StretchMediatedHypertrophy Posted September 11, 2021 Share Posted September 11, 2021 Given things people said about anti-WWE sentiment recently, I am wary of saying this but the problem with The Demon is that: 1) It's a crutch, as Balor has long admitted. There's no particular reason to bring it out here other than Balor needs an edge and to continue a program. If anything, it's a retrograde step away from NXT Prince Balor. 2) The Demon has never really done anything that Finn Balor doesn't do. Maybe he'll change that, but I doubt it. I personally hope they do put the title on The Demon (presumably Brock Lesnar would get involved), because Finn Balor is 40 and it's now or never basically. Again, I doubt it but I'll be happy if it happens the above notwithstanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StretchMediatedHypertrophy Posted September 11, 2021 Share Posted September 11, 2021 57 minutes ago, Nineteen said: and it's not AEW is actually stealing their fans (like Nitro did to Raw back when). It's true that they are not head to head, but people are only going to watch so much wrestling. Or some people anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoFistsJustFlips Posted September 11, 2021 Share Posted September 11, 2021 I think the difference in quality between Raw and Smackdown is easily explained it two steps. One, 2 hour shows are always better than 3 hour shows. Two, Roman & The Bloodline take up a majority of the run time each week, and Roman & Heyman get a big say in how they are used. Beyond that I just want to take a second to mention how weird it is to see people denying there is legitimate competition by talking about shareholders' happiness. I don't watch any TV show or movie caring about the happiness of the shareholders of the content. To me that's a weird way to defend something. Not based on the merit of what you're seeing, but based on the financial stability of those pulling the strings. Just odd man. But you do you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted September 11, 2021 Share Posted September 11, 2021 22 minutes ago, NoFistsJustFlips said: Beyond that I just want to take a second to mention how weird it is to see people denying there is legitimate competition by talking about shareholders' happiness. I don't watch any TV show or movie caring about the happiness of the shareholders of the content. To me that's a weird way to defend something. Not based on the merit of what you're seeing, but based on the financial stability of those pulling the strings. Just odd man. But you do you. Its weird because you are making it up. No one denied they have competition, just that its highly unlikely WWE sees them at a level that is potentially dangerous to them. They are too blinded by the money they are making at the moment. More to the point it also just won't really matter since, back against the walls or not, the quality won't improve on the whole until there is a regime change. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted September 11, 2021 Share Posted September 11, 2021 5 hours ago, RunningFromAmerica said: Given things people said about anti-WWE sentiment recently, I am wary of saying this but the problem with The Demon is that: 1) It's a crutch, as Balor has long admitted. There's no particular reason to bring it out here other than Balor needs an edge and to continue a program. If anything, it's a retrograde step away from NXT Prince Balor. 2) The Demon has never really done anything that Finn Balor doesn't do. Maybe he'll change that, but I doubt it. I personally hope they do put the title on The Demon (presumably Brock Lesnar would get involved), because Finn Balor is 40 and it's now or never basically. Again, I doubt it but I'll be happy if it happens the above notwithstanding. 3. Weird rope dreadlocks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StretchMediatedHypertrophy Posted September 11, 2021 Share Posted September 11, 2021 Of course, if they stretch it out another month we might finally get Mr Pumpkin Head Demon Balor. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVileOne Posted September 11, 2021 Share Posted September 11, 2021 8 hours ago, RunningFromAmerica said: Given things people said about anti-WWE sentiment recently, I am wary of saying this but the problem with The Demon is that: 1) It's a crutch, as Balor has long admitted. There's no particular reason to bring it out here other than Balor needs an edge and to continue a program. If anything, it's a retrograde step away from NXT Prince Balor. 2) The Demon has never really done anything that Finn Balor doesn't do. Maybe he'll change that, but I doubt it. I personally hope they do put the title on The Demon (presumably Brock Lesnar would get involved), because Finn Balor is 40 and it's now or never basically. Again, I doubt it but I'll be happy if it happens the above notwithstanding. Maybe he can go crazy and become Joker Balor? Worked for Sting for a little bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StretchMediatedHypertrophy Posted September 11, 2021 Share Posted September 11, 2021 Pretty sure IP Farm WWE won't be trying that....... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted September 11, 2021 Share Posted September 11, 2021 1 minute ago, RunningFromAmerica said: Pretty sure IP Farm WWE won't be trying that....... But could bring us Doink Finn 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikoBaltimore Posted September 12, 2021 Share Posted September 12, 2021 (edited) 22 hours ago, TheVileOne said: I'm not going to be all F-U WWE over this, but bad optics man. Bad optics. So let me get this straight. They bring Zelina back and she assumes she'll be with Aleister. To which they soon after cut him and they're on different shows. On top of that she keeps losing matches since her return and now she didn't wrestle in front of her home town the night before 9/11? The same day that her dad lost his life there 20 years ago? Look, I've tried not to say that line myself much but if there's ever a reason to say fuck WWE then this is it. So yeah, fuck WWE. Sorry, I might be a bit salty but this is just plain awful. At least they didn't try and keep her from attending the ceremony to read the names and talk about her dad. So I guess there's that. Edited September 12, 2021 by NikoBaltimore 9 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVileOne Posted September 12, 2021 Share Posted September 12, 2021 19 hours ago, MoeCristyV.1.6 said: Did Seth choose Becky's Outfit? What the hell was she wearing? She's playing Conor McGregor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niners Fan in CT Posted September 12, 2021 Share Posted September 12, 2021 @EivionSo you don't like the phrasing of "backs against the wall" but AEW is competition now and the trajectory for the RAW ratings were on a downward trend for years prior to this. Yes, they are still making money hand over fist but you are assuming that the TV deals will continue to increase. i'm not sure that happens if they don't hold up in the 18-49 demo. Dynamite actually beat RAW this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted September 12, 2021 Share Posted September 12, 2021 31 minutes ago, Niners Fan in CT said: @EivionSo you don't like the phrasing of "backs against the wall" but AEW is competition now and the trajectory for the RAW ratings were on a downward trend for years prior to this. Yes, they are still making money hand over fist but you are assuming that the TV deals will continue to increase. i'm not sure that happens if they don't hold up in the 18-49 demo. Dynamite actually beat RAW this week. I'm not sure what happens with the deals, but until they get a wake up call from one of those dying or the money dropping a tremendous amount they aren't going to really feel like their in danger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shartnado Posted September 12, 2021 Share Posted September 12, 2021 On 9/11/2021 at 11:45 AM, MoeCristyV.1.6 said: Did Seth choose Becky's Outfit? What the hell was she wearing? By the looks of it, she really wanted to make sure that people knew she was the heel and you are supposed to boo her! Very different from her last botched heel turn that ended up making her the most popular superstar on SD! roster for a decent while. The Vile One pointed out the McGregor connection, so yeah, trying to be very unlikeable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paintedbynumbers Posted September 12, 2021 Share Posted September 12, 2021 Capitalizing on 9/11 having the show in NYC is sketchy sure. Having the show in NYC and not having Zelina on the show is absolutely fucking disgusting and why? Do we need the bloodline taking up 45 mins of a 2 hr show? Zelina's IG posts all throughout the week were positive. She had gear made, she was with family whom she rarely sees and all were looking forward to her having a match where she would look out and see where her and her dad sat decades earlier. But WWE had to WWE and fuck it up. Now I am sure someone will pipe in with "well it's a business" Yeah it is a fucking business but Vince will be the first to show Thea reading the names on Sept 11 since it benefits him. Fuck this company I hope AEW wipes them off the planet 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swift Posted September 12, 2021 Share Posted September 12, 2021 On 9/11/2021 at 2:44 PM, Matt D said: 3. Weird rope dreadlocks. When we were kids, my brother dressed as Ruud Gullit for a fancy dress party with coal used to blacken his face and my ma's tights cut up and twisted to resemble dreadlocks. Finn's headdress always reminds me of that and looks just slightly less cheap. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peck Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 One of my favorite "pairings" in wrestling right now is Paul Heyman and Kayla Braxton. The on-screen chemistry is great. Both play their parts perfectly and it's hilarious when they're each trying to get the other to corpse, which Kayla nearly did this week. Those two could be in a wacky sitcom and I'd watch it weekly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgundy LaRue Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 17 hours ago, paintedbynumbers said: Fuck this company I hope AEW wipes them off the planet That would be great for the thousand or so employees who had nothing to do with this, but would suffer from unemployment during a pandemic. What happened with Zelina is garbage. Rollins-Edge didn't have to go 25 minutes. They could have cut one of Heyman's backstage segments. That would have been the time needed to do a women's match or have Zelina give a speech. How they brought her back under the guise of traveling with Aleister/Malakai again only to release him is super shady. There's no justification for such poor time management. Whoever is running the show has to make sure Zelina makes it on air. And that goes for most of the other women, too. SD's glaring weak spot is they only focus on whoever is in the women's title scene, currently Becky and Bianca. Sonya gets some time as an official, but all the other women are stuck backstage. Zelina's situation makes it worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikoBaltimore Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 I'm leaning towards this being punishment for her talking union and doing OnlyFans. Nothing wrong with either but it just reeks of them wanting to "put her in her place" for that until they feel she's had enough. I'm at least assuming that considering who's in charge but if that's remotely true then this feels like a new low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eoae Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 Honestly, I’d be surprised to learn that anyone.cares about Vega enough one way or the other to continue punishing her. Seems like people here are reading a lot into very little. It’s apparently not that unusual for WWE to run short on time and have to move a match. I could be wrong, but I’m guessing it’s a case of people seeing what they want to see. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 I'm sure if they had used Thea as part of their 9/11 tribute, some people would probably complain that Vince was exploiting her emotional pain for ratings. Speaking of, did anyone have the stomach to watch the peacock special on the 9/11 show? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinit Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 1 hour ago, Eoae said: Honestly, I’d be surprised to learn that anyone.cares about Vega enough one way or the other to continue punishing her. Seems like people here are reading a lot into very little. It’s apparently not that unusual for WWE to run short on time and have to move a match. I could be wrong, but I’m guessing it’s a case of people seeing what they want to see. You're underestimating Vince's (and his Yes men's) level of petty. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikoBaltimore Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 1 hour ago, odessasteps said: I'm sure if they had used Thea as part of their 9/11 tribute, some people would probably complain that Vince was exploiting her emotional pain for ratings. Speaking of, did anyone have the stomach to watch the peacock special on the 9/11 show? Considering she was hyping it up and had family there I can safely assume it was a big deal to her. So I don't think there'd be much to support the exploitation argument. And since Infinit responded to him yes they do suck at timing so if some want to claim that's all it was then fine. But to say it's a case of seeing what one wants to see then might be best to think again about the events leading to her release plus since she's been back. Seems like way too much of a coincidence to say there's nothing to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kang Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 Ratings 2.383M, up from 2.220M (+7.34%) 18-49 0.65, up from 0.62 (+4.84%) 18-34 0.42, up from 0.35 (+20%) Number 1 for the night on both network and cable in 18-49, 18-34, 25-54. Number 1 for the night on network in women 18-49 and men 18-49 shares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paintedbynumbers Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 10 hours ago, Burgundy LaRue said: That would be great for the thousand or so employees who had nothing to do with this, but would suffer from unemployment during a pandemic. What happened with Zelina is garbage. Rollins-Edge didn't have to go 25 minutes. They could have cut one of Heyman's backstage segments. That would have been the time needed to do a women's match or have Zelina give a speech. How they brought her back under the guise of traveling with Aleister/Malakai again only to release him is super shady. There's no justification for such poor time management. Whoever is running the show has to make sure Zelina makes it on air. And that goes for most of the other women, too. SD's glaring weak spot is they only focus on whoever is in the women's title scene, currently Becky and Bianca. Sonya gets some time as an official, but all the other women are stuck backstage. Zelina's situation makes it worse. At the end of the day the call should have been made. Put her on to kick off the show after showing your 9/11 clip. Fuck, have her win a 5 mins squash if you have to but get her on the damn show. VInce is petty and cares as much about his employees as he does his fans. If you aren't making him millions he could give two shits about you. I became could friends with a gentleman who ran their IT network for years. The stories I've heard about Vince and Kevin Dunn are beyond cringeworthy. Particularly the stuff that went down in Saudi Arabia when they left the crew there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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