Welcome to the latest edition of the Phat Daily Column, the column that kisses nobody's ass, unlike the ones who claim to be "appreciative" writers. Anyway, the ratings are in, and we'll look at how the early ECW Invasion did for the ratings. I, myself, think it will be good for future WWF ratings, and Smackdown's rating will be key.
Know what cracks me up on this whole ordeal with the ECW invasion? The WWF had to totally revamp their card for Invasion, and it hurt many storylines they were working on leading up to the ECW invasion. It makes a lot of the storylines, like the WCW disarray from Smackdown and the Rhyno vs. Mike Awesome match just totally screwed up now, once you look back on it.
But hey, at least give the WWF their due. There was a bad problem with how the WCW Invasion was received, so they made drastic changes to improve the quality of the show. However, I don't think the WWF would have needed to make such insane changes if they would have taken the time to put on great wrestling programming in the months of April and May. The long and boring feud between Austin/Triple H against Kane/Undertaker was soooooo boring and it did lots of damage to the long term of the WWF by holding many younger wrestlers back from the spotlight.
Now, the WWF has to make up for mistakes, and they're probably regretting it fully. On to the PDC.
RATINGS ANALYSIS
Ya know, Ratings Analysis could use a banner. If you're willing and talented, please send a 75 pixels (height) by 400 pixels (width) banner that is at least 30 K and made into JPG form. I don't know what to put on a Ratings Analysis banner, so be creative I suppose. Be sure it's made on a BLACK background, though, so that it looks good on LoP. You will be given full credit for making the banner on a future PDC. Send all banner submissions to mrtitopdc@lordsofpain.net and be sure to put "Ratings Analysis Banner" in your subject line of your email. Thanks!
-RAW is WAR-
First Hour: 4.4
Second Hour: 5.1
Composite: 4.75
Composite Last Week: 4.65
Composite Last Year: 6.0
-WWF Weekend Shows-
Livewire: 0.9
Superstars: 0.8
Mtv Heat: 1.6
The WWF didn't decrease for about the 3rd or 4th week in a row. That must be a record for 2001. They did increase from last week's number, although it's unknown on the significance of the numbers. I'm insisting that we won't see the big effect from the ECW Invasion until Smackdown's ratings come out, so I suppose we'll have to be patient until Friday evening.
As far as the whole show did by the hour, RAW was increasing by the most part the whole time, expect when it barely dipped down during the "exciting" X-pac vs. Scotty 2 Hotty match. I thought the first hour's ratings could have been better, though, because I felt as though the first hour's show quality was very down. The DDP vs. Shane match was such a bust, and just nothing stuck out in the early part, besides the Tag Title change. The WWF remained in the mid fours until the Booker T vs. Kurt Angle match brought them into 5 territory, to which they remained for the whole night.
I thought the Booker T vs. Kurt Angle match was great, but if the WWF really wanted to shoot the ratings up, they would have possibly had the ECW Invasion at the top of the 2nd hour. However, I don't think the effectiveness of Booker T vs. Angle would have been gained at another timeslot, other than the top of the hour.
But again, just keep an eye out for the Smackdown rating. If my memory serves me correctly, Smackdown had a 3.8 in the ratings. I suppose that's the magic number for the WWF at this point, and if the number is higher this week, then it's obvious that the ECW Invasion has sparked a surge of viewers. Let's hope for the sake of the wrestling industry.
As for the weekend crap..... Heat continues to post better numbers than the 1.0s or the 1.3s they were gaining. I guess X-Factor as guests draw fans? Yeah, say that, and then remember that a show with Albert as the host brought Heat one of their lowest ratings ever. Superstars and Livewire did their new averages, I guess.
-I was actually expecting a little more patience by the WWF about Buff Bagwell, but I was wrong... The WWF FIRED Buff, thus proving my point and everyone else who writes that Buff is a no good asshole who can't ever be a team player for a wrestling federation. He was just given the chance of a lifetime to turn his career around in front of the best wrestling promotion in the entire world, and he dropped the ball. Buff only has himself to blame for this whole ordeal. He can no longer blame the horrible WCW management by Time Warner. His WWF firing was all him, and he can enjoy selling oranges off of a street corner for no longer being able to make money in wrestling ever again.
-It looks like the WWF is going back to good ol' Jerry Lawler, again, to be their announcer again. I'm sure Vince McMahon never imagined himself to be kissing the King's ass after the whole Kat firing incident before Wrestlemania hit. With the new ECW Invasion angle, what's to become of the announcer situation? Will Scott Hudson and Arn Anderson still have jobs? I'm thinking that the WWF will keep Ross on RAW or Monday Night, and they'll keep Michael Cole on Smackdown. Cole and Ross are the two best Play by Play guys around, and Hudson doesn't even come close to those guys. Lawler is the best fit for the "heel" commentator, now replacing Heyman and Tazz. You could name others, but as far as being consistant, Lawler was a guy to rely on.
-For the ECW Invasion, I was thinking "where was Jerry Lynn??" The ECW angle would be a perfect fit for him, especially since he now has shelf life in the WWF, next to Essa Rios. I suppose that the WWF bookers wanted 10 ECW Superstars to fill the 20 man match, which makes sense. In my opinion, it would be smart to include Lynn in ECW, because his WWF career, at this point, is practically worthless otherwise.
-Now I know the rumors with Stacy Kiebler are false, but it wouldn't surprise me if the WWF just suddenly dropped her. Why? It just seems that Torrie Wilson has now gained the spot as top WCW Diva, as she's done well in her acting skits as compared to Ms. Hancock, who hasn't been too impressive at her wrestling role. It's like Torrie Wilson "got it", and Ms. Hancock is still looking for it, if you know what I'm saying. If not, ummm......
-By the way...... For Tough Enough, I'm going to announce my picks. I can't remember their names for the life of me, so now that I'm able to look at the website, here goes. For the guys, I predict that Greg will be the one to make it. He just appears to have that drive to become a pro wrestler, while the other guys are too laid back. For the women, my money is on Victoria, who seems to have a lot of fight in her. I'm shakey on that pick because she's been complaining a lot on the Real World like interviews, but we'll see. I would have picked Paulina, but each show gives me the appearance that she's a wimp at heart.
Oh, and by the way... If you don't believe me that Stephanie McMahon tries to put herself over on television, just watch this week's edition of Tough Enough. She's taking the ladies out for lunch, which is just a way to put herself over as a nice lady to these contestants. She's also got her big mug on the front page part of WWFtoughenough.com. Now, people are getting on me.. "Why are you getting on Stephanie" or "Why are you accusing her of this and that". Just take a look at the ECW owner decision.
How does it make sense for Stephanie to own ECW and join her brother after the many many feuds they've had. Also, how many times will she turn on her dad, only to swerve right back to him? I'm more upset about all of that than the fact that she'll do more talking than Paul Heyman about ECW. And what happens to her character once Triple H comes back? Gee, she didn't think of that, as I can't wait for the half-assed explanation for it.
However, it's oddball things like this that make my job writing columns MUCH EASIER!
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@That's all for today. I'll be back with Daily Apples and a Smackdown preview, so why not chill till the next episode?
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