The Wrath of Tito - RAW thoughts, Quarterly results analysis, and more
Submitted by Mr. Tito on Wednesday, November 19, 2003 at 11:37 AM EST
Welcome, one and all, to the Wrath of Tito. Today, we'll discuss various topics including Monday Night RAW, which I thought was a little better than normal this week, although it ended with a very sour note of Triple H getting his win back from Bill Goldberg. It better result in Bill Goldberg winning their next encounter, or I'll begin fans to riot at events... Did I say that?
The recent WWE Quarterly Results are so laughable. Why? They keep saying nothing but positive things about slight improvements in profits this year as compared to the same time last year. IF I'm not mistaken, during the last 3 months last year, it was very shakey times for the WWE, for they lost a lot of money and momentum during the early stages of the Brand Extension, so to speak. Let's also not forget the massive amount of costs that the WWE has cut over the past year, too. The WWE is only $6 million better this year than when they were last year through the first 6 months.
Some highlights:
-Live event revenues are down around $400,000 (which is about a Pay Per View show gross, these days). Please take into effect that ticket prices for the WWE have risen, which is an ignorant thing to continually do when the demand for your product is low.
-Television advertising dropped a little over a million. The WWE did recently sign a newer deal with UPN in comparison to this time next year, so no debate.
-TV Rights fees went up over $2 million, which is a good thing for there has been high international demand for the WWE, while here in the states, I believe the US is overexposed to the WWE. You can only travel to New York City so many times before fans don't care as much, etc.
-Merchandise sales are down across the board at about $2 million.
-Pay Per View buys are up about 400,000. I'd boast that more as a positive number, ALTHOUGH early numbers for No Mercy and the September RAW Pay Per View are reportedly scary.
The WWE said their increased overall profits is from the new UPN deal, an additional Pay Per View included in this quarter as opposed to last quarter, and by cutting television costs (which is a big, big thing). It's good that the WWE has some positive news, but then again, key numbers like live event attendance and merchandise ARE DOWN, in addition to ratings numbers not showing any upward trend, besides WWE Smackdown recently.
I personally believe that No Mercy was a bottoming out show. Fans may have spoken with their wallets and No Mercy could go down as one of the lowest paid WWE PPVs of all time. I seriously hope so, for the McMahons need to get themselves off of television and into the creative room. Welcome to 2003, where the McMahons were only popular from 1998-2000. Get with the fucking times and focus on the product. I thought Survivor Series was a well prepared show, one of the best of the year, and RAW showed some better signs of life this week.
Speaking of MONDAY NIGHT RAW... Overall, I liked the show. Booker T beat Mark Henry in the first match of the night. Poorly worked because Henry sucks, but Booker won the match, albeit somewhat cheaply. Henry needs to be like A-Train and become a powerful midcarder, who is always a force to reckon with but doesn't get the big wins because he's not good enough for the main event scene. Then again, Mark Henry makes $1 million per year and that's the big excuse to push him (gotta justify your salary decisions). I liked the Jindrak/Cade vs. Conway/Dupree tag bout. It showed that both teams can have promise, and in my opinion, Conway is a much better tag partner than Grenier. WAY better in fact. While I'm on the subject of tag team matches, the opposite of a good tag match occurred with the Dudleys vs. Test/Steiner. Geesh, all 4 guys are struggling lately!
Why was Shawn Michaels thrown out of the building? He should be praised and or pushed for his insane effort at the Survivor Series? I guess it's getting Bischoff over as a slime, BUT Michaels did generate Survivor Series's top pop of the night, by far. I wish the WWE would have hyped Ric Flair vs. Rob Van Dam more than they did. The match was very different and interesting, to say the least. Flair can definitely still go in these times, and that's why he still wrestles a regular WWE schedule! I don't know if I'm buying an IC Title push for Randy Orton, just yet, but we'll see.
Strange stuff with the Matt Hardy/Lita vs. Molly Holly/Eric Bischoff. I was thinking "why pick Eric Bischoff", but when Matt Hardy turned heel, I was like "oh". I figured Matt would turn, but not so soon. Personally, I would have turned Matt heel later rather than now, maybe build up the engagement for a heel turn at the end. Then again, it gives Matt a good start as a heel, and I liked his work as a heel on Smackdown. The WWE explained his jump by saying his "Smackdown contract ran out". That works for me. I'm curious to know if Christian will stay a face or not, if he tries to get into Lita's pants.
Val Venis vs. Rico was a decent match, for they let Rico work a little bit this week. Too bad neither Val or Rico are over due to lack of a focus on the writer's part on RAW. My jaw definitely dropped when I saw Jackie Gayda popping out. Every other pop out, I've always missed (but caught later online). Very nice... The WWE costume department had to at least thing this would happen? A good way to attract more male fans is to have it accidentally happen every week, if Jackie is willing to do that. Chris Jericho and Trish Stratus kissed... I'm sure Canadians were very excited by this, as they should be. I'm curious to know where it will go. Well, I know, since Jericho will eventually continue his feud with Austin later down the road.
The main event was somewhat bad with Evolution (Orton, Batista, and HHH) vs. Bill Goldberg. I dislike handicap matches, and one with marginal workers is even worse. Overall, the show gets a [ B ] in my book, and I liked the decent focus on the midcard for a change that night. Push the midcard, brotha. Nitro in 1997, in addition to the NWO angle, had a solid midcard to keep people entertained. The WWE grew in power with an entertaining midcard in 1998 and namely 1999 and 2000.
-WWE wrestlers were upset with the Mark Cuban angle on Survivor Series, namely since it was RAW members taking away a Smackdown match in Tajiri vs. Jamie Noble. Was it worth it? The WWE was running out of time during the show, so Tajiri vs. Noble would have been kept short. Secondly, if Mark Cuban's appearance has a chance to make Sportscenter, then why not try it? Publicity never hurt anybody, but then again, it cheapens the product for true wrestling fans. I'll contend that Leno, Rodman, and Malone hurt WCW in 1998, but Rodman helped WCW in 1997. Take your pick.
-RAW's ratings came in at a 3.6. While last week's show did a 3.7, the WWE should be somewhat happy it didn't dip further after a Pay Per View. If the WWE can keep RAW around the 3.6-3.7 cable rating range, they could finally establish that they have bottomed out and can only go up from there. I thought, personally, that the Monday Night Football game sucked, so ratings could have been higher. I don't know?
-I'm still not impressed with NWA-TNA. The angles are so boring, and Jeff Jarrett as a heel is doing the same old stuff. OH NO, MORE RED SHIRTS!!! RUN!!!! Please. I can't believe people actually say this is better than the WWE.
-By the way, where has Benjamin and Haas been? Clearly, the best fundamental tag team, besides the Guerreros, out there. They'd work circles around the Bashams, which I hear they might do as faces coming up. World's Greatest Tag Team as FACES?!?
OUT like a lightbulb!
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@That's all for today's column. Just chill till the next episode....
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