Elsalvajeloco
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Posts posted by Elsalvajeloco
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NEW NETWORK NEW NETWORK
The season has been over for a month but the first 5 episodes of TUF Nations were:
Episode 1: 371,000 viewers
Episode 2: 253,000 viewersEpisode 3: 107,000 viewers
Episode 4: 384,000 viewers
Episode 5: 187,000 viewers
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The TUF ratings are at an all-time low. Averaging somewhere between 275k to 350k an episode IIRC. The UFC prelims on FS1 average 400k and higher.
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The storylines are compelling and definitely draw in fans, sure, but they exist only as a premise for which matches take place. If it were just storylines and not matches that were so interesting to fans and able to draw in money, WWE should set up a film studio and have their superstars star in mov-...., oh, wait. ;-)
I mean, even the most successful UFC/boxing fights usually draw on some sort of build/angle, whether real or manufactured. I mean, shit...Ultimate Fighter exists just for that reason.
I don't mind paying 10 bucks a month for Silva/Sonnen TUF Brazil on Fight Pass because of the personalities involved. The Brazilians TUF concept is a bit different as Meltzer has mentioned on the Observer shows. However, I can't imagine myself (or anyone with Fight Pass for that matter) watching a single North American TUF season on Fight Pass. They would have to pay me to watch that. However, UFC hasn't made a crazy push like the WWE has with new programming so the pushback is pretty limited. The main Fight Pass gripe now is having to pay for prelims when they were free in the past. But FS1 isn't going to air three hours of prelims when they have other programming, no matter if UFC is the highest rated non-football programming.
Now if someone made me pay money for Legend's House or Total Divas (*just going by what I've heard from Meltzer and Alvarez because I haven't seen a single ep of either), I would cancel my sub right after Wrestlemania and start back up in January. When Total Divas resurfaces on the network after it runs its course on E!, is that really a selling point in terms of new programming? I'm gonna safely assume that the people who already watch it probably have the network.
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The UFC is partnering with Lion Fight for International Fight Week. Lion Fight is doing an AXS card at the Palms. You would think that would be a great time to put Cyborg on the LF card w/ Ronda fighting that week, BUT NOPE!
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The only way WWE Studios could make money is basically doing wrestling biopics (Pillman, Eddie Guerrero, SCSA, etc.), but we all know how that would end. Ultimate Warrior's film would end with him having to go back to his home planet.
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On that note, I saw pictures of a young Dame Diana Rigg last week. Boy oh boy.
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Antacular is Dana White! I KNEW IT!
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Good points about MMA, but UFC is in a bad spot when it comes to draws right now. Not that they're still not doing good to great PPV numbers, but it's definitely a cooling off from a few years ago. It seems that the "fad" fans of MMA are starting to splinter away too.
I mean, they have Ronda as a draw, and Jones draws with an opponent and...uh...isn't that about it?
Wrestling can still get hot because fads come and go and teens and young kids get into weird shit. I mean, maybe all the Cenation grows up and decides to spend all their disposable income on wrestling and gets their kids into it.
They have a few fights (Rousey vs. Cyborg or Carano, Jones vs. Gustafsson, Anderson vs. someone notable) that might do 500k+ given the right build but the prospects are not all that stellar. There are various issues surrounding these fights that could prohibit them from happening.
Wrestling was only big because it was the closest proxy to an unrestricted brawl between 2 grown men you could get that didn't involve gloves and 12 fucking rounds. Why would the fight choice for kids to watch 10 years down the line be something that's "fake" versus MMA? Sure you can say the storylines, and that's why it'll always have a core following, but the storylines are only the premise for the matches to take place. Do kids like a good story? Of course. Do they like the idea of 2 guys legit smacking the shit out of eachother even more? Yup
But the former has worked better than the latter in terms of television. The reverse applies to PPV. That's why WWE chose to undercut PPV providers much to their detriment. The UFC (and Bellator based on the PPV from Saturday) still don't have the pacing thing down to be an acceptable television product like WWE. WWE can be sorta successful without PPV. A major MMA company without television is a future dead MMA promotion. People buy and watch big fights, but they won't do it on a consistent level. You can literally do a breakdown segment-by-segment for Raw and be told which segments didn't work and try to fix it. You can't do that in boxing or MMA.
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I didn't mean that there were currently any Austin/Rock guys in MMA (although I'd argue that GSP and Brock (when they were around) were pretty damn close as far drawing ability is concerned), but that should some emerge in the future, they'd gravitate more towards MMA than WWE. You hear guys like Taker and Rock say that if MMA had been bigger when they were younger, they would've given that a shot instead of prowres, and you can even see that with Punk and his "I know kung fu" side hobby. Well, it's a LOT bigger now. And unlike prowres (but very similar to the big league sports), you have NCAA wrestling taking place as the "training grounds" of sorts, much like NCAA foosball and basketball are for NFL/NBA. Unless you're specifically picked for the WWE training facility or turn enough heads on the indy's a la Punk and DB, there's zero chance of Vince taking notice (unless you have one leg, and even then...)
I've never heard about NFL/NBA taking guys from MMA (although this is probably on account of my mental image of the future MMArtist being a guy who wrestling throughout high school up until college, and being as football/wrestling/basketball season all overlapping, I don't image anyone playing all 3, or even more than 1 with any competence), but I suppose it's a valid point. And you're right: some guys will straight up just never want to take a punch in the face. But in general, if a young, charismatic athletic kid wants to try and make it big, in 2014 I see him trying out for Ultimate Fighter or something "real" so he feels his abilities are validated through actual competition, rather than attempting to be Vince's next pet project.
Taker and Rock probably would have done it, but they wouldn't have made more money in MMA. The only MMA heavyweight besides Lesnar to make a dent in cracking the top purses is Fedor and he never fought in the UFC. Couture would be a close third but he was in semi-retirement by the time the sport hit its apex. Plus, Taker and Rock don't have the prerequisite backgrounds to do it. All the UFC heavyweight champions were the best at the something besides Tim Sylvia. Cain, even though he never won a NCAA title like Lesnar, was perhaps the best HW never to win a D1 title. In addition, he competed in a much tougher era than Lesnar. Someone like Rock who had all the connections with pro wrestling wouldn't do Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for 5+ years or try to make an Olympic wrestling team to make no money. I believe it's just them blowing smoke up people's asses (specifically MMA fans).
As far as the training camp aspect goes, it definitely depends on the people. Lesnar's homeboy Cole Konrad, a much more decorated wrestler, walked away from MMA undefeated to become a financial trader in dairy products. Mark Ellis, another amateur wrestler on par with Lesnar in terms of athleticism and had a WWE ready physique, had one bad performance and walked away. MMA isn't as alluring as people make it out to be. Getting punched and kicked for a living is a hard life. Wrestling trains you for the certain level of competition it takes to to succeed in MMA, but MMA is a different beast in terms of physical and mental toughness. The same applies to all the other martial arts. In the same light, you don't show up for pro wrestling and be successful. King Mo learned that. Oh shit, I have to go through wrestling school and do work in the development league? He said fuck that noise. It would be the same for a former NCAA wrestler who went from WWE/TNA/Japan/indies to MMA. Oh shit, I have to train boxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, AND muay thai? Fuck that noise.
The NFL/NBA/MLB thing has been a big talking point because MMA fans are unsatisfied with the current crop of MMA heavyweights. The same argument has applied to boxing since the Klitschko era began about ten years ago. The flaw in the argument, other than the fighting part, is most of those guys would truly fight at 205 and below (or 200 and below in boxing). Just because someone is 6'2" - 6'4" and 240 pounds doesn't mean that they should fight at that weight.
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Is Jon Snow basically Lance Von Erich? Or would that go to Hodor?
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I'm gonna be honest, in the age where UFC is running a show almost every week, I don't think wrestling will ever reach Hogan/Rock/Austin levels agains. It'll remain a niche -p-r-o-duc-t with a loyal, core audience, but all the potential future Rocks/Austins are now taking their chances with MMA, not the squared circle.
Ant, I agree with about 95% of what you've said in this thread but I don't know if I can agree with this for a variety of reasons. If there are any potential Hulk Hogans and Dwayne Johnsons in MMA, I haven't seen them. I would say most if not all the people that MMA has "stolen away" from pro wrestling wouldn't make it in the WWE anyway.
I think someone like Tom Lawlor should be in WWE as a manager, but that's only because he isn't a good MMA fighter. He's okay at best, but he would make more money if he signed with WWE or went to Japan. Barnett would have the best chance out of anyone, but I doubt he would be a star for three reasons. First off, his physique wouldn't be acceptable in today's bodybuilder hardon WWE. Even when he popped for PEDs twice (he actually did 3x but that's a different story), he had love handles. Second, everything he has done has been a flagrant rip off of something else. Anytime he tried doing something different when it came to promos, it has been downright cringeworthy and unnatural. MMA fans overrate his "promo" skills because he is basically doing the best old school promos word-for-word. Reason three would be that this guy is know to come off the hinges. He doesn't get along with anybody and has made very few friends in MMA. He would last like two weeks in WWE before he got buried/fired. Reason 2 for Barnett would apply to Chael, but Chael can at least improvise a little. I think pro wrestling is more a novelty to Chael because he is too much of a natural competitor. Amateur wrestling stole Chael from pro wrestling and not MMA. Plus, I doubt he would be a fan of the insane schedule.
Other than that, who do we have left? King Mo was never the biggest guy and kinda a mushmouth despite having natural charisma. Mo would have been a big star in the regional days as Junkyard Dog's tag partner, but having a second Shelton Benjamin minus the agility would not bring new fans in. For Rampage, it's basically Barnett's reason three but x2000. This dude is crazy as batshit. If he went on a European tour for WWE, he wouldn't make it back with a job. I'm dead serious.
On the women's side, it's basically Shayna Baszler and Ronda Rousey. You guys saw Shayna's picture on the frontpage of F4W a week or so back. She is the antithesis of a WWE diva. Not amount of dolling up or skanky wrestling costumes could fix that. With Ronda, judo stole her away from pro wrestling moreso than MMA. Her mom basically trained in judo since she could walk. Plus, she is very cliquish. That is the ONLY reason why for this Four Horsewomen bullshit. She would create enemies with the other girls very fast.
That's pretty much everyone I can think of. Also, Ant is underestimating the whole physicality angle. People keep saying that NFL and the NBA is stealing people from MMA. I think that's wrong in general. So is MMA stealing folks from pro wrestling. Jordan Burroughs, Olympic gold medalist and probably one of Sempervive's mancrushes, decided he wasn't going to MMA after watching Alvarez-Chandler 2. Burroughs legitimately could have been one of the best champions in MMA history. People just don't like to get punched in the face. I feel the same definitely apples to pro wrestling but on a much different and bigger scale than MMA. No one has racked up a bigger body count in sports besides boxing (which in the thousands now according to BoxRec). The problem for Vince is that up until the CTE/NFL scandal, no sport has had a similar profile recently with it. You'll have a Len Bias type thing here or there with other major sports, but no one really blames the NBA, NFL, or MLB. A pro wrestler dies and the first thing people look for is steroid use. They don't do in a "he was his own worst enemy" way like pro wrestling fans look at it. Casual fans look at in a "what's wrong with pro wrestling" way because they look at people like Nancy Grace for opinions.
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I posted it first in the 2013 version of the thread so therefore I am the winner.
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http://www.deadline.com/2014/05/godzilla-2-sequel-warner-bros-legendary-gareth-edwards/
Unsurprisingly, Warner Brothers is starting prep on a sequel.
What I am a bit unsure about is the statement from Deadline that WB and Legendary are prepping it together, given that this was the last film on the 9 year working relationship between the two, and Legendary is now signed up with Universal going forward. It's possible that because they did this film together, they are still contractually both involved, but that wasn't the impression I had gotten from previous press statements.
At any rate, sequel is headed rapidly towards the inevitable green light.
I believe Interstellar is the last WB/Legendary film since Warner Bros. has the rights to distribute it outside the U.S.
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Awww Pod the Bod took his date to the Denny's of Westeros for some kidney pie. What a sweet guy.
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Also I predict this gets drawn out and tonight's episode focuses on Tubby and Professor Stark and his mutants.
YOU CHEATED AND READ THE EPISODE PREVIEW!
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Can someone in North American MMA steal from KSW and use a tank?
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Yeah but he still said Mo was going to win three belts in Bellator.
Unfortunate for Mo because the staph infection clearly did mess him up. He did this odd interview the other day where he said he only went around and wanted to train with Ryan Parsons. Which is weird because I clearly remember him saying before how much he loved it training at AKA and said he was going to stay there until he died.
He basically had a personality/philosophy clash at AKA. He basically refuse to conform to their normal routine, got mad, and stopped showing up. By the time he left Parsons, he was so use to training how he liked to train. Hence, you have him training with Jeff Mayweather and basically whoever Kogan could find at whatever space they're allowed in. At ATT you can still do a little of that, but they clearly have a system set up. Five or six years ago, you would see Liborio and Conan both in someone's corner. But now, Liborio is the good cop and Conan is the bad cop. Conan corners/trains all the guys who would normally be an issue to deal with and that's why he corners people like Lombard and Mo.
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Rimz actually texted me while I was at the show and he correctly predicted Rampage was going to get the decision.
Also, he knows Mo has been done since the staph infection. He basically said he should have stayed at AKA.
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The UFC has signed BJJ World Champion and Blackzilians coach Gilbert "Durinho" Burns
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Meltzer live tweeting the Bellator weigh ins is the best
This guy looks like Don Muraco without the tan and steroids.
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Is William Forsythe going to have someone shank Lil Puppet?
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Number 20 on the list, but still #1 in your hearts.
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Clay Guida draws Dennis Bermudez at FOX UFC Saturday in San Jose --> http://foxs.pt/1nSkWqA #UFC @ClayGuida @MenaceBermudez
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That's weird considering the footage I saw in an extended spot between the end of the Clippers-Thunder game and the start of SportsCenter last night. That is prime real estate to try to pull in casual fans on the west coast and those on the east coast who didn't switch off as soon as the outcome was no longer in doubt. They made sure you knew it was Bellator and it featured EXTREME closeups of a Bellator belt. However, I will say the sizzle reel wasn't up to par with what the UFC produce. And if you've seen the countless UFC TV spots over the last several years, you know that doesn't mean great things about the production. It just didn't feel polished enough to be a top level product. It still felt like "You guys heard about the stuff they call UFC? Well this is sorta similar! Plus we have guys from there you might know from the past. Please watch!" With all the money Viacom has, you would figure they could do better than the Monster Truck "Sunday! Sunday!" ads.
The Great WWE Stock Crash of 2014
in WWE PROGRAMMING
Posted
You would be a great publicist/spin doctor for the UFC.
Compare that to the ratings for TUF Liddell vs. Ortiz from 2010: