wrestling / Columns
The Wrestling Sandwich 11.05.11
Welcome to the Wrestling Sandwich everybody! A lot to get to this week so we’ll just skip most of the usual pleasantries and get right to the meat of the article.
Firstly, we have a quick recap of the WWE Q3 Financials in the news section that will provide the type of in-depth analysis and outside the box thinking that guys like Prag aren’t able to utilize in their articles. That’s why I am here doing the financials right now because it is always good to have somebody in business handling business stories, is it not? Also, we have a look at the recent buyrates and ratings that will not be good news for the WWE.
I also wanted to say next week is a very special event because we are going to have the first special of the Sandwich’s history and one that will hopefully repeat every November because it will be Wrestling Sandwich Factor time! In the NO FREE PASS ZONE, we’re going to examine all the interesting facts about the Q3 report and much more so stay tuned for next week. I even have a gigantic new sandwich to debut for that special edition’s opener! In December, look forward to two specials in the form of a yearly Best Of column and a special Golden Nugget award issue towards the last week in December. We’re going to have a lot of fun, so right now into the news we go!
Top Stories of the Week!
1. Weekly Ratings Roundup
TNA Impact – 1.1 overall with hourly ratings of 1.21 and 1.07, down slightly from last week’s record setting show.
WWE Smackdown – 1.93 with 2.8 million viewers, lowest rating since mid-September and down from last week
WWE RAW – 3.1 overall with 4.4 million viewers, hourly ratings were 3.21 and 3.0 – down from last week
The ratings are down from all three shows although out of all of them, Impact dropped the least. Apparently the days of The Rock drawing over a 3.5 are over, as despite advertising The Rock’s response on RAW as well as the Muppets on Halloween viewers declined over the course of two hours and the show posted a low rating overall compared to the last two weeks. Apparently the WWE better start looking into their bag of tricks to figure out what they want to do, because things are going up for a while and then dropping back down. So what does the WWE have left to deal?
1. Cena heel turn
2. UT vs. Cena at WrestleMania
3. UT vs. Rock at WrestleMania
Honestly, that seems like that is all they really have along with the unveiling of Vince as the guy Johnny Ace is texting to every five seconds and ultimately working against HHH with. WWE needs to take a long, serious look at their options if they want to start branching out and breaking the monotony and while the Muppets were not a bad thing on RAW, the fact they needed the Muppets for a high rating and STILL didn’t get it was pretty pathetic. Even worse was when the two old Muppets ragged on the Cena/Miz match with that “Be glad you can’t see anything because Cena and Miz are next” comment! I have to admit, that was pretty awesome. If you were interested to know how the younger fans reacted to the Muppets, this came through on Wednesday evening:
“The biggest drop-off was among younger viewers (males 12-17 & males 12-34). WWE had tried to prevent this drop with the appearance of the Muppets on Halloween.”
Because nobody can tape a show while going out trick-or-treating right? Interesting that the one demographic they wanted to appeal to most left despite the promotion of both The Rock and the Muppets.
Smackdown has dropped considerably since the September boost this past week but as always, one week is not a trend and we’ll keep watching to see what goes down. The fact that RAW will be taped next week is NOT a smart decision and Smackdown is showing what happens to taped shows when people have other options that are live. Meanwhile, TNA is back to the usual ratings after delivering their top rated show of 2011 the week before and the slide was actually quite small considering they were going up against the World Series and Beavis and Butthead’s big return to television. Since they actually posted the hourly ratings this week I put them up as requested and when I see them posted I’ll keep putting them up, just to show I’m not trying to make WWE look terrible in the hourly ratings because WWE are able to do that to themselves just fine.
2. TNA Bound For Glory Buyrate Update
Numbers are going out that claim that the 2011 TNA Bound for Glory scored around 20,000-25,000 buys. This would be down from the 35,000-40,000 mark that people believe it did in 2010. However, there is one small problem:
None of the sources know what the hell is going on because the numbers are not public knowledge.
TNA does not have to release its information like the WWE does because they are not on the NYSE and as a publicly traded company WWE has no choice. Supposedly the ratings for TNA went down and we know this in what, two weeks? And we have to wait a month for WWE’s buyrates on average? I’d say take this with a grain of salt before we know for sure. Remember that rumor about MITB hitting a higher than last year buyrate and then it turned out it was false and the show did worse? Right now, let us wait until we can find somebody who will report an unbiased number for TNA. Frankly, if Meltzer would give Cena/Punk from MITB five stars I’m going to wait to hear from somebody else on that BFG rating because there’s a little bias going on there.
3. Cool Story, Broski
Zack Ryder wasn’t too pleased with one of the WWE’s latest moves as it relates to his YouTube television show. The Internet champion had a little run-in with top management over copyright infringement! From 411:
“Zack Ryder’s latest episode of Z! True Long Island Story is unavailable on YouTube. The episode was posted today but pulled and replaced by text explaining it’s been blocked by WWE on copyright grounds. Ryder tweeted the following:
WWE has blocked this week’s Episode of Z! True Long Island Story…grrrrrreat.”
The question I have for this situation is what exactly was the copyright for, WWE’s own products or something WWE actually doesn’t own the copyright to? Hopefully we can find out more on this considering right now Ryder is red-hot and the WWE needs to push him to the audience as much as possible.
4. Evan Bourne Gets A Bit Too High
As you know by now, there’s quite the list growing of individuals suspended by the WWE over violations of their Wellness Policy. We’ve covered the suspensions of Mike Chioda, the rumored violation of Andy Leavine from the Tough Enough reboot, Heath Slater, the drunken driving of Jimmy Uso, Sin Cara, and now Evan Bourne joins the list while still holding the WWE Tag Team Championship. Obviously having to publicly admit your tag team champion is addicted to something while performing is not going to sit well with the WWE brass and one thinks that Bourne will be joining the ex-champions line a lot sooner than you think. But, there’s also more to the stories that have been leaking out as well:
– WWE issued a press release on the Evan Bourne suspension. This is the first suspension they have done this for in some time.
– One of the stories making the rounds is that the recent rash of suspensions has to do with the company cracking down on synthetic marijuana usage.
Seriously, synthetic marijuana?!? Over 500 million people supposedly see you each week and you are getting a big fat paycheck and you have to drug yourself up against the rules just because you want to get high? The younger wrestlers are getting a serious blemish from this and Vince may not be so keen on giving people chances in the future until they prove themselves drug free a lot longer. Also, CM Punk must be having a field day knowing HHH’s first international signing got busted for drugs and he never will! Also speaking of Mr. Punk…
5. Big Trouble In Little Chicago
It was reported that the shirt on Monday Night RAW that most of you found familiar was familiar for a very good reason:
“- The shirt that CM Punk was wearing last night was the shirt that Kurt Russell wore as Jack Burton in the film Big Trouble in Little China.”
Just when I think I can’t like the guy any more! As Jack always used to say, it’s all in the reflexes! Continue being awesome, sir.
6. TNA Impact Quick Recap
1. TNA Knockouts Tag Championship: Gail Kim and Madison Rayne became the new champions over Tara and Miss Tessmacher when Tara took an Eat Defeat from Kim to lead to a Rayne pinfall *1/2
2. Non-Title: Jesse Sorensen defeated Austin Aries via roll-up **1/4
3. Mr. Anderson and Jeff Hardy defeat Bully Ray and Jeff Jarrett when Scott Steiner interferes causing a DQ **
4. TNA World Championship: Robert Roode pinned James Storm after a beer bottle shot to the head to become the NEW TNA Champion ***1/4
Very good Impact tonight as we saw all the matches get a decent amount of time and that is always a good thing. The worst booking decision of the show was simply the Steiner DQ as I’m not sure Anderson and Hardy will have another ally to fight all three of them with and the smartest decision was Roode turning heel to win the title because it is so believable after all he went through and failed because of somebody else cheating. Gail Kim looked great, Crimson and Morgan have a match set that could be interesting, and frankly it was an all-around good episode of Impact!
7. WWE Third Quarter Financial Quick Analysis
We’ll go over all the details next week in the Factor edition of the Sandwich but right now here’s the main details that need to be reviewed.
Revenues dropped from $109.6 million in the same quarter last year to $108.5 million this quarter. Operating income dropped from $20.3 to $15.9 million. Net income ended up down from $14.3 million or $0.19 per share to a dismal $10.6 million or $0.14 per share. They reported “film impairment charges” of $5.1 million that means expenses relating to the massive flops WWE Studios puts out.
Of note in the net revenue area: Live and Televised Entertainment rose but Consumer Products and WWE Studios dropped, while Digital Media raised only $0.1 million extra from the prior quarter from 6.8 to 6.9 overall. Regional revenues showed a small increase in North American revenue from $78.9M to $79.6M but Europe, Asia, and Latin America all declined.
PPV Buyrates came in and they weren’t good:
Money In The Bank rose from 165,000 to 195,000 in July
SummerSlam dropped from 350,000 to 296,000 in August, one of the lowest Summerslam buyrates ever.
Night of Champions in September dropped from 165,000 to 161,000.
Venue merchandise dropped from $3.9 million to $3.6 million.
Home Video revenues rose from $7.2 million to $8.3 million although the amount of shipped units dropped by 17% to 686,000, which is possible as they simply increased the average price 4% for all titles. Licensing revenues dropped from $10.8 million to $9.0 million and the economy was blamed for poor toy sales. As expected magazine revenues took a plunge from $2.6 million to a paltry $1.9 million reflecting a loss on newsstands due to the fact people prefer digital age products.
Digital media revenue only rose $0.1 million from $6.8 to $6.9 million. WWE.COM dropped from $4 million to $3.7 million due to a decline in mobile content revenues, and WWEShop rose from $2.8 to $3.2 million.
WWE Studios was the big decliner as predicted here in the Sandwich with $7.6 million in the prior year quarter down to $3.7 million. Film profits declined $5.5 MILLION and home video came in lower than expected.
Digital media revenues rose as also predicted in the Sandwich, rising from $18.6 million to $19.2 million. The WWE has actually done something I really love by putting all their entrance theme songs on iTunes, which is a move LONG overdue for a company with so many in-house produced pieces of music.
In short, basically everything the Sandwich predicted would happen happened here. WWE Studios continues to do poorly, magazines continue to do poorly, digital media continues to rise, and international revenue continues to drop. Buyrates overall are down, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why these things are happening: Fans just don’t see much of a reason to tune in outside the people already hooked by WWE.
We’ll continue next week with the full Dollars and Sense analysis and also discuss the yearly ups and downs as updated by this most recent filing.
Smartest Thing of the Week: Making A New Top Face And Heel In TNA Main Events
A lot of people complain that the homegrown guys in TNA who busted their asses for years never got anything in return for it other than jobbing to ex-WWE wrestlers. Well, in the past two months we’ve seen Robert Roode built up as the next “big” guy for the main event scene, and he certainly has the charisma and wrestling skill to work a great match. James Storm also has great charisma and wrestling skill and he’s been pushed into the scene here and there, testing the waters as both men have made strides towards that main event position. Finally, both men made their mark and became TNA Champion and now have a ready made feud with each other with Roode as the new top heel and Storm as the new top face, all within the span of two weeks time! This helps ensure that new stars are made and people like Beer Money are rewarded for their hard work and loyalty to the company, and it is a damn good thing.
Dumbest Thing of the Week: PPV Buyrate Prices
Seriously, let’s all sit back and look at the events the last couple of years. Even those who don’t agree with me on any political views know that the company is in economic trouble and people can’t afford much of anything, so what is going on with both WWE and TNA charging in excess of $39.99 to watch a little under three hours of wrestling? The worst part about all of this is that WWE is making it worse by adding up to two PPV’s in a single month and charging over $60 for WrestleMania in HD and then even having the nerve to up their ringside ticket price to $1,500 PER SEAT for the next WrestleMania. TNA is still guilty although less so as they average ten dollars below WWE per PPV event. However, as a wrestling fan and more importantly as a consumer, why don’t they give us a break and drop ten or twenty off the price until things improve in the economy? One of the problems with these companies is the recreational industry is usually the first to be cut out of any significant spending as people reign in their wallets, and cutting PPV events and prices might encourage more buys if people have the money.
OLD SCHOOL WRESTLER OF THE WEEK
“The British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith
Davey Boy Smith began wrestling at the age of fifteen under the name of “Young David” along with his older cousin Tom Billington, who would go on to be known as the Dynamite Kid. On September 2, 1978 Davey had his first match, which ended in a draw on ITV’s World of Sport. He would compete there until 1983, when he received an offer from Stampede Wrestling and went to Canada to compete for Stu and his family. After graduating “The Dungeon” Davey Boy would go on to team and feud with the Dynamite Kid, defeating him for his very first championship on July 9, 1982 for the British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Title.
Smith would compete in New Japan Pro Wrestling in 1983 as well, feuding with The Cobra and Dynamite Kid for the NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship although Dynamite Kid ultimately would win a three-way tournament and the title. Afterwards, the British Bulldogs were formed between the Kid and Smith in NJPW and Stampede Wrestling before jumping to the All Japan Pro Wrestling federation in 1984, which would be akin in the US to going from WWF to WCW or vice-versa. Their showing in AJPW’s annual tag team tournament impressed Vince’s crew in the US, and they got an offer to come work for McMahon afterwards.
Along with Davey and Dynamite, Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart would come as Stampede Wrestling was bought out by the WWF. The Bulldogs were leashed so to speak to only compete in the WWF, ending their work in AJPW. They would feud on and off with the Hart Foundation throughout their time in the company as well. It was WrestleMania II when Davey and Dynamite defeated The Dream Team of Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine for the WWF Tag Team Championship. They would hold the tag titles for nine months before losing them to the Hart Foundation in part because of a severe real life back injury to Dynamite that ultimately ended his career. The Bulldogs also would head out of the WWF due to an altercation with the Rougeau Brothers in which Dynamite was blamed for a prank Curt Hennig played and ultimately Jacques Rougeau knocked Dynamite Kid out and took four of his teeth with him thanks to a fist loaded with a roll of quarters. Davey’s tag team partner had a bad reputation backstage and even bullied Ray Rougeau when he was on crutches backstage, causing an intense dislike of the man. The Bulldogs left due to the lack of any disciplinary action taken against Jacques.
The Bulldogs returned to a revived Stampede Wrestling as well as AJPW, but things didn’t work out very well and the team was split up. On July 4, 1989 Davey Boy, Chris Benoit, Ross Hart, and Karl Moffat were involved in a severe automobile accident that put Smith through the windshield and required 135 stitches to fix. At the same time, Dynamite and Davey began having personal issues with each other and Smith finally left to rejoin the WWF.
This time around, Davey Boy was called “The British Bulldog” with the same gimmick and music as the Bulldogs originally had. He was popular enough in the US but in the UK fans were rabid for Smith, which would pay off big time when Bulldog and Bret faced off for the IC Championship in Wembley Stadium in London, England. They were the main event for the night and it was Bret’s suggestion that instead of losing the title to Shawn Michaels Bulldog beat him for a better reaction. Over 80,000 fans watched Bulldog put on probably the match of his career defeating the Hitman for the gold! He would then go on to lose the title three months later to Shawn Michaels on Saturday Night’s Main Event and was released, this time over the fact he and the Ultimate Warrior were receiving Human Growth Hormone, or HGH, shipments from a pharmacy in England and both were fired.
Smith headed to WCW as the natural competitor to the WWF, and fought with Sid Vicious and Big Van Vader who he challenged for the WCW Championship at Slamboree but never won that particular belt. He also allied with Sting and used both Davey Boy Smith and British Bulldog as his monikers interchangeably; due to the fact Smith had trademarked his name early in his career and owned it. This also pissed off Dynamite Kid, because he felt he had a right to use the British Bulldog name as well. WCW would release Davey Boy Smith when he was supposedly involved in an altercation at a bar over a man who made a pass at his wife. Ironically enough, he was teamed with Booker T as “Kole” in his final match at the Battlebowl PPV against Hawk and Rip Rogers and he was supposed to feud with Rick Rude for the WCW International Heavyweight Title but due to the bar incident that feud was given to the Big Bossman, who had come over to WCW.
In 1994 Smith returned to the WWF again at SummerSlam as a spectator during the event and then back in the ring with the Bret vs. Owen rivalry that was going on. Smith also teamed with Bret against Owen and Neidhart in various tag matches, and despite being counted out his team was successful at the 1994 Survivor Series. The 1995 Royal Rumble saw Shawn and Smith enter as one and two and stay until the finish, where Shawn Michaels would win his first Royal Rumble. In another attempt to repackage him, Smith was paired with Lex Luger as the Allied Powers tag team and soon began to get upset at the USA chants the fans greeted the team with since he was representing England. He and Luger feuded with Men on a Mission but it was obvious that he wasn’t pleased with his teammate, and Smith was scheduled to team with a replacement partner Diesel against Men on a Mission but Davey Boy attacked Diesel and helped Mabel and Mo beat up the seven footer. Smith joined up with Owen and Jim Cornette’s stable and competed against Diesel for the title but never won. Smith would go on in the 1996 Rumble to once again be in the final four but the eventual winner Shawn Michaels eliminated him before he could go any further. Bulldog worked a few matches against Yokozuna and Jake Roberts as well as Ahmed Johnson although it really didn’t head anywhere.
To finally get Smith as a main eventer, they began putting him in an angle where supposedly Shawn Michaels hit on his wife and at In Your House VIII the two went to a double-pin draw. In the rematch, HBK retained the championship and then something rather interesting happened: WCW came calling to offer Smith the position as the fourth member of the nWo. As history goes, the fourth member was revealed as Ted Dibiase before the Giant would join later in the show as the fifth member, but Bulldog re-signed a five-year deal with the WWF instead despite agreeing to the decision. Owen and Davey Boy became tag team champions and then Smith would go on to become the first European Champion in company history by defeating his own partner in the finals.
As time went on, Bulldog and Owen joined with Bret, Neidhart, and Brian Pillman to reform the Hart Foundation as a group of angry anti-American heels. Thanks to a kayfabe injury, Shawn Michaels defeated Smith for the European title after Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels beat Owen and Bulldog for the tag titles. This marked the third title Smith dropped to Shawn Michaels, as he was the one who argued for beating Bulldog instead of the original decision to put Bulldog over as he wanted to build himself up against Bret at Survivor Series. After what happened at that event, Bulldog was allowed to go to WCW with Bret and Jim Neidhart.
First on the plate for the Bulldog was Steve McMichael, who was pissed off about the influx of WWF wrestlers. Smith and Neidhart formed a team to compete for the tag titles but never were able to win them. Smith also took several injuries in WCW including an awkward landing on a trap door used by the Warrior and ended up with a spinal infection. While he was in the hospital, a FedEx arrived informing him WCW was terminating his services.
After recuperating from his injuries, he returned to the WWF once again seemingly as a face when he defeated the Big Bossman for the Hardcore Championship, but he gave the title back to Al Snow instead and refereed a match between HHH and The Rock, attacking The Rock to turn heel and help HHH. He would regain the European title against D-Lo Brown and lose it quickly to Val Venis later on. His final TV appearance saw him in a double disqualification with Eddie Guerrero over the alleged mistreatment of the European Title and this aired on Sunday Night Heat.
In early 2000, Diana Smith divorced Davey and he entered rehabilitation on Vince’s dime for prescription painkiller abuse, although he was on other drugs at the time. They released him from the company due to his drug problems and ultimately Davey Boy Smith died on May 18, 2002 from a heart attack at the age of 39. His autopsy revealed anabolic steroid use may have played a part, as well as stress, injuries, and the usage of other drugs. Bulldog had been training to restart his career with his son Harry Smith as a tag team. Of course, steroids are well known to cause heart problems and other issues and whatever else he was taking didn’t help matters much.
Davey Boy Smith was a great example of a guy who was a good wrestler and a decent person but for whatever reason never had that “It” factor that made the crowd go wild outside of his native England. Bulldog often languished in the midcard or took a fall for a main eventer now and again but he was never the guy to carry a company or run with even a short world title reign. If he was blessed with a little more charisma he could very well have become much bigger and possibly avoided his unfortunate early death.
Take 5
Wrestler To Watch: Robert Roode
The good guy gloves are off and the man who got royally screwed out of an opportunity he worked thirteen years to achieve got his revenge on Impact with the big surprise heel turn against his own tag team partner and Fortune stablemate James Storm. Storm, the champion, took a beer bottle to the skull and got pinned for the belt as Roode celebrated, showing off the title he finally was able to get after proving himself ready for the main event scene and Roode deserves every bit of the acclaim he has been getting the last few months. Although it would have been better if at Bound For Glory he won the title, Roode did so in a way that now sets up the next challenger for the title and a short feud likely to continue to elevate both Roode and his former partner while at the same time making some great matches possible between the two. To paraphrase Roode, it pays to be HEEL!
Promo of the Week: JBL Challenges Godzilla
One of the comments last week inspired me to put up this particular piece of footage from when JBL was the WWE Champion and planned to set up the Big Show by pretending he was “incapacitated” by a tranquilizer dart and therefore speaking gibberish and that would lead to JBL challenging a blow-up Godzilla doll to a match, taking his clothes almost all off and flopping on his ass in the middle of the ring. This spectacle went on a good five minutes before Show finally got attacked and even then the whole ploy was ineffective. At the time the WWE had an excellent talent roster and this is what they gave the respectful Japanese fans for their attendance. Disgusting.
Babe To Watch: Gail Kim
The newest TNA Knockout and former original Knockouts champion took home the Knockouts Tag Team Championship on Impact, and that’s not all. Gail Kim is set to face off with Velvet Sky at Turning Point for the Knockouts Title giving her the chance to take home two belts, a far cry from being an interchangeable diva with the WWE. Gail has been looking great in her time since re-joining TNA and they often get a lot of flak for never updating their site, but I found this particular Divas video highlighting Gail Kim’s gorgeous body and high-flying maneuvers still hosted by WWE’s Fan Nation! Watch it while you can and take a look at one of the more beautiful women in wrestling today, and more importantly a true Knockout!
Match of the Week To Watch: Hulk Hogan vs. “Dr. D” David Schultz
Here at the Sandwich we LOVE Dr. D and his original Attitude Era style (plus if you look at his face he looks a bit like Austin too!) and what better way to showcase that than to show just how effective Schultz was in the ring. Frankly, if he hadn’t been blackballed he could have been a major player in the industry either for WWF or the NWA/WCW if the price was right, as this was a legitimate badass who went into the bounty hunter business after Vince booted him out of the WWF. Let’s take a look back at one of Hulk’s early title defenses and see Schultz BUST HOGAN OPEN pretty badly as well!
Mystery Section to Watch: Epic Revenge Time!
There’s nothing worse than a bad neighbor screwing up your day worse than it already was. In fact, there’s nothing worse than those damned neighbors planting things that get in the way of your own yard and especially a great view of the city! Nick from Australia made huge headlines when he got arrested for posting this proof of his “malicious mischief” to get the million-dollar view he wanted. What he did entered into YouTube infamy…
The Good, The Bad, and The… WTF?
The Good
“Unfortunate prediction on Maryse, she was released earlier today. I hope a playboy spread is on the agenda now. TNA bound perhaps?
Posted By: Rick (Guest) on October 28, 2011 at 11:45 PM”
Figures it would be timed right about then wouldn’t it? I submit the column on Friday morning so I didn’t even know until later on.
Rick this is your lucky day! Maryse has posed multiple times in Playboy and a few special issues including lingerie. You can find them pretty much anywhere on the net with a search. Maryse would also be a perfect addition to TNA as Karen Jarrett’s next ace in the hole if Kim loses to Velvet, or to team with Kim.
“As an official member of the ‘Sandwich-‘Get-it’-Team’, I must remind you of the ground rules, …
#1, Please be clever, I’m above the trolling.
#2, Ronnie, while a pedophile in life, is my buddy here on 411, so no taking shots at him, we get the joke with Wes, you troll… you ruin the fun.
#3, ANYONE, ANYONE who thinks other than us is a MARK who must think wrestling is real. Get over it.
#4, This column is a work, the newbies are the barrel, Wes is the fish… (Tommy boy link, newbies!)
#5, I love this column and preach Wes to all!
#6, Bow before me, or my main henchman, troll-daddy, Douche McDouchey (or something like that) will jump on you and call you a mark.
#7, I want to be recognized! I defend you, BRO! I slam the smarks!! WHERE’S the LOVE, WES??
I love you, bro!
Posted By: Barry O (Guest) on October 28, 2011 at 11:59 PM”
Interesting take… and yes, yes, my bad. You are hereby recognized.
Of course we have to disagree about this “work” and “gimmick” stuff some guys keep saying. It is possible to do all the things that I do and still have time to put out a column like the Sandwich every week. The Best Buy jokes are hilarious to me considering I could buy a small fleet of those trucks if I wished. Who knows, maybe I’ll tag along in one of them someday to one of our Unwashed’s houses and fix up their computer to ban all pornography and cursing from ever showing up… ooh, now that’s a fun idea! Keep it up Barry, and thanks for all that jobbing you did back in the 1980’s! The man is A LEGEND!
“Ahh..Wes…how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. You know, I’m surprised Maryse was let go before John Morrison. Considering he’s been banged more lately by the wrestlers than she has. LOL. I think she’s a bit classier than TNA, considering she’s dating Miz, and he’s kinda a big deal with WWE, and that would cause some strained relationships within the company if she were to do that. I think she’d probably get some good modeling deals since she takes good care of herself. I think Morrison would be the one who would be scrambling here shortly if he jobs out to Miss Piggy, considering he’s also Vegan, that may push him to the limit and ‘ask’ for his release. LOL. But Wes, keep up the good work, I always enjoy reading your stuff, and will see ya around here soon.
Posted By: LitasRevenge (Guest) on October 31, 2011 at 06:23 PM”
I hope when counting you got over 1,000!
I’m sure Morrison will head to TNA and frankly; I have an idea for what he should do when he joins. To get his heat back and explain his losses in WWE which they are doing to make him worthless, he should claim he was forced to wrestle despite having mono or another immune lowering disease that weakened him and then put on some classics in the X-Division to showcase his skills. WWE would then look bad for making a “sick” guy perform and Morrison would have instant positive reaction for his style. Maryse going to TNA is not something I’d put as impossible and frankly, she’d be better off there fighting with Velvet for the Knockouts title since very few wrestlers ever succeed outside of wrestling.
“Have to say I haven’t read your column in a while. Felt it was a little too forced in your WWE hatred. However, it appears you’ve reeled it back a little and now your criticisms (rather than blatant hatred) are justified and supported by your statements. Much better read in my opinion.
As for Cole v JR – totally agree with you. Why bother? Unless this leads to them recruiting teams to manage in a traditional survivor series match in order to try and get JRs job back, I see no reason to make the fans endure anything else between these two. And if JR isn’t brought back to announce he should go over to TNA.
Also, what’s your opinion of Tenay as an announcer? He’s bothered me ever since his days in WCW.
Posted By: The Big Fat F*g (Guest) on October 31, 2011 at 08:26 AM”
Everybody is entitled to their own opinions, and I’m glad you gave me another chance. I am trying to be more balanced although it hurts to see what WWE has become compared to my fond memories of it decades ago.
JR takes way, way too much crap from that company. I don’t think the issue will be about his job or anything other than Cole finding a way to be the “voice” of WWE or giving Cole a six-month vacation and then JR gets fired in another embarrassing Oklahoma City RAW and back goes Cole. It makes no sense, is not drawing in viewers, and frankly I’m at a loss to explain why Jim Ross puts up with it.
Tenay to me is best in small doses as a third man on the team like when he did Mexican history and move names on WCW Monday Nitro. I would seriously consider offering Tony Schiavone some dough to come in as the play-by-play man exclusively since he does find ways to make the matches seem more exciting and important, although he overdid it towards the end of WCW. Seriously, Tenay is better than Cole but I’d prefer Schiavone back on primary play-by-play just because I think he is way more enthusiastic and has more of a personality than Tenay, although Tenay is very knowledgeable about the sport and can call moves most announcers do not know how to call.
“I need one of you morons who come here week in and week out to answer me this question:
TNA built up Bobby Roode as the big, title chasing baby face. He takes on Angle and comes up short when Angle cheats and a week later his best friend and tag team partner takes advantage of a weakened champion in Kurt Angle, who Roode had softened up, and steals a title that rightfully should be Roode’s.
Roode then turns on Storm and the fans and decides the days of Mr. Nice Guy are over, smashes a bottle over his friend’s head and takes the title.
I know Vince McMahon has brainwashed you to think we need white-meat, baby face champions to tackle monsters…but the rest of us adults enjoy a good heel champion.
How is building up the fans support for Roode and then having him slap the fans and become a heel and new TNA champ NOT a fantastic way to turn Storm heel?
I know you guys have become Vince McMahon’s Stepford Wives, but at some point you really need to start thinking for yourselves.
Posted By: WWE IS SHIT…BUT FRAME IS OK (Guest) on October 28, 2011 at 11:46 PM
I’m assuming you’re saying ROODE as a heel, but it’s absolutely what I’ve been saying since it happened. But the problem is, the IWC are a bunch of know-it-alls who say they don’t like predictability but then when they get swerved the right way they complain and would rather things be more predictable.
TNA pulled off some great storytelling with Robert Roode’s heel turn and it makes perfect sense from where I sit.
Robert Roode gets built up and it seems like a forgone conclusion that he’ll win the title at BFG. But then sometimes the “smarts” are the easiest ones to work. In what was a great match, Kurt Angle squeaks out a victory using shady tactics and the final shot is Roode looking like he just blew the big game. Perfect finish and you gotta feel bad for Roode. The following Impact, Roode has to sit on the sidelines as his partner defeats Angle for the title. His heart has already been ripped out and James Storm is pouring beer on it and stepping on it. It only makes sense for Roode to defeat Storm using shady tactics after he’d already been screwed out of his moment and that’s exactly what happened. Roode took out his frustration on Storm by using a beer bottle to steal the title. He follows up by jumping Storm backstage and giving him a concussion. Now guys like AJ Styles are going to fight for Storm’s honor while he recovers and we get a good number of title defenses before Storm returns more motivated than ever to kick Bobby Roode’s ass in what will surely be a blood feud–between two TNA originals no less.
I’m glad I’m not the only one that sees it.
Posted By: bighustle (Guest) on October 30, 2011 at 04:05 AM
At least there are 2 guys in the 411 universe who get it.
Posted By: King Tonga (Guest) on October 31, 2011 at 12:30 AM”
Make it three! I can’t elaborate on what you guys said there, I think you explained the storyline perfectly and showed how good the booking can be in TNA.
“Well why is it not pointed out about the multiple title changes in the WWE. I cannot even keep up with the hot potato going on there. How come WWE never gets shredded by the Internet dweebs? But TNA get put through the ringer.
I do not get these liberals who think they are entitled to such things as free health care and unemployment insurance. Can they quit being whining little b****** and pull up their boot straps and work. Maybe if they would we would not be in such debt.
Posted By: Guest (Guest) on October 29, 2011 at 07:52 AM”
I did point out several of the title changes with the WWE title in another column months back and they hated me for bringing it up, because they gave them free pass after free pass but laced into TNA instead.
Liberals actually working for what they have and refusing to be given things for free? HA! That’ll be the day my friend. Let’s just wait until next year when we put an adult in the White House and take care of long overdue business.
Great column as always. A few comments if I may:
1. I don’t exactly agree with ‘in-fighting’ between writes on 411. Ribbing is one thing, but there really is nothing positive that can come out of it, publicly anyways. That being said, half live recaps are almost always “why the hell does it take so long to post?” or some variation. I have to assume the real comments are even less.
2. I like how you’re highlighting WWE more in your column. I watch both, and while I don’t mind at all whether or not you’re pro-TNA (after all it’s your opinion AND column), I absolutely like having the balance of both.
3. You were in the Roundtable for the Vengeance PPV, I’d like to say congrats on getting some more exposure (I believe there were others as well). I have a question though: is there a way to see if the was a spike in the hits? I’m curious because there were tons of Wes hate comments, which leads me to believe the trolls clicked just to bitch. I swear, you have anger groupies that just want to hate fuck you or something.
Keep up the good work sir.
Posted By: Darth Funk (Guest) on October 29, 2011 at 02:54 AM”
Darth I’d like not to have to fight but Colin is an annoying little ETard who frankly had it coming from the ORIGINAL time he posted drunken bunkum on my comments space but I let him slide for a time, and now I’m not going to. I believe in responsibility, you know?
I try the best I can to include old WWF/WWE memories from when I enjoyed it the most. It had some great booking and great matches over the years and frankly the current product is just shameful in comparison, which makes it difficult for me to talk about the company when I remember how awesome it used to be.
Yes, the Roundtable did spike up because of my involvement as it usually does. Word got out and they all started jumping on me for bashing WWE’s card, which I did because of the miserable TNA Roundtable people allowed to go out and frankly it was about time the tables turned. Worse, I didn’t even see the comments they all posted because I’ve been working on a few other things as all of us do behind the scenes for the next few special edition columns and projects so I didn’t even bother reading it! Hah!
“I just felt like taking on a few Wes mentioned topics.
1. On the WWE language in mexico front, I think WWE made the mistake of assuming Mexico was like Japan.
When WWE ran TV in Japan in 05, they ran promos with a translater which was booed and dropped so they most likely just thought all international countries would prefer english style promos. Not the case. They also forgot something, their TV in Japan was also catered more to that audience at least on Raw with Benoit-Jericho, HBK-Flair, HHH-Edge all big money Quality matches given time over on Smackdown you had JBL-Godzilla. Wes get the footage of that trainwreck please.
Point is WWE is such a mess right now, they had no idea how to even cater a show to a latino audience, Why would they care about JR and Cole in a main event tag?
2. Too bad about the Maryse release, she was my favorite WWE Diva. Sadly with WWE being PG I honestly feel WWE had no idea what to do with a red hot piece of ass like her. Especially when they already have the Bellas doing the super bitch gimmick. Hopefully TNA comes calling, their tv 14 rating and Maryse’s hotness fit like a glove.
3. I agree with you on Jeff Hardy, the guy has used up all his goodwill with me. He was the main event of a ppv and showed up fucked up. How do you ever trust him in a big spot again?
4. I think JR would be a great addition to TNA, not only on the announcing front but on the business front. That man has a wealth of knowledge. Sadly though, I feel JR’s a bit of a mark for himself and wants to be with the biggest Wrasslin’ company possible no matter how often they disrespect him. Me, I’d have been out of there a long time ago.
5. Again I agree with you with the Bellator-TNA cross promotion, when TNA landed on Spike I thought there would be a world of cross promotion between TNA and UFC never happened though. Most likely due to Dana White not wanting to be connected with Pro Wrestling unless it in some way helped him like with Brock’s UFC debut, which saw promotional assistence from both WWE and TNA and to my knowledge TNA getting very little back in return.
Hopefully with Viacom owning Bellator, there will be more cross promotion.
6. Lastly Wes, take care love the column, by the way sorry about missing the JR opinion poll last week. I must have been distracted by the Velvet Sky youtube video.
Posted By: Mister Mike (Guest) on October 29, 2011 at 01:48 AM”
That train wreck is now up on this column’s promo segment. Yep, they expected a culture raised to respect and admire professional wrestling to enjoy that…
You want to give the Latino audience a great show? Put Alberto vs. Sin Cara as RAW’s main event, have Sin Cara Negro screw over Sin Cara to setup the Mask vs. Mask match on Smackdown, throw a few CMLL guys in the ring for a televised lucha match and to warm up the crowd. Is it so difficult?
Maryse would be a sexy TNA Knockouts Champion, her and Velvet going at it would be a great thing to watch in so many ways.
Jeff Hardy has used many “chances” from 2002-2011 and I think he’s fresh out. Time to kick his ass out of wrestling and find another spot monkey, one hopefully that doesn’t need drugs.
JR is really taking some abuse from WWE as they got him all the way to Atlanta to do that angle with Cole and then cut it for time constraints but Cole bagged on his “anal surgery” in detail to say he was too scared to wrestle him. What the hell is with this company and anuses? Mr. Ass, Kiss My Ass Club, Whoop Your Ass, Shoving things up somebody’s candy ass, the JR colorectal surgery parody… this company has one serious fetish problem.
It would be great to see TNA and Bellator form a successful working relationship so perhaps some fans of Bellator will pop by and become permanent fans of TNA, and maybe even get a few more hundred thousand casual fans every week to check it out. I’d be in favor of it if it helped TNA grow.
The Bad
“Also, I love the inconsistency of many that believe that the government can’t fix the economy yet blame Obama for our current economic situation and give praise to Reagan for fixing the one we had in the early ’80s. Can government create jobs and stimulate the economy or can’t it?
Posted By: armchair theologian (Guest) on October 29, 2011 at 01:56 AM”
The question that you should be asking is not IF the government can stimulate the economy and create jobs but if it SHOULD be allowed to do so. You’ll receive varying answers on that but I’ll explain what you seem to not understand about the situation.
Ronald Reagan was in a far worse situation than Obama is today. In addition to the biggest Misery Index number of all time he also had to worry about the Soviet Union and potential nuclear war, the Iranian hostilities, keeping the dollar strong, creating jobs, reducing inflation, and reversing all the damage Carter caused overseas. Luckily, he was an extraordinary human being and was able to do it all in only eight years. It should be noted Margaret Thatcher was also one of the strongest partners of Ronald Reagan overseas and the Iron Lady’s help with Germany and Russia was invaluable. Now, about the jobs…
Reagan was able to create jobs through a program that ultimately funded itself. His jobs act allowed 16 million jobs to be created during his two terms as President, and the funding for the act came from the people who received a job due to it. So, in essence he allowed the private sector to educate and train employees and bring them aboard, and a portion of their check paid back the expenditure of the taxpayers for the training. I have long been advocating private companies in schools to ensure every student is educated and trained for various careers unlike the sloth union teachers who do nothing yet can’t get fired almost no matter what and draw a big fat salary regardless of success. Reagan did not use the government to do anything more than prepare conditions for private companies to train workers and work out how the workers would pay back that money with their new career. The private sector needs to be the area where jobs are created and to assist them, you need to cut taxes and corporate income taxes, capital gains, overseas trade taxes, and all the other ridiculous crap you get stuck with as a business owner in America. The idea behind it is really simple: The less government regulation on how a business works, the more that business will spend in the US and hire new workers to handle the influx of new customers. This has been proven to work. Obama cannot do the same thing because he’s spending money we don’t have to give to all his special interest groups under the guise of “stimulating the economy” when all he needs to do is allow private corporations to take over job training and public education. The kids will graduate with abundant skills, higher education levels, and unemployment will be miniscule. This is a jobs program that works, and if Obama really wanted to help the country he’d initiate a similar plan to Reagan’s 1982 Job Training Partnership Act. No other government program for stimulating the workforce was as successful as this public/private fusion and that is why it no longer exists today because it actually worked and Clinton cut it. Along with the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 you have the blueprints to fix the problems right now in a hurry. The private sector is your primary job creation mechanism, the easier you make it for them to create jobs the more jobs we will have.
Short answer: Government should butt the hell out of the private sector unless they make it easier on the private sector completely as Reagan did.
“I know TNA has only been around ten years and WWE has been for 30 plus. But around the ten year mark for the WWE, they were putting over 90000 people in the silverdome at WM 3. So shouldn’t TNA be improving there viewership instead of staying the same over the last so many years?
Posted By: Flinny 316 (Guest) on October 29, 2011 at 09:54 AM”
The WWF as we know it was formed in 1952 and they did not crown a champion until 1963 with “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers, who won a tournament that was just made up by the bookers. WrestleMania III also had around 77,000 people in the Silverdome; the 93,000+ number is very well debunked by historians. And until 1984, nobody really knew or cared much about the WWF when they began pulling out Hulkamania and picking up tons of talent from all the other leagues and territories. Please, a little research guys!
“why you dissing on layla you douche.
Posted By: Guest#8883 (Guest) on October 29, 2011 at 12:20 AM”
Because she’s an ugly dog. Question asked, question answered.
“Wes Kirk’s column is poopy!
Posted By: John Cena (Guest) on October 30, 2011 at 04:37 PM”
Goddamn it John! When are you going to ditch the Bart Simpson pant shorts and BE A MAN? OOOOOH YEAH!
“Why do they let this guy stay on this site when he treats so many of his readers like shit just because they express a different opinion or were just trying to defend themselves?
Posted By: Alan (Guest) on October 29, 2011 at 11:37 AM”
Because they are shit and they deserve it and still come back like the little bitches they are. For too long docile columnists got crapped on by all the guests and stood there doing nothing but I grab them by the short hairs and lay right back into ’em as others are now finally doing. And so are you. See you next week!
“Ever tried fixing a credit card debt by spending more money? Let me know how it goes, genius.”
Oh dear. That you think a credit card debt is in *any* way comparable to a the debt of a nation is really quite sad.
Posted By: Guest#6539 (Guest) on October 29, 2011 at 11:00 AM”
It should be more comparable to a wallet, 6539. When the wallet runs out of money that is it, you can’t spend anymore until you raise revenues. With a credit card, you have a limit and then you have a max limit. Your limit is how much you pay off, your max is how much you are allowed to spend and pay for later, and frankly most people take the card and pay a small amount then charge everything they possibly can and forget to pay it. They keep going until the bank cuts them off for hitting the max, and then they blame the banker and not their own inability to keep their financials straight. The national debt is this high because people have no max/cap on the spending; they just borrow now from China around 43 cents per dollar with INTEREST and keep going. This is a problem that needs to be taken care of, because the spending is out of control. We can’t spend beyond our means, they shouldn’t be allowed to either. A forced maximum in spending is what we need desperately in this country in addition to politicians who know when to make the decision to start slashing welfare and unemployment benefits after a certain amount of time people have been on them.
The WTF
Once again the always-amiable Colin Blow Whinehart makes our list. But, the story doesn’t begin and end there. Colin was drunk when he wrote the garbage in the first post and then when he sobered up a little bit posted the second… see for yourself!
“Poor effort from Wes this week, I expect a bit more vitriolic over-the-top anger from him, sad. Anywho, not that I in any way owe Wes some sort of explanation but because of the kind readers who might want to see this petty “e=feud continue” I will explain anyways. First off, your accusation that I overrate the WWE constantly is ridiculous, because on a weekly basis I’ve been called a WWE hater/TNA mark non-stop over the last month. If anything I underrate WWE matches, a lot of people were upset I only gave the Punk/Christian match **3/4 instead of atleast ***, but I’ve seen so many great TV matches in my time that my standards are a LOT higher than most peoples. So no, I’m not biased towards the WWE at all. I just have a set criteria of stuff I look for in a wrestling match, and I praise whichever company delivers the best product because of that. Next, you posting all of the comment numbrs from your articale compared to me is hilarious because you’re inadvertently proving my point for me, as all of your graphs don’t match up to your bullshit ranting beccause you completely disregarded the variables of those graphs. So thanks for posting those graphs, they actually prove my point about the enormously growing defict between the rich and poor over the last 20 years. You do realize that in my last article I said “all of my articles combined” beat your article comments, right? So yeah, thanks for posting the comment stats, they prove that exact point for me. Really though, what does it matter about whose article gets more hits? I write for several other websites besides 411mania so it really doesn’t matter how many hits a report gets. I’m just happy to contribute something positive to this site (reports) as opposed to your shitty weekly column. You talk a lot of shit dude but really, if I wanted to I could actually have you fired right now if I so felt like it, because I could just tell Ash to re-route the 100+ bucks he’s sending me for my PPV reports to Larry and have him fire you right now because of that “100$ fund” he’s looking for in order to fire you. Sometimes I honestly think it’s worth it so this site doesn’t have to sit through your garbage each week.
Finally, cool dumbass assumptions dude, but I’m not a liberal by definiton and I sure as fuck am not a member of the Democratic party. So cool political rantings, but I’m an independent. I judge politicians individually by their own beliefs, I’m not a mindless partisan sheep like yourself. I’m just able to recognize that your “political beliefs” are embarrassingly naive, and anytime you want to debate them, I’ll gladly oppose you. You are a moron, and you plague this site. Hit me up if you ever want to have a beer since we’re in the same state. We could have some good drunken convos
Posted By: Colin Rinehart (Registered) on October 30, 2011 at 04:00 AM”
Followed by…
“Absolutely right. That’s why Thriller was such a terrible album and Michael Jackson was just some bush-league entertainer who got lucky off the back of hype. I also can’t figure out how Hemingway sold so many books, he clearly couldn’t write for toffee. By the way, does it hurt every time someone forces you to pull your head out of your ass?
Posted By: Analysis Stupido (Guest) on October 30, 2011 at 05:24 PM
Oh wow that’s a dumb comment. Using your logic here, what your basically saying is that Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys are two of the greatest music artists to ever live, American Idol is the greatest TV show of all time, Avatar is the greatest film of all time, and Dan Brown is the greatest fiction author of all time. Which anyone with even an ounce of intelligence and taste can tell you is flat out hilariously, obscenely incorrect. Sales do not equate to artistic merit. Van Gogh didn’t sell a single painting when he was alive, yet he’s regarded as one of the greatest painters ever.
Seriously dumb comment.
Oh and excuse me for a few typos and grammar issues with my last comment in response to Wes here, I was a bit tipsy from a birthday party I had just come home from and was typing in a hurry and didn’t proofread my comment. Alcohol will do that to you kids.
Honestly, there’s really nothing left to say here about Wes’ weekly column. It’s all been said to death and frankly the poor effort he’s putting into his trolling lately just isn’t amusing/challenging enough to warrant much more of my attention, especially if it’s putting off any of our fine readers who think this is some serious argument between Wes and myself as staff-members. I assure you, it isn’t.
I have bigger fish to fry than Wes now. Next target: Enrique in the political section. He’s atleast genuine about his over-the-top right-wing extremism and not just trolling for web hits.
Good day sir!
Posted By: Colin Rinehart (Registered) on October 30, 2011 at 06:35 PM”
Hell just froze over this weekend because I agree with Colin about Britney, Backstreet Boys, American Idol, and Avatar. I don’t read Dan Brown. And he’s right, sales don’t equal artistic merit because the most talented artists and the ones who put the most effort into their work usually get low sales because people are stupid, like the majority of those reading the column here.
I know about the TNA-mark stuff – Now you understand, perhaps, why I don’t cater to these people. When they call YOU of all people who would throw down 500 dollars at the chance to see Khali and Mark Henry in a dance-off against the Muppets a TNA mark that just makes me laugh my ass off. And I actually agree that Punk/Christian was *** to be honest with you. I think the people got you so frazzled you don’t know the rating you are supposed to give. Also, anybody who would give Mark Henry matches over two stars doesn’t have a clue about standards.
At this point, Colin goes into a massive rant about posting graphs regarding the rich and the poor. If anybody bothered to see last week’s article, there were no graphs posted whatsoever. Have a bit too much there chief?
You said all your articles combined beat my articles… the figures I posted prove on 411 that mine get more hits than yours. Out of six weeks you beat me once with a live review of BFG and lost every other time. The other websites don’t matter, 411 has been around for fifteen years and was called one of ESPN.COM’s “Only Two Wrestling Websites Worth Visiting” for your information, fellow staff member. That makes it worth a hell of a lot more than some backyard fan site.
Ashish paying you to write PPV reports for him? I would ask you to pay ME to write that drivel. Oh and don’t threaten me with Ashish firing me because whether you realize this or not I know him from fifteen years ago. I don’t think he’ll pick you over somebody people actually read.
You aren’t a liberal? You believe in socialist health care, wealth redistribution, regulations on bankers and executives, and environmental protection to the point of damaging the existing fabric of society as we know it and you AREN’T a liberal? Okay, pound another one down for me Colin because that also makes no sense. And I’m sorry to have to refuse the invitation but I don’t drink, especially after seeing you turn into an unprofessional temulent little child mashing keys and embarrassing not only yourself but the site you write for and the people who gave you a chance. If you have ANY semblance of morals whatsoever you’d apologize in this comment space this week for your abhorrent behavior.
…Enrique is a hardcore right-winger? You HAVE to still be drunk. He’s a freakin’ libertarian! Do you know what that is? They want legalized drugs, pro-choice rules, etc. Their philosophy is basically the government stays out and allows the people to do whatever they want, including legalizing prostitution. To call that right wing means you don’t understand politics very much. Believe me, between the atheist RINO and Enrique you have no actual conservatives on that politics section whatsoever. FOX allows both sides to be heard from and that’s why more people watch FOX News than any other news channel, and the people who hate FOX just hate the fact the ratings for their favorite channels are in the toilet with their chances of re-election in 2012.
Do us all a favor, Colin. Contact a rehab center and please, for the love of God, get yourself some help before your drunken benders get somebody killed. For shame.
Plugs next week because that is when the Sandwich Factor is ON!
