6,000 fans at SD; only 1,500 fans stayed to watch 205 Live on Tuesday

[JerseyBoy23]

Right, something is going to have to nearly break his company before he makes any changes. He's making loads of money, while producing the worst content of his career. He's old as shyt, so he won't change the way he does things. It's just a shame. While the WWE is really making bread, I genuinely believe someone could come through and produce something better and make risks in story-telling, in presentation and in the way things are done in the ring. Judging by the content we see on any of the wrestling shows on TV (Impact, Lucha, All In, NJPW, etc), nobody in charge of those other promotions can take wrestling to newer places. It's only gone where it's been before.

One of the reasons other promotions can't go to a better place is because of WWE though. Most people who get tired of wrestling don't seek out other promotions, they just stop watching wrestling altogether and if they ever do come back they go right back to WWE.

Combine that with the fact that WWE likes to take the best talent from those promotions and we see why no one else gets enough momentum.

 

[JerseyBoy23]

Last year they had a run with some ABYSMAL TV attendances even for RAW...they didn't give a shyt either and didn't have the safe net they have now

Crazy thing is they don't really have as big of a safety as people think they do. Sure they also have 1.2 billion from USA for RAW but if the Smackdown ratings are shytty, FOX will cancel or demote to FS1 within a heartbeat.

 

[Da King]

But the marks said indie midget god AKKK Styles was a draw

 

[Mantis Toboggan M.D.]

The week before, it was announced that Brock would appear for a face off with Roman during the build to wrestlemania, and Brock never appeared as a part of the Brock hates the fans storyline and Roman approached Vince instead. It was also the week they announced Ronda would appear on every Raw until wrestlemania. They forgot to tell the fans about the no shows tho

Bunch of sleazy fukking con artists . Deliberately promote something you know you aren’t going to give the audience purely for backstage reasons.

One of the reasons other promotions can't go to a better place is because of WWE though. Most people who get tired of wrestling don't seek out other promotions, they just stop watching wrestling altogether and if they ever do come back they go right back to WWE.

Combine that with the fact that WWE likes to take the best talent from those promotions and we see why no one else gets enough momentum.

It’s been said before, but this stems not just from Vince and Dunn hating pro wrestling. He has the mentality that in order for him to perceive himself to have won or done well in something, everyone else has to lose. It’s why he buried all the territories, buried WCW and ECW when he bought them, buried their top stars when they came over, gives low ball offers in contracts & denies any sort of benefits while trying to control the wrestlers as employees while listing them as independent contractors, sabotaging everyone creatively, and raiding the indies for talent and then doing nothing whatsoever with them. It’s a sickness for sure, but I’m not entirely sure what the clinical diagnosis would be referred to as.

 

[Bryan Danielson]

But the marks said Enzo Amorie wasnt a draw and 205 is better without him

Corrected for accuracy

Martha

 

[ExodusNirvana]

Looks like a good portion of that arena was not "All In"

 

[Da King]

Corrected for accuracy

Martha

Think about it, the marks hated a heel because they had heat with him

 

[Jmare007]

Crazy thing is they don't really have as big of a safety as people think they do. Sure they also have 1.2 billion from USA for RAW but if the Smackdown ratings are shytty, FOX will cancel or demote to FS1 within a heartbeat.

The Saudi and USA safety nets are huge by themselves, FOX is just gravy. And they are gonna get more promotion than ever.

Say the demote it to FS1, they'd still be getting FOX money. If they cancel it, then another network will go in and offer them something too. shyt that might mean they have to "create" a new TV show/brand/name and that would get eyes and promotion too.

 

[Francis White]

Enzo needs to be brought back. AJ needs a break from the title.
Russo is definitely a thought. He should be brought back to book either 205 or Smackdown.

 

[mrken12]

Enzo needs to be brought back. AJ needs a break from the title.
Russo is definitely a thought. He should be brought back to book either 205 or Smackdown.

The same Enzo who couldn't even sell out 205 Live house shows? He's not a draw. Let it go.

 

[Da King]

Enzo needs to be brought back. AJ needs a break from the title.
Russo is definitely a thought. He should be brought back to book either 205 or Smackdown.

Best mic game in the last 15 years

 

[JerseyBoy23]

The Saudi and USA safety nets are huge by themselves, FOX is just gravy. And they are gonna get more promotion than ever.

Say the demote it to FS1, they'd still be getting FOX money. If they cancel it, then another network will go in and offer them something too. shyt that might mean they have to "create" a new TV show/brand/name and that would get eyes and promotion too.

Good point. I'm really basing my statement off of people on Reddit and Twitter who act like FOX is just handing them 1 billion upfront when in reality, it's a 200 million per year deal.

With the RAW deal included they'll have 440 million guaranteed a year which is double what they're getting for their current deal. I just hope they don't think FOX will let any kind of numbers slide. Even CW cancels shows and their average ratings are lower than some cable networks.

 

[Berniewood Hogan]

I get the feeling that their ultimate goal is complete independence from these pressures via the WWE Network. And that plan, in my opinion, trades on the wrestling fan placing more importance on the massive amount of classic programming on the platform than on how terrible and bland the original product is. In short, they want to exploit the wrestling fan's love of nostalgia to prop up their channel and ambitions (really disgusting shyt when you break it down like that).

i made a thread about meltzer saying exactly this, but i was working

 

[Mantis Toboggan M.D.]

I get the feeling that their ultimate goal is complete independence from these pressures via the WWE Network. And that plan, in my opinion, trades on the wrestling fan placing more importance on the massive amount of classic programming on the platform than on how terrible and bland the original product is. In short, they want to exploit the wrestling fan's love of nostalgia to prop up their channel and ambitions (really disgusting shyt when you break it down like that).

The thing is, there are really only so many people who are going to pay $120 a year specifically for WWE programming and content, and I think they're closer to that threshold than they think right now (currently sitting ar around 2 million subscribers). It's an unsustainable plan, borne of ambitions propped up by inflated stock and rights fees. I might be wrong about where WWE's heading, but I get the feeling that they actually need to start getting in touch with what the fans want and like quick, fast, and in a hurry before things start going downhill.

i made a thread about meltzer saying exactly this, but i was working

That’s some $240 million per year. Doesn’t seem sustainable to me without a huge tv deal and sponsors.

 

[dh86]

Crazy thing is they don't really have as big of a safety as people think they do. Sure they also have 1.2 billion from USA for RAW but if the Smackdown ratings are shytty, FOX will cancel or demote to FS1 within a heartbeat.

If Smackdown got demoted to FS1, it’d be their highest rated show by a large margin outside of college football. With the TV and Saudi money coming in along with the network being profitable, they’re on cruise control. If attendance becomes an issue, they can cut ticket prices in half and not feel a thing. They have a massive safety net because even with the influx of new money, they aren’t really spending any more than before.