So at my house, we got MTS and i was browsing the channels and came to channel 1528 and low and behold, wwe network free preview. Pretty cool stuff, went to parents house, they have shaw and switched it to 225 and low and behold, wwe network but no free preview. My dad told me it's because Shaw are A holes but yeah.. Anyone gonna get this channel? I'm thinking about it, 11.99 a month, lots of footage, archived stuff, get to watch NXT, lots of history on that channel it seems, plus pay per views are included in that 11.99 a month. Say what you will but if a fan of wrestling, 11.99 for all that stuff plus a pay per view which goes for like 50 or more bucks on ppv, Not a bad deal is it? 

 

 

And Wrestlemania is coming up this Sunday too, not sure how many wrestling fans there are here but anyone gonna check it out? I haven't watched as religiously as i have in the past but do enjoy me the big 4, gonna say 3 cuz survivor series has sucked recently but do enjoy watching the big 3 PPV's (rumble,mania,summerslam)

 

and hell, it's only gonna cost 11.99 this time i think. Instead of the 50 bucks, Gotta make that decision to order the network soon i think, unless the free preview on MTS is all this month. 

When I worked at dakota lanes every monda night wheni was 18-20 we had raw on (attitude era) ppl would come watch between turns up to bowl. Since the attitude era, mma became the thing to watch, n talk about, but I suspect many of those ppl watching during the attitude era watched during the early 90s, 80s maybe even longer, many probably check in once in a while still, maybe just not religiously

This is pretty much me, except I really never checked in again until recently. I "graduated" to mma. My kid's getting old enough to watch wrestling now, so I'll watch some with him. I really don't know much about what's happened between the attitude era and now.

 

I have tickets to the show here in December. Real case of deja-vu watching my kid turn into a huge wrestling fan.

The irony of UFC eroding WWE's audience is that one very critical decision in the rise of UFC was Vince allowing Ultimate Fighter to follow RAW.  He said he didnt care as UFC wasnt competition.  I bet he'd make a very different decision in hindsight.

More irony is that Paul Heyman warned Vince not to allow it... now with his association with Lesnar, he's benefiting from it!

Paul has always had his finger on the pulse of what is cool and what will be cool.  I think thats why Vince begrudgingly respects him.  TNA were fools not to agree to Paul's terms to come in and book that promotion.

 

When I worked at dakota lanes every monda night wheni was 18-20 we had raw on (attitude era) ppl would come watch between turns up to bowl. Since the attitude era, mma became the thing to watch, n talk about, but I suspect many of those ppl watching during the attitude era watched during the early 90s, 80s maybe even longer, many probably check in once in a while still, maybe just not religiously

This is pretty much me, except I really never checked in again until recently. I "graduated" to mma. My kid's getting old enough to watch wrestling now, so I'll watch some with him. I really don't know much about what's happened between the attitude era and now.

 

I have tickets to the show here in December. Real case of deja-vu watching my kid turn into a huge wrestling fan.

 

 

Same here (minus the kid getting me back into it).  Left wrestling when the Attitude era died & MMA really took off (I was always an mma fan, it just didn't compete for my viewing time as there were only events every couple months at best).  I check in now & again just to see what's going on but I can't remember the last time I watched a full raw or ppv or went to a live show.

Ive heard ufc is having problems staying captivating (I guess) kinda like boxing, still a money maker but ppl arent as hooked due to lack of big house hold names as it used to be. I remember watching mike tyson fight no names on ppv like peter mckneeley just cuz tyson n his knock out power was worth watching. GSP is a guy not known for his knock out power but if your a fan of the art hes clinical n goes the distance (isnt mayweather this way for boxing or was?)

That being said, as much as wrestling is predetermined, there could be some upside to that. Ensuring big action almost each and everytime, with injuries a surprise element, I regard knock outs in any sport the same as an injury in wrestling, it could happen and holy **** when it does, but not necessary. I love seeing a good fight in any sport, but I guess ive come to be less disappointed with wrestling as a whole for time/moneys worth, so I guess thats more why I still watch

Vince's position is always that wrestling is better than UFC because they are in control of the finishes.  But UFC is almost always more intriguing based on realism.  WWE should be a million times more interesting because they are pre-determined but they are just so lousy at creative.  WWE has become a corporate wasteland of buzz words and formularic presentation where stakes dont matter, win/loss doesnt matter, titles dont matter, no one gets hurt and no one is allowed to be more over than the brand.

 

Anyway, here is some local flavour (and Im quoted in the story):

 

http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/2015/10/28/22566818.html

Now I know ur name lol the known poster here on

Now I know ur name lol the known poster here on

My secret identity!!  shhhhhh

Ive heard ufc is having problems staying captivating (I guess) kinda like boxing, still a money maker but ppl arent as hooked due to lack of big house hold names as it used to be. I remember watching mike tyson fight no names on ppv like peter mckneeley just cuz tyson n his knock out power was worth watching. GSP is a guy not known for his knock out power but if your a fan of the art hes clinical n goes the distance (isnt mayweather this way for boxing or was?)

That being said, as much as wrestling is predetermined, there could be some upside to that. Ensuring big action almost each and everytime, with injuries a surprise element, I regard knock outs in any sport the same as an injury in wrestling, it could happen and holy **** when it does, but not necessary. I love seeing a good fight in any sport, but I guess ive come to be less disappointed with wrestling as a whole for time/moneys worth, so I guess thats more why I still watch

 

That was also his 1st fight after getting out of prison so they definitely weren't going to put him in there with the champ right away.

 

Also, just because Tyson wiped everyone out (for the most part), doesn't mean they were no names, or weren't very good.  Ronda Rousey is going through the same thing right now.  Nobody will remember who she destroyed, with a couple exceptions, just that she was amazing.

I'll say this. People won't bring up wrestling but if you do.... most will know what you are talking about. I know lots of ppl at work who are what I'd call closet fans. Meaning they won't talk about it unless someone else does first. People know who John Cena is.

John Cena is more popular for his cameo in Train wreck...

Nobody at my work has a clue about current wrestling...any wrestling talk revolves about classic 80s or Attitude era.

In fairness most of my coworkers are more sports fans and less in to the geek stuff.

So maybe it might be different if I was around more computer geeks...

I myself can't even name 5 wrestlers post Attitude era... No big cross over stars these days.

Ive heard ufc is having problems staying captivating (I guess) kinda like boxing, still a money maker but ppl arent as hooked due to lack of big house hold names as it used to be. I remember watching mike tyson fight no names on ppv like peter mckneeley just cuz tyson n his knock out power was worth watching. GSP is a guy not known for his knock out power but if your a fan of the art hes clinical n goes the distance (isnt mayweather this way for boxing or was?)

That being said, as much as wrestling is predetermined, there could be some upside to that. Ensuring big action almost each and everytime, with injuries a surprise element, I regard knock outs in any sport the same as an injury in wrestling, it could happen and holy **** when it does, but not necessary. I love seeing a good fight in any sport, but I guess ive come to be less disappointed with wrestling as a whole for time/moneys worth, so I guess thats more why I still watch

The issue with the ufc is over saturation and ppvs are pointless. Lots of the fox sports and fight nights have bigger and better fights.

It used to be way more interesting when the cards were with known names from to to bottom.

I've lost a lot of interest because it'd just to much to keep up with.

They've got themselves in a dilema with the Fox contracts.  They are obligated to put on so many shows (on top of their PPV's) that they need a huge roster.  They can't just cut a bunch of guys because then they can't meet their obligations to Fox.  The roster is to a point that it's hard even for the die-hards to keep track of.

 

IMO, they were better served keeping the WEC around as a feeder league.  Guys like Pettis, Faber, Cerrone and Benson Henderson all made their name their before they got to the UFC.

 

Anyway, here is some local flavour (and Im quoted in the story):

 

http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/2015/10/28/22566818.html

 

Pretty good read.  I remember seeing a lot of those matches (at least the ones earlier in Royce's career - the article kind of skips from 2005 to 2013) but always got the feeling Royce was happier being a big fish in a small pond rather than hit the road and try to make a real career out of it.  Of course I don't know his reasoning for it, but I always felt he had the talent & could have been bigger.

 

 

Anyway, here is some local flavour (and Im quoted in the story):

 

http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/2015/10/28/22566818.html

 

Pretty good read.  I remember seeing a lot of those matches (at least the ones earlier in Royce's career - the article kind of skips from 2005 to 2013) but always got the feeling Royce was happier being a big fish in a small pond rather than hit the road and try to make a real career out of it.  Of course I don't know his reasoning for it, but I always felt he had the talent & could have been bigger.

 

He had loads of talent.  As I mentioned in the article, he was sort of ahead of his time as far as local wrestling.  Shawn Michaels had come along and was changing wrestling in WWE and there were others like him in the world, but locally it was "old school" for the most part, punch/kick/headlock.  And a "look" meant being big and beefy with long hair. 

 

My remark about Royce proving talent was a requirement of being a top guy was because in the early 2000's there was a movement among some new local guys to bring in athlete calibre physiques which, for a brief time, took precadence over talent.  I asked one of my closest confidences in wrestling (who is now retired) about Royce and he is the one that said to me "he was ahead of his time" and influenced guys who began training in 2000, 2001 -ish. 

 

Royce probably could have bounced around indy's if he had so chosen and possibly got a look in ECW where he would have been more talented then many guys that got booked there.  But he was pretty small.  Ofcourse, there is often a difference between how a guy looks who is comfortable working locally and a guy trying to make that final push to a major office so he could have improved his "look".  If I recall, he got married pretty young (he's been married as long as I've known him and has at least one adult son) and I think that impacted his career choices.

 

When Mentallo, Omega, Rawskillz came along, they took influence from Royce and went even further with it.  Mentallo and Omega have worked all over.  Skillz would have but he also settled down right before he probably could have gotten looks in Japan.

 

The article skips over a lot of time because I dont think anything overly historic happened in that time.  Once he came to PCW, he settled in as a top guy.  When he left in 2009 it really wasnt as big a deal as "jumping" had been in the eary part of 2000's.  Although it did result in him and I going from very close to not friendly at all.  We used to talk about having one big match against each other and I wish we had done so!

Wrestlng Observer

 

 

USA Network, in a press release today highlighting it’s January premieres, announced the move of WWE Smackdown from the Sy-Fy network. What was notable from this release is that despite rumours of a possible move to Tuesday nights, airing live, the premiere was announced for January 7th, a Thursday, meaning it’s likely that this means the show will stay in the same Thursday time slot it’s been in for the last year.

 

Numbers continued to slide at a similar rate as on Monday Night RAW to get to the current 2.1 million level.

 

The move to USA network is expected to be accompanied by a renewed focus from WWE on the show to make it more relevant and a subsequent increase in TV viewers is the hoped for result.

I liked when wwe was on TSN at least raw (I think smackdown was on sportsnet) then i think they both were on there, with the way MTS and Shaw started doing theme packages for a while I totally lost access to watching wrestling. This is why i started more staying current with the slam wrestling recaps which for the most parts was much more enjoyable. sitting down for lunch read up on the previous raw in the 15-20 minutes eating beats 3hours full of commercials and stuff you cant skip through.

 

I noticed on monday while raw was played,  TSN was playing world series of Poker, and ive seen other event like soccer, or just highlight shows,  did TSN lose out to SN or just say screw it to airing WWE?

or does this have more to do with these SYFY or USA networks and their deals with guys like TSN or SN

I liked when wwe was on TSN at least raw (I think smackdown was on sportsnet) then i think they both were on there, with the way MTS and Shaw started doing theme packages for a while I totally lost access to watching wrestling. This is why i started more staying current with the slam wrestling recaps which for the most parts was much more enjoyable. sitting down for lunch read up on the previous raw in the 15-20 minutes eating beats 3hours full of commercials and stuff you cant skip through.

 

I noticed on monday while raw was played,  TSN was playing world series of Poker, and ive seen other event like soccer, or just highlight shows,  did TSN lose out to SN or just say screw it to airing WWE?

Rogers went after WWE and made them a deal too sweet to turn down.  Same thing with the Network.  WWE had planned for the Network to be a streaming service in Canada but Rogers' wanted all of WWE and made them an offer they couldnt refuse.

 

Wrestling Observer does free recaps of the shows.  The RAW recap is live as it happens.  I reccomend it.  I usually read it to catch up on things I missed while FF'ing through half of RAW.  And as I've said, if you're a wrestling fan for $10 a month, the Observer is tremendous value.

For those that mentioned it, average age of RAW viewers is 40. Average age of SD viewers is 46.

Rollins tears his ACL and MCL during Ireland tour. New champ to determined by elimination tournament at Survivors series.

 

http://www.wwe.com/inside/seth-rollins-injury-title-tournament-survivor-series-28164051

The injury

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB-qEKI37eY&feature=youtu.be

Powerboming Kane = not a good idea

 

With John Cena, Brock Lesnar, and Randy Orton among the major stars on hiatus for various reasons at the moment, the timing of this injury could not be worse.  One WWE source noted that some phone calls are likely already being made to some very big names.

 

Seth's reign was a total flop.  If they are smart they do one of two things:  Write Brock a blank cheque and he wins the tournament.  or clear Daniel Bryan and he either wins or is screwed by Roman in a heel turn.  FOrcing Roman down our throats, especially now isnt a good idea.

Id like to see samoa joe transfered over from NXT, i think he could have some good feuds 

Id like to see samoa joe transfered over from NXT, i think he could have some good feuds 

I don't think will Samoa Joe for a while on main roster. They just setup a Samoa Joe Barron Corbin Fin Ballor angle on NXT last night.