Extreme Rules, themed-PPV蘑菇视频, and more
WWE held Extreme Rules this past Sunday here in Pittsburgh, and the show was average at best.
While there were a handful of matches that delivered what was expected out of them, I was disappointed in the Intercontinental title Iron Man match that saw Dolph Ziggler retain the title against Seth Rollins.
The match was moved to the main event, thus saving the expected main event match of Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley to be booed out of the building because of going on last.
Speaking of the Iron Man match, the fans at the arena were disrespectful beyond belief towards Rollins and Ziggler.
As the clock counted down the time from 30 minutes, a portion of the crowd started doing the Royal Rumble-like countdown almost each minute once the clock would hit 10 seconds.
Whether there was 15:10 or 2:10 left in the match, it was insolent for the crowd to do that.
Themed PPV蘑菇视频
With the new WWE TV deals kicking in next October, there has already been word that PPV蘑菇视频 will mean less and less while the weekly shows will have to deliver strong ratings so that NBCUniversal and Fox feel that they are getting their money蘑菇视频 worth.
To counter that, what can WWE do to freshen up their monthly PPV蘑菇视频?
Yes, the 鈥淏ig Four鈥� of the Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and the Survivor Series sell on name recognition, but what other shows do?
Most other PPV蘑菇视频 have a theme where a match or two plays off of the theme, but WWE has to do a better job of making fans care about more wrestlers and matches.
A couple weeks ago, Chris Mueller wrote a piece for Bleacher Report titled, 鈥淗ow to Ensure Fan Interest in Every WWE PPV and Avoid Repetitive Pitfalls.鈥�
While I won鈥檛 go into great length about what he had in the excellent piece, you can read it at https://goo.gl/GeX6aA
I reached to out Chris and we had a great email conversation.
We think a lot alike on several topics, like bringing back King of the Ring.
鈥淭he eight or nine events outside of the Big Four don鈥檛 all need a theme to be entertaining but having four or five specialized shows would help add some variety,鈥� he said. 鈥淪urvivor Series used to count as a themed PPV, but it has lost so much of what once made it special by (now) not focusing on the elimination matches.
鈥淏ringing back King of the Ring would be great as long as WWE follows through with a push for whoever wins the tournament.鈥�
Another topic discussed was how Raw, Smackdown and the PPV蘑菇视频 all feel the same and look the same because almost all of the shows have the same setup.
鈥淚 do think different sets would help, but it doesn鈥檛 necessarily have to be every show,鈥� Mueller said. 鈥淩aw and Smackdown having the same setup makes sense for budget purposes, but they could easily make the PPV sets more interesting.
鈥淟EDs and LCS screens are great but having something physical is almost always going to be better than something digital.鈥�
Excellent feedback from a reputable source for pro wrestling news and an excellent writer.
You can follow Chris on Twitter at @BR_Doctor, and don鈥檛 forget to read his piece!
Huge WWE announcement on Raw
WWE has announced that Stephanie McMahon will make a huge announcement on Raw Monday night.
While there are several possibilities, the word going around is that WWE will hold its first-ever all-women PPV, and it could take place as early as October.
Other topics being thrown around include women tag team titles, a secondary women蘑菇视频 title and there being a unification bout between the Raw and Smackdown women champions.
Lesnar蘑菇视频 SummerSlam opponent
Speaking of Raw, Roman Reigns will face Bobby Lashley Monday night with the winner facing Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam in Brooklyn.
There is word that the match could turn into a triple threat match between the three men.
Regardless of who wins in Brooklyn, don鈥檛 be surprised if Braun Strowman cashes in his Money in the Bank briefcase after the Universal title match ends.
Former UFC star training with WWE
Cain Velasquez, who once defeated Brock Lesnar for the UFC Heavyweight championship, worked out this week at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.
It would be a big coup for WWE to sign him as Lesnar prepares to leave to head back to the UFC.
Hogan蘑菇视频 return
Hulk Hogan, one of the biggest, if not the biggest, professional wrestling star in history, was rehired by the WWE and was backstage at Extreme Rules in Pittsburgh Sunday.
Fired several years ago when a tape of him using a racial slur from a decade prior was 鈥渁ccidentally鈥� released, Hogan apologized to the entire locker room to mixed reactions.
Could Hogan ref the main event at SummerSlam?
Miz and Mrs. Reality show debut
This Tuesday after Smackdown Live on the USA Network, the latest WWE reality show, Miz and Mrs., will debut.
The half-hour show will be focused on The Miz and his wife, Maryse.
On this date:
In 2002, The Rock won his seventh WWE championship when he pinned Kurt Angle in a triple threat match to win the title from The Undertaker at Vengeance.
The match has stood the test of time as one of the best triple threat matches in history, and it is worth looking it up on the WWE Network.
This week蘑菇视频 question:
Since UFC has plateaued as a sport, has that coincided with a recent uptick for WWE? Jeremy, Connellsville.
Although WWE has sold high on its TV deals in the United States, many aspects of business is down.
Just two weeks ago, Raw scored one of its lowest ratings in many years.
Plus, the company isn鈥檛 selling out many PPV蘑菇视频 as fans can get walk-up tickets, and live events are way down.
However, WWE is making so much money from various entities that it isn鈥檛 as big of a deal as when the company literally waited for ratings the afternoon after shows.
Email questions/comments to Bill at powerhousehughes@gmail.com or tweet them to me @BillHughes_III.