The General Wrestling Thread

[Warner2BruceTD]

I'm telling you...TNA needs to become a strictly UK based promotion.

They draw well over there. Do well in ratings. Stay over there, keep your Impact timeslot on Spike (who cares where they run live shows) and run the UK for 1 week every month, put together a month, month and a half worth of shows and you're good to go.

The issue is it's probably a novelty because it's once per year.

Dublin did like 500 in a 2000 seat building.

But I think these tours keep them afloat. It's the one and only positive to business.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

The issue is it's probably a novelty because it's once per year.

Dublin did like 500 in a 2000 seat building.

But I think these tours keep them afloat. It's the one and only positive to business.

It may be novelty, but they are dirt worst here in the states. They lose money by the bucket full here. They don't make money doing house shows in front of 300 people. They couldn't possibly do worse by staying in the UK.

Hell, half of their heel stable and champ are limey fucks.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

TNA sure drew a good crowd, and it wasn't just a bunch of folks trying to see Hogan, Sting, Angle, Hardy or any former WWE/WCW wrestlers. These guys knew the TNA roster, and reacted to them much better than any crowds in recent memory. I thought the crowds last year were for Sting, Hogan and Angle, but obviously not.

This definitely keeps TNA alive though. They should do more outside of the US, because there are hotbeds of wrestling activity where they can draw. They just need to set their sights much lower for things they do back home.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

From Bryan Alvarez's newsletter:

The company was initially disappointed at the reaction that Batista got for his return, but then the ratings came back sky-high and they decided, well, clearly it wasn't Batista. It must be DAYTON. So the belief is that Dayton must not be a hot town and the feeling is they're out of the running for a PPV anytime soon.

Anybody with a brain knew that Batista popped that rating because former big stars who return after long absences always pop a big rating. He got boo'ed out of Pittsburgh, Cleveland didn't care about him either, and his second RAW did nothing special in his hour (quarters aren't out yet).

It's amazing to me that a man who is worth a billion dollars on paper from wrestling is so god damn stubborn that he can not accept that sometimes, THE FANS DONT WANT WHAT YOU THINK THEY WANT.

Nobody gives a fuck about Batista. It's not Dayton. It's everybody. Sorry, Vince.

 

[JimLeavy59]

From Bryan Alvarez's newsletter:



Anybody with a brain knew that Batista popped that rating because former big stars who return after long absences always pop a big rating. He got boo'ed out of Pittsburgh, Cleveland didn't care about him either, and his second RAW did nothing special in his hour (quarters aren't out yet).

It's amazing to me that a man who is worth a billion dollars on paper from wrestling is so god damn stubborn that he can not accept that sometimes, THE FANS DONT WANT WHAT YOU THINK THEY WANT.

Nobody gives a fuck about Batista. It's not Dayton. It's everybody. Sorry, Vince.

Its called living in a bubble, Vince has turned into Al Davis.

 

[Kuzzy Powers]

The latest on Sting is that he still has not signed but the general feeling is that it's a foregone conclusion that he's coming in. While he's not expected to be rushed into a match at WrestleMania XXX, word is that the working idea right now is for Sting to possibly be the new RAW General Manager.

Awful.. :smh:

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Can't wait to see Joker Sting get over like a fart in church as the new RAW GM.

Undertaker v. Sting needs to happen at WrestleMania.

FIN.

It'll be a terrible match. I don't care though. I want the theatrics of that buildup and the entrances. The history of wrestling needs that damn match for posterity purposes.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Sting's weakness has always been long promos where he talks like a normal human for longer than three minutes. Not exactly a fit for the GM role.

I don't see them backing off Lesnar/Taker this late in the game. A year long Sting/Taker build isn't the worst idea, but it's too bad they couldn't sign him sooner.

"A Man Called Sting" t-shirts went into production two weeks ago. It's a lock, just need to dot I's and cross T's.

 

[JimLeavy59]

Smart move by CM Punk. Return for Royal Rumble 2018 and be handed the Rumble win and the Wrestlemania main event on a silver platter. Way better than actually having to work for it.

 

[dave]

Sting hasn't been relevant since the NWO thing in the late 90s ... not sure why a 54-year-old Sting is relevant in today's market where 90% of the WWE's fans have no clue who he is. If they're lucky, Sting pulls off a New Age Outlaws.

 

[EmpireWF]

Sting hasn't been relevant since the NWO thing in the late 90s ... not sure why a 54-year-old Sting is relevant in today's market where 90% of the WWE's fans have no clue who he is. If they're lucky, Sting pulls off a New Age Outlaws.

Sure, Sting's "brand" has taken a hit because of the years in no man's land over the past decade. Still, he's fucking Sting. Even if after a few weeks, the shine is gone, all they need to do is push their great TV packages with guys like Flair, HHH, Booker, etc. talking about how awesome he was. Have Cole, King & JBL gush about him on commentary (not to an annoying degree) and the point is made.

But again, he's not coming over (if he ends up there) to be a full-time or even part-time worker. So, they don't need him to sell a shitload of tickets as a talking head.

Eventually, they have to do Taker/Sting and that sells itself. Sting can go in the HOF and $$$$ is made.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

In the WWE bubble, guys that TNA couldn't make money off of...Sting...Hogan...Flair...Foley...are insta-stars and will pop ratings and buys even if they are well past their prime because the WWE will push they like BIG DEALS. Vince has wanted Sting under his umbrella for decades at this point. I would love to think they won't fuck his WWE debut up.

TNA is an awful gauge of whether someone is still relevant in the wrestling landscape because they, themselves are a black hole. Hogan couldn't draw a dime or a new eye to TNA. He'll go to the WWE, be pushed as HULKAMANIA, BROTHER! and he'll pop some thangs.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Sting should make it very clear in his first promo that he's not the same level of star as Hogan & Flair. Humility & pointing out to the fans why you aren't a big deal are very important ingredients to a pro wrestling promo.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Sting should make it very clear in his first promo that he's not the same level of star as Hogan & Flair. Humility & pointing out to the fans why you aren't a big deal are very important ingredients to a pro wrestling promo.

:dead:

 

[ThomasTomasz]

Awful.. :smh:

See, I wouldn't have him do that, but having Sting be a "special enforcer" and show up at various points with the bat and beat down people would be a great role for him.

In the end, you have to get people behind Sting, and you can't really do that as an authority figure, who typically is a heel and a weak one at that.

 

[s@ppisgod]

Sting should make it very clear in his first promo that he's not the same level of star as Hogan & Flair. Humility & pointing out to the fans why you aren't a big deal are very important ingredients to a pro wrestling promo.

"I liked Austin's 3:16 promo, but I wish Austin would have put the Bible over more."

 

[dave]

Sure, Sting's "brand" has taken a hit because of the years in no man's land over the past decade. Still, he's fucking Sting.

IMO, he's only Sting if he works ... if he's a GM or some novelty act, he's not Sting ... he's just a guy who used to be Sting. I don't care about Sting as a GM or novelty act. Hulk Hogan gets away with being a GM or novelty act because he has a body of proven work in the WWE/WWF. Sting is just a guy who 90% of WWE fans know from tapes.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

The WWE has, at every possible point on every single piece of media that could have ever put over Sting, have put him over stronger than most of his WCW run. They've never ever buried him...not even a little.

One week is all the WWE needs to put over Sting as one of the great of all time to their audience and they'll eat him up.

 

[dave]

The WWE has, at every possible point on every single piece of media that could have ever put over Sting, have put him over stronger than most of his WCW run. They've never ever buried him...not even a little.

One week is all the WWE needs to put over Sting as one of the great of all time to their audience and they'll eat him up.

He deserves that, but at 54 years old, it likely won't be enough if he doesn't have a Rock-Hogan match with someone.

 

[s@ppisgod]

The WWE has, at every possible point on every single piece of media that could have ever put over Sting, have put him over stronger than most of his WCW run. They've never ever buried him...not even a little.

One week is all the WWE needs to put over Sting as one of the great of all time to their audience and they'll eat him up.

They haven't buried him, but they have ignored him quite a bit when they had a chance to highlight how good he was. How do you talk more about Magnum TA than Sting in the Rise and Fall DVD? They've put him over sometimes, but you can tell a lot of it was through clenched teeth. Vince has always had a boner for him, but they clearly held it a little against him that he's spurned their advances for so long.