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This week's Observer coverage: Lesnar, AJ, morale, Total Divas, Neville, business

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From the 12/29/2014 issue:

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The live Smackdown on 12/16 on the USA network did 2.03 million viewers. That’s much lower than they ever do on Friday, but this was an unfamiliar night. It was 13th for the night on cable, but beat the NBA on ESPN which did 1.87 million viewers head-to-head.

Smackdown in its normal time slot on 12/19 did 2.00 million viewers, a number almost identical to what the live showing did. It was 11th place for the night on cable.

The taped Tribute to the Troops on 12/17 beat the live Smackdown, doing 2.23 million viewers, which was tenth for the night on cable. The leading sports competition was an NBA game that did 1.04 million viewers on ESPN.

Raw on 12/22 did 3.62 million viewers, which was up from the 3.51 million viewers the week before, but was still the third lowest number of the year, and above only two shows in 2013, so it was still among the ten lowest non-holiday viewing audiences of the past 17 years.

Unlike last week, where the low number came the day after a PPV and on a night that football was down, this week the NFL game with the Denver Broncos vs. Cincinnati Bengals did 16.03 million viewers, which is well above average.

Still, it was a show that heavily advertised the return of Hulk Hogan, although pushing it as Ho Ho Hogan was not going to help much, and his role didn’t mean much and he did little on the show past the first segment. Roddy Piper was also there, but not advertised, and we’ve seen that no matter who it is, if they aren’t advertised, you can no benefit from them in the ratings.

The three hours were 3.63 million viewers in the first hour, 3.91 million in the second hour (high point was apparently Roman Reigns vs. Big Show) and falling to 3.35 million viewers in the third hour, built around Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose.
There were suggestions this week of putting a mask on Adrian Neville and making him a kids character based on Mighty Mouse. Neville is expected to be the next NXT performer brought up to the main roster as they are batting around ideas for him.
Lesnar will be on the 2/23 Raw show from Nashville, which is the day after the Fast Lane PPV show.

Speaking of Lesnar, even though he is no longer being advertised as one of the stars on the 1/19 Raw show in Dallas, he is still booked on the card. It’s a 180 from building the Raws that he was on around him as the top star to not even listing him as a top star. The Lesnar people always keep things quiet, but within the company, the belief is that he’s going back to UFC, and his showing up lighter to TV last week confirmed that to people who thought it. If it wasn’t for Punk, this would be a big deal, but with Punk, it’s a much bigger deal because the last thing WWE wants is this perception that UFC has just grabbed two of the company’s biggest stars. Lesnar is back on the 12/29 Raw in Washington, DC.
Some more notes on Total Divas, which starts its new season on 1/4. As noted before, there are changes in the cast and from the plans for the new season (which has already been filmed), it gives me the sense of the show jumping the shark. Ratings were way down for the last season. As noted, Naomi and Summer Rae are out and Paige and Fox are in. There is an episode during the season where the women are at a party eating spiked brownies and getting loaded, which was noted to us is a contradiction of how the company wants to portray its talent and also should have been Wellness violations if it was real. The season is built around a feud with the Bellas, who start with bad blood and get back together, as well as Cameron feuding with Mendes, Paige and Fox, while poor Natalya is caught in the middle. They push Fox as the first African-American to win the Divas title. Who would have ever thought there would be such a distinction in 2015. Cameron and Fox in particular have a booked feud. Eva Marie is out of picture but a regular on the season as she battles health issues. They are doing a worked separation with Natalya and Kidd, and there will be a tease of a Lesbian angle, which is right at the time when you see it you know things are getting desperate, since these things have always failed in wrestling.
A.J. is out with an injury. She had been working hurt but continued to finish up her program with Nikki Bella. They were planning on doing a significant injury angle to write her off for a while, for whatever reason, that didn’t happen. That’s why Natalya and Naomi have been moved into the Divas title contender spot. It was originally to be Naomi, but now it’s looking like Natalya. I guess the hair spray finish ended up being the closest thing to the A.J. injury departure angle. Those in the company said emphatically that she will be back in 2015. She’s obviously in a weird position because they really can’t do anything to her, but it’s not like management would really want to do anything with her big at this point, but they also recognize that even without any exposure on Total Divas, she is the most popular of the women performers on the roster. There has been negative talk about her, natural due to her link to Punk, bringing up things like her acceptance speech (which wasn’t scripted that way) when she got the Diva of the Year award where it was taken as an f off of every woman on the roster except Paige, and her taking days off to be at the UFC show in Las Vegas on 12/6. Even though they can’t bury her and one can say she did nothing wrong (although there are people arguing that one and given the timing, and this being wrestling, you can imagine what people are saying about an injury now even though she brought it up weeks before), it is still an uncomfortable thing. But she’s gone at least for a while. She was removed from the open of Main Event a month ago (on 11/18, removed on 11/25), which coincided with something that happened that was a “hiccup” with her. Keep in mind this was before anyone in the company knew about Punk doing the Cabana podcast for the first time, which was released late in the day on 11/26.
Morale in WWE, which wasn’t good before, has been noticeably different according to several sources since the Austin/McMahon interview. The basic feeling is that McMahon crapped on just about everyone in the locker room except Rollins, Ambrose, Reigns and Wyatt, and made it clear those were the only ones he saw with top star potential. The obvious points about nobody for years being willing to reach for the brass ring hit home with the guys who have had stop-and-start pushes and never were booked in a manner that would have made them anything but mid-carders. The key points brought up were the burial of Cesaro, particularly since he looked to be a guy, and was even thought by management ten months ago as being a guy, who would be a top babyface. This fell apart when they turned him heel and booked him like a mid-carder, the brass ring comment, and the comment about how they didn’t have anyone except Lesnar who could have beaten Undertaker.

After morale got bad because of that interview, HHH stepped in and gave a speech to the entire roster which was described as an attempt to do damage control that backfired. As a general rule, the guys in NXT love him, but on the main roster, whatever he said lost him a lot of credibility, particularly with those who have been there for some time. Admittedly, he was put in a bad position, trying to come up with a positive spin on what Vince said to a locker room that he buried and are frustrated because most were done in by the stop-and-start booking and a promo style that gets almost nobody over.
In looking at WWE and TNA business indicators over the last three months (September through November), you get a few mixed signals.

Ratings have remained largely similar, with Raw about the same in September, down in October, but up in November. Smackdown was about the same in September and October, but also up in November.

Attendance, on the other hand, was down in September, up in October and way down, really to the lowest level in years, in November domestically, although the November European tour was above the recent years due more to playing more larger newer arenas.

As far as singles main events on domestic house shows, over the three months, the numbers were John Cena vs. Kane averaged 3,971 paid; Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins averaged 2,750 paid; Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton averaged 4,650 paid; Dean Ambrose vs. Kane averaged 5,050; John Cena vs. Seth Rollins averaged 4,500 and Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt averaged 4,000. It should be noted that most of the Ambrose main events were actually shows sold with Reigns as the top star when tickets were put on sale and for WWE, most tickets are sold the first few days.

The DVD business is down, and WWE merchandise business is way up.

For TNA, it has been a steady period of decline, and with the move to Destination America and move to Fridays, they will be very lucky if they can maintain half of their current audience.

Thus far in 2014, the five largest shipped DVDs (which is not the same as best selling, because this just measures how many were ordered, and doesn’t figure in those that didn’t sell or get returned), are WrestleMania 30 with 153,000 sales (down from 174,000 at the same time the year before), Slam City with 100,000 sales, Ultimate Warrior: the Ultimate Collection with 94,000 (boosted by being released at the time of his death), The Best of Sting at 66,000 and WCW’s Greatest PPV matches at 53,000. For a comparison in recent years, collections with Bill Goldberg, C.M. Punk, Undertaker and Rock had all topped the 100,000 mark with Rock being the best seller of the past two years.

For September, WWE’s domestic house shows averaged 4,575 tickets sold per event, down 9.6% from the 5,063 the year before. But it was up from September, 2012, which averaged 4,104 tickets sold per event.

Raw averaged a 2.79 rating and 3.92 million viewers. In 2013, Raw averaged a 2.84 rating and 3.85 million viewers, and in 2012 Raw averaged a 2.83 rating and 4.04 million viewers. The difference is that viewers per home were way down in 2013, and have picked up in 2014. Because less people get the USA Network than in 2012, the appearance that viewers per home would have been down from 2012 isn’t accurate.

Smackdown averaged a 1.89 rating and 2.63 million viewers in September. In 2013, the figure was a 1.92 rating and 2.63 million viewers, and in 2012 it was a 1.90 rating and 2.78 million viewers. Once again, viewers per home would be slightly up from a year ago, and while viewers are identical, since there was a drop in cable customers, staying even in viewers is still a very slight positive.

The company averaged 933 web site merchandise orders per day in September, a 65% increase over the 567 in September of last year. The year before the number was 666. There have been changes in regard to mobile orders so that facet of the WWE business is way up this year.

Impact in September averaged a 0.88 rating and 1.06 million viewers. That number was down from the 1.01 rating and 1.29 million viewers in 2013, and the 0.98 rating and 1.28 million viewers in 2012.

For October, WWE averaged 5,239 paid per domestic house show event, up 19% from last year. Last October averaged 4,389 and October 2012 averaged 4,762.

Raw in October averaged a 2.70 rating and 3.74 million viewers. That’s down from the 2.81 rating and 3.92 million viewers in 2013 but close to the 2.72 rating and 3.85 million viewers from 2012. The key thing here again is with less homes having cable than two years ago, things really aren’t far off 2012, although they did drop 4% in ratings and 5% in viewers from last year at the same time house show attendance was up.

Smackdown averaged a 1.85 rating and 2.52 million viewers in October. That’s slightly down from the 1.86 rating and 2.58 million viewers the year before, and the 1.90 rating and 2.68 million viewers in 2012.

In DVD shipments during the month, WWE averaged 178,000 this year, down 24% from 234,000 in 2013, but up from 165,000 in 2012. That stat is largely meaningless anyway.

The WWE Shop web site averaged 1,161 orders per day in October of this year, up 24% as compared to the 935 orders last year and 903 the year before. Again, there are changes this year that have greatly boosted that business.

Impact in October averaged a 0.83 rating and 1.03 million viewers. That’s down 9% in ratings and 10% in viewers from the 0.91 rating and 1.14 million viewers in 2013 and a 0.92 rating and 1.16 million viewers in 2012.

For November, WWE averaged 3,710 paid attendance per domestic live event, a 25% drop from the 4,957 in 2013 and the 4,786 in 2012.

The annual November European tour averaged 6,171 paid per event in 21 shows this year as compared with 5,300 paid for 26 shows last year and 5,600 paid for 23 shows in 2012. The increase is both fewer shows in smaller arenas plus there are some new larger buildings that have opened that they have started running.

Raw in November averaged a 2.84 rating and 3.99 million viewers. That’s up slightly from a 2.79 rating and 3.89 million viewers in 2013 and a 2.78 rating and 4.00 million viewers in 2012.

Smackdown in November averaged a 2.00 rating and 2.77 million viewers. That’s compared with a 1.98 rating and 2.81 million viewers last year and a 1.80 rating and 2.58 million viewers the year before. That’s actually quite impressive to have year-over-year increases in ratings.

They shipped 255,000 DVDs in November, down 19% from 314,000 last year and way down from 556,000 in 2012. But that industry is losing steam anyway.

The web merchandise orders were up again in November, up 77% to 1,533 per day, from 867 last year and 1,267 in 2012.

The last three first run episodes of Impact on Spike averaged a 0.81 rating and 960,000 viewers. That’s down 7% in ratings and 8% in viewers from a 0.87 rating and 1.04 million viewers last year. The 2012 numbers were a 0.96 rating and 1.27 million viewers.
As much as they try to kill it, PPV isn’t dying as fast as people expected.

The 2014 Survivor Series on 11/23 in St. Louis, a show offered for free on the WWE Network as opposed to even being part of the monthly $9.99 package, still did 103,000 worldwide buys.

The number was broken down as 33,000 in North America and 70,000 overseas. This wasn’t the undercutting of PPV but actually giving the show away in the United States, as well as much of the world.

Of that 33,000, one would expect between 10,000 and 15,000 came from Canada, where much of the country from a legal standpoint can’t get the WWE Network (it is only available to those with Rogers Cable, and it should be noted that it’s at a higher price than in the U.S., and it was not offered for free in November). The vast majority of the foreign purchases came from the U.K., where the network also is not available.

The number was an increase over the 21,000 North American buys and 35,000 international buys for Hell in a Cell on 10/26 in Dallas. But a direct North American comparison is that it was $9.99 on the WWE Network and still had the long-term commitment attached to that price. So in theory, the number of WWE network users should have skyrocketed with the free month, yet PPV buys increased 57% over the prior month. The idea that Survivor Series is bigger than Hell in a Cell is not the case. In 2011, Survivor Series was bigger because Dwayne Johnson worked Survivor Series. But in 2012, Hell in a Cell did 157,000 domestic buys to 125,000 for Survivor Series, and last year Hell in a Cell did 135,000 domestic buys to 98,000 for Survivor Series.

The number is only a surprise given one would think the free aspect would have held down the number. There are people who simply won’t order the WWE Network because of an aversion to things like that, and others who don’t get good enough service or had a bad experience with the network on earlier shows. For whatever reason, perhaps because far more log in at the same time, my problems with the WWE Network as far as freezing up as umpteen times greater than with Fight Pass (which sometimes has problems that get rectified usually within seconds) and New Japan World (where I’ve yet to have a problem, even for live events). Also keep in mind when comparing numbers to last year, that in the U.S., only inDemand still carries WWE on PPV, with both the Dish Network and DirecTV dropping it, although there are rumors they will carry WrestleMania in 2015 because of how well it did last year.

But if we look at the domestic numbers this year, they are 45,000 for Extreme Rules, 29,000 for Payback, 53,000 for Money in the Bank, 31,000 for Battleground, 63,000 for SummerSlam, 30,000 for Night of Champions and 21,000 for Hell in a Cell. The network numbers during that entire period were largely stagnant, so it’s not like the numbers would vary based on anything except interest in the shows. So it’s more that this year’s Hell in a Cell was not that interesting as much as PPV was dying, because the 33,000 here was in the same ballpark as Payback, Battleground and Night of Champions. The stips of The Authority having to leave, and perhaps the late tease of Sting being there (although I doubt Sting meant anything major to that number unless it was replay buys, because there was no walk up at all for the live event so when it came to general public, either not enough people knew to have made a difference, or they did but it wasn’t something that got people on the fence to want to see it once that story got out). It was a strong stipulation, but whatever it was, it was really a stronger international number than all the other shows but SummerSlam.

The 70,000 international would have been the second largest since WrestleMania, trailing only the 82,000 international for SummerSlam. The network was also free in most international markets, roughly 170 countries in total, although not the key markets. But still, network usage on those key markets is substantial, and one country where the network isn’t technically available and it’s not the U.K., is known to have been hovering between 65,000 and 85,000 subscribers depending on the month.

The real key is actually TLC, a show that would have likely done poorly had it been a PPV, and was no longer part of the free network month. The two variables are: 1) How many new subscribers did the free month bring in who didn’t cancel; and 2) If that number grew, how did that affect PPV purchases.
Ryback appeared on I am Jericho this past week. Jericho said that on his Raw appearance, he was the one who came up with the lines regarding Heyman owing him $200, throwing in the rock lyrics (“Bohemian Rhapsody”) and said a lot of the stuff with Russo and Lana was done on the fly, in particular the K-I-S-S-I-N-G stuff and Lana wearing the same outfit twice. Ryback detailed his injuries saying in January, he strained his groin, and kept working and doing so led to having a small tear of his ab on the right side. Then he kept going and tore his ab on the left side. He may want to consider what he’s doing because torn abs, tris and thighs are very rare (as opposed to torn bi’s and hamstrings, which are far more common), but on the flip side, once you have one injury and start overcompensating, more injuries are likely coming, which is what happens to wrestlers, MMA fighters and football players constantly. Eventually his body just had to take time off. He said that at the Raw in Las Vegas, where he grew up, he wasn’t supposed to do anything in the match, but the crowd was so hot for him and then Orton changed plans around on the fly to let him in, and he kept going. He said the first time he got cut was because he couldn’t handle Bill DeMott’s drill sergeant stuff, but now feels it was the best thing for him because it made him what he is. He said when he was cut the first time, he went into a depression, drank heavily for a year, was working at a restaurant and felt that he had failed in his goal. He said that Drew Hankinson (Doc Gallows) turned him around and told him to read the book “The Secret,” which turned his spirits around and made him a positive thinker He went to OVW, and said Danny Davis didn’t charge him, and helped him come up with the Ryback character, which led to him getting a second chance. He said that the character of Skip Sheffield (the name he used when he debuted in WWE as part of Nexus) was the brainchild of Dusty Rhodes, and it was meant to be a spoof of football players who come into pro wrestling and are clueless to what it is. He said he’d been up a few weeks and Vince told him he saw something in him (the physique, obviously), but didn’t like the gimmick (it was a going nowhere gimmick), so he suggested the Ryback gimmick he did in OVW. He said that when they were told about the Nexus angle, that everyone was told that they had one shot to do it and if someone screws up, they are fired. Evidently they felt Bryan screwed up because he was fired. He said his ankle injury that put him on the shelf when the Nexus angle came was from taking a dropkick by Kidd. He said the swelling was so bad they couldn’t even operate on it leg for a month, the surgery went wrong and he wound up with nerve damage. He couldn’t walk for several months, until they did a second surgery. He said “Feed Me More” was just something he said into the camera after a squash match, and Vince liked it, and then he kept saying it. When asked about Punk, Ryback said that Punk was never like that to his face. He said he wasn’t dangerous (I do have to say he had a reputation for hurting people and being dangerous long before the Punk podcast) and that if he was dangerous, he wouldn’t be allowed in the ring with the top guys. Jericho backed him up on that. He complimented Punk’s decision to try UFC and said Punk was a very driven and determined guy. He said that Punk also could have taken time off for his supposed injuries. Regarding the press slam that missed the table (that did look ugly), he said it was an unfortunate accident that he felt terrible about and apologized to Punk about it backstage and Punk told him that was fine and not to worry about it. He said Punk’s version of the events between the two of them was a lie and he was bewildered by the comments. He also talked about how excited he was when his childhood hero, Arnold Schwarzenegger, did Raw, and he came up to him, and just as he started talking, Justin Roberts came in, got a picture with Arnold and then Arnold’s people took him away so he never got to talk to Arnold.
Notes from the 12/18 NXT show. Adrian Neville came out to start the show with a promo. He said that it should be Sami Zayn out to start the show. Neville said he just finished the best match of his career and put on a performance he’s proud of. He said that at R Evolution, the better man, Zayn, won, and deserves to be the champion. He called out Kevin Owens and told Owens what he did was shameful. Owens has lost noticeable weight and you can see in his arms he’s lifting weights now. He’s always had the talent. Owens said that he doesn’t have a problem with Neville, but if Neville has a problem and wants a fight, then he’s got a fight. It was very much coming off like a guy starting out as a heel where they are really grooming him as a face down the line.

Becky Lynch did an interview, saying Sasha Banks opened her eyes about the business and that she was going to end Bayley’s career.

Tyler Breeze said that he was taking time off doing modeling in Europe over the holidays. Then they announced Neville vs. Owens as the TV main event.

Lynch beat Bayley in 3:34, with a reverse figure four, which is a cool looking finisher. The idea of the match was working on Bayley’s bad knee. But the match work was like a WWE Divas match on television. Both are usually better with timing. Bayley has the absolutely perfect face for her gimmick, and there is a spot for it (they have nobody on the roster who has the appeal to 12-and-under girls) once it gets established, but getting it established on the main roster may be difficult. Plus, for any act to appeal to any demo and get traction, it has to be portrayed as a star or else it’s just wasting time.

Charlotte did an interview. She didn’t say much except put over being on Raw as this fantastic thing, and said it with a straight face. It comes off bad when someone loses a quick match and puts it over like it’s a career highlight during the course of the television show. Off the show, in her case, it’s still a stretch, but on the show it’s not what her character, or anyone’s character, should have done. They set up a rematch with Banks for next week.

The Vaudevillains were in William Regal’s office. They asked him to watch the finish of their match at R Evolution. He watched, noticed that Aiden English was the legal man and that Simon Gotch got pinned. Regal admitted that his referee botched the call and the only fair thing was to have a rematch. The state athletic commissions need a guy like Regal in the case of a Faber vs. Rivera finish.

Bull Dempsey pinned a guy who was never named in 1:11 with a diving head-butt. It’s Mr. 450 Hammet, who of course didn’t do a 450. He used to be a star in Puerto Rico. Nothing makes the announcing feel more awkward then when they are instructed never to mention the name of one of the two guys. Hammet was only called “That youngster.” Then Baron Corbin pinned a blond haired guy who was never named in :12. It was so short that it wasn’t as awkward with the match calling, but it’s still stupid. As Corbin was leaving the ring, Dempsey was waiting and watching. Dempsey shoved him, and then left before Corbin could retaliate. Corbin does have a good look.

Enzo Amore, Colin Cassady and Carmella came out. Amore is a certified G and a bona fide stud, and everyone in the building knows his interviews. The problem is the bona fide stud is portrayed as such a clown, since the whole storyline he’s this cool guy, yet they bring a pretty girl out and he’s the biggest goof in the world hitting on her and getting blown off. Corey Graves explained that Amore is like giving red bull to a weasel. Cassady can appeal to the high school centers who can sing demo. I think there’s something to the guy, as he’s improved greatly in personality and presentation. It feels they don’t trust him in the ring because he’s never there for long periods of time, and he’s a 6-foot-8 guy who they can bill as 7-feet tall who is agile, and has a good look, and you can’t teach that. The Ascension beat Cassady & Amore in 1:00. Yeah, beating guys in 1:00, you can’t teach that either. The story here is that Amore wanted to show off for Carmella, so he tagged himself in when Cass was doing fine, then tried to get her attention, and Viktor gave him an STO for the pin. Viktor then said their loss to Hideo Itami & Finn Balor was beginners’ luck.

Main event was Owens going to a double count out with Neville in 12:16. Owens did a sick draping DDT that Neville took on the top of his head. That woke the crowd up. Neville did an awesome dive. But on the floor, Owens sling shotted Neville into the post and both were counted out. Match was good, not great, but was building well. People hated the finish and groaned loudly, but given the long-term idea is probably for both to get title shots, or maybe a three-way, it may work out that it was the right finish in the big picture. After the match, Owens power bombed him on the apron.
Notes from the 12/22 Raw show from Minneapolis. The show drew 9,000 fans with Hogan advertised, not that Hogan dressed up as Santa is going to sell house show tickets these days, or is going to help draw any ratings. For Superstars, O’Neil pinned Gabriel in 3:50 with a boot to the face and sit out power bomb in the first match, and Rowan pinned Cesaro in 9:00 with a spin kick and full nelson slam. Cesaro did do a giant swing. Rowan wasn’t billed as being from Minneapolis (which is actually where he’s from) to help with his babyface pop.

Raw opened with Hogan out, dressed up in a Santa Claus outfit. He led crowds in chanting “Ho Ho Hogan.” Cena came out and tried to sing. They showed clips from last week with Lesnar laying out Cena, and then Rollins curb stomping Cena. Fans were chanting “We Want Lesnar.” Given Lesnar lived in Minneapolis for years, I’m guessing people figured he’d be there, but WWE chose not to book him on this show given the limited TV dates he has. Cena said that he was just like the fans, because he wanted Lesnar as well. Cena said that last week he lost fair and square. The whole trying to have Cena never complaining gets ridiculous. If he’s going to say he lost fair and square and not complain, he may as well lose fair and square, because he doesn’t care about the interference finishes, so why should we? He did want a rematch with Rollins. Rollins came out. Rollins talked about how Hogan (still in the ring) and Cena are the two legends who took the industry to heights it had never seen before. Well, one of them did. But Rollins said to Cena that “Your time is up and my time is now.” He said he was the future. He told Cena that he needed to bring The Authority back. Rollins did a long interview where he didn’t say much. Cena said that Rollins was putting people to sleep with his interview. Cena said he would not bring The Authority back. Sooner or later, the declining ratings will.

Cena pinned Rollins in 15:40. They put Cena on early, presumably because the first hour was so weak last week. So the first hour wasn’t as weak this week, but instead, the third hour died. Mercury and Noble interfered several times. Rollins was great here. He’s really been the in-ring star of WWE of late and the real MVP of the company in a lot of ways. Rollins missed a curb stomp and Cena put him in the STF. But Rollins made the ropes. Mercury and Noble both went to interfere, right in front of the ref. Cena picked both up and gave both an Attitude Adjustment at the same time. Rollins tried to hit Cena with a briefcase shot, but Cena ducked, and Cena gave Rollins an Attitude Adjustment for the pin. They are beating Rollins constantly, which seems to indicate they’re getting ready to put the title on him. Yes, I know beating a guy constantly in theory sounds stupid as a prelude to putting the title on someone, but that is WWE booking 2014.

Fandango pinned Swagger in 2:03 with a leg drop off the top rope. Colter still isn’t around. Mendes still is, but they don’t even have the two of them do an entrance, although they did the very limited dancing that they do after the match.

Ziggler did an interview, talking about his match with Harper, saying he was going to steal the show again tonight.

R-Truth pinned Rose in 1:00. R-Truth swerved him. He challenged Rose to a dance contest, but when Rose started dancing, R-Truth cradled him. The Bunny was at ringside here with a neck brace on. That was supposed to be ridiculous comedy, but nobody was laughing. Rose blamed The Bunny for losing, even though this time The Bunny had nothing to do with it. Rose gave The Bunny a spinebuster and beat him up on the ground. He was supposed to do a running knee that would crash Bunny’s head into the ring steps. However, the camera angle showed too clearly that Rose’s knee didn’t come close. He threw Bunny into the barricade, which led to a “One More Time” chant. The idea is Bunny is injured, since they had already taped Smackdown and Bunny wasn’t on the show. That’s not exactly the chant a newly-turned heel is supposed to get for attacking a cartoon character who is supposed to be a face. Rose left, and knocked down several Rose Buds on the way out. He walked off without them. They have the impression they are done with the Rose Buds, but who knows?

They announced that Piper’s Pit was next, which tells you how screwed up the format was. The schedule had changed by that point, as Piper’s Pit was moved to starting the third hour instead of the second hour.

Reigns beat Show via count out in 4:22. Crowd was not into Reigns. There were chants of “Daniel Bryan.” There were some boos for Reigns. The finish saw Reigns deliver the Superman punch on the floor and Show took a bump over the announcers table and got counted out. The match wasn’t much and the finish wasn’t very good. People didn’t like it, but it may (or may not) make sense down the line. It allows them to rematch the two since they have so much TV to fill, and they can’t do the usual even-Steven because it makes no sense to beat Reigns right now. Show got up and turned over the announcing table. That was silly because the closing shot should have been Show down because the idea should be to elevate Reigns, not to protect Show, as the closing scene.

Renee Young, after getting rid of her hair extensions, interviewed Ambrose. They have a relationship thing going on.

Natalya beat Brie Bella in 3:16. Natalya went for the sharpshooter. Brie reversed it into a cradle, but Natalya reversed it back and got the pin. Nikki was on the apron and Natalya knocked her off the apron and she went flying, selling a shin injury. If you recall, she had a shin injury in the past that put her out of action for a few months. Natalya was making belt mannerisms so it looks like she’s the one with the program with Nikki, and not Naomi, with A.J. temporarily out of the picture. It wasn’t pushed hard on TV, but they continued the Natalya/Kidd issues. In an interview taped for the web site that didn’t air on TV, Natalya was doing a promo when Kidd came up and he was wearing a Nikki Bella necklace. She got mad but he said it was for one of his sisters and he was wearing it because there was a thief in the dressing room and he didn’t want to lose it. She didn’t seem happy with that. Kidd then talked about how now that he’s coaching Natalya, she’s winning most of her matches. He said he’s like Wayne Gretzsky in that both were the best in their field, but Gretzsky wasn’t a great coach and he is. On Main Event the next day, they said Kidd was wearing a Nikki Bella baseball cap and Natalya was mad about it, as JBL was saying he was just trying to help a fellow wrestler publicize her merchandise.

The Ascension did a taped promo. They did another one later in the show. Usually I look forward to seeing what they do with new talent. This is not one of those times.

Los Matadores & Torito beat Goldust & Stardust in 3:33. Los Matadores came out with Christmas outfits and Torito was dressed with reindeer horns and a red nose. There was a cool spot where Torito did a tope, but ended up on one of the brothers’ shoulders, who tried to give him an F-5 on the floor, but he reversed into an arm drag. This was really, really, bad and it didn’t get over. Whether it’s a 3-on-2 with the faces having three, or the mini working with Goldust & Stardust, or just bad comedy that nobody was reacting to, or a combination of all of the above, but it was dying.

Harper did a promo for his match with Ziggler.

Ziggler retained the IC title over Harper in 11:21. Harper attacked him before the match, hitting a tope, followed by a black hole slam on the floor. The story is that Ziggler was injured before the bell even rang, but he insisted on defending his title while in no condition to do so. Harper took most of the match. There was a cool spot where Ziggler did a desperation superkick. Harper stopped for a split second, basically no sold it and tore Ziggler’s head off with a clothesline, but Ziggler kicked out. The finish saw Ziggler make another comeback, hit two superkicks and then the Zig Zag for the pin. Very good match, probably the best thing on the show. Ziggler did an in-ring interview thanking the fans for supporting him when he was down.

Piper was up next. He called out Lana & Rusev as his guests. Lana insulted Christmas, as if there is no such thing as Christmas in Russia. Piper called them Communist Scrooges. Is this 1974? Piper said he had a present for them. Ryback then came out with a big red bow on. Rusev attacked Ryback first, but Ryback grabbed his foot to stop a kick. Ryback gave him a spinebuster. He set up the clothesline, but Rusev left the ring, Smart man.

Naomi & Emma & Fox beat Paige & Summer Rae & Cameron in a Santa’s Helper match in 4:16. This crowd was way into Paige. They were chanting “We Want Paige,” even though she was on the heel side. Cameron used the codebreaker on Emma. You’re not supposed to use somebody’s else finisher in WWE, even as a finish, let alone as a transition. Paige tagged in and got a big pop. This wasn’t a good match, but I have to give them credit, because it takes a lot of skill to do a wrestling match and keep your Santa’s helper hat on. Fox pinned Cameron with a move similar to MVP’s play of the day.

Miz pinned Jey Uso in 3:29 with a rolling reverse cradle holding the tights. Mizdow was way over as usual. Jey dove on Miz and then Mizdow took a big fall on the ground selling it. On Smackdown last week, they teased problems with Naomi and Jimmy Uso over Jimmy costing her the title by distracting her. There was no mention of that here nor any follow-up.

Main event was called a Miracle on 34th Street fight, where Wyatt pinned Ambrose in 21:25. It was a street fight with Christmas trees around the ring and presents everywhere. It’s the kind of idea Vince Russo would have put on TNA. Wyatt cut a promo about how in his world, there is no Santa Claus and no Christmas. He should join Lana then. While Wyatt was doing this promo, there was a “Merry Christmas” chant. Ambrose threw Wyatt into a Christmas tree, knocking it over. He also suplexed the tree onto Wyatt. He whipped Wyatt into another tree. He got a table, but Wyatt recovered and attacked, and put the table back under the ring. They brawled on the stage and Wyatt threw Ambrose off the stage and through a table. They were back at ringside and Wyatt threw Ambrose into a Christmas tree. Fans started chanting “One more time,” wanting Wyatt to throw Ambrose into another Christmas tree. So Wyatt obliged. That felt so stupid. With any instinct, he could have gotten easy heat by either refusing to do so, or got the pop for Ambrose by calling for a reverse and him going into the tree. Instead, he threw Ambrose into the tree as the fans requested, turning himself babyface. Ambrose made a comeback with an elbow drop with a chair off the middle rope for a near fall. Ambrose got a six foot ladder from under the ring. However, Wyatt planted him with a uranage on the ladder. Wyatt went for Sister Abigail, but Ambrose escaped and threw Wyatt into the ladder for a near fall. Ambrose came off the near top of the ladder with an elbow on the standing Wyatt. He then buried Wyatt under several chairs. He climbed the ropes, but Wyatt threw the ladder at Ambrose, and then threw him into a kendo stick in the corner that was decorated to look like a candy cane. The idea is that the stick went into Ambrose’s eye and Wyatt pinned him. After the match, Ambrose got a fire extinguisher and sprayed it in Wyatt’s face. Ambrose then put Wyatt on a table and did an elbow off the middle rope to put Wyatt through the table. This was one of those deals where they were so afraid of hurting someone that they elevated nobody. Wyatt could have come across with a strong win, but Ambrose laid him out because they didn’t want to hurt him. The idea of Ambrose winning was something they were afraid of hurting Wyatt just in case Undertaker works with him at Mania, I don’t think they want Wyatt losing many matches. After the show went off the air, Ambrose brought Wyatt back to the ring and laid him out with Dirty Deeds, and then put Wyatt on a table and gave him a second elbow off the ladder through a table.
[/HIDE]
 
#22 ·
And once again the wait and see committee tried to call us morons for "overreacting" about Neville's gimmick. Yet another :lose on the board.

The three hours were 3.63 million viewers in the first hour, 3.91 million in the second hour (high point was apparently Roman Reigns vs. Big Show)
:high5

:dead2

How the fuck??? :lmao Ok, just how?? BIG SHOW???

BECAUSE BIG SHOW=RATINGS :vince5!!! Reigns isn't a draw :aj3
 
#13 ·
The TD's episode is Paige trolling Nattie into thinking shes taking brownies that are spiked. The "girls" do not get loaded. WWE is not featuring an episode of the girls getting high no matter how badly they need ratings.
 
#18 · (Edited)
There were suggestions this week of putting a mask on Adrian Neville and making him a kids character based on Mighty Mouse. Neville is expected to be the next NXT performer brought up to the main roster as they are batting around ideas for him.
I swear to fucking god if this happens I'm going to slap Vince until he turns to dust, decrepit old cunt. If they are legitimately considering this, then they have dropped down to a level of retardation that I didn't even know existed.

 
#19 ·
I have literally nothing to say about the Neville thing other then that's dumb as fuck.
 
#23 ·
I´m fine with giving Neville some kind of gimmick because speaking is not his forte, but a Migthy Mouse character?? LOL Hope it´s something subtle and yes, he´s not handsome but they could give gim some badass minimask (i don´t know how to say it in english) like Scorpion or SubZero from MK games and let him get over (or not) with his matches.
 
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