MAY 2016 WRESTLING DISCUSSION THREAD

[evilwaldo]

Sandow gets me because he was gold at SDCC making fun of the people on the floor.  He was gold as Miz's lackey.  Give him the MITB and immediately buried wasting a PPV.

Remember when Ziggler cashed against ADR and the time he won Survivor Series all on his own?  

[zev]

If "senile Vince" thinks Ryback is Punk with an extra 100 pounds of muscle, does he think Batista lost 100 and became Austin Aries?

 

 

[SorceressKnight]

3 hours ago, Trocar Slush Weasel said:

How is WWE different from movies or TV shows.  Robert Downey Jr gets paid an assload for Iron Man 2 and Terrance Howard thinks he should get paid more.  They tell him to kick rocks and go get Don Cheadle.  They put a value on Howard that didn't match his.  Same with WWE and Ryback.

For everybody that thinks the WWE should adjust their pay structure, I need some suggestions on figures.  If Cena is 100%, what should other people be paid?

If there was a pay structure curve (considered 100%- whatever Cena's making):

100%- John Cena, Roman Reigns- whoever's "THE GUY" at the moment.

95%- Part-timer stars (albeit pro-rated based on how many shows a year they wrestle.)

90%- People fighting for the World Title, people actively feuding with THE GUY.

85%- Any "No doubt about it" main eventers not mentioned.

80%- The upper midcard types. Whoever "THE WOMAN" in the women's division picture is.

75%- most of the major rotation women's performers, the people in NXT who WWE had to get into a bidding war with a major competitor to sign (think Balor, Nakamura, Ricochet if he comes in.) 

70%- The midcarders who can at least get into the IC or US title picture. The women's performers who'd be more likely to be seen on "Total Divas" than on Raw or Smackdown.

65%- The "mechanics" in the company (or- carpenters, but who would have a chance at getting a major storyline or two of their own.) 

60%- The carpenters in the company. The top draws on NXT who weren't involved with a bidding war to get them (so think people like Bayley, American Alpha, etc.)

55%- Anyone else who's at least in rotation on the main roster. The top stars in NXT.

50%- Anyone who's 'officially' on the main roster, whether they get on TV or not. 

40%- Anyone who's in regular rotation on the NXT roster.

30%- Anyone who's in regular rotation on the Florida house show roster. 

20%- Anyone who's under an exclusive training contract to the WWE Performance Center who hasn't made live events yet.

10%- Any non-contracted workers who NXT brings in for jobber matches (pro-rated based on the shows they wrestle.)

5%- Alex Riley.

This may be a little out of wack- some people like Orton who'd be at 85% likely make closer to Cena money, most of the women apparently wouldn't make this much, and I'm pretty sure I might have Alex Riley as overpaid.

[DTTW]

7 hours ago, mattdangerously said:

And albums based on all the Batman movies.  And an alt-country album.  And Purple Rain 2:  The Purpling, which just replaced Electric Boogaloo as my go-to movie subtitle joke.

I need all this stuff in my life.

There is a reason he didn't release it.

Why could Austin get condoms and some guys can't get tshirts? Is it going to kill WWE to have 500 shirts for everyone that theycould at least offer to sell back to talent if they leave - no. But I'm still dumbfounded how they equate merch sales to popularity and don't even have merch available for some people.

Unless of course they are just straight up megalomaniacs, which has certainly been suggested over the years.

[Buy Me a Burrito]

That Prince/Bob Mould thing is a joke. 

Here's Bob Mould remembering Prince, from Bob's Facebook Page:

With everyone who ever said "hi" on the street to the guy coming forward and telling stories, I'm inclined to believe Bob. 

 

Quote

 

I never spoke with Prince. He always struck me as a private guy. Maybe he was shy around strangers. We never had much actual interaction – a couple nods in passing, but no real words were exchanged.

The Twin Cities of the 1980s was a very special time for all of us local musicians. There were the North Minneapolis R&B artists, the South Minneapolis guitar rock bands, and in the center of it all was First Avenue/7th Street Entry.

I've seen Prince perform sold out shows with The Revolution at First Ave, he and a rhythm section jamming as a guitar/bass/drums three piece in the Entry for 30 people, and was selfishly frustrated when he took over "the main room" for 25 days of filming Purple Rain.

I had the pleasure of spending seven days recording the basic tracks for my first solo album at Paisley Park in December 1988. It was the most professional studio I had ever seen at that point in my life. On the seventh day, I moved from the B room to Studio A, which was Prince's primary room. I remember seeing Sheila E's percussion in one of the isolation booths. The large control room was decorated with several of Prince's scarves. It certainly felt like Prince's home.

Prince was an artist through and through – always pushing himself to new levels, often creating controversy through his actions and words, and ultimately creating a lifetime of wonderful memories for the world with his incredible volumes of published (and unheard) works.

I heard the news while driving from Tomah WI to Minneapolis. I immediately flipped on The Current 89.3 FM to make sure what I was hearing was true. Sure enough, there was a live report from outside Paisley Park confirming the sad news of Prince's passing.

I'm two blocks from First Avenue as I write these words. Friday and Saturday nights, I will walk that same stage we all know from the movie. The exterior walls of First Avenue are covered with stars to honor the musicians who made an impact on music fans in Minnesota.

Make no mistake: Prince was the brightest star in these Northern skies. My deepest condolences to his family, friends, and fellow musicians. Prince's music will give consolation and comfort to the collective grief. Godspeed.

 

 

[Burgundy LaRue]

5 hours ago, DTTW said:

There is a reason he didn't release it.

Why could Austin get condoms and some guys can't get t-shirts? Is it going to kill WWE to have 500 shirts for everyone that they could at least offer to sell back to talent if they leave - no. But I'm still dumbfounded how they equate merch sales to popularity and don't even have merch available for some people.

Unless of course they are just straight up megalomaniacs, which has certainly been suggested over the years.

There is simply no excuse not to have a t-shirt for every person on the roster.  You know when Cena and Rollins come back, they're going to be swimming in new ones.  And granted, Cena needs 10,000 tees to satisfy demand.  But they can't throw in an order for 1,000 for Sandow? Come on.

How they keep ignoring Tyler Breeze's selfie stick is ridiculous.  Make that sucker for $3.00, sell it for $15.00. 

There are so many inexpensive items they could do.  Have some sports/water bottles with the WWE logo slapped on them at least, yeesh!

[nate]

It was mentioned earlier that Sasha Banks could pull off stuffed animals with shutter shades etc., and makeup.  My daughter would love the shit out of this!  Hell, I may make her a Sasha bear just for her enjoyment.

[Trocar Slush Weasel]

6 hours ago, SorceressKnight said:

If there was a pay structure curve (considered 100%- whatever Cena's making):

100%- John Cena, Roman Reigns- whoever's "THE GUY" at the moment.

95%- Part-timer stars (albeit pro-rated based on how many shows a year they wrestle.)

90%- People fighting for the World Title, people actively feuding with THE GUY.

85%- Any "No doubt about it" main eventers not mentioned.

80%- The upper midcard types. Whoever "THE WOMAN" in the women's division picture is.

75%- most of the major rotation women's performers, the people in NXT who WWE had to get into a bidding war with a major competitor to sign (think Balor, Nakamura, Ricochet if he comes in.) 

70%- The midcarders who can at least get into the IC or US title picture. The women's performers who'd be more likely to be seen on "Total Divas" than on Raw or Smackdown.

65%- The "mechanics" in the company (or- carpenters, but who would have a chance at getting a major storyline or two of their own.) 

60%- The carpenters in the company. The top draws on NXT who weren't involved with a bidding war to get them (so think people like Bayley, American Alpha, etc.)

55%- Anyone else who's at least in rotation on the main roster. The top stars in NXT.

50%- Anyone who's 'officially' on the main roster, whether they get on TV or not. 

40%- Anyone who's in regular rotation on the NXT roster.

30%- Anyone who's in regular rotation on the Florida house show roster. 

20%- Anyone who's under an exclusive training contract to the WWE Performance Center who hasn't made live events yet.

10%- Any non-contracted workers who NXT brings in for jobber matches (pro-rated based on the shows they wrestle.)

5%- Alex Riley.

This may be a little out of wack- some people like Orton who'd be at 85% likely make closer to Cena money, most of the women apparently wouldn't make this much, and I'm pretty sure I might have Alex Riley as overpaid.

Based on these percentages, either Cena is gonna have to take a paycut or ZZ will be swimming in new Corvettes.  Also, it appears that you will have people's salaries changing all the time.  Zach Ryder would have gone thru a bunch of these tiers in the last month.

[JohnnyJ]

10 hours ago, Trocar Slush Weasel said:

How is WWE different from movies or TV shows.  Robert Downey Jr gets paid an assload for Iron Man 2 and Terrance Howard thinks he should get paid more.  They tell him to kick rocks and go get Don Cheadle.  They put a value on Howard that didn't match his.  Same with WWE and Ryback.

For everybody that thinks the WWE should adjust their pay structure, I need some suggestions on figures.  If Cena is 100%, what should other people be paid?

It's apples and oranges. In tv/movies there are many places to work. Terrance Howard left the Iron Man franchise but now stars in one of the top shows on tv. In wrestling if you leave WWE there is no other place to go to make a living. 

I don't think you should be entitled to make a ton of money just because you're a WWE performer. If they want to pay the whole roster $50k per year it's their own prerogative. What's screwed up is how much your pay is tied in to your placement on the card when your placement on the card is arbitrary and nobody outside of Cena is drawing.

[sydneybrown]

1 hour ago, Burgundy LaRue said:

There is simply no excuse not to have a t-shirt for every person on the roster.  You know when Cena and Rollins come back, they're going to swimming in new ones.  And granted, Cena needs 10,000 tees to satisfy demand.  But they can't throw in an order for 1,000 for Sandow? Come on.

How they keep ignoring Tyler Breeze's selfie stick is ridiculous.  Make that sucker for $3.00, sell it for $15.00. 

There are so many inexpensive items they could do.  Have some sports/water bottles with the WWE logo slapped on them at least, yeesh!

Granted, T-shirts are cheap, but if you make 1,000 Sandow shirts and only sell 100, you're still stuck with 900 shirts.  Just because you make a lot of crap doesn't mean you're automatically going to sell it all (unless it's a unicorn horn.)I can only imagine how many Miz "chick magnet" shirts are clogging their warehouse.

 

[Burgundy LaRue]

8 minutes ago, sydneybrown said:

Granted, T-shirts are cheap, but if you make 1,000 Sandow shirts and only sell 100, you're still stuck with 900 shirts.  Just because you make a lot of crap doesn't mean you're automatically going to sell it all (unless it's a unicorn horn.)I can only imagine how many Miz "chick magnet" shirts are clogging their warehouse.

 

They buy everything at wholesale prices.  Even if they put the t-shirts on sale for $10 to clear them out, they turn a profit.  If it still doesn't sell, ship them to whatever country thinks the Buffalo Bills are 4-time NFL world champions and get a tax write-off.

[evilwaldo]

2 hours ago, Burgundy LaRue said:

There is simply no excuse not to have a t-shirt for every person on the roster.  You know when Cena and Rollins come back, they're going to swimming in new ones.  And granted, Cena needs 10,000 tees to satisfy demand.  But they can't throw in an order for 1,000 for Sandow? Come on.

How they keep ignoring Tyler Breeze's selfie stick is ridiculous.  Make that sucker for $3.00, sell it for $15.00. 

There are so many inexpensive items they could do.  Have some sports/water bottles with the WWE logo slapped on them at least, yeesh!

Sandow will sell out at one house show and they will proceed to bury him.

 

You know what is the worst part of all this?  They will find a way to sell merchandise for Camp WWE to promote the show.  

[Playa Shunna Ver 3.0]

30+ years and literally billions of dollars made.....but somehow you still find a way to question the WWE merchandising machine.  I think they know what they are doing.  

[evilwaldo]

53 minutes ago, Playa Shunna Ver 3.0 said:

30+ years and literally billions of dollars made.....but somehow you still find a way to question the WWE merchandising machine.  I think they know what they are doing.  

I think not given the limited offerings.  It is not billions of dollars made but billions of dollars left on the table.  I think they left more on the table then made.

[Burgundy LaRue]

1 hour ago, Playa Shunna Ver 3.0 said:

30+ years and literally billions of dollars made.....but somehow you still find a way to question the WWE merchandising machine.  I think they know what they are doing.  

IMO, you can't look at what they're doing and not think they could do more.  Simple things could do a lot toward investing in the future and gaining new fans.  If they can develop a rolling ring truck for a few of their guys, how hard can it be to consider putting together a Big Sister-type Bayley doll?  Make a few and see where they go.  If they don't sell, give them to some children's charities with Bayley handing them out in person.  You're a PG company, develop some PG friendly merchandise for the kids. How hard can it be to have a new coloring book with current stars printed and sold in Dollar General stores? And this is just stuff that some of us have put out there during our coffee breaks.  Pull some stars into a brainstorming session and I bet they'd come up with some cool stuff.  New Day got over something that doubles as a sex toy, for crying out loud.  Invest in the roster and make money while doing it.

[Jenalysis]

On the Ryback stuff, what he is making is a case that talent should be "harder to work with" and should refuse to job at times, because ultimately if they are draws, it is good for their bottom line to protect their spot.

 

[Playa Shunna Ver 3.0]

Or you can just make John Cena wristbands in Vietnam for 3 cents a piece, sell them for 20 bucks and count your money.  

[Burgundy LaRue]

No one is saying WWE is bad at what they do in terms of merchandise.  The Bayley slap bracelets are a great example of taking a simple idea and making a nice sum of cash with it. But they could be better.

How many times have we heard not everyone likes Cena or whoever is the flavor of the month? How often have we complained that they need to develop new stars before Cena's body finally gives out?  That's not going to happen without some effort, both inside and outside the ring.

[Michael Sweetser]

From what I keep hearing, the real money is in those $400+ replica title belts.

[Brysynner]

I'd believe it. Replica belts are nice to have but not at that price

[evilwaldo]

26 minutes ago, Burgundy LaRue said:

IMO, you can't look at what they're doing and not think they could do more.  Simple things could do a lot toward investing in the future and gaining new fans.  If they can develop a rolling ring truck for a few of their guys, how hard can it be to consider putting together a Big Sister-type Bayley doll?  Make a few and see where they go.  If they don't sell, give them to some children's charities with Bayley handing them out in person.  You're a PG company, develop some PG friendly merchandise for the kids. How hard can it be to have a new coloring book with current stars printed and sold in Dollar General stores? And this is just stuff that some of us have put out there during our coffee breaks.  Pull some stars into a brainstorming session and I bet they'd come up with some cool stuff.  New Day got over something that doubles as a sex toy, for crying out loud.  Invest in the roster and make money while doing it.

Which is why I think they will screw up Bayley.  You could drop her into any show on Nick or Disney and you would not miss a beat.  They will miss with the push and miss with the merchandise.  How hard is it to sell Bayley bows?  Bayley dolls.  She is the star they should be pushing to the moon merchandise wise right now not five years after she hits the main roster.

It goes back to leggings.  How hard is it to make leggings?  How many women own at least one pair of leggings?  The women could wear them to the ring on TV like everyone does for their t-shirt.  

 

[Burgundy LaRue]

Some podcast was talking when Bayley will make it to the main roster and they raised a point that I think has been mentioned here as well--she's 26 years old.  Soon to be 27. She skews young in appearance and demeanor, but that won't be the case forever.   You can't have 35-year-old Bayley bouncing around like that, hugging inflatable wacky arm men.  That can become Baby Jane-ish really quick. The sooner you get her to the main roster, the sooner you can crank up the merchandise machine for her at full blast and enjoy 4-5 years of top-shelf profit.

[(BP)]

8 minutes ago, Michael Sweetser said:

From what I keep hearing, the real money is in those $400+ replica title belts.

Do wrestlers get a piece of the belt money if it's their name plate on it or they're the current champ? 

[DTTW]

20 minutes ago, (BP) said:

Do wrestlers get a piece of the belt money if it's their name plate on it or they're the current champ? 

Not likely.

[mattdangerously]

If I could think of anything to do with a replica belt besides wear it to a wrestling show, I would be tempted to buy one.  But people who wear replica belts to wrestling shows are dorks.