Some of Todays Wrestling News and Rumours (Possible spoilers) ***NO CHAT***

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According to the Observer both the TV contracts are up for both Raw and Smackdown. WWE's stated aim is to double rights fees for both shows.

Dave Meltzer runs through WWE's prospects on various other stations. He feels strongest about SPIKE bidding for Smackdown and yeah well that's a Doomsday scenario for TNA and the Wrestling Industry as whole. :eek:

I could see real logic in Spike making a bid for Smackdown from 8-10 p.m. on Friday and having Bellator follow. Bellator retained about 62% of TNA fans on Thursdays,

If they could do only 50% of Smackdown fans, you’re talking 1.3 million viewers a week on a Friday, and all of a sudden by Spike standards, it’s a hit. Whether it can sell more tickets or not and is really more popular isn’t relevant. They’ll be able to monetize half the Smackdown viewers for two more hours and at a far higher price per viewer than they get for Smackdown, and the perception will be they have a vibrant promotion if they can pull those numbers on a Friday, since that’s what UFC averaged on Saturdays on FX and may be more than they get at first on FS 1.

In addition, a consistent 2.5 million viewers for two hours on Friday, plus the Bellator increase, will significantly raise the company’s prime time average in both viewers and 18-49s (although Smackdown, on Friday, skews much older overall than Raw does). So that’s a unique situation where Smackdown would be worth tons more to Spike than to Syfy. Of course, making that move would be the death knell for TNA, since it’s pretty clear the number of stations willing to pay rights fees for WWE is very limited. For TNA there may be nobody else, and without TV money, not only are they cooked financially, but without TV, they are essentially done in all their other revenue streams. So this would not be for the good of the wrestling business, because no matter what anyone thinks of TNA, it does nobody any benefit to have only one company with national coverage, particularly the pro wrestling job market.

WWE's deal with SKY expires in 2014 and WWE will likely want more money there to.

gnfnrhead

Spike just re-signed TNA earlier this year. Apparently for 5 years too. Seems bizarre that they would suddenly change their mind when TNA are still getting them some of their best ratings. Unless they think they can have both? Cant see WWE agreeing to that.

Tinie

God id be so happy if WWE came back to channel 4 but I know it won't happen. If sky dont get renew the contract, im guessing ESPN or something will get it, but its no difference to me since I dont have a sky sub.

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gnfnrhead wrote: »

Spike just re-signed TNA earlier this year. Apparently for 5 years too..

I heard that too...but just from Eric Young but no other serious outlet,

Machismo Fan

Would WWE be as willing to play ball with Bellator as TNA are?

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Machismo Fan wrote: »

Would WWE be as willing to play ball with Bellator as TNA are?

No idea. This is just a scenario Meltzer created due SPIKE being open to Wrestling and being open to buying big bucks of it.

gnfnrhead

Random coincidence: I was playing TEW 2005 the other day and TNA got dropped by Spike.

Machismo Fan wrote: »

Would WWE be as willing to play ball with Bellator as TNA are?

Not unless WWE got a lot from it which I dont think they will. If WWE wanted to work with an MMA company I doubt Bellator would be very high on their list.

QikBax

I'm sure BT would make a play for WWE UK rights. They already offered a better deal than Sky for UFC.

Could be good for the viewer too as they have no PPV channel.

GTR63

jamc wrote: »

I'm sure BT would make a play for WWE UK rights. They already offered a better deal than them for UFC.

Could be good for the viewer too as they have no PPV channel.

But they also have Craig Doyle and Paul Dempsey. ESPN is a non runner anyway the channel is only around so they can broadcast the FA Cup rights iirc.

DM_7

jamc wrote: »

I'm sure BT would make a play for WWE UK rights. They already offered a better deal than Sky for UFC.

Could be good for the viewer too as they have no PPV channel.

Is the last line not the reason that BT won't get it? WWE want a channel that will run PPVs and the money BT would have to pay to replace PPV wouldn't be worth their while.

CastorTroy

But do Sky currently give the money they earn from Sky Box Office? Or do they buy the PPV, paying WWE upfront and keep all from SBO? I'm assuming this would explain the PPVs they air on Sky Sports.

DM_7

WWE always list oversees PPV as 'buys' in their accounts so presumed they worked on a model of sharing the PPV money. I could be way off!

rovert

Surprisingly interesting PR interview with Daniel Bryan:
http://www.digitalspy.ie/ustv/s216/wwe/interviews/a505205/wwe-daniel-bryan-interview-i-want-a-bout-with-jesus.html

Furious-Red

NME.com

YES YES YES YES

Frank Turner has said that wants to duet with WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan.

Turner was responding to a recent comment by the wrestler saying he'd like to work with him.

After hearing the news, Turner tweeted Bryan saying: "I'm game!"

In an interview with Digital Spy, the wrestler, who previously collaborated with The Moldy Peaches Kimya Dawson on 'Captain Lou', said: "I love Frank Turner, an English guy. I would like to do something with him. There's something about his music. I suppose there's a lot in common with independent musicians and wrestlers. How much he's on the road, all that kind of stuff.

"His music really speaks to me, I identify with it. If I could do something with him, that would be awesome. It's crazy to see how popular he's become. I was at the gym maybe a month ago and I heard a Frank Turner song. I was like, 'Whoah!' I'm so out of tune with pop culture, I didn't even realise that he had become big! It was like, this is my guy, and he's playing at the gym! This is strange."

Another wrestler, Wade Barrett said last year that he would talk to people in the music department of the WWE to see if he could take up Manic Street Preachers on their offer to write his new theme music.

For anyone who has never heard of him

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxwSK6V9lUw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm7pZaT9EOs

JP Liz V1

According to reports, the elbow injury that current WWE Champion John Cena
showed off on RAW a few weeks ago is worse than the company, and Cena himself,
is leading fans to believe. While the exact severity of the injury is unclear,
it is apparently a pretty serious injury

WWE title change at Summerslam

Furious-Red

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

WWE title change at Summerslam

Cash in or DB to win? Possibly both

JohnMarston

Furious-Red wrote: »

Cash in or DB to win? Possibly both

Either way, cena should get some time off

gnfnrhead

Oh joy.

PWI wrote:

WWE reportedly wants to get the SmackDown show up to par with Monday Night RAW. The current talk is to put more focus on the show, and there is even talk of expanding SmackDown to three hours in order to feature more stories.

The company's deal with SyFy is expiring shortly, and it is expected that they will re-sign and keep SyFy SmackDown's home.

Last line is good news for TNA as it will keep them safe with Spike, but three hours for Smackdown? Not so good. Especially when Raw is usually a pain to watch in full.

MitchKoobski

Three hour Smackdown means an extra hour's worth of Raw highlights.

Omackeral

3 Hour SmackDown

ZOMG!! Croozerwieght Divishin is cumming back!!!! Lolz!!! x x

gerrybbadd

Oh dear god why??? Raw is bad enough at 3 hours. And 1 hour of Smackdown is already Raw highlights and From the Vault... My fast forward button is gonna break.

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Irish comedian David O'Doherty and Colt Cabana are mates now:

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Phenomenal video of Fandango saving Summer Rae from falling at a WWE charity event:
http://vt.tumblr.com/tumblr_mrlysaxPCD1r0h6vj.mp4

GTR63

http://www.pwinsider.com/article/79669/vince-mcmahon-not-liking-the-way-christian-looks-kurt-angle-getting-into-it-with-shawn-michaels.html?p=1
Vince wanted to cover Christian's face with a blue dot, I bet it bothered him that he got so hot on the way out.

cena

Wwe have uploaded kurt angles enterance song on YouTube. Is he coming back?

Angron

Doubt it, isn't he involved in that Main Event Mafia thing in TNA at the moment?

edit: He's still under contract, but is apparently taking some time off for rehab.

gnfnrhead

He's in rehab.

Insect Overlord

cena wrote: »

Wwe have uploaded kurt angles enterance song on YouTube. Is he coming back?

It's more likely a hint that his character will be playable in the new video game.

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The normally straight up WWE false advertising Cena

Cena no-shows another house show

John Cena did not appear as advertised at last night's WWE show in Portland, OR.

Cena has been pulled from all wrestling matches due to his left elbow problems, although he will be facing Daniel Bryan tomorrow at SummerSlam.

For reasons not clear, Cena was still being advertised on the day of the show.

They did an unadvertised Battle Royal, won by Daniel Bryan, leading to a Bryan vs. Del Rio title match which Bryan won via DQ.

Guess they feared refunds.

smellmepower

Little interview with HBK about Bryan:

Shawn Michaels is a WWE Hall of Famer, the cohost of Outdoor Channel’s award-winning show “Shawn Michaels’ MacMillan River Adventures” (Tuesday nights at 11:30 p.m. ET) and a four-time World Champion. But did you know The Showstopper also trained Daniel Bryan?

Long before “the beard” was here and challenging for John Cena’s WWE Championship, he was learning the ropes at the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy in San Antonio. With his star pupil set to compete in the biggest match of his career at SummerSlam, WWE.com touched base with the legendary HBK to get his thoughts on Bryan’s professional development, his current place in the WWE hierarchy and his outlook on the pay-per-view’s blockbuster main event match.

WWE.com: What were your earliest impressions of Daniel Bryan as a student?

Shawn Michaels: Heck, I knew at first glance what a talented young man he was. He came in good, for heaven’s sakes. His work ethic, his integrity, his dedication, all of that stuff was all phenomenal from the get-go. And honestly, he had an understanding that it was going to be tough. He knew it was going to be a long road for him, and none of those things bothered him. He had a fantastic attitude absolutely every day, day in and day out. Our [training] facility — it was no WWE Performance Center. It was dirty, it was hot and there was never a complaint out of him. I cannot remember one time the young man ever had anything other than a good and positive attitude.

If you become something to the people, you’re going to become something to WWE.WWE.com: During his training, did you ever expect he would end up excelling in WWE the way he has, given his size and style, or did you see his career going in a different direction?

Shawn Michaels: I always tried to be honest with him. I knew he was talented. And I knew he was going to face the same uphill battle that every guy his size does, myself included, and it was simply a matter of if he had the patience and the ability to adjust in areas where other people thought he needed to adjust — as far as personality, character, things of that nature.

I saw him as a young man who had a very good blueprint for how he wanted to work out his career as far as the order in which he wanted to progress, which was learning his in-ring skills and honing them to a point where he felt very secure in his ability and could then build on that incredibly solid foundation. And he was always very open and excited. It certainly wasn’t very tough to get him to go to Japan the first time. When that opportunity came, he was still at our school. I knew he was one of the guys that we wanted to send and he was thrilled about it and he fell in love with it. I think that was one of his building blocks, certainly, in establishing the phenomenal in-ring ability that he has today.

WWE.com: After he left your academy, did you follow much of his time spent outside WWE, and if so, what were your thoughts on his development, whether it was on the independent scene or in Europe or Japan?

Shawn Michaels: Well, I kept up a little bit with the things in Japan. I would get updates on him from guys I corresponded with, and then certainly when I came back to work in WWE on a full-time basis, I always heard things through the grapevine. Then, obviously, he came in on a number of occasions for tryouts. And through, again, other guys in the locker room, I always heard how he was progressing in Ring of Honor.

But honestly, I was never really concerned about checking up on him. In my opinion, I knew it was only a matter of time. Every time he came in for a tryout, so to speak, I would ask him how it went and then I would sort of say, ’It’s really up to you whenever you want to leave what you’re doing and come here. And when you come here, it will still be an uphill battle.’ Not to imply in any way, shape or form that I called him years ago and I take any credit for anything, because I don’t.

But I just knew that he was unbelievably talented, and that can’t be denied. I don’t care if you’re three inches tall. If you’re as talented as he is, you’re going to get an opportunity if you’re patient and you stand the test of time. And he’s done that part, so absolutely nothing that’s going on with him right now is any surprise to me whatsoever.

WWE.com: Can you speak a little bit about the stigmas associated with being what’s considered an “undersized” Superstar in the WWE main event? And you alluded to it before, but it sounds like you see parallels between what he’s going through now, perhaps, and what you experienced in the 1990s.

Shawn Michaels: The thing is it was a stigma then. Now, it’s really just something that everyone’s gotten so used to saying, they keep saying it. But I mean, sure, it’s there in the respect that if you’re 6-foot-5 and 250 lbs, you certainly get a look first. But that sort of mold was broken back in the 1990s and numerous people have been successful since then. And again, I want to reiterate that it’s not there in bits and pieces, but to imply that it’s anywhere even in the overall general vicinity of the same ballpark that it was in the ’90s is, respectfully, laughable, because it isn’t.

To WWE and to everyone who owns WWE, it’s a business, and if you become something to the people, you’re going to become something to the company. It’s just that simple now. Will you be what everyone wants you to be? No, because there’s way too many people with too many different opinions, and it’s impossible for any one person to be everything for everybody. But to become a main player in WWE on a regular basis for a long period of time, it’s anybody’s ballgame. It’s just that, with some guys, it’s going to take longer and you need more patience, but talent always rises to the top.

WWE.com: If you have any words of advice for Daniel Bryan at this point in his career, as he stares down the biggest match of his life, what would they be?

Shawn Michaels: I wouldn’t give him any advice. He doesn’t need any. Bryan’s never needed any advice. I’d tell him ’good luck,’ and it’s like anything else: A lot of things in his career haven’t happened the first time out. That never stopped him before. Regardless of the outcome at SummerSlam, I believe he’s going to be a player in WWE for a long, long time, and that’s when greatness is established — over time. It’s not in one day. Greatness is something that stands the test of time, and I think that’s what he should focus on. I have no doubt that’s exactly what he’s doing right now and I wish him the best of luck at SummerSlam