ZAH
Shakin' My Head: Combined WWE PPV's, Big Show's next stop, Misawa in the U.S., a horse-faced beauty-queen's heat, Loser of the Week, plus much more!!
By ZAH
Mar 17, 2007, 06:00

03-17-07

“There's nothin' else that I would rather do.”

Boo-yah, here we go!!

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Item #1 – No more brand-only PPV’s.

Here’s the deal this week.  WWE has just announced that “in the spirit that has made WrestleMania the premier brand in the pay-per-view industry” all WWE PPV’s going forward will now feature the “talent and storylines from all three WWE programs.”  In other words, PPV buys are down from last year and the rosters are being stretched a bit too thin in the efforts to bring in buys for the brand-only PPV’s.

Now, I have read people giving their spins on this all week.  The conversations basically went from how this is a good thing for WWE pay-per-view buys to how WWE needs to do it because their current brand-only pay-per-views don’t do very well to how WWE needs to cut back on its number of PPV’s from its current slate of fifteen because they’re spread too thin. 

The thing is I agree that they don't need fifteen PPV's in a year.  Having said that, any less than 12 PPV's and WWE would be removing big-time revenue for no reason.

How so?

Well, with the exception of December to Dismember, every PPV from WWE last year did between 200,000-400,000 buys. At approximately $40 a pop, they made about $16,000,000 in revenue.  At the end of the year that’s $240,000,000 in gross revenue.  Now, I’m not gonna sit here and claim that WWE actually earned that much money from each PPV.  Hell…I could be WAAAAY off.  Not only that, but they’ve got PPV licensing fees to pay and they’ve got arena costs to cover and the actual set-up of the PPV to pay for.  Still…they still got a pretty big chunk of change at the end of the day.

Could they do 400,000-600,000 buys if there were only 12 PPV's in a year? Only 8? It's possible, but highly unlikely in today's marketplace considering where WWE is.

However, let's say that they do 500,000 buys on 8 PPV's in a year due to building stronger feuds and working the supply/demand curve extremely well. Is that necessarily better? Is that enough revenue to justify removing the other 7 PPV's that were drawing 300,000 buys each?  Well, with only 8 PPV’s @ $40 each doing 500,000 buys (again…highly unlikely, but for the sake of argument let’s say they could get those numbers) they’d end up making $20,000,000 per event.  Therefore, we’re looking at approximately $160,000,000 in annual revenue from the PPV’s.

Now again…I’m not saying that’s the total earnings that WWE makes each year from PPV’s (I don’t have my Observer numbers at the ready), but the point is that they’re making a LOT of money right now with fifteen PPV’s.  Could they make more money with less PPV’s?  It’s very unlikely if you cut back too much, but it’s quite possible if they get rid of, say, three of them and have only one per month.

Listen, it's not that WWE is doing this because they’re losing money on PPV, because they’re not.  Simply put, WWE just isn’t making as much as they were. Instead of looking at real issues like price (a major factor) or poor build-up (an obvious factor), they're looking at yet another contributing factor which is, indeed, the lack of star power on each PPV.

I think they realized with the recent cross-overs of performers like John Cena and MNM that people believe in the brand splits enough to think that having multiple players on a PPV is a big deal now. While not the optimal choice (and heaven knows that some mid-card performers like Shelton Benjamin, CM Punk, and William Regal may not see a PPV pay-off for quite some time), this decision is a solid one that should help increase PPV buys slightly.

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Item #2 – Big Show to TNA?

Kurt “I’m Bat-Shit Insane” Angle recently stated that he’s trying to talk Paul “Big Show” Wight into joining TNA.  On top of that, Hulk “I’m One Crazy-Ass Motherf*ckin' Liar” Hogan recently suggested that he might start his own wrestling promotion with Wight as his focal point.

The question then becomes is Paul Wight really the biggest free agent in professional wrestling today or is he really retired?  I think he’s the only one that can really answer that question but it’s a legitimate one.  Why?  WWE recently made another contract offer to Wight.  The difference this time around was that it wasn’t a contract to be an in-ring performer, it was a contract that wouldn’t make him enter a wrestling ring.  WWE simply wanted the rights to Wight and wanted him to be a WWE team player.

Wight turned them down.

So at this point both Angle and Hogan may not be as insane as they normally appear to be.  Will Wight show-up on TNA someday soon?  Will Hogan actually start a new promotion?  Will Wight continue to sit on his wealthy ass and enjoy life away from the rigors of the ring?  At the end of the day does anybody even give a shit?

Quite frankly, I think Wight absolutely made his mark as one of the all-time great big-men in professional wrestling history.  He left with a whimper, but I’m not sure if he really needs to further risk serious long-term back injury with a comeback in a second-rate promotion.

If I were Wight, I’d sit on my millions.  Why the hell not?

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Item #3 – Misawa coming to America.

God…if I hadn’t ‘gone off’ on my first two items I might actually have more time to discuss this one.  The bottom line is this:

• Mitsuharu Misawa is a 3-time Wrestling Observer Performer of the Year
• 2-time Observer Outstanding Wrestler of the Year
• 4-time ½ of the Observer Tag Team of the Year
• 5-time participant in the Observer Match of the Year
• 3-time GHC heavyweight champion
• 5-time AJPW Triple Crown champion

And folks…that’s just the beginning.  Misawa is nowhere near the performer he was back in the 90’s.  However, the simple fact that Ring of Honor has just confirmed that Misawa will be coming to wrestle in New York near the end of the year is a TREMENDOUS coup for them.  You simply cannot fathom the big deal this is unless you’ve had the chance to see one of his amazing battles with Kenta Kobashi over the years.  This man is one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time…whether you’ve heard of him or not.

It’s times like this I really wished I lived in New York City.

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Item #4 – More heat backstage?  That’s okay…get naked and we'll paint you instead!

Ugh.  It’s tiring to constantly hear about backstage “heat” with certain individuals…ESPECIALLY when it’s blatantly apparent that somebody in management actually likes that certain person.

The latest news has “heat” on Melina.  Apparently her “extreme carelessness” in her match with Mickie James last week has angered WWE management to the point where she either carries Ashley to a passable match at WrestleMania or she finds herself a new job.

Bullshit or not?

Does it even matter?  Listen…Melina may be a bitch backstage but she’s no slouch in the ring.  Mickie James almost hurt herself in that match…it had nothing to do with Melina.  It was blatantly obvious by watching the match itself.  Not only that, but Melina is the women’s champion who’s in a major storyline leading-up to WrestleMania.  NOT ONLY THAT, but Melina’s always featured in things from RAW magazine to WWE.com pictorials.

Bottom line is that Melina may rub a lot of people the wrong way, but she must be doing something right.  It’s too bad that she looks like a horse from the neck up. 

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Item #5 – Over-f*ckin’-booking…period.

I don’t know how you can look at last weekend’s TNA pay-per-view, Destination X, and not believe that it could have been soooo much better than it ended-up being.  From the opening clusterf*ck of a match with LAX and Team 3-D thru the Senshi vs. Austin Starr match thru EVERY SINGLE GODDAMN MATCH…the over-booking was sickening.

I mean, I come to expect some things from WWE.  Do they have messes from time to time?  Sure…absolutely.  However, I haven’t seen so many attempts to swerve and shock since the dying days of WCW.

Now, I’m not gonna jump on the anti-Russo bandwagon (although I have actually asked the Fire Vince Russo MySpace to be a friend of mine…lol), and I’m not even going to say I didn’t like the PPV because overall I didn’t mind it.  BUT, whether it’s Russo or Dutch Mantell or Jeff Jarrett or Mike Tenay or a shriveled-up monkey penis…the entire PPV was just “too much” from beginning to end. 

Is it TNA’s fault that the match-ups don’t live up on their own or is it simply TNA’s lack of faith in their own product?  Is the Impact Zone absolutely killing the product to the point where TNA feels like they have to throw every gimmick in their tickle trunk at each match in order to make sure the crowd chants “This is awesome” regardless of how pathetic the action actually is?

I dunno…and I don’t know if I’ve got the answer or not.  What I do know is that TNA, now more than ever, looks like it’s in “panic mode” and needs to check itself before making the type of mistakes that they cannot recover from.

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Item #6 – It’s time to separate the men from the boys.

Wow…did Randy Orton look extremely dominant this past Monday on RAW or what??  I mean, it’s important to have him look strong but he looked like a steamroller going over Ric Flair and Carlito on his way to the Money in the Bank ladder match.  It certainly tells you the pecking order right now and where certain people fall (World’s Greatest Tag Team, anyone?).

I hate to admit it, but Orton’s never looked so good in the ring.  It looks like the guy is finally living-up to his potential.

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Item #7 – 'RAW is Jericho' once again?

It’s possible.  Apparently, WWE is reaching-out to Jericho for a possible September return.  Yes…you may now rejoice.

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Item # 8 – LOSER OF THE WEEK.

Each and every week, I pick somebody (not necessarily always from wrestling) who has either acted in a dumb way, said something stupid, or generally was an idiot in some way, shape, or form.  This week’s choice could simply be considered very unlucky.  However, I believe that you’ve got to take responsibility for the monster that you create.  Therefore, ZAH’s Loser of the Week simply has to be...

Lindsay Lohan!!!

Whether it’s messing up at work or going to rehab or running over a photographer with your car or checking out of rehab and continuing to party hard…this chick’s a f*ckin’ loser from top to bottom.

Lindsay…grow the hell up. 

Don’t get me wrong, though…I’d still bang the hell out of her.  Anyway, Lindsay…you, my dear, are my Loser of the Week!

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Pillar to Post 

Each and every week I’ll take three statements that you, the WorldWrestlingInsanity.com readers, have submitted on the hot topics du jour and then get two or three volunteers to give their thoughts and insight.  Ladies and gentlemen, this week (and I encourage every reader to throw me an e-mail and volunteer), I was able to find two  great World Wrestling Insanity readers in Johnny Craze and Ryan LaPointe!

1. Agree or Disagree
RAW is, far and away, the best it has been since 2000.

Johnny Craze: Disagree.

The greatest since 2000??!! Unless I'm missing something, there is no way RAW has been that great. While it has improved over the junk they have had since, well, the past two years, it's nowhere near how it was during the Austin/Rock/Foley/HHH era. I don't think RAW's ratings have jumped to the 5.0's again like they did in 1999-2000. HHH hasn't been on RAW since he's been injured so at least other guys are getting a chance to shine, even though it's been mostly the other DX member, HBK. Umaga has been a waste and I don't really care for all the McMahon/Trump things going on. Oh yea, did I mention Khali? Anyway, RAW has improved but in no way has it been at it's best since 2000.

Ryan LaPointe: Agree.

Ever since the departure of people such as the Rock and Stone Cold, there has been great talent but they’ve been used horribly. Great example is Shelton Benjamin. Until lately its been well documented (book plug!) that it’s been the HHH show. Granted, since he reformed DX he stepped aside from the title for the most part, but if he wasn’t injured more than likely he’d be in it. I also feel that WWE over the last few years has become “what Vince likes and finds funny”. I’ve watched wrestling religiously every Monday for the last 15 years or so and it was getting to the point that I would have it on the TV and pay no attention. Cheesy gimmicks, beyond stupid storylines (Mae Young/Mark Henry and Katie Vick come to mind real quick), and disrespect for the true talent. Now over the last couple months, I have seen such a huge improvement all the way around. I understand that the WrestleMania buildup is a big part of it, and the fact that it’s in my town and I will be there may make me more excited than the normal person. The title bouts are going to be historical, Trump/Vince has been quite entertaining, the MIB will be good as usual too, and seeing The Rock last week had me yelling in excitement like a kid again. New talent is being utilized the right way now, good storylines, some great gimmicks (Umaga) and WWE is back on track, let’s just hope for a long time. I will say though WHAT HAPPENED TO THE TAG TEAM DIVISION? I remember the old days of the Bulldogs, Killer Bee’s, Demolition, Hart Foundation, hell even the Conquistadors! I think having the title on Cena/Michaels is ok, but I really hope they lose it before Mania so theres a title bout. That would be my only current complaint, and that’s one that’s been on my mind for a long time.

2. Agree or Disagree
TNA needs to make some serious adjustments if they want to survive 2007.

Johnny Craze: Somewhat agree.

While I don't think TNA is doing bad, they obviously can do better. Christian is doing a great job at being the NWA Champion and when he does lose the title, it should go to Joe and NOT Jarrett. Sting needs to start putting other guys over (yes, including Abyss) and Steiner needs to either get out of TNA or just stop wresting. TNA should NOT sign Hogan or Big Show. Oh yea, as the fans have said very recently, FIRE RUSSO!!

Ryan LaPointe: Disagree.

I do not get a chance to watch too much TNA but when I do, I find it entertaining at times. Some of the talent they have is downright awesome  (Joe, Styles, Daniels, Williams, Sabin) and I’m a total mark for the Canadian Destroyer. Also, some of the older guys are decent (Angle). They have some cool concept matches and very inventive with ideas. I would say the thing that is ruining them is the older guys who are still around. When they had the Monday night show when Joe won the battle royal, I thought it was AWFUL. Too many old school guys who shouldn’t have even been still wrestling anymore (my opinion). Now I will admit Scott Steiner has been impressive as of late, for once. I think TNA has a chance to do something decent. They need a longer show for one, and keep pushing some of the newer talent over the older. They will never beat WWE, it’s a $$ game and Vince has a lot of it. I do think they make a great alternative to WWE, but since WWE has gotten better as of late, TNA will have to step their game.

3. Agree or Disagree
WrestleMania will end up with 1,000,000+ buys.

Johnny Craze: Somewhat agree.

Honestly, I have no idea how many buys WrestleMania will do. So far, it looks to be good, especially the MITB ladder match. With Austin as a guest referee and The Rock suddenly showing his face, that may increase the buys. I don't think the battle of the billonares will pull more people in no matter who gets their head shaved though. With Undertaker's streak on the line, that should draw people. Cena/HBK is iffy. I think WrestleMania probably will do 1,000,000 buys but not much more then that.

Ryan LaPointe: Agree.

Hey I’ll be there, that’s what matters. I think this will be the best one in a while. The buildup has been great and the few matches announced so far are ones to look forward to. The Trump/Vince saga is putting the story into the mainstream where the fans that WWE has lost over the last 6 years may gather an interest enough to get it. I know that the crowd is going to be one of the best ever (78,000 Detroiters!) and a good crowd always makes the show more enjoyable. Between the improvement of the show, the expansion to soo many countries for programming, the mainstream media attention, and it being back in Detroit, it would not be too far fetched to think that that # isn’t attainable.

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Wow...great job guys!!  I’m looking forward to seeing who gets to join me as a guest columnist next week. 

No problem.  Seriously...it’s not a problem at all.  Really...let me know RIGHT NOW!!  You can let me know either by e-mailing me at Zah@worldwrestlinginsanity.com or hitting me up at ZAH Nation, found in the Insanity Message Board and letting me know that you’d like to participate.  Also, don’t forget to stop by my MySpace page and add me.

So until next week…

L8R