The Official WWE / NXT Discussion Thread *May Contain Spoilers*

[djthefunkchris]

It is always hard to see the next big thing as anything more than a midcarder when all they have done is be a midcarder up to that point.

 

I.E. I HATED JBL as a Main Eventer when they first thrust him upon us as a singles wrestler. In fact both me and my best friend at the time said that if JBL won the World Title against Eddie at whichever PPV it was that we would quit watching Smackdown for good. Well, JBL won, and we kept watching. And little by little he grew on me and eventually I considered JBL not only to be main event worthy but one of the best Heels WWE has ever had.

 

So while it's hard to see people like Dolph, Swagger, Kofi, Morrison as main event type wrestlers right now, some day those are going to be the guys who headline WWE PPVs and they will look just as strong as people like Cena, Punk, Orton, etc do now.

 

I agree with this. For the future, I'm very optimistic with all of the above. Within' the next couple of years... Not so much. I actually do think Swagger could be doing alot better then he is, but I think it's himself holding him back moreso then anyone else. Perhaps he just can't get into it as well as he should be able to. I do notice that the crowd/fans takes him more serious then the WWE seems to though, which is different... Ussually they seem to take the talent more serious (meaning by commentary/video, whatever). That segment when Swagger talked to Vickie... It seemed like everyone was interested in what he was saying. Obviously I wasn't there, but it seemed to me like everyone shut up just to see what he had to say.

[Teh_Showtime]

according to in arena reports, a few weeks ago during a commercial before he faced Cena, the crowd was giving him good heat while he cut a promo. That it something we havent seen from ADR yet.

[sebsy]

I absolutely loved JBL's title run, and imo it was one of the best heel title runs of the last several years. The way he kept scraping wins from nowhere, like when Big Show chokeslammed him through the ring and left through the door, but JBL crawled underneath the ring just a few seconds before him to win, which was just awesome

 

Really don't like Booker on commentary. Just talks such ****, and that's the bits you can actually understand.

 

Have actually been enjoying Henry's recent push, because it has actually been done well. He's been built up as he should have been all along, as a destructive monster who rampages his way through anyone and everyone.

 

And I've also really enjoyed the whole Orton-Christian feud. Got no problem with them having a match on free tv, don't understand people complaining at seeing a match between two people on free tv that they have seen on ppv. It's s till a different match, and if you don't have decent level matches on Raw/Smackdown, people won't be interested in the product. I'd be more than happy for the Orton-Christian feud to have one last hurrah at HIAC, as despite enjoying Henry's reign of terror, I would much more enjoy a HIAC between Orton/Christian than one between Orton/Henry.

[Tha Black Phenom]

There's just too much suck on the SD team, and it makes Booker seem that much worse. I mean, Matthews is decent, but not enough to make Cole or Booker tolerable.

 

JBL was good, but his title reign felt too long, and to the point where it was just draaaagging. I think it would have been better if they chopped in half and had him pick another one up later on.

 

The fact that it dragged was what made the run special. Fans all over just tuning in to see him lose and he would grasp away with the win through incessant interferences. If it was chopped in half, it wouldn't have stood out all that much.

 

In the same vein I also appreciated the Age of Orton reign, when even a returning Jericho and a red-hot babyface in Jeff Hardy couldn't get the job done. Cherry on top, he ends up retaining at WrestleMania

[milamber]

From pwtorch:

Last night's live Smackdown on SyFy drew a 2.2 rating, significantly above the 1.62 to 1.99 ratings range this summer. It's the highest rating since a 2.31 back on Feb. 25.

 

I wonder if that figure will hold steady for next few months.

[ZMAN]

Maybe this could mean a permanent move to Tuesdays, live?! I think it would be a cool change. Back to back live wrestling shows every week. Milamber, make Super Shows a regular thing, there's no reason not to.

[cappyboy]

Maybe this could mean a permanent move to Tuesdays, live?! I think it would be a cool change. Back to back live wrestling shows every week. Milamber, make Super Shows a regular thing, there's no reason not to.

 

It definitely could. It could create room for us to have some form of wrestling on every day of the week. Sort of like when I first got down here to VA Beach and one of the lower power stations had syndie wrestling every day from the Big 2 to ECW Prime to indies like the USWA and Music City. This would be on a much larger scale naturally and that would make it either cooler.

 

I think this would solidify the fact that Smackdown is more an A-/B+ type show than a true A show though. This would be taking it out of the event part of the week. Yeah, I've taken a fair amount of that guff about that "event area" theory in the past. But it's a lot easier to miss stuff in the haze of appointment programming mid-week than it is in the Friday to Monday window. Smackdown may be intended to be a A show by function. But in treatment and apparently internal perception, that would seem to be a mere facade. Still, a live A show and a live B+ show back to back in the week? Definitely cool.

[djthefunkchris]

It definitely could. It could create room for us to have some form of wrestling on every day of the week. Sort of like when I first got down here to VA Beach and one of the lower power stations had syndie wrestling every day from the Big 2 to ECW Prime to indies like the USWA and Music City. This would be on a much larger scale naturally and that would make it either cooler.

 

I think this would solidify the fact that Smackdown is more an A-/B+ type show than a true A show though. This would be taking it out of the event part of the week. Yeah, I've taken a fair amount of that guff about that "event area" theory in the past. But it's a lot easier to miss stuff in the haze of appointment programming mid-week than it is in the Friday to Monday window. Smackdown may be intended to be a A show by function. But in treatment and apparently internal perception, that would seem to be a mere facade. Still, a live A show and a live B+ show back to back in the week? Definitely cool.

 

I think I get what your saying here, but I don't think it's quite like that internally... I think it's more like RAW being their flagship show, and the other's as "Spin-offs" if you will. Doesn't mean that at some point Smackdown couldn't get better ratings, but it does mean that RAW is going to be the focal point of the company... The better Raw does, the more potential other shows such as Smackdown have a chance to succeed. In so many ways, your analogy is probably spot on, but internally I don't think they quite think in the same way as we do when we say "A" show, or "B" show.

 

TEW does this to us I think.... I mean, for example, Smackdown could all the sudden start sucking and even get cancelled, but if RAW is good, the WWE isn't going to lose much in the way of popularity... In TEW they would bounce up and down. For example, ECW was thought of as a "B" show, and in the TEW game, you could easily (and this is true for the default database as well) have a "B" show that highlights as many Main Eventers as ECW did, and not get anywhere near compatible ratings (ECW was over 1.0 for the most part, "B" shows in TEW get .53 and that's GOOD), although the "A" show might be pulling 4.0's or higher (depending on database).

 

Back on topic, I don't think the WWE necessarily thinks of any show as a "B" show, but rather just another way to highlight talent, and hoping for that special trick to grasp a good viewing crowd from it... be it NEXT or Tough Enough, or whatever it might be. Smackdown was kind of a luck of the draw thing, I believe, and with it comes a desire to repeat it's success.

 

I really thought ECW had a chance, but what I think they did wrong was call it ECW in the first place. They should have went with something a bit different, and perhaps a bit more traditional, as after all, I felt the show itself was a pretty neat drawback to earlier days. We had actual managers, handlers and valets. It was a good idea with a bad name I think, because it was hard for actual ECW fans to grasp, and also a bit tough for the ones that didn't know what ECW was about, there were too many references to old ECW. Meaning, the new people didn't know the whole story enough to get the references, and the old fans felt it was a slap in the face to the original ECW.

[shawn michaels]

Maybe this could mean a permanent move to Tuesdays, live?! I think it would be a cool change. Back to back live wrestling shows every week. Milamber, make Super Shows a regular thing, there's no reason not to.

 

We better pray it means that, or something like that, or else SD will end up beeing cancelled and the brand extension will end. While losing the brand extension itself wouldn't be that bad, (it's already happening) losing the Smackdown show would suck. This would mean a lot of firings, less wrestling on tv and some of the wrestlers we like (and are major players on their show, close to it, or future stars) would end up beeing fired or demoted.

So yeah, i hope they move SD to get better ratings or do double super shows with Raw and SD to improve ratings. I hope they do something that works. The only problem with the super shows is that the midcard and low micards will have low to no screen time.

[lazorbeak]

I think this would solidify the fact that Smackdown is more an A-/B+ type show than a true A show though. This would be taking it out of the event part of the week. Yeah, I've taken a fair amount of that guff about that "event area" theory in the past. But it's a lot easier to miss stuff in the haze of appointment programming mid-week than it is in the Friday to Monday window. Smackdown may be intended to be a A show by function. But in treatment and apparently internal perception, that would seem to be a mere facade. Still, a live A show and a live B+ show back to back in the week? Definitely cool.

 

Isn't Smackdown already an A-/B+ show at best though? It consistently has lower numbers, isn't live, and isn't where WWE puts their top names, but where they put guys they want to build or don't know what to do with. I don't think it's been close to being a "separate but equal" status with Raw since branded PPV's died out. The argument could be made that you could go back to Heyman's Smackdown as the last time Smackdown was treated like a true equal to Raw.

[Teh_Showtime]

We better pray it means that, or something like that, or else SD will end up beeing cancelled and the brand extension will end.

 

LOL Why would SD be canceled? The NBC family LOVES WWE.

[DaMegaFish]

LOL Why would SD be canceled? The NBC family LOVES WWE.

 

Agreed. Where did the fear of SD getting canned come from? It is still a solid show in its time slot. Am I missing something here?

[Fantabulous]

What the NBC family loves are WWE delivering ratings that makes them happy.

 

Raw is hovering around 3.0 right now and while NBC haven't said anything about it yet, WWE are clearly worried or they wouldn't be adding all the bigger names from Smackdown to try and help. Now, if Raw slips below 3.0 and does so consistently, there's pretty good chance USA will start asking questions because they won't be happy with that and once the network get unhappy with you, all bets are off.

 

Smackdown did a pretty good rating on the live show but Smackdown's ratings aren't usually a prime concern because it's not the 'A' show and NBC aren't too worried. That said, even with a 'B' show, NBC are going to have certain expectations they want met and would probably not want ratings to dip below a certain level.

 

Right now, I'd say NBC's attitude would best be described as cautious contentment. They're not unhappy per se, but they'd sure like the numbers a lot higher.

[Basmat01]

Isnt WWE forming there own network? Ive always figured when/If it happends Smackdown is always going to make the jump to the new network.

[Teh_Showtime]

I think in the conference call Vince said the network would be mostly old events and stuff. Like classics on demand, but not current shows. It would likely be a package channel and SD would be missed

[bigtplaystew]

What the NBC family loves are WWE delivering ratings that makes them happy.

 

Raw is hovering around 3.0 right now and while NBC haven't said anything about it yet, WWE are clearly worried or they wouldn't be adding all the bigger names from Smackdown to try and help. Now, if Raw slips below 3.0 and does so consistently, there's pretty good chance USA will start asking questions because they won't be happy with that and once the network get unhappy with you, all bets are off.

 

Smackdown did a pretty good rating on the live show but Smackdown's ratings aren't usually a prime concern because it's not the 'A' show and NBC aren't too worried. That said, even with a 'B' show, NBC are going to have certain expectations they want met and would probably not want ratings to dip below a certain level.

 

Right now, I'd say NBC's attitude would best be described as cautious contentment. They're not unhappy per se, but they'd sure like the numbers a lot higher.

 

Raw supershow is all about getting hot ratings in September, which is a critical month in the ratings battles because of all the new shows comming out. Networks like to have big september numbers and draw you in. It's just a different way to attract fans.

[Teh_Showtime]

In all reality they just want to sustain a 3.0 with the NFL coming. HHH's in ring return could help but the storylines will make or break them.

[bigtplaystew]

In all reality they just want to sustain a 3.0 with the NFL coming. HHH's in ring return could help but the storylines will make or break them.

 

Exactly. They don't want to dip. I don't think anyone's worried about RAW. Would they like bigger ratings? Of course. But I don't think RAW is in any trouble. 3.0 is actually a pretty good rating in today's TV environment. Especially for a cable show. Lots of hit cable shows don't hit the 3.0 mark.

[Teh_Showtime]

there is no dobuting that but I think when they did a 2.9 a few weeks ago they chose to hotshot Nash/Punk but Nash failed the physical and now we get Punk/HHH.

[bigtplaystew]

there is no dobuting that but I think when they did a 2.9 a few weeks ago they chose to hotshot Nash/Punk but Nash failed the physical and now we get Punk/HHH.

 

Some of the rumors suggest Nash has a "phsycial issue" and that is why we aren't getting him in a match yet.

 

I wouldn't be shocked if you were right though, Showtime.

[Fantabulous]

When you were regularly doing 6's in your heyday, 3.0's don't look good to TV executives who only know numbers and not the reasoning behind them. Nobody should kid themselves that either side is happy with the numbers as they are right now.

[bigtplaystew]

When you were regularly doing 6's in your heyday, 3.0's don't look good to TV executives who only know numbers and not the reasoning behind them. Nobody should kid themselves that either side is happy with the numbers as they are right now.

 

Not disagreeing with you that they want bigger numbers. Of course they do. But TV ratings in general are way down since the late 90s. RAW's still one of the highest rated cable shows in the country week in and week out. Look it up if you don't believe me.

 

There's obviously shows that still pull in monster ratings on cable such as Jersey Shore and Monday Night Football. Would they like 8 million viewers a week? Oh you bet. But it is what it is.

[Teh_Showtime]

I think it was him failing the initial physical. He just worked a legends show before SS so I dont think it's an actual injury as much as it is his condition

[Fantabulous]

I think it was him failing the initial physical. He just worked a legends show before SS so I dont think it's an actual injury as much as it is his condition

 

Whatever it is, it would seem to not be something serious because they're still intending to go ahead with Punk vs. Nash. Can't wait for that one to raise the roof.

[lazorbeak]

The idea that WWE shouldn't be happy because 10 years ago they were doing 6's is pretty ridiculous. WWE puts up ratings that are consistently among the top rated programs on cable and over and above most of what broadcast networks like NBC and the CW are putting up. Comparing 2000 ratings to 2011, everything looks like a failure. If you moved a mid-level rated show in 2000 like "Titus" to 11 years in the future and it magically kept its ratings, it would be a top show. NCIS and America's Got Talent and the VMAs were the only things to pull 6.0 or better ratings from a couple weeks back. That same week, Raw was the #2 and #3 rated hours on USA.