Mr Shh
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| #1 Posted on 25.1.06 2344.12 Reposted on: 25.1.13 2344.32 | RAW scores a 4.5 for this past Monday. (wrestlingobserver.com) It's pretty cool I guess that Edge can claim that his reign hasn't scored below a 4.0 yet (4.3, 4.3, 4.5). Maybe he really won't be a transitional champ. Upward trend? | Promote this thread! |  | spf
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| #2 Posted on 26.1.06 0014.23 Reposted on: 26.1.13 0014.49 | I really want to attribute the ratings bump to the increased presence of Flair in the main event picture. In fact, I think I shall do so. Perhaps a few of the WCW fans who drifted away got lured back when they heard from friends of friends that Flair was doing stuff again.
Whether it's Flair, Edge, or whatever, I'll just note it all is happening without HHH in a major role right now.
Edit: I guess it's not so far-fetched. From another Meltzer page
Originally posted by Meltz In last week's cable ratings, USA placed second with a 2.2 average to Disney's 2.6. Raw, even with the big ratings pulled by the TLC match, was No. 5 and No. 6 behind two episodes of a high school musical on Disney, Powerhouse 2 on Nick and Monk on USA. In 18-49, Raw was No. 1 and No. 2, and it was also No. 1 in 25-54 with the Flair title challenge bringing a lot of 35-49s back that usually don't watch the show
(edited by spf on 26.1.06 0016) | Packman V2
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| #3 Posted on 26.1.06 0038.48 Reposted on: 26.1.13 0039.36 | If they are gonna keep the belt on Edge, after he wins at the Rumble, he needs to go back to the more traditional WWE Title belt. That'd be like Rocky carrying around the Smoking Skull belt for an entire reign after beating Austin for it, just looks awkward.
I think this is the year that a Smackdown guy wins it, and actually challenges for a Smackdown Title shot, or better yet, a Raw guy win it, and jump ship to Smackdown. Help out the roster a little bit.
Better yet, even though I'm sure this has probably been suggested, but why not wait until the Rumble to crown the Heavyweight title after Batista's injury. How much more important would the Rumble be if the winner didn't get just a title shot at WrestleMania, but the gold itself??
(edited by Packman V2 on 25.1.06 2241) | jwrestle
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| #4 Posted on 26.1.06 0217.42 Reposted on: 26.1.13 0217.46 | From early indications it looks as if Edge may be holding on the strap through Rumble.
Cena doesn't need to be near the belt right now and Edge needs this so cement his name in as a contender.
Not some fluke transitional champion. | The 5th Horseman
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| #5 Posted on 26.1.06 0239.12 Reposted on: 26.1.13 0239.17 | | Another factor for the sudden jump in ratings has to be the end of football on Monday nights. The NFL's Monday Night Football ended in late December followed by the last of college football bowl games on Monday January 2 leading to the sudden jump on Raw the week after that. | John Orquiola
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| #6 Posted on 26.1.06 0756.23 Reposted on: 26.1.13 0756.35 | I know I'm in the minority here, or I may be the only one period, but I like that Edge has the spinner belt. He's an obnoxious heel and it adds to his heelitude that he's carrying around the ugliest, most obnoxious championship belt in WWE history. On Cena it's supposed to look "cool" and fits his gimmick, but on Edge, it adds that little extra bit of asshole that suits him. I especially love when he spins the WWE logo around while the belt sits on his shoulder and when Lita plays with it. If Edge survives Cena and stays Champion, he should switch to the traditional belt but as long as he's feuding with Cena, carrying the spinner belt around adds an extra bit of heel that works for Edge's character.
It's also not that surprising that Edge as Champion is playing a factor in raising RAW's ratings as of late. Edge is someone who came in during the Attitude era and if you've been watching for the last 7-8 years, you've seen Edge all this time and watched him grow as a performer. He has given us all a lot of memorable moments in some great matches, be it his TLC wars when the tag team division had its last peak or his matches with Kurt Angle four years ago so most of us think well of him at least for that even if you dislike him today.
Whether you like Edge or hate him, it's gratifying to see a talented guy climb the ladder all the way to the top over the course of several years: Tag Team Champion, IC Champion to finally World Champion. That's the way you're supposed to do it. One of the stigmas against John Cena and Batista as Champions (Brock Lesnar before that) was the perception (and reality) of too much-too soon. Edge didn't come in, get hot for a short period, sell some merchandise or get hand picked and then got put at the top of the card. He started at the bottom and worked his way to the top. I think fans who have been watching Edge since the Attitude era deep down appreciate that, regardless of how much they like Adam Copeland or his Edge character. It's great to see a guy work his way to the top and he's starting to find his footing as Champion. Does that = ratings? Maybe. I don't think it hurts it.
(edited by John Orquiola on 26.1.06 0601) | Mr Shh
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| #7 Posted on 26.1.06 0821.15 Reposted on: 26.1.13 0822.34 | Well, my own personal crude analysis goes like this...
RAW's ratings never surpassed 4.0 during this period last year (post-football, Batista main-event push) until just before WrestleMania.
As far as Flair goes, I won't discount the demos, but there was a 7-week period where Flair was doing some pretty meaningful stuff (just winning IC title up to the match with HHH at Taboo Tuesday). The feud with HHH is main-event level by default. The ratings for those 7 weeks were:
3.6, 3.2, 4.4 (Homecoming), 4.0, 3.6, 3.9, 3.4
The move to USA surely skews things a bit, but there's nothing to write home about. Cena did not bring any meaningful ratings trend to RAW. I'm chalking this up to Edge. :-)
Ratings Archive (100megsfree4.com) | Mayhem
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| #8 Posted on 26.1.06 0836.34 Reposted on: 26.1.13 0836.44 | It's all about the face contender chasing the heel champ. I f'n love Edge as champ and his whole "Rated R Superstar" character (damnit, why didn't I think of that for my Smackdown vs. RAW created wrestler).
| Matt Tracker
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| #9 Posted on 26.1.06 0846.52 Reposted on: 26.1.13 0847.22 | Maybe it's teenagers hoping to see more of Lita taking off her clothes.
I prefer to lay the ratings at Edge's feet as he's been an entertaining weasel-heel champ. And one can't ignore the appeal of Mama Benjamin, a genuine laugh riot who's probably just a month away from bringing back the Stinkface. | Destrucity
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| #10 Posted on 26.1.06 1006.32 Reposted on: 26.1.13 1007.00 | Originally posted by John Orquiola I know I'm in the minority here, or I may be the only one period, but I like that Edge has the spinner belt. He's an obnoxious heel and it adds to his heelitude that he's carrying around the ugliest, most obnoxious championship belt in WWE history. On Cena it's supposed to look "cool" and fits his gimmick, but on Edge, it adds that little extra bit of asshole that suits him. I especially love when he spins the WWE logo around while the belt sits on his shoulder and when Lita plays with it. If Edge survives Cena and stays Champion, he should switch to the traditional belt but as long as he's feuding with Cena, carrying the spinner belt around adds an extra bit of heel that works for Edge's character.
You're not the only one! I love Edge with the spinner belt -- I think it works perfectly for him. In fact, I'll do you one better and say he should keep it even if he makes it past Cena. Part of the belt's appeal is that he's rubbing it in Cena's face, but I think it's wonderfully obnoxious and assholey even with Cena out of the equation.
The belt immediately before the spinner was a really bad one anyway. It didn't scream "WWE champion" to me. If Edge does dump the spinner eventually, or if he drops the title to someone who isn't Cena, they should go with an entirely new one. | Matt Tracker
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| #11 Posted on 26.1.06 1016.17 Reposted on: 26.1.13 1016.20 | Originally posted by Destrucity If Edge does dump the spinner eventually, or if he drops the title to someone who isn't Cena, they should go with an entirely new one.
I say the belt should become its own title, like the Million Dollar Belt. It would allow the WWE to provide an unofficial Division X to counter TNA.
Yes, I think this should replace the Intercontinental Title. Not only is the belt ignored in current booking (much like the tag belts), but it has an outdated moniker in a company with a WWE World Title AND a WWE Heavyweight Title. | JST
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| #12 Posted on 26.1.06 1049.52 Reposted on: 26.1.13 1050.02 | | I've been a fan of Edge since his debut, so I'm happy for that. But somewhere, Jose Estrada is shaking his fist at the TV... | Bob C
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| #13 Posted on 26.1.06 1054.10 Reposted on: 26.1.13 1055.50 | Originally posted by Destrucity You're not the only one! I love Edge with the spinner belt -- I think it works perfectly for him. In fact, I'll do you one better and say he should keep it even if he makes it past Cena. Part of the belt's appeal is that he's rubbing it in Cena's face, but I think it's wonderfully obnoxious and assholey even with Cena out of the equation.
The belt immediately before the spinner was a really bad one anyway. It didn't scream "WWE champion" to me. If Edge does dump the spinner eventually, or if he drops the title to someone who isn't Cena, they should go with an entirely new one.
My thoughts, exactly.
I'm a Edge fan from day one and I'm really glad that he gets this opportunity. I think he's making the most out of it.
I like that he worked his way to the top. | oldschoolhero
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| #14 Posted on 26.1.06 1105.51 Reposted on: 26.1.13 1105.55 | Originally posted by JST I've been a fan of Edge since his debut, so I'm happy for that. But somewhere, Jose Estrada is shaking his fist at the TV...
Can Jose Estrada even move his fist after that horrific botched plancha? Man that was nasty to watch.
Here's hoping the ratings speak to Vince as they have done in the past. Edge is only just getting warmed-up as champ-snatching the belt back this soon will do nothing for either man. | thecubsfan
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| #15 Posted on 26.1.06 1220.26 Reposted on: 26.1.13 1220.34 | >Can Jose Estrada even move his fist after that horrific >botched plancha?
He's wrestled since. | rv581
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| #16 Posted on 26.1.06 1227.36 Reposted on: 26.1.13 1227.41 | Does anyone else get a HHH-ish vibe from Edge? Instead of trying to be a "cool" heel or tweener with a slew of catch-phrases, glitz, & clever put-downs, he just plays a straight-forward bad guy. And that's basically the same character HHH has played for a few years now.
Part of Edge's appeal as champion, I think, is that he has a decent enough skill-set, he's realistic as champ, he still looks vulnerable (which adds drama to his matches), and most importantly -- he makes his opponent look cooler & sharper than he is (which is something HHH has struggled with of late).
In retrospect, switching the program away from just Cena vs. Edge over to Flair/ Cena vs. Edge was VERY clever. Cena and Edge couldn't expand the current WWE fan-base, but Flair helped bring in the WCW fans and Gen-Xers. And it looks like a few of the Flair fans enjoyed the program enough to hang around... | SKLOKAZOID
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| #17 Posted on 26.1.06 1327.57 Reposted on: 26.1.13 1328.02 | Originally posted by Mayhem
It's all about the face contender chasing the heel champ. I f'n love Edge as champ and his whole "Rated R Superstar" character (damnit, why didn't I think of that for my Smackdown vs. RAW created wrestler).
I think that's true here. By losing the title, Cena has found some of that fire he lost by winning the title this early in his career. Edge, meanwhile, has become a compelling heel champion with a great hook.
The way he flaunts Cena's belt around has helped a lot with this angle, too. I also like the irony of it being flipped upside-down to be a "Mattitude" logo.
Bottom line, what they're doing right now works. Let's see how long it takes for them to mess it up. Well, I guess the Rumble is this weekend, so it all depends on who wins. :) | Tribal Prophet
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| #18 Posted on 26.1.06 1335.33 Reposted on: 26.1.13 1336.26 | How about Edge keeps the Cena Spinner Title, but replaces the "W" with a big "R" that he can play with?
As far as ratings go, I'd like to wait until at least a second week of decent ratings comes before proclaiming the reasons why everyone (.3 more than normal) is tuning back into the show. Claiming that anyone has saved the show after only one week seems like jumping the gun a bit.
Although if I had to choose right now, I would have to say that fans tuned in (not just that, but that they CALLED THEIR FRIENDS!) because of the building suspense to Edge choosing Chris Masters as his tag partner. I'm sure if someone looked at the quarterly ratings, that last segment did like, a 15.6 or something. 
Tribal Prophet | BigSteve
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| #19 Posted on 26.1.06 1447.53 Reposted on: 26.1.13 1448.06 | Originally posted by Tribal Prophet As far as ratings go, I'd like to wait until at least a second week of decent ratings comes before proclaiming the reasons why everyone (.3 more than normal) is tuning back into the show. Claiming that anyone has saved the show after only one week seems like jumping the gun a bit.
The three weeks of Edge as champion have gotten a 4.3, 4.3, and 4.5 while the three weeks beforehand were all at 3.7. I agree that we should wait more than a month to determine that Edge is a great draw, but there definately has been an encouraging trend since he won the title. | Spaceman Spiff
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| #20 Posted on 26.1.06 1705.01 Reposted on: 26.1.13 1706.07 | The three weeks of Edge as champion have gotten a 4.3, 4.3, and 4.5
Week 1 saw the 1st show post-title change, as well as a promise of "live sex". Week 2 saw an Angle/HBK match being hyped, as well as Edge/Flair TLC. Week 3 is the last Raw before the Rumble.
Encouraging? I don't know. Maybe, but I'd wait until post-Rumble to start looking at how well/bad ratings are doing w/ Edge as champ (if he retains). |
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