621 replies to this topic

[Jonesy]

The viewing figures will show whether his appointment as GM is a wise one or not, especially if he is made as central to the show as on Smackdown. If he is kept off screen more than on, then the WWE won't be able to blame him when the Nielsens go down as they did this week from 3.6 last week to 3.4 this week.

Edited by Jonesy, 05 August 2008 - 11:17 PM.

[DavidB]

The ratings breakdowns always tell far more about the product than the general rating. They'll pay attention to which segments lose viewers etc, rather than the overall picture.

However, considering the overwhelmingly negative reaction to the GM announcement after last week's Raw, a .2 drop is nothing.

[Jonesy]

After Saturday Night's Main Event, a 0.2 drop will have been noticed alot more.

It will be interesting to see the breakdown in 15 minute periods that will be out later on in the week. However, you only get a drift of someone's popularity or lack of when you see tehir segments over a period of several weeks. CM Punk had a great increase until he wrestled Batista one week. Even the match with Regal was higher!

Oh, and I know the Nielsen's work. But thanks for the ever helpful explanation.

Edited by Jonesy, 06 August 2008 - 10:52 AM.

[jakeblue]

Rey Mysterio's mask in the bag..........WWE creative really really need a kick up the ass

[Jonesy]

One of the worst Raw'a I have seen in ages. Turned off just gone 3am and left the tape running. I hope that they haven't unmasked Rey as that bombed in WCW.

[jakeblue]

Jonesy, on Aug 12 2008, 01:46 PM, said:

One of the worst Raw'a I have seen in ages. Turned off just gone 3am and left the tape running. I hope that they haven't unmasked Rey as that bombed in WCW.

Have to wonder where theyre going with it....and not in a good way. The way i see it its gonna go one of the following ways -

Kane thinks Rey is dead as he hasnt been around for a while, this will of course need everyone to ignore the fact that he was on tv just a few weeks ago beating Santino

Kane has done something to Rey off camera and is like keeping him captive or something. This would need all of us to just ignore that nothing has been done or said for this angle before the mask was revealed.

Kane is saying that Rey is going to be dead, hence starting a feud between the 2. Is this really what Rey needs in his condition.....no

Rey comes out as some sort of heel character alongside Kane, hence the 'old' Rey is dead.

All of the above are pretty lame but then the whole Kane character is dead in the water and has been for a while.

[Jonesy]

What's more of a concern is that Vince allegedly puts 80% of his time into Raw and PPVs, yet Smackdown is now alot better than Raw. Raw seriously needs to make better use of it's talents, otherwise the ratings will bomb again.

[jakeblue]

having watched the Kane segment again and taking on board what he says about the person who wore the mask being scarred and disfigured beyond recoginition it would appear this is going one of two ways.

1 - Kane kidnapped Rey and has been torturing him.......he'll have filmed this so they can show footage of it and Adamle can start a where is Rey search.

2 - the scarring refers to Reys attitude and he comes out as a heel (possibly without the mask)

i remember reading that he wasnt happy on Raw, how long has his contract got left, this could be the way to bury him before he leaves

[Jonesy]

As of a couple of weeks ago, Rey had allegedly not signed a new contract. But, he does have at least a year left to go before it runs out. His comments regarding moving was the fact that all of his friends were on Smackdown and he was not consulted about a move prior to the Draft. Being a former World Champion he thought that he would have been spoken to. But, only Triple H had been spoken to about moving prior to the Draft as it concerned his Family and seeing them more, especially as Stephanie was due to give birth to their second child at the time. Not even Triple H's close friend Batista was told!!

I would be surprised if Rey came back maskless as it is common knowledge it was only under threat of being fired that he unmasked in WCW. In Lucha Libre wrestling, to lose a mask is majorly serious to masked wrestlers as it is their identity. But, as Rey has done it before, it wouldn't be such a shock if he did it again.

I couldn't see the WWE burying him, or letting him go, as he is vital to their latin/hispanic market. He is way over with that particular set of fans more than anyone else. You could put him up against the Taker and they would boo the deadman before Rey. Think Bret Hart in Canada and you will get what I mean.

If they are going to do anything to get Kane over as a heel, something that has proved fruitless so far, a feud with Rey may do it.

[snot182]

please give Santino a full time job on commentry!!!

oh and i freaking love cody and ted, they are great on the mic and in the ring!

[Jonesy]

Ted DiBiase is definitely one for the future. His in ring skills are great now, so, injury free he could be one for the ages so to speak. Stick skills are good, so time will make them excellent. Cody is ok on the stick, but time should help him; and his in ring skills just need honing a little. He is the weaker of the two, but they have the beginnings of great careers if they don't do anything stupid outside the ring, or get badly injured in it.

Santino is dire in the ring, but his character and stick work is excellent. How the hell he managed to get a personality out of Beth Phoenix is beyond me. He deserves a title for that alone.

[snot182]

Jonesy, on Aug 13 2008, 01:20 PM, said:

Ted DiBiase is definitely one for the future. His in ring skills are great now, so, injury free he could be one for the ages so to speak. Stick skills are good, so time will make them excellent. Cody is ok on the stick, but time should help him; and his in ring skills just need honing a little. He is the weaker of the two, but they have the beginnings of great careers if they don't do anything stupid outside the ring, or get badly injured in it.

Santino is dire in the ring, but his character and stick work is excellent. How the hell he managed to get a personality out of Beth Phoenix is beyond me. He deserves a title for that alone.

i thought the same of Cody up until the point he turned heel, he's like a completely different person now tho in the ring and on the mic, im a big fan of both

[jakeblue]

Championship Scramble....hardly original is it, theyve done the same thing with the old Hardcore title on more than one occasion. Whilst they might not have done it with a world title its still not innovative like the claim states.

Does anyone actually care about the whole Kane angle? Its sooooo out of left field that its almost more ridiculous than Vinces latest accident, the Katie Vick saga and Hornswoggle all rolled into one.

Jericho is in my opinion number 2 best performer in the WWE right now, right there just behind Edge, this new persona of his is great and you can see hes enjoying it. That said the whole HBK having to retire is tired and repetative and i really hope that his wife isnt going the Karen Angle route, theres more than enough non wrestling talent in the business as it is.

Speaking of non wrestling talent please do not sign Mick Foley TNA, you really dont need another washed up has been littering the top tier of your organisation. As for your Mick, think of your family, people dont really need to see you take a battering anymore and your kids need their dad coherent not a gibbering mess.

[Jonesy]

I am just hoping that Punk holds onto the belt post Unforgiven and goes into a programme with Jericho. At least then we will have decent title matches. People like JBL, Cena, Kane and Batista just don't mix well with smaller guys.

[snot182]

why oh why did they need Punk to lose AGAIN!

Sure Jericho is amazing and he is high up the pecking order by way of talent and story lines but CM Punk needs to show he can beat upper level talent and not just JBL!

[DavidB]

To be fair, they booked him well - he got a strong promo, a huge reaction, and probably the best in-ring performance he's given in WWE to date. In the end he lost because of Cade's distraction, and they played up the previous night's head injury. I didn't think he came out of it looking weak. I guess they booked themselves into a corner as Jericho needs to look strong too for his feud with Shawn.

It's not the first time WWE have gone down the 'hometown loss' route. If he can come through the scramble match and retain the title, that'll go a long way to building him up. They're taking it slowly, not shoving him down peoples throats and making him superhuman. It's the best way really - people know Punk isn't at the level of a Cena or Batista etc yet, but he's working hard to get there.

[Jonesy]

Punk is far far ahead of Cena and Batista in the wrestling abilities and in ring capabilities. For a start, you need many hands to count the number of moves Punk knows and pulls off, but just scrape two hands for the combines number of moves Batista and Cena know.

However, for the all round package in the WWE, Batista and Cena are at a level that they have mostly earned through patience and hard work - although Batista has to give the nod to Flair and Triple H for helping him along inthe business.

Punk may have lost, but in the overall picture he hasn't harmed him. The long term storyline for Punk being the underdog besting bigger and badder talent - as they did but screwed up with Rey Rey - is panning out well. I am hoping that the Raw Championship Scramble at Unforgiven will see Punk win over four established and much bigger - physically - stars.

I am glad that Punk finally got an opponent that matches him in talent. It was a flashback to the Jericho of old, and the recent matches with HBK have helped him find them again. If Jericho had been booked to lose, then it would have stopped his momentum going into the HBK vs Jericho match rumoured for Unforgiven. The only way Jericho losing that would not have effected his momentum is if HBK got involved, and he was kept off screen to sell the "looking after Rebecca at home" angle. Although, it was noted that Jericho hit a bit harder than had been planned and was very remorseful backstage. You could see the look on his face at SummerSlam was initially one of genuine concern rather than fake concern for the storyline. The HBK/Jericho feud is one of the best I have seen for sometime.

Anyway, only time will tell where things are going with Punk, but there was rumour of him working a title match against Orton at WrestleMania 25; but that is up in the air with Orton's recent bike accident.

[snot182]

i agree with a lot of what has been said, especially David and the loss in the hometown, i know that happens a lot, my biggest problem is CM Punk losing AGAIN.

Since he won the belt i think he has pinned JBL twice, Snitsky and Regal maybe? Possibly one other guy... He won a couple of other matches by way of a DQ or Count Out and lost the others.

It just gets to the stage where no one will believe Punk to be a credible main event guy let alone champion because he is yet to win any matched against true main event wrestlers. They would even let him go clean over Kane who hasnt been a true world title contender for a long time.

[jakeblue]

Well a bit of a contrast with news coming out of WWE today huh.

Good News - Cena is gone for quite some time by all accounts, dont fancy his chances of making Mania next year which surely increases Punks chance of retaining in the short term and somehow being involved in the BIG ONE. Also theyve replaced him with Mysterio which will fast track his return and bring a faster closure to the whole alive or dead rubbish.

Edited by DavidB, 26 August 2008 - 10:27 AM.

[jakeblue]

*edited*

Sorry but those are ECW spoilers, not Raw ones so they shouldn't go in here. I didn't actually wanna know those

Edited by DavidB, 26 August 2008 - 10:28 AM.