rights, but if Taker's expired, they wouldn't have the video game rights forever. Like RVD legends deal expired, so he wasn't in 2k19, but was in 2K18.

To my understanding, if Taker's legend deal is over. 2K would need to sign a deal with Taker for him to be able to be in the game. So if Taker asks for a lot of money, 2K might just leave him out of the game, similar to what happened with Ciampa.

 

[Kimi]

Yeah, if the rights to his likeness in video games has run out they'd need to sign something new. But WWE deals in recent years have all signed away their video game likeness for a long time. It's a separate deal from their normal wrestling/legends contract.


But if he's on an older contract then he may not have done and 2K will be on the hook. 'Taker can probably make a lot from that, video game payments are already meant to be quite large too.

 

[GKJ]

Let's not pretend Vince ever thought enough of the fans to be table to identify those rules

 

[dahrougem2]

Undertaker is charging $25,000 / hour for U.S. bookings.

Hahaha that's more than half my salary last year

 

[Emperoreddy]

So, and this was in updates yesterday, a Fox exec talked about Smackdown on Friday on Fox was a 'short term' thing. Dave talking more about this on audio:

-They want to do a FS1 show I guess like UFC tonight had or whatever that's more of a news show, produced by FS1, which means Vince doesn't. Which means Vince can't control it and their writers aren't going to be able to script it. They compared it to ESPN trying to do it which was a disaster but they also had Coachman behind that and he's a doofus.

-Since Fox made this deal, they've had some comedy show (not sure what it is) that's gotten hot and drawing over 4m viewers weekly. Smackdown right now is touch-and-go to make 2m.

So Fox is already making contingency plans in case they made a bad deal, and they don't air the show for another 8 months.

I have gotten the impression Fox either wants, or flat out intends to have more say on the product then USA has in the past.

 

[Cor]

I have gotten the impression Fox either wants, or flat out intends to have more say on the product then USA has in the past.

It's already been said as much.

FOX wants SmackDown to be apart of their sports lineup. They don't want the soap opera stuff. They don't want "Sports Entertainment". They want "Sport".

Many believe that at the shake up in April, or maybe another one after SummerSlam, SmackDown will be given all of the more technical talent, while RAW will be where the gimmick, story driven characters will be.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Hahaha that's more than half my salary last year

You think that's expensive, try figuring out what pro athletes make in that same time span.

Auston Matthews' cap hit starting next season? $11,634,000

That's around $141k per 60-minute game, or roughly $47k per period.

Of course, then there's the super-wealthy guys like Gates or Bezos......if they drop $100 on the ground, they've already more than that amount by the time they bend over to pick it up.

Undertaker is small fries in comparison.