This hit me like a ton of bricks.
This picture was actually taken before RAW, when he found out the quinoa from catering wasn't organic.
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February Wrasslin' |OT| WrassleGAF. In 2016.
- Thread starter FallingEdge
- Start date
This picture was actually taken before RAW, when he found out the quinoa from catering wasn't organic.
Even in those cases, I feel like they're given more free reign to speak in that venue than ever before.
Ravensmash
Member
I saw a Botchamania earlier which had the crowd chanting "Please Retire!".
Big Show looked like he heard it and just laughed it off in "Oh you guys..." kind of way.
It was the same night when the whole arena descended into a giant Mexican wave. Had to laugh at the "We are awesome" chant too.
Its odd because he cares. I mean he does top rope shit and bumps like crazy for dudes like Brock but the best you can say about his career in WWF/E was that he was a heavy weight to pick up and a decent backstage promo.
shanafan
Member
And my stock in "the Ryback" just went up from how hilarious this story is lol
slightconfuse
Banned
Ratings in
mechashiva
Member
I want to see good Bateman and Bryan segments from nxt. What episode range should o be checking?
Nocturnowl
Member
Honestly, Big Show on the network podcast sounds more interesting than the last batch of Austin's guests.
I remember watching that table for three and feeling like poor Ryback was being bullied by one Daniel Bryan, I can never look at the bully Ryback gimmick the same again but it does reinforce the "he hates bullies" character.
I remember watching that table for three and feeling like poor Ryback was being bullied by one Daniel Bryan, I can never look at the bully Ryback gimmick the same again but it does reinforce the "he hates bullies" character.
So people tuned in to see Bryan, but they lost the extras who tuned in because "Fuck this shit, I'm not watching 3 hours to see something I can find online the next day."
Sweeney Tom
Banned
Pretty easy to see something like that coming tbh
slightconfuse
Banned
If there was ever an indication that viewership is simply trending downwards, this was it. Folks are too fixated on blaming this wrestler and that wrestler that they forget the product is what it is due to several factors. Not even Bryan's retirement meant much at the end of the day. And yet people on here claim WWE would've been in a different position today if it had simply gone all in on CM Jobber or Bryan or Dolph Ziggler.
Such a lack of understanding of business in general. These are different times we live in.
Ravensmash
Member
Guy has definitely had a good career though, fans like him and he's lasted.
Was it one of the recent Rumbles where he and Kane were clearing out everyone, and he acknowledged all of the boos in an almost agreeable way?
Liquidsnake
Banned
In 2016 I think if WWE needs to get back to blurring the lines of whats real and what isnt.
We all know reality TV is scripted, but why do people watch?
Figure that shit out, and replicate it. This Disney vanilla product is not going to cut it anymore.
NXT is 100 times more interesting than RAW.
Professor Beef
Banned
Rocky and Mugsy are the blueprints for D.Brine and Da Big Guy. I would pay good money for them to recreate this.
What did the overrun do though? Because Bryan's thing was basically after the 3rd hour.
That and the ratings were up 400K from last week. So there was obvious interest in seeing Bryan. Just not much interest in anything else.
Listen to him on the podcasts and when he is unscripted. Dude has a fantastic story, is a great promo, and is really dedicated towards the business.
I mean he has been working on trying to add a moonsault to his moveset. Think about how nuts that is for a guy his size when he could just try and work like Stroman and not bump or work if he wanted to.
He's just not the safest of workers and I think part of that is just his size in the ring. Punk talked about it but I honestly think that's the schedule and the grind.
I mean the dude isn't Cesaro, Cena, or Brock strong but he does all of these strength spots.
He's kinda like Roman in that regard.
It's 3 hours. The casual fans cannot sit through 3 hours of wrestling every week and it only holds the hardcore fans over the entire show.
Who can blame them? When you can whittle your show down to a 90 minute show on Hulu (2 hours with commercials run time) and have people not miss anything of importance, what does that say about your product?
Too much filler and not enough substance. Raw hasn't been must see TV without knowing when something would happen in advance like The Rock showing up or Bryan retiring for years.
Nocturnowl
Member
Rocky and Mugsy are the blueprints for D.Brine and Da Big Guy. I would pay good money for them to recreate this.
Perfect post wrestling career management role for Bryan as well, I'm on board with this gimmick.
CreeperBlocks
Banned
Ryback seems like a loveable goofball. He needs a Manager. Like Sandow or something.
Professor Beef
Banned
Anyone who can carry Mark Henry around for as long as he did is legit strong in my book.
Which is on sale this week at wweshop.com of course
EDIT: Meant Da Big Guy, not Roman
Plus lets remember from this year Ryback was the only one on the roster who had the balls to get off script and say what needs to be said
(12:00) in
https://youtu.be/TJxRWRXveaI?t=726
Also revealed what a man HHH is while a man talks to his wife like that.
(12:00) in
https://youtu.be/TJxRWRXveaI?t=726
Also revealed what a man HHH is while a man talks to his wife like that.
Dr Duncan Steel
Member
Still haven't gotten over it brehs 
He is a strong mother fucker but they want him doing stuff like military press slamming guys or strength spots with small margins for error.
And honestly the only guys on the roster I'd trust with moves like that on me would be Cena, Kane, Cesaro, Brock, and Seth.
Marvel
could never
Lol wow
I'm sure there have been plenty of times that Raw has been must see TV in the past few years if one of the benchmarks is Bryan's retirement. Reigns title win in December for example.
Them being three hours is likely more to do with licensing agreements and advertisement potential than anything else. That's my assumption. Does it stop them from maximising their viewership on TV? Possibly, but that hardly matters if other metrics still look good, and what the financial benefit of the move looks like.
All I'm saying is there's too much complaining in these threads where people go on and on about viewership numbers. If folks wanted to actually have a discussion of substance, you'd need to compare and contrast viewership numbers over several years, while accounting for any anomalies like Rock's returns or Batista's initial return, and also factor in WWE's financials and take into account various metrics such as attendance, merchandise, gates, licensing and sponsorhip deals, and other miscellaneous activity.
It's all good and well to harp on about one metric, but that metric isn't going to be the same today as it was ten years ago. What's WWE's web engagement looking like? I know they have their own website, and they have a YouTube channel. They now also have the WWE Network. All of this matters. Their engagement level with the audience matters. And so on.
You can't just look at one thing in isolation and pretend like you know what you're talking about. That's not how any of this works.
Back to the Big Show here is a spot that kinda says a lot about him.
Look at this spot. Could you see a giant from another time taking that bump at his age. And whats worse is it gets no crowd reaction. Part of that is moveset overexposure with guys but the other part is people just don't really care about him.
I mean his career is an odd one because he didn't try as hard for a good period of time. I mean they sent him back to developmental after being in the business for almost 8 years.
Look at this spot. Could you see a giant from another time taking that bump at his age. And whats worse is it gets no crowd reaction. Part of that is moveset overexposure with guys but the other part is people just don't really care about him.
I mean his career is an odd one because he didn't try as hard for a good period of time. I mean they sent him back to developmental after being in the business for almost 8 years.
Mr. Enigma
Member
At first, I thought Bryan was just doing this to escape his contract and return to wrestling outside of WWE. But after that speech, I just don't know. It would be hard for someone to watch him wrestle again without worrying for his health.
This whole thing just has to suck for him. He finally gets to the top, then immediately gets slapped down with a shitty injury. Comes back a year later, gets slapped down by a more serious injury and has to call it a career at age 34.
Not only does he get to the top, but he has the crossover appeal that barely anyone ever has. He could have been the next Hogan, Austin, Rock, and Cena. He had that kind of marketing power and appeal. People in sports arenas and other non-wrestling places were doing his chant. In arenas, he was getting reactions that sometimes were only rivaled by 1998 Steve Austin. He was going to make a shit ton of money in the next 5-10 years. And now it's all over.
This whole thing just has to suck for him. He finally gets to the top, then immediately gets slapped down with a shitty injury. Comes back a year later, gets slapped down by a more serious injury and has to call it a career at age 34.
Not only does he get to the top, but he has the crossover appeal that barely anyone ever has. He could have been the next Hogan, Austin, Rock, and Cena. He had that kind of marketing power and appeal. People in sports arenas and other non-wrestling places were doing his chant. In arenas, he was getting reactions that sometimes were only rivaled by 1998 Steve Austin. He was going to make a shit ton of money in the next 5-10 years. And now it's all over.
Dick Justice
Banned
Steph's reaction when Ryback addresses her kinda sums up why she's such a terrible heel. No-selling face promos to make yourself look "cool".
If there's anything I've learned from these threads, it's that people love interpreting ratings to suit their own personal agenda. If ratings were up in the third hour, they'd certainly be pushing another narrative. If the show closed with Roman Reigns...well, you get the idea.
It's funny because that promo is why they let Ryback have a run with the strap at EC because he went off script.
also this gem from a 2 days ago
It's not in isolation. There is enough of a pattern in past ratings to see that the third hour looses viewers. The current format wears people down and it is difficult for a casual fan to stick around for 3 hours.
Also, I don't know if you are aware, they have a Hulu edition of Monday Night Raw that is the 3 hour show edited down to 90 minutes run time. It is exactly 90 minutes plus commercials. If they aired that version on TV it would be a 2 hour run time with a bit of overflow as TV hours are more often 42 min and not 45, though some networks get away with longer shows often so it could still fit in the 2 hour time frame.
I have watched that version for a while when since I have cut cable. The hour of content they cut from the run time has never included anything that I felt like I needed to go back and find to fully enjoy the show, and completely follow the PPV.
Basically what I'm saying is....they don't need the third hour, and it is hurting them consistently, and there is proof of both.
Retiring wasn't going to get him out of his contract when he has years left on it and they froze it before he made this decision. So if they unfroze then they will keep him under his current contract till it runs out like Christian.
Hope they give him a WWE show to host or give him an announcer job like replacing Saxton on Smackdown.
Honestly Bryan probably could have sued and fought the deal and WWE's lets say selective history with medical and personal decision.
(Billy Gunn and HHH not being tested for steroids , wellness policy changed to keep Orton around, guys like Tommy Dreamer, Dudleys, and even Vince taking bumps today despite him admitting in the ESPN NXT piece that he has lost count with how many concussions he has had)
But honestly I think he didn't because of the situation that would put his wife in. I mean he had to see first hand how Punk's departure and lawsuits must have been affected AJ.
I mean she was going to work everyday while the company was suing and essentially discrediting everything about her husband.
I wonder if Bryan giving notice in December made the case for bringing in AJ and Nakamura.
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Three hours of Raw is indeed rough. The commercial breaks in the middle of matches is really annoying too.
Yeah, that is part of what needs to change. And it's an easy work around too. It just takes you out of a match when they go to commercial.
Sweeney Tom
Banned
Remember that time a match ended during a commercial break and people were pissed
Ravensmash
Member
To be fair, having him do anything but headline Raw would be stupid.
Both for them and more importantly, for him.
You don't start a show with something serious like that. Unless you want the crowd to be even more out of your pocket than usual!
Were the tape machines rolling at least?
Lower viewership in the third hour isn't hurting them if their other metrics look good, and are either stable or improving. You are looking at viewership in isolation and focused on how that needs to be better while ignoring that it's a huge business that is balancing several avenues, and they will be taking into account the best balance for themselves financially.
Why do they have the third hour? What are the financial implications of it being there? If they drop to two hours, do they gain an increase in viewership, or does it remain steady as it is now, and what do they lose in contrast? You just mentioned they have a Hulu version so they've clearly accounted for that too in terms of engagement.
This is exactly what I mean by a lack of understanding. You have a laser focus on one thing, and one thing only, while ignoring all other aspects of the business. If their attendance figures are stable for example, then why would them losing viewership in the third hour matter? Where is it hurting them exactly? What if online metrics are good for people catching up and watching those segments that show losing some viewership in the third hour is made up? If the engagement is still there, then focusing on that one thing as if it's so imporant is ridiculous. It's fine to speak of it in that way if you're simply coming at it from a consumer perspective. Your enjoyment comes first. But once you start looking at it from a business point of view, shallow arguments don't suffice.
Bluekaveli
Member
While I'm known for booking, this time ; I'm serious.
So I just got out of the doctors office.
Well, I'm gonna have to learn how to walk all over again after my surgery.
So I just got out of the doctors office.
Well, I'm gonna have to learn how to walk all over again after my surgery.
Sweeney Tom
Banned
They did it to plug their app nobody used
And it was doubly funny because it was a Cesaro match
Sibersk Esto
Banned
Jesus man, that's rough