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Batista should play Bane in Affleck's Batman movies.You want WrassleGAF to have a hot new topic? Someone take the brass ring and make a "Dave Batista looks set to eclipse the Rock in Hollywood" and watch people go bananas.
Batista should play Bane in Affleck's Batman movies.You want WrassleGAF to have a hot new topic? Someone take the brass ring and make a "Dave Batista looks set to eclipse the Rock in Hollywood" and watch people go bananas.
#pipebomb
WM11 was pretty dull.
The Blu Brothers vs. Lex Luger & The British Bulldog
Razor Ramon vs. Jeff Jarrett for the Intercontinental Title
King Kong Bundy vs. The Undertaker
Owen Hart & Yokozuna vs. The Smokin Gunns for the Tag Titles
Mr. Bob Backlund vs. Bret Hart in a Submission Match with Roddy Piper as the guest referee
Shawn Michaels vs. Diesel for the WWF Title
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Lawrence Taylor
#pipebomb
I listened to the exact Wrestling Observer Radio where Bryan Alvarez, live on the air, got supposed confirmation from a WWE insider that Bray Wyatt writes his own promos. I also listened to the next Wrestling Observer Radio where he was corrected by another insider source that Bray does not in fact write his own promos, but there are a couple of guys on the creative team who are super into the character and write promos for him, and he gets to decide more than the average guy.
#pipebomb
Honestly, I would love to have JTG's spot in the WWE. Steady income, little work, little responsibility other than "don't get on TMZ", and having a meme based on my employment.
There's 23 people on the Wrestlemania review list, book it, close it, give some people two Manias and we're done for today.
When Cena was moving up the ladder, they had guys like JBL, Jericho, Big Shoe, and Angle putting over him. If they use Cena as a catapult for other guys that would be a big step in the right direction, but they don't. So any stuff of "other guys need to step up" is null because he'll take them down as soon as they meet. Or, like in Bryan's case this past several months, they'll flop the storyline or make Triple H the main focus.Easy for him to say when he's protected.
Vince is a little cranky. WM2000 was dope. Only thing that ruined it for me was MIck's $5 haircut.
And Cena's full of shit. Dude's killed more careers than made. The whole "it was booking!" excuse was the same bullshit excuse HHH used back in the day. It's at a point that "keeping up" with Cena is now considered a compliment. Pathetic. But hey not going to blame the dude for making cash. But don't tell me you want to help young talent while you're no selling concrete DDTs.
There's 23 people on the Wrestlemania review list, book it, close it, give some people two Manias and we're done for today.
Woulda been rad if JTG won the Rumble.
Vince is a little cranky. WM2000 was dope. Only thing that ruined it for me was MIck's $5 haircut.
And Cena's full of shit. Dude's killed more careers than made. The whole "it was booking!" excuse was the same bullshit excuse HHH used back in the day. It's at a point that "keeping up" with Cena is now considered a compliment. Pathetic. But hey not going to blame the dude for making cash. But don't tell me you want to help young talent while you're no selling concrete DDTs.
The company is at the point where it would prefer to retain talent, I mean JTG is still employed after all. I'd argue that unless your such a pain in the ass(Melina who subsequently got JoMo fired) or completely unmanageable like Sin Cara then they will keep you. Hell you can point to any of the jobbers and underused talent, these people just haven't been cut. Vince and his ilk prefer people who stick up for themselves and if you don't, well then how you can expect to go anywhere in this business? If you don't ever vocalize your discontent then they're going to think your fine traveling 300 days doing nothing but jobbing, random tagteams, heel/face swap, etc. The wrestlers have so much more to gain speaking up than they do turning up disgruntled and sticking around for a paycheck.If you're making six figures to wrestle, or have the promise of making six figures in the future if you can stuck around, most people are going to tow the line.
For the fourth quarter, the company took in $118.4 million in total revenue and lost $7.9 million total. Last year at the same time, revenue was $115.1 million but they showed a $2.6 million profit.
The keys were costs to launch the network, weak DVD sales and lower profit margins in television production.
The TLC show did 181,000 buys worldwide, which was up from the same period last year, but has to be a disappointment with all the Cena vs. Orton hype for title unification. Battleground has been downgraded to 114,000 buys worldwide, making it the second lowest number (to the ECW December to Dismember) in the last 17 years.
PPV revenue was up due to doing four shows in the quarter instead of three.
For the year, revenues were $508 million and profit was $2.8 million. Last year's figures were $484 milloin in revenue and $31.4 million in profits.
Vince and George Barrios open up the call.
Vince says everything was in line with expectations. Live events are up 2% on average, TV audience is up 19% to 14 million viewers a week. They've seen an increase of 87% in social media followers and signed new content deals with BskyB in the UK and Thailand. He plugs Total Divas, new movie content -- including noting that Scooby Doo "is going to WrestleMania this year" -- and talks partnership with blue chip companies including Kraft. He says they are in the marketplace for first time in long time for their TV rights package. Negotiations should be done sometime around the end of April, maybe later. They also have a significant deal in India coming up and more. The WWE Network goes live Monday at 9 AM for $9.99. He says "most cable companies" are carrying WrestleMania and then will decide on a month-by-month basis which events they will carry. WWE is looking to expand around the globe with the Network "or parts of our Network". In other words, depending on local TV deals, some content may be blacked out in certain areas of the world.
Barrios up. Results are down, but in line with management expectations. They're really pushing the Network and negotiations for the cable rights package. He says they completed all requirements to launch the Network Monday. Notes a lot of money has been put into the technical backbone, customer service (hope so), etc. Their new TV agreements overseas are more in line with what they feel they are worth. They're engaged with potential partners in the US right now. Obviously they're comparing themselves to sports and entertainment programs which draw significantly higher rights fees than traditional pro-wrestling programming. They really push India, which they say is similar in the sense they feel they're undervalued there, and they think they'll boost revenue quite a bit with a new deal. Pushing new toy products, movie projects, Total Divas and more. Metrics remain strong. With Total Divas they're now reaching 14.2 million homes per week, up 19%. This, they say, surpasses the NHL, Walking Dead, MLB and more. He pushes their 80 million Twitter followers and other social media metrics. This is critical, he says, to long-term strategy.
Takes us through the revenue details
They're really plugging new construction toys. Construction toys apparently sell much better than normal toys so they're excited. Also plugging Total Divas hard, claiming they averaged 1.7 million viewers per show and that's up 150% from what it replaced.
Movies had limited impact on revenue this year. They are allocating another $20 million to movies this year.
Looking ahead, Barrios claims based on what other TV packages are making, they'll "double or triple" their 2012 results by 2015. Still pushing comparisons to live sports. Same goes for international markets, and the UK and Thailand deals bolster that view.
Based on research, they think they could ultimately attract "2-3 million Network subscribers" in the US alone (yes, that's not an international number). International also has "significant earnings potential." Major rollouts, including to the UK, will continue through the end of 2014/early 2015. Notes likely major revenue declines in 2014 vs. 2013, including a net loss of $12-$15 million this quarter alone for Network costs, etc. But they hope to have full-year details in early May at next conference. They will first announce the number of Network subscribers the day after WrestleMania.
Callers!
Guy asks how many potential bidders there are for the TV package out there. WWE won't answer. But they're very optimistic. Very happy that for the first time ever all properties are up for negotiation at same time.
Caller asks about the Network. Chatter in social media about the Network has been positive, they say, and supports all the research they've done to date. I presume that means that 80 million Twitter followers is in line with their survey results that claim 60 million in the US have some sort of affinity for WWE. Caller asks about subscribers. They have no guidance on a number after WrestleMania. If they leave 2014 with 1 million subscribers they'll be happy.
Caller asks about NBCU deal, why they didn't reach agreement. WWE doesn't want to talk about any discussions. Claims they're right behind NFL and NBA in generating live ratings points. They feel good about the value they bring to potential partners both in terms of advertising and affiliate revenue streams. Caller asks if they anticipated going to the open market. "We're always ready for all events." Had no predisposed mindset. They want to talk to everyone and are still talking to NBCU right now. Caller wants meter of excitement level from fans for Mania this year as compared to previous years, and any update on CM Punk from Vince. Vince says in terms of talent and storyline this Mania will be really really big.
Vince: "As far as CM Punk is concerned, one of our performers is taking a sabbatical, let's just put it that way."
Caller asks about movies. Why are "we" continuing to do them? Why do you think "we" have skill in the movie business? Vince says this is our third business model for movies and this one is making money for us. Helps performers appear in other media, and going forward it will be a considerable addition to the bottom line. They're expecting 11% cash on cash return, which is shareholder value, plus when you expose the brand to bigger audience around the world, that has value. A second-order benefit.
Caller asks about the TV rights deal. Will they see the benefit in 2015 all at once or will it be gradual as in the past? WWE said yes, the new domestic deal will start in the fall, the UK deal starts January 15, 2015, and the Thailand deal has already began. Revenue on these deals usually grows slowly over time due to escalation benefits.
Caller asks about PPVs. WWE says "most" providers are carrying Chamber and WrestleMania, but doesn't want to specify. They have 85% coverage across the US. Caller asks what percentage of revenue satellite and DirecTV provide. WWE says 35%. WWE should have specified that right now, only Dish Network has dropped the shows, and Dish alone has a far smaller share than 35% of the market. The caller seemed to think all satellite providers including DirecTV had dropped the PPVs.
Go to caller but he gets dropped. So WWE abruptly ends the call.
"I hoped gaming would get better after the Wii was dead but then I look at the doofus Wii-U and stupid 3DS and realize that's not gonna happen"
I love my 3DS
There's 23 people on the Wrestlemania review list, book it, close it, give some people two Manias and we're done for today.
That's how it's always been in wrestling. A strong showing against the ace is always a good thing for someone. There are a lot of criticisms about Cena, but the standard wrestling trope of "keeping up with the ace means you are on the rise" isn't one of them. In fact, that's a fucking stupid one to complain about. The dumbest one maybe. Did you come to wrestling as an adult and mistakenly think that the booking is unique to Cena and not how things have always been for the top guy?
People not currently signed up who I would like to see reviews from:
Sunflower
Laserfrog
Plywood
G-Fex
Lambda too, someone should make sure he knows if he's interested.
"Ive been the best since day one when I walked into this company. And Ive been vilified and hated since that day because Pauline saw something in me that nobody else wanted to admit. Thats right, Im a Pauline guy. You know who else was a Pauline guy? Banjo. And he split just like Im splitting. But the biggest difference between me and Banjo is Im going to leave with the Game Of The Year Nomination."
"Battleground has been downgraded to 114,000 buys worldwide, making it the second lowest number (to the ECW December to Dismember) in the last 17 years"
What happened at Battleground again? What stage along the Daniel Bryan push was that. What that when he won the title again but was stripped the night after or was this the 3rd match for the vacant title?
"Battleground has been downgraded to 114,000 buys worldwide, making it the second lowest number (to the ECW December to Dismember) in the last 17 years"
What happened at Battleground again? What stage along the Daniel Bryan push was that. What that when he won the title again but was stripped the night after or was this the 3rd match for the vacant title?
"Battleground has been downgraded to 114,000 buys worldwide, making it the second lowest number (to the ECW December to Dismember) in the last 17 years"
What happened at Battleground again? What stage along the Daniel Bryan push was that. What that when he won the title again but was stripped the night after or was this the 3rd match for the vacant title?
Link, while you lay there, hopefully as uncomfortable as you possibly can be, I want you to listen to me. I want you to digest this because before I leave in 3 weeks with your Nintendo Twitter accounts, I have a lot of things I want to get off my chest.
"I hoped gaming would get better after the Wii was dead but then I look at the doofus Wii-U and stupid 3DS and realize that's not gonna happen"
I love my 3DS
That's how it's always been in wrestling. A strong showing against the ace is always a good thing for someone. There are a lot of criticisms about Cena, but the standard wrestling trope of "keeping up with the ace means you are on the rise" isn't one of them. In fact, that's a fucking stupid one to complain about. The dumbest one maybe. Did you come to wrestling as an adult and mistakenly think that the booking is unique to Cena and not how things have always been for the top guy?
Link, while you lay there, hopefully as uncomfortable as you possibly can be, I want you to listen to me. I want you to digest this because before I leave in 3 weeks with your Nintendo Twitter accounts, I have a lot of things I want to get off my chest.
I dont hate you, Link. I dont even dislike you. I do like you. I like you a hell of a lot more than I like most people in the back.
I hate this idea that youre the best. Because youre not. Im the best. Im the best in the world. Theres one thing youre better at than I am and thats kissing Iwatas ass.
Youre as good as kissing Iwatas ass as Mario was. I dont know if youre as good as Samus though. Shes a pretty good ass kisser. Always was and still is.
Whoops! Im breaking the fourth wall!
[Cranky Kong waves to the camera]
I am the best videogame franchise in the world.
Ive been the best since day one when I walked into this company. And Ive been vilified and hated since that day because Shigeru Miyamoto saw something in me that nobody else wanted to admit. Thats right, Im a Miyamoto guy. You know who else was a Miyamoto guy? Bowser. And he split just like Im splitting. But the biggest difference between me and Bowser is Im going to leave with the twitter accounts.
Ive grabbed so many of Satoru Iwatas brass rings that its finally dawned on me that they're just that, theyre completely imaginary. The only thing thats real is me and the fact that day in and day out, for almost thirty-three years, I have proved to everybody in the world that I am the best on this microphone, in that console, even as a cameo! Nobody can touch me!
And yet no matter how many times I prove it, Im not on your lovely little collector 3DS's. Im not on the cover of the games. Im barely promoted. I don't get to be in Smash Bros. Im certainly not on the crappy Wii-U home menu. Im not on the poster of E3. Im not on the signature thats produced at the start of Nintendo Direct. Im not on IGN. Im not on GameSpot. But the fact of the matter is, I should be.
This isnt sour grapes. But the fact that Samus is in the main event at E3 next year and Im not makes me sick!
Oh hey, let me get something straight. Those of you who are cheering me right now, you are just as big a part of me leaving as anything else. Because youre the ones who are playing on those collector 3DS's right now. Youre the ones that buy those games that my face isnt on the cover of. And then at five in the morning at the airport, you try to shove it in my face and get an autograph and try to sell it on eBay because youre too lazy to go get a real job.
Im leaving with the Twitter accounts on February 22nd. And hell, who knows, maybe Ill go vine about it at SCE. Maybe Ill go to Microsoft.
[Cranky Kong looks at the camera and waves]
Hey, Captain Falco, how you doing?
The reason Im leaving is you people. Because after Im gone, youre still going to pour money into this company. Im just a spoke on the wheel. The wheel is going to keep turning and I understand that. Satoru Iwata is going to make money despite himself. Hes a millionaire who should be a billionaire. You know why hes not a billionaire? Because he surrounds himself with glad-handed, nonsensical, douchebag (censored) yes men, like Reggie, whos going to tell him everything he wants to hear, and Id like to think that maybe this company will better after Satoru Iwata is dead. But the fact is, its going to be taken over by his idiotic daughter and his doofus son-in-law and the rest of his stupid family.
Let me tell you a personal story about Iwata alright. We do this whole family-friendly campaign...
[Microphone cuts off]
Can you watch Raw on the WWE network?