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March WrassleGAF |SHOW-T| Big Shoes Mean Big Appetites

S

Sabucin

Member
2013-03-20-managing-heyman.jpg
 
B

British Monsoon

Member
NJPW, "NEW JAPAN CUP: ROUND 2", 03/17/13
Amagasaki Memorial Park Gymnasium
5,500 Fans - Super No Vacancy

http://www.dailymotion.com/playlist/x2jklp

01. Jushin 'Thunder' Liger & Tiger Mask vs Captain New Japan & BUSHI
02. Togi Makabe & TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) vs CHAOS (Takashi Iizuka, YOSHI-HASHI & Gedo)
03. CHAOS (Shinsuke Nakamura & Jado) vs Suzuki-gun (Lance Archer & TAKA Michinoku)
04. New Japan Cup - Round 2: Yujiro Takahashi vs Davey Boy Smith Jr.
05. New Japan Cup - Round 2: Hirooki Goto vs Tomohiro Ishii
06. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs Laughter7 (Kazushi Sakuraba & Katsuyori Shibata)
07. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Time Splitters (Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA) vs Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi) & Tama Tonga
08. New Japan Cup - Round 2: Minoru Suzuki vs Toru Yano
09. New Japan Cup - Round 2: Karl Anderson vs Kazuchika Okada

We're just two days away from the Finals of the 2013 New Japan Cup, live worldwide via iPPV (http://www.ustream.tv/njpw), so it's a good thing the 2nd round of action showed up! Some good stuff here, absolutely check out Hirooki Goto vs Tomohiro Ishii (what a match!!) and the main event of Karl Anderson vs Kazuchika Okada. Also, Yujiro vs Davey Boy Jr, Nagata & Nakanishi vs Laughter7 and Tanahashi & Time Splitters vs Apollo 55 & Tonga were all fun matches. Really looking forward to the iPPV on Saturday, should be a great show.

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New Page:

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Sabucin said:
2013-03-20-managing-heyman.jpg
Click to expand...

Lol, that'd make for a good sitcom.
 
A

Alucard

Banned
From Jim Ross' Twitter:

Thursday nite NXT most ambitious, star studded TV taping we've ever done. Can't miss event. Hope you have tickets. Not hyperbole..fact. #WWE
 
A

Alucard

Banned
view.php


Where do you guys get your news about Japanese wrestling promotions, specifically New Japan? I'd love to follow it more closely, learn about the talent, the shows, the feuds, etc.
 
B

British Monsoon

Member
Alucard said:
Where do you guys get your news about Japanese wrestling promotions, specifically New Japan? I'd love to follow it more closely, learn about the talent, the shows, the feuds, etc.
Click to expand...

There's a few sites that are pretty useful;

www.purolove.com - for results (it's in German though, but easy enough to navigate)
www.puroresufan.com - for English NJPW news, results & discussion
http://blog.livedoor.jp/hbkidcool/ - a Japanese fans blog, he translates everything into English as best he can and often provides the sort of information that non-Japanese speakers miss.

Really though, the best way to understand the product is to jump right in and start watching - the feuds are never terribly complex as the presentation is more sport-orientated and, once you've worked out who the good guys and bad guys are, it's easy enough to follow. For instance, the main feud going on at the moment is between New Japan's two heel factions CHAOS & Suzuki-gun, but there isn't a whole lot of story, it's just a feud to see who's the best. Elsewhere, you've got tag team Laughter7 who don't like the entertainment side of New Japan and want to bring serious, shootfighting back to the promotion, plus a feud just starting between Jr. Heavyweight champion Prince Devitt and Heavyweight champion Hiroshi Tanahashi that's all about Devitt turning heel after he failed to beat Tanahashi at the 41st anniversary show. The story telling, more often that not, comes across in the matches first and foremost and (seeing as New Japan has probably the best in-ring product in the world today) this is no bad thing, imo.
 
A

Alucard

Banned
Bootaaay said:
There's a few sites that are pretty useful;

www.purolove.com - for results (it's in German though, but easy enough to navigate)
www.puroresufan.com - for English NJPW news, results & discussion
http://blog.livedoor.jp/hbkidcool/ - a Japanese fans blog, he translates everything into English as best he can and often provides the sort of information that non-Japanese speakers miss.

Really though, the best way to understand the product is to jump right in and start watching - the feuds are never terribly complex as the presentation is more sport-orientated and, once you've worked out who the good guys and bad guys are, it's easy enough to follow. For instance, the main feud going on at the moment is between New Japan's two heel factions CHAOS & Suzuki-gun, but there isn't a whole lot of story, it's just a feud to see who's the best. Elsewhere, you've got tag team Laughter7 who don't like the entertainment side of New Japan and want to bring serious, shootfighting back to the promotion, plus a feud just starting between Jr. Heavyweight champion Prince Devitt and Heavyweight champion Hiroshi Tanahashi that's all about Devitt turning heel after he failed to beat Tanahashi at the 41st anniversary show. The story telling, more often that not, comes across in the matches first and foremost and (seeing as New Japan has probably the best in-ring product in the world today) this is no bad thing, imo.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I was already aware of Strong Style Spirit. Hmm, guess I'll just watch matches here and there. Just wish there was a place to watch every new show/PPV online. Although, as I say that, I'm sure there must be something on youtube or dailymotion.
 
B

British Monsoon

Member
Alucard said:
Just wish there was a place to watch every new show/PPV online. Although, as I say that, I'm sure there must be something on youtube or dailymotion.
Click to expand...

Yeah, there's a whole bunch of channels worth bookmarking - if it shows up online, it'll most likely end up on one of these;

http://www.dailymotion.com/SenorLARIATO
http://www.dailymotion.com/Jahmale_Hepburn
http://www.youtube.com/user/PuroresuMatches
http://www.youtube.com/user/ProWrestlingAARK
http://www.youtube.com/user/KingsRoadJapan
http://www.youtube.com/user/DoubleMiz
http://www.youtube.com/user/Emproer

It's so much easier to follow now than it used to be - being a fan of Japanese wrestling pre-internet was a total pain in the ass.

Heel said:
Friend Bootaaay, is there video of the Frye / Takayama tag match yet?
Click to expand...

I haven't seen it online anywhere, it may not have aired yet in Japan. Hopefully it won't be long though, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing that match and the Triple Crown Masakatsu Funaki vs Suwama main event.
 
R

RBH

Member
In the Raw segment-by-segment, John Cena vs. Darren Young and Ryback vs. David Otunga lost 36,000 viewers. The Fandango/Great Khali segment lost 104,000 viewers. R-Truth vs. Damien Sandow lost 128,000 viewers. The Undertaker/C.M. Punk interaction plus Kane & Daniel Bryan vs. Primo & Epico gained 111,000 viewers to a 3.27 quarter and was the high point of the show. Alberto Del Rio vs. Cody Rhodes lost 184,000 viewers.

The Booker T Hall of Fame video and announcement lost 124,000 viewers. Sheamus & Randy Orton vs. Heath Slater & Drew McIntyre and its post match gained 58,000 viewers at 10 p.m. to a 3.09 quarter. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston lost 302,000 viewers. Wade Barrett vs. Chris Jericho vs. The Miz lost 54,000 viewers. The final segment with Paul Heyman, HHH and Brock Lesnar gained 494,000 viewers to a 3.19 overrun.
Click to expand...
.
 
B

BlazinAm

Junior Member
Lambda Piscium said:
here's some more Goldberg in Japan adventures:

Goldberg & Keiji Muto vs Kronik
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJiFXUMUCZg

Goldberg vs Rick Steiner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wcp_vrH42V4

Goldberg vs Naoya Ogawa (arguably the best Goldberg japanese match, if not one the best of his career, you gonna love this one Bootaay)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8wX0yPJhZk

enjoy!
Click to expand...

Goldberg did a match while under contract for the wwe or did they sign him again for WMXX?
 
D

Dark Ninja

Member
RBH said:
In the Raw segment-by-segment, John Cena vs. Darren Young and Ryback vs. David Otunga lost 36,000 viewers. nThe Undertaker/C.M. Punk interaction gained 111,000 viewers to a 3.27 quarter and was the high point of the show.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston lost 302,000 viewers. Wade Barrett vs. Chris Jericho vs. The Miz lost 54,000 viewers. The final segment with Paul Heyman, HHH and Brock Lesnar gained 494,000 viewers to a 3.19 overrun.
Click to expand...

tumblr_mh2ksgRZB51qc86xvo1_500.gif


Tried to find that Vince: fuck my ratings gif from MITB 2011 but couldnt find it
 
K

krae_man

Member
WWE CFO George Barrios spoke to 4-Traders.com today and revealed some new details on the WWE Network. Notably, the subscription will run $12.99-14.99 per month, the break-even point for WWE is around 1 million subscribers and the company will eventually phase out pay-per-view events entirely. Here’s the full transcript of what Barrios said about:
Where WWE’s Future Growth Will Come From:

“Well, over the last few years our core business has been performing well. We generate $75 million to $95 million of EBITDA. Those EBITDA margins have been 16% to 19% so the core business performed well. We have invested a lot in the last couple of years to take advantage some of that growth that we see. And the big strategic thesis for us is the value of content. There is more and more distribution alternatives available. Netflix is one everyone talks about. YouTube not being part of just social video but now real original content. So there’s more and more distribution alternatives and it’s on a global basis. As a content creator and owner, which makes us unique, we own 100% of the rights of our content. We license them out, we’ll license windows but we own it all. And that’s a unique position to be in. We think the rising distribution opportunity is driving up the valley of content. In fact, you look at what HBO does to produce Game of Thrones, right? You’re talking $10 million to $20 million an episode for 13 hours, right. So now you’re in the $150 million to $200 million. That’s incredible value. Raw and SmackDown are two franchised programs, average more viewers than any cable network average of prime time. So USA is a number one cable network in the US. It averages about 3 million viewers a week in prime time. Raw and SmackDown, our two top programs, averages more than that. We create a lot of value with the content. That’s going to be a big driver for growth.”
How WWE Will Monetize The Network & The Break-Even Point:

“Sure. So on the first part, continuing on with our core products, we’re going to keep them fully distributed. We think that’s a great platform for a network. And we think there’s a lot of value as those shows come up for renewal. Our four biggest contracts will be renewed over the next three years. We think that’s a great opportunity for us because of the value we deliver. Then to the network, we said we’re going to take our pay-per-views. We’re one of the preeminent pay-per-view providers today and our pay-per-views are priced anywhere between $49.95 and $59.95 today and we’re going to make that the core of a value proposition with a lot of other new content and put it on a premium network so that our fans can subscribe. We said the price will be somewhere between $12.99 or $14.99, to be determined as we go to market but we think that’s a real great opportunity. And to your question about breakeven, about a million subscribers because the pay-per-view buyers will migrate over to the network. That’s our belief. About a million subscribers, we breakeven at 2 million, it’s a really good business; at 3 million to 4 million, for us it’s transformative.”
Will WWE’s Pay-Per-View Business Eventually Go Away?

“We believe over time. We believe the value proposition will be much more powerful to subscribe to a network at $12.99 to $14.99, 24/7, you have the pay-per-views, a lot of great content, our library, a lot of retrospective programming that we’re doing that’s testing really, really well, we’re producing it right now so over time, I think the pay-per-view does go away.”
Click to expand...

Break even is $150-$200 million? What the fuck.

That's like triple their non Wrestlemania PPV revenue.
 
G

gurudyne

Member
krae_man said:
(Moving away from PPVs)
Click to expand...

Does this imply a shift away from the narrative structure they've been using for the past three decades (where we have four weeks of buildup to a PPV payoff)? If they aren't building to a periodic payout, then what are the shows going to look like on the long term? All I can think is worst-case-scenario where wrestling becomes even more like a soap opera, a series of stories constantly building and building only instead of reaching a head with a decent payoff, they just get replaced with another story.
 
K

KissVibes

Banned
gurudyne said:
Does this imply a shift away from the narrative structure they've been using for the past three decades (where we have four weeks of buildup to a PPV payoff)? If they aren't building to a periodic payout, then what are the shows going to look like on the long term? All I can think is worst-case-scenario where wrestling becomes even more like a soap opera, a series of stories constantly building and building only instead of reaching a head with a decent payoff, they just get replaced with another story.
Click to expand...

Probably means you need the channel to see the big events.
 
J

jordan0386

Member
gurudyne said:
Does this imply a shift away from the narrative structure they've been using for the past three decades (where we have four weeks of buildup to a PPV payoff)? If they aren't building to a periodic payout, then what are the shows going to look like on the long term? All I can think is worst-case-scenario where wrestling becomes even more like a soap opera, a series of stories constantly building and building only instead of reaching a head with a decent payoff, they just get replaced with another story.
Click to expand...

If someone gets hurt or fired/suspended story gets replaced anyhow...
 
S

strobogo

Banned
The last Raw of 1996 has HBK and Bret having an in ring confrontation that is basically the start of their entire feud for the next year, but more interestingly, has HBK in full cocky dick mode with the stubble and calling himself a degenerate multiple times.
 
A

Aiii

So not worth it
Dead Man said:
They don't get 1 million PPV buys every month do they?
Click to expand...

No, but it's probably also not the same people buying all the PPV's now either.

So cumulative, plus the fact that it's alot easier (psychologically speaking) to spend 12 times 15 dollars instead of 1 time 40/50 dollars, I think 1 million subscribers is possible.

As long as their coverage is nationwide of course.
 
D

Dead Man

Member
Aiii said:
No, but it's probably also not the same people buying all the PPV's now either.

So cumulative, plus the fact that it's alot easier (psychologically speaking) to spend 12 times 15 dollars instead of 1 time 40/50 dollars, I think 1 million subscribers is possible.

As long as their coverage is nationwide of course.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I guess. I'm probably just being pessimistic. WWE has that effect on me :)
 
O

Omega

Banned
what will WWE Network have? i haven't followed it much.

is there going to be full archives? i assume NXT won't be Hulu exclusive either
 
A

Aiii

So not worth it
I'm gonna expect them to rerun WCW, ECW and WWE programs weekly, show classic matches continuously, add roundtable stuff and reruns of Raw/Smackdown/Main Event along with Superstars and NXT.

And they were thinking of filling the rest with reality shows I think, as far as I know they still have the Legends House stuff taped from 2011.
 
B

British Monsoon

Member
tm24 said:
RxYCdML.gif
Click to expand...

That's awesome, love the imploding 450 and, unlike when AR Fox uses the move, I don't cringe when Sombra does it because it actually looks remotely safe rather than insanely reckless.

I guess my point is that AR Fox is going to seriously hurt himself one of these days.
 
D

Dark Ninja

Member
Clint Beastwood said:
what will WWE Network have? i haven't followed it much.

is there going to be full archives? i assume NXT won't be Hulu exclusive either
Click to expand...
Probably this
-Raw 3 hours
-Smackdown 2 hours
-Saturday Morning Slam 30 min
-NXT 1 hour
-Superstars 1 hour
-Old PPVs
-WWE Classics on Demand stuff: Roundtables, Zack Ryders ICED , Revisited shows
-Reruns of RAW ECW WCW other footage they own
-WWE Movies
-WWE Documentaries
-Youtube shows

they have plenty of stuff...im kind of not excited to see the archive stuff due to the changes they make like editing the crowds and entrance music
 
S

strobogo

Banned
I think editing for violence is a much bigger deal breaker than dubbed music or crowds. If they're going to edit everything for chokes and blood, they might as well not bother. That eliminated pretty much every Horsemen related match, nearly every WWF title match from Bruno until the early 90s, most Attitude Era main events, most of HHH and HBK stuff from 2002-2006ish, most ECW stuff, most Dusty stuff, most Funk stuff, and on and on. If they're going to go through and edit everything so modern audiences (kids, more accurately, the parents, and I sincerely don't believe that any kids or parents are going to be so appalled that they cancel or don't get a subscription because the wrestling was violent. It's not like it's CZW shit or anything. It's stuff that was fine and dandy for NBC in the 80s), I'm not interested.

A 24 hour wrestling network has been the ultimate dream for pretty much every kid that grew up watching pro wrestling, but I don't want it if it's going to be cleaned up and sanitized so someone won't write a letter for 25 year old wrestling matches. The 7 and 8 year olds begging their parents to buy Cena merch are probably also playing COD and GTA. I think they can handle some blood and violence in their fake wrasslin.

And if I had to guess, I'd imagine the network would be at least 60-70% current stuff, because the library full of the greatest stuff ever is going to make the current product look like shit. And of the 30-40% of library footage, I bet half of it will end up being the same terrible shows and matches repeated over and over just like what happened a few months into 24/7.
 
M

Mr. Luchador

Member
A few years back people in the UK with Sky or Telewest used to have a 24/7 (more or less) wrestling channel called... The Wrestling Channel!

It was actually, sort of OK, but couldn't get enough adverts to sustain it. It showed ROH, TNA, CZW and some classic wrestling from days gone by. Then it slowly turned into a Wrestling, MMA, Kung Fu movie channel.

Aah, memories.
 
K

KissVibes

Banned
Can't they just have an Adult Swim equivalent where they air unedited footage super late at night?

Aiii said:
I found this really strange, why wouldn't Punk rush out to Heyman's aid when he was getting beat down by Serious Business-H?
Click to expand...

Because Taker would turn out the lights come out to help his best friend Triple H.

Aw man, can you imagine a dumb CM Punk and Brock vs Taker and Trips where those old fuckers go over?
 
A

Aiii

So not worth it
Still think WWE would be smart to not only release this in the US, but make it available as a streaming service worldwide.

And I'm not just saying that because I want it, but since they have no TV-deals in alot of countries and they already offer their PPV's as a streaming service to countries that don't offer them on TV, why the hell not? They don't have to worry about infringing copyrights if they own all the content worldwide anyway.
 
B

British Monsoon

Member
Mr. Luchador said:
A few years back people in the UK with Sky or Telewest used to have a 24/7 (more or less) wrestling channel called... The Wrestling Channel!

It was actually, sort of OK, but couldn't get enough adverts to sustain it. It showed ROH, TNA, CZW and some classic wrestling from days gone by. Then it slowly turned into a Wrestling, MMA, Kung Fu movie channel.

Aah, memories.
Click to expand...

Yeah, real shame TWC went under, they did a great job sourcing old World of Sport shows - often you'll find WOS sets that have just been recorded from TWC, as those broadcasts were better quality than the VHS tapes floating around the scene, which were usually 3rd generation or higher.

Since TNA's been doing well on Challenge TV and they now have that chat show Wrestle Talk TV which seems OK, we'll also be getting a monthly round-up of British wrestling action called the 'British Wrestling Coalition' with highlights from all the major British promotions.

The first BWC show is on March 31st at 11:30 PM on Challenge.
 
A

Aiii

So not worth it
Speaking of TNA. What do you guys expect out of them now that they've restructured to 4 PPV's and going on the road. Is the company gonna take off this year? Crash and burn? Stay at 1.0 ratings forever?
 
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