Vince must be feeling the crunch and is retreating to his old territory to regroup. 1Wrestling has the Worcester Centrum listed as the venue for Backlash on 4/27. For those keeping score, that's 2 New York area PPV's and 2 Boston area PPV's within an 8-month span. Throw in a bunch of TV tapings and house shows and it's apparent that they're trying to cash in on their core markets. I read somewhere that Philly is getting a PPV this year, too. Unforgiven, maybe? I'm wondering how the more jaded fans of the Northeast will impact the 2003 booking plans. (insert madatory seat-of-the-pants booking joke here)
The WWE could put on 2 hours of Kevin Kelly sitting on the toilet reading a phone book, and I'd still watch next week.
Throw in Montreal which is in the eastern corridor for No Way Out and the pattern is even more apparent. When in doubt, stay close to home so that travel costs for transporting equipment isn't as high. If they start doing RAW and SD on the remaining tent tour stops at the end of the summer, you really know trouble is looming though.
Please help control the McMahon population. Have your Triple H's spayed or neutered.
Originally posted by fuelinjectedWhat was the old arena that they used to run RAW in all the time in CT? They used it A LOT during the Diesel run when they couldn't draw anything.
I think it was the old New Haven Coliseum. And they always have the mall (Hartford Civic Center) to fall back on.
Please help control the McMahon population. Have your Triple H's spayed or neutered.
No, in 95, the Raw's weren't taped in no coliseums. They were basically running alot of the same buildings that ECW did in their last three years, 2,000 seaters. The one in CT might of been the college arena in Dansbury, but I can't remember for sure. But I know they ran like 2 or 3 shows close to here in Warren Ohio, a building with maybe 1500 attendance, and maybe a total population of 10k. Kind of funny in retrospect.
Using CRZ's archives it was the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York and the Westchester County Center in White Plains, NY that I was thinking of.
Is this bunches different than it has been in the past? Is there any other explaination for their constant running of shows in Long Island despite the fact that nothing gets over there?
The WWE has always been headquartered in the east and the east almost always gets the lion's share of PPV/TVs/House Shows. Boston and New York especially, along with Hartford and other "easterly" cities (like Montreal, Atlanta, Orlando, Miami, and anything in the Carolinas). Then Chicago, Toronto, LA, and Texas will get everything else. I don't think this is much reason to panic.
RAW Satire 1/14 Buffy 7.1 gets a 8.887 More and More good stuff this season...
Danbury? ECW used a building there... I forget the name, but it's the arena for Western CT Community College.
As for other arenas, they haven't actually demolished the Coliseum, but they auctioned off EVERYTHING a few months ago. They should demolish it later this year, or next, IIRC. And they also now have Mohegan Sun's arena (in Uncasville, which I guess gets renamed "Mohegan Sun" for WWE purposes) and the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport (probably one of the few good things Ganim's done with his corrupt ass). But what made me think about this was that they ran the Mohegan Sun show the day before Raw X... couldn't they have scheduled the other CT shows (a little over a month ago) closer to this, and not sandwiched West coast/southwestern shows between the two?
Wow, Backlash is gonna be in Worcester, MA? That's really weird because I don't think they've even had a televised show there since August of 2000. I don't blame them either because its one of the shittiest arenas I've ever been in, especially up in the balcony. I went to my first ever live event there back in June of '99 for a Raw taping (back before they went live every week). We were up there n the balcony and we couldn't see the TitanTron or hear a goddamn word anyone was saying. I spent most of the night sitting in the aisle a few rows up.
And what the hell is the "more jaded fans of the Northeast" suppose to mean anyway?
Since areans are booked way in advance you are just now seeing the WWE efforts to retrench and ride out the storm take effect. The long lag time makes it difficult to make immeadiate changes.
From the infamous Wrestleline SS interview:
DTD: If you were to make changes in WCW, if you were in charge and not Ric Flair, what would they be?
SS: I'd get rid of all the old guys, and push the talent that has waited to get the push. The things they are doing, it's back in the 1980s. It's just bad, man. Flair doesn't even deserve to be on the show. You've got to get rid of all the old guys. Like what Vince did, they started pushing guys. Nobody knew who The Rock was 2 years ago. He made The Rock. Now The Rock just did Saturday Night Live. You've got to start with the young talent, talent people can relate to. Who are we trying to relate to if we've got a 50 year old man out there? Are we trying to relate, so a 50 year people and above will go out and buy a f*cking little toy? That ain't gonna happen. It's a f*cking joke.
Originally posted by Simba I'm wondering how the more jaded fans of the Northeast will impact the 2003 booking plans.
With the booing of Rocky and now Steiner hopfully it will change things for the better. Sooner or later they are going to have to listen to all the hard core fans. They may be too smart for Vince's liking but he can't run from the Northeast or he is going to be playing to a lot of half full buildings. Yeah smart fans like to bitch about the WWE and vice versa but when things are in the crapper the smarts are still there. Give them what they want and the casual fans will follow suit simply because most of them haven't seen anything like it.
In other words ECW! ECW! ECW!
No really. I mean it.
(edited by Jackson on 20.1.03 0043) Bubbles? Oh come on Sharon! I’m Ozzy Osbourne the Prince of Fucking Darkness. Evil, evil, more fucking evil not a boatload of fucking bubbles man.
Can we please stop trying to raise ECW from the grave?
It's dead, has been for a couple of years, and will remain so.
From the infamous Wrestleline SS interview:
DTD: If you were to make changes in WCW, if you were in charge and not Ric Flair, what would they be?
SS: I'd get rid of all the old guys, and push the talent that has waited to get the push. The things they are doing, it's back in the 1980s. It's just bad, man. Flair doesn't even deserve to be on the show. You've got to get rid of all the old guys. Like what Vince did, they started pushing guys. Nobody knew who The Rock was 2 years ago. He made The Rock. Now The Rock just did Saturday Night Live. You've got to start with the young talent, talent people can relate to. Who are we trying to relate to if we've got a 50 year old man out there? Are we trying to relate, so a 50 year people and above will go out and buy a f*cking little toy? That ain't gonna happen. It's a f*cking joke.
Originally posted by AWArulzSteve Austin was in the WWF and Hulk Hogan was in the WCW. Rob Van Dam was in ECW.
Yes, and one of those wrestlers is the biggest reason why there is only one major promotion in the U.S. I won't say who, but I will give you a hint. He is orange!
Originally posted by AWArulzSteve Austin was in the WWF and Hulk Hogan was in the WCW. Rob Van Dam was in ECW.
Yes, and one of those wrestlers is the biggest reason why there is only one major promotion in the U.S. I won't say who, but I will give you a hint. He is orange!
That's so much bullshit, Nag. HH wasn't even that active during much of the WCW serious downturn in ratings after the NWO days. No, Wrestling fell off, whoever was really running WCW and booking it (and I'm not insyder enough to know exactly who) made mistakes about contracts to performers who couldn't perform (Hogan WAS in the category, but there were many others!). They allowed defections to players under contract who they shouldn't have. It was an ego trip, or at least seemed to be to me. No, it wasn't about HH, it was about business and about cash flow and about margins on profit. HH, for all the IWC whining, still put butts in the seats. Still could, if they'd use him.
Was HH with WCW when it was sold, well of course he was. But he didn't have the book, or more importantly the comproller's seat. Seems to me like a better candidate for WCW's demise is: Cyclical downturns, mistakes in business practices and booking errors. You want to lay it on talent, give it to people like Russo, Bishoff, Nash, Taylor and the others who were booking.
But far be it from anyone in the IWC to recognize that business practices downturned on WCW. No! It was the Orange Goblin, by Gawd! Hulk Hogan is Satan!
Nag's analysis may be simplistic, but if I might, your response seems pretty naive.
Originally posted by AWArulzNo, it wasn't about HH, it was about business and about cash flow and about margins on profit. HH, for all the IWC whining, still put butts in the seats. Still could, if they'd use him.
To quote tOA's Frank, towards the last Hogan runs in WCW, "when Hogan got the loudest pop, the buildings were only half full." If anything, Hogan's latest WWF/E run proved that while he's good for an initial pop, you can't stick with him because the backlash is swift and the needles stop jumping. Does Hogan have value? Sure. Is it anchoring the promotion? No way.
Was HH with WCW when it was sold, well of course he was. But he didn't have the book, or more importantly the comproller's seat. Seems to me like a better candidate for WCW's demise is: Cyclical downturns, mistakes in business practices and booking errors. You want to lay it on talent, give it to people like Russo, Bishoff, Nash, Taylor and the others who were booking.
It's generally accepted that Hogan either had the booker's ear (Bischoff, Sullivan) or wasn't around (Russo) - so I'd argue that it's just LIKE he had the book. But then you dismiss that in favour of...well, essentially it SEEMS like you're saying that the bean counters should have been running WCW. I don't want to put words in your mouth, but that's my take...and as a counterexample, I'd remind you that Busch had no problem cutting the salaries of Benoit, Guerrero, Saturn and Malenko, and I think we know how THAT turned out. But THEN you go back to blaming the bookers. The bookers certainly bear the brunt of the blame (my opinion), but you cannot ignore the class system that ended up entrenched within the talent pool at WCW as well as the fact that the topcard folks were routinely allowed to stick their fingers into the booking process, whether through "creative control" guarantees or just by their perceived ability to "draw," whether actually existant or no.
But far be it from anyone in the IWC to recognize that business practices downturned on WCW. No! It was the Orange Goblin, by Gawd! Hulk Hogan is Satan!
Again, I agree that it's oversimplification, but you can't turn around and completely exonerate him either.
Originally posted by CRZThe bookers certainly bear the brunt of the blame (my opinion), but you cannot ignore the class system that ended up entrenched within the talent pool at WCW as well as the fact that the topcard folks were routinely allowed to stick their fingers into the booking process, whether through "creative control" guarantees or just by their perceived ability to "draw," whether actually existant or no.
Does this situation sound familiar?
"My brother saw the Undertaker walking through an airport." - Rex "Was he no-selling?" - Me
"...release the dogs, or the bees, or the dogs with bees in their mouths, and when they bark, they shoot bees at you?" -- Homer Simpson
I thought Kane's Smackdown title reign in 2010 was his victory lap, but maybe THIS is it. And that's OK. He's an exceptionally durable big man, and he's willing to work and sell.