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OCT WRESTLING DISCUSSION THREAD


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People think CM Punk is somehow bending WWE over a barrel? I assume Hunter is probably happy he's gone and you want to talk about who has "Fuck you" money.. I would say Steph and Hunter rank pretty highly.

Short term, of course Steph and Hunter have enough money to say fuck you to anyone they want. It's easy when the old man did all the heavy lifting.

Long term, there is no one with the ability to move the needle and wrestle full-time like Punk. The ratings drop further, the network subscribers stay flat, Punk ends up in the driver's seat and gets what he wants...a huge payday and limited bullshit.

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Weren't there RUMBLINGS~! that WWE is interpreting the "Yes" chants for Brie as a sign that the chant is over and not Daniel Bryan himself?

That's what it feels like to me.  They've been trying to attach that chant to other people for a year anyway as some kind of self fulfilling prophecy.

 

Concerning the girls that get into the women wrestlers, I think that is a big market they are missing.  Someone mentioned a while back, and I can verify this, but take a look at say, Paige's twitter.  She gets dozens of tweets daily from girls talking about how they wore her t-shirt to school, how much they look up to her, etc.  I imagine Emma and Bayley get that quite a bit too.  Why not try to present the divas in a way that makes them relatable to young girls.  I mean, no one can relate to what Paige and AJ are doing now.

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Weren't there RUMBLINGS~! that WWE is interpreting the "Yes" chants for Brie as a sign that the chant is over and not Daniel Bryan himself?

I can't help but chuckle and shake my head in disbelief when I read this. If WWE management can't figure out that Bryan is/was over at this point; they're never going to get it.

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Punk would have moved the ratings if given the chance. Just like how he would've carried a wrestlemania if given the chance.

WWE misses Punk a lot. But he left in the worst way imaginable and has deservedly earned the label of being both difficult and unreliable.

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What are the numbers on Brock? I  find it hard to believe he's selling enough ppv's to account for the huge contract he has. I have to imagine Punk on a similar deal would make WWE more money on merch alone.

 

I don't see how Punk left any worse than Brock did. Brock's was worse imo because they basically spent two years feeding their entire roster to him for him to just say fuck it.

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I bet they miss his merch sales. Especially every time one of those stockholder conference calls roll around.

 

7. Venue Merch – $5.0 million – (DOWN $0.1 million from Q1 2013)

10. WWEShop – $4.2 million – (up $0.7 million from Q1 2013)

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When/where exactly did Punk move ratings?

Where/when exactly did I say he did? They varied from good to abysmal on the pipebomb to loss to Rock timeline. Point was, there is no one in their current system that could provide the potential impact his return would (Bryan perhaps?). At some point, they will get desperate, pride will be swallowed, and he will have to put down his comic books and get back to work. Is there anyone that you could imagine having their name chanted at every televised event for months after their departure at this point? Last time I remember it was the "We Want Flair" chants after he left for WWF in the early 90s.

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I bet they miss his merch sales. Especially every time one of those stockholder conference calls roll around.

7. Venue Merch – $5.0 million – (DOWN $0.1 million from Q1 2013)

10. WWEShop – $4.2 million – (up $0.7 million from Q1 2013)

Yeah, and they'd probably be making even more if he were around to sell t-shirts. Or do you think Vince looks at those numbers and thinks, "You know, I really do have enough money right now"?

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When/where exactly did Punk move ratings?

Where/when exactly did I say he did? They varied from good to abysmal on the pipebomb to loss to Rock timeline. Point was, there is no one in their current system that could provide the potential impact his return would (Bryan perhaps?). At some point, they will get desperate, pride will be swallowed, and he will have to put down his comic books and get back to work. Is there anyone that you could imagine having their name chanted at every televised event for months after their departure at this point? Last time I remember it was the "We Want Flair" chants after he left for WWF in the early 90s.

 

 

How soon we all forget Matt Hardy.  And for good reason.

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I bet they miss his merch sales. Especially every time one of those stockholder conference calls roll around.

 

7. Venue Merch – $5.0 million – (DOWN $0.1 million from Q1 2013)

10. WWEShop – $4.2 million – (up $0.7 million from Q1 2013)

 

 

Are these Q1 2014 numbers? Because they were still selling Punk merchandise then.

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Say what you want about Punk, but when the "pipebomb" happened, it generated that precious "casual fan" buzz that Vince always seems to be after. My group of friends busts my balls unmercifully for watching wrestling, but when that went down, it was the first time in a long time that things with them went from "Wrestling is gay and fake" to "who's this Punk guy I keep reading about on Reddit/Grantland/Deadspin etc.?"

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Ok granted, my Punk post was purely anecdotal evidence, but before I get any further into this conversation, there are a couple pieces of info that I think are important:

 

1) Was he any more or less close to Cena as a #2 than Bryan was?

 

2) Is he moving the needle any more or less than Brock does?

 

And honestly, in 2014, what's moving the needle anymore? TV has changed so much since the late '90s-early '00s-- ratings are measured differently, the NFL is a massive juggernaut, there was no UFC back then, there was no DVRs/Live+7 numbers. Merch sales could be a measuring stick, but rumblingz say Cena outsells everyone by a huge margin no matter who they are. Is it even possible to pop a buyrate anymore in the Network era? Do they keep any sort of gauge on the amount of people streaming illegally? Doesn't ANY house show without Cena draw like shit? I'm not trying to be an ass but I'm honestly out of touch on what constitutes moving the needle. Twitter followers?

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I don't know nothing about ratings and shit, but anyone who thinks Punk is missing needs to go watch Fox News or some other shit in which a character on the show CONSTANTLY criticizes the viewers for watching the show.

 

 

I will take a crowd full of people losing their shit because they are genuinely excited for what they are watching/get caught up in the moment over some guys who want to prove how cool and smart they are by cheering for a guy who clearly hates everything about everything.

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Punk leaves and the same people who bought his t-shirts will just buy a Dean Ambrose or a Wyatt t-shirt instead. Anyone thinking WWE misses him is nuts. RAW has had about 4.5-5 million viewers every week for ages. Sometimes it's a little up.. sometimes it's a little down..  Yes, it's an issue that they haven't been able to increase those numbers but in regards to Punk the numbers were no different from when he was in development to when he was on top to present day.

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