Hell, I just watched it, and I'll never forget it.Originally Posted by NatureBoy
Hell, I just watched it, and I'll never forget it.
Twitter: @3YardsandACloud
JR: "Break the hold ... c'mon, break the hold. You're gonna break the man's ankle! Break the damn ... break it, damnit!"
By the end of that, I was thinking of the Joker's line from Dark Knight: "Very poor choice of words".
Twitter: @3YardsandACloud
A year of this shit.
Twitter: @3YardsandACloud
Presale tickets for May 30th Raw in 8 minutes. Going to try to get opposite main camera at ringside. Maybe bring a www.thegamingtailgate.com sign?
World Wrestling Entertainment to get a makeover.
The entertainment company has shortened its name to WWE and has plans to expand through acquisitions, create its own cable channel and sell its production expertise.
By Joe Flint, Los Angeles Times
April 7, 2011
Vince McMahon is taking the wrestling out of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.
No, this isn't an outrageous plot the colorful impresario has cooked up for his wrestlers to act out in front of thousands of screaming fans. McMahon, the chairman and chief executive of WWE, wants to give the company a makeover, starting with the name. From now on WWE will no longer stand for World Wrestling Entertainment. It will just be WWE, plain and simple.
"I think every brand has to re-create itself," he said. "I want everyone to look at us in a vastly different way than they have."
To do that, McMahon plans to go on a spending spree to acquire media assets that could expand WWE's business beyond the ring. In particular, he said, WWE is targeting companies involved in production, live entertainment and branding.
"It is a logical broadening of what we already do," McMahon said in an interview.
Neither McMahon nor Chief Financial Officer George Barrios would say how big of an investment WWE intends to make on acquisitions. The company, which made $53.5 million in 2010 on revenue of $477.7 million and has cash flow of $94 million, has very little debt on its books and about $69.8 million in cash.
"To me, it is anything that is out there," McMahon said, adding, "We can take on a ton of debt."
Besides hunting for acquisitions, WWE is moving ahead with long-talked-about plans to create its own cable network for its vast library of wrestling fare. The company has been meeting with distributors including Verizon and hopes to get a channel launched in 2012.
McMahon also wants to start marketing WWE's expertise in producing live events.
"No one does television production better than we do, it's damn near the Olympics," McMahon said in his customary rasp after an afternoon rehearsing for a taping of one of WWE's shows. "We know more about live event touring than anyone in the United States." The company puts on about 300 shows annually.
The moves come as WWE looks to rebound from a tough end to 2010 that saw attendance at its events and pay-per-view revenue both drop 15% in the fourth quarter. The declines were blamed on the economy, although WWE probably didn't help matters by raising prices at a time when its core audience was feeling the pinch.
While ratings for its shows including "Raw" and "SmackDown" are still strong, WWE is also trying to restock its roaster with A-list talent to replace some key performers who have retired or are phasing out their ring activity including Shawn Michaels, Dave Batista, Chris Jericho, Mark "The Undertaker" Calaway and McMahon's son-in-law Paul "Triple H" Levesque. WWE recently coaxed former star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to come back next year to take on John Cena.
"I think it is very obvious that they need to do something," Hudson Square Research managing director Marla Backer said of the company's plans. "Clearly, their prospects in terms of growth are limited if they stick to their knitting."
Not everyone embraces WWE's desire to move beyond the wrestling mat.
"I think that the most important thing right now is the return of the health of the core business," said Jay Kaplan, portfolio manager for Royce & Associates, which holds about 9% of WWE stock. "One of the market's big concerns is are they losing market share to real fighting," Kaplan added, referring to mixed martial arts and ultimate fighting.
This is not the first time WWE has tried to expand beyond its core. Several years ago it partnered with NBC to launch the XFL, a springtime football league that died after just one season. A restaurant in Times Square also flopped. McMahon said he's learned his lesson from those follies and will stick to the entertainment business.
More recently, WWE embarked on the movie business, financing low-budget genre films that often feature its own talent and quickly wind up on DVD.
None have been smash hits, but the film unit is eking out a small profit. It has made money for the last three years, although last year's take was a mere $400,000. Initially, WWE's movies were more action-oriented, but the company is attempting to broaden its slate to include family fare. It's next release, "That's What I Am," starring Ed Harris and Amy Madigan in a coming-of-age story about a student and teacher battling prejudice in the 1960s, premieres in theaters April 29.
Some analysts wonder whether WWE wants to grow to position itself for an eventual sale. There are very few independent programmers left, and with its healthy balance sheet WWE might be attractive to one of the bigger media companies. Also, McMahon is 65, and although he's still going strong, there hasn't been a clear heir apparent since his wife, Linda, resigned as chief executive in 2009 to pursue a political career.
At the moment, McMahon, who with his family is controlling shareholder, doesn't sound like a seller.
"We're very independent-minded," he said. "I don't see that happening."
Who remembers watching this
And Trips talking about it on Opie and Anthony:
One of my favorite matches of all-time:
Watching the Saturday Raw re-broadcast on Universal HD, and they just showed a World Wildlife Fund ad. Too funny.
Twitter: @3YardsandACloud
From TMZ:
Wrestler Hospitalized After Strange Performance
4/9/2011 11:55 AM PDT by TMZ Staff
Former wrestling legend Scott Hall (or Razor Ramon, as he was once known) was hospitalized after a low-rent wrestling event in Massachusetts during which he clearly was not all with it.
A rep for Hall tells TMZ he is currently in the hospital being treated for cardiac issues. The rep says Hall will be in the hospital for at least three more days while doctors check him out.
The rep says doctors are looking into the various meds Hall is taking -- 10 in all, for various ailments.
Hall's appearance at a Top Rope Promotions event last night was sketchy to say the least -- he looked clearly out of it the entire time and it took him 10 minutes, with the help of a few police officer, just to leave the ring.
I'm honestly surprised that he hasn't died yet.
Twitter: @3YardsandACloud
The 2011 WWE Draft is tonight on Monday Night Raw.
Rumor has it that Miz is going to Smackdown and Del Rio is coming to Raw. I hope Miz stays on Raw, maybe move Orton to Smackdown to replace Edge as a top face. I dunno. Always love draft time though, it's usually in June, but due to Edge's sudden retirement, WWE was forced to take action.
My guess is 10 picks will move, 5 to Raw, 5 to Smackdown.
To Raw
Undertaker
Alberto Del Rio
Rey Mysterio
Cody Rhodes
Beth Phoenix
To Smackdown
Randy Orton
R-Truth
John Morrison
Ted DiBiase
Eve Torres
I saw Hulk Hogan on TNA awhile back. How does he use that name in TNA? I thought a few years back when his wife screwed (literally and figuratively) him over and he went back to Vince that Hulk signed over all his licensing rights for a ton of cash? Was that not the case???
MAJOR NAME SAID TO BE EYEING WWE EXIT, COMPLETE DETAILS by Mike Johnson
As we initially reported last night in the PWInsider.com Elite section, former WWE World champion CM Punk has not signed a new WWE deal and there's been a lot of talk that Punk is looking to exit the company when his deal expires in a few months.
Internally, that possibility has been discussed for some time but during the European tour, discussion of Punk's exit came more and more to the forefront.
According to WWE sources, Punk has been offered a new long-term deal but has balked at signing, citing burnout with being on the road for years and unhappiness with his position in the company over the last year.
As one source pointed out, Punk has been something of an "Iron Man" for the company, working full-time on the road with the exception of his hip injury needing to be rehabbed last year. At the same time, despite delivering with whatever was handed to him creatively, Punk has watched as other talents developed since he debuted ended up pushed as bigger names and treated as more important than Punk, including Miz and Alberto Del Rio.
"When you look at how the company brands it's characters, Punk is never among the top 5-8 names that are promoted or pushed," said the WWE office source. "It's Cena, Orton, Miz, Undertaker, Rey, now Alberto, etc. these days and Punk is sort of floating right under there. He didn't fit into the youth drive a few months back but he's not treated like a top veteran either. He's just there, doing his job and while everyone knows he delivers, he's never really treated like someone who does. He's never dropped the ball but we don't give it to him really, either. He's treated like a guy, but not THE guy. For a driven guy like him who's made wrestling his entire world, it's got to drive him crazy. Now, the excuse will be don't push Punk because he might be leaving, but the reality is the environment and situation is what is probably making him want to leave to begin with. Either it gets fixed or it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, just like it did when Batista walked out."
As is the norm with such situations, a new deal could be struck at any point, but as more and more sources discuss Punk leaving the company as a distinct possibility, time will tell. We'll have more when we get it.
That would suck if he left....he's one of my favorites.
The full draft list from Tuesday
Tuesday draft updates
Daniel Bryan to Smackdown
Jack Swagger to Raw
Great Khali to Smackdown
Jimmy Uso to Smackdown
Kelly Kelly to Raw
JTG to Raw
Alicia Fox to Smackdown
William Regal to Smackdown
Yoshi Tatsu to Smackdown
Drew McIntyre to Raw
Natalya to Smackdown
Curt Hawkins to Raw
Chris Masters to Raw
Jey Uso to Smackdown
Kofi Kingston to Raw
Ted DiBiase to Smackdown
Tyson Kidd to Smackdown
Tamina to Smackdown
Beth Phoenix to Raw
Tyler Reks to Raw
Alex Riley to Smackdown
Sheamus to Smackdown
Ignoring the above, the Draft results from Monday night are very interesting. If they hadn't "swerved" Cena returning to Raw, I would have said that being drafted to SD practically guaranteed he was going to lose Sunday. Instead, with all three WWE title guys on Raw, and Del Rio also being drafted to Raw, Christian becomes the odds on favorite to win the Big Gold Belt.
Sin Cara to Smackdown and Mysterio to Raw make practically no sense, unless they're looking to continue the Mysterio/Del Rio angle without the distraction of Christian.
I would not at all be surprised if Punk wasn't happy with his position in the company -- only question is where does he go. He has a lot of old contacts at TNA, but not sure what his relationship is with the company. Plus, talk about a move downward.
Regarding the draft list from Tuesday ... wtf. Bryan, Sheamus and Alex Riley to Smackdown with no fanfare? Well, if we needed proof of how close to the main event they're considered, there you go. McIntyre and Swagger to Raw are interesting moves. But honestly, Raw just got a hell of a lot less interesting to me, except I'll get to see Kelly Kelly now. Guess I'll basically stop watching Raw and start watching Smackdown again.
Twitter: @3YardsandACloud
As we reported this week, RAW superstar CM Punk is said to be unhappy in WWE and is considering leaving the company when his contract expires later this year. Punk is burned out from five years on the road and is not happy with other stars such as The Miz and Alberto Del Rio getting pushed over him.
WWE wants to keep Punk on the roster and have offered him a new longterm deal, which he's yet to sign. It's interesting to note that CM Punk's real-life girlfriend Beth Phoenix was traded to the RAW brand during Tuesday's Supplemental Draft - which could be seen as a move to make life better for Punk on the road.
Punk's possible departure from WWE later this year has been one of the main topics of discussion behind the scenes this week. Punk has been dating Beth Phoenix for the past several months and the two are reportedly a serious couple.
WWE has made roster trades in the past to keep superstar-diva couples together - with the most notable example being Michelle McCool being moved to SmackDown a few years ago so she could travel with her husband, The Undertaker.
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