Thanks to Jesse Ziter for this excellent Ratings Analysis banner! Next week, I'll unveal another Ratings Analysis banner.
I figured I would get blasted in the email about my RAW review or grade, but I didn't. From what I've read, the Stephanie thing with Freddy Blassie angered a lot of the fans. That's what the WWF wants though, and that sick reaction is what they feel will make viewers tune in to the next show. Oh no, not the quality of the show, but something so shocking and unbelieveable. Vince Russo would really be proud.
The other day, I bought Wrestlemania 17 (not X-Seven) to finally complete my WWF collection of actual Wrestlemania tapes. I'm going to watch it a few more times before deciding it's place in Wrestlemania history. My first review, the night after the event, stated that it was one of the best Wrestlemanias ever since it was a good, overall event. I will definitely watch it more closely, especially TLC 2. I might just rank the Wrestlemanias again in a future PDC, although I should save that for next year's Wrestlemania hype column.
Let's get this show started. On to the PDC.
Thanks to Jesse Ziter for this excellent Ratings Analysis banner! Next week, I'll unveal another Ratings Analysis banner.
Wow, another ratings increase, and a good one, too. The ECW Invasion works! In fact, it's soooo good that those who are owed money are blowing the whistle on the WWF because it's so successful, at least in the ratings. Viewers obviously liked what they saw on last week's programs to tune on for RAW because they saw storylines worth watching. Gee, and you know what's funny? The McMahon based storylines were the main ones during the shows before, but now that ECW is around to fight the McMahon storylines, which weren't drawing ratings, the WWF has become successful.
It's about time, too. I'm still disgusted at the WWF for putting on piss poor shows during the months of April and May. Austin/Triple H against Kane and an aging Undertaker will NOT draw ratings. Compelling invasions of two ousted federations will, as some of the ECW fans are popping up again, along with a small amount of WCW fans. Note that WCW was drawing high 1.0s at the very end of their run, so I'm convinced hardly any of them carried over to the WWF. ECW's fanbase must be responding, though, and I've noticed that from looking at message boards lately. They've come back from the dead!
Both hours experienced higher ratings compared to last week. The show started off with a low 4.0, which is normal by WWF standards. That shouldn't be normal, though, but I'll agree with Shooter Shawn Valloric's theory on the first 15 minutes. The WWF has conditioned fans, for so long, that there will always be a 20 minute interview at the beginning of the show. Therefore, nobody tunes in to watch that crappy sports entertainment. You could put Goldberg versus Stone Cold in the first 15 minutes, and it would still suffer. Well, that's really over doing it, but you get the point. The first 15 minutes are deadweight, practically.
Palumbo versus Faarooq didn't do much to help in the ratings, either, as I discussed that it was like a Thunder match. Seriously. You can thank Edge versus Awesome for shooting up the 1st hour's numbers, and then the Chris Jericho versus Booker T match drew a 5.5, up from the 4.8 brought in from the Tazz vs. Regal match. Very nice. The show flatlined at about that rating until the overrun, where Team WWF destroyed ECW/WCW with their imfamous 5 on 15 or so drew a 5.8.
On that segment, something very fishy is going to go on at Invasion. If the elite 5 of the WWF can destroy all of ECW/WCW just like that, then that means that someone from Team WWF is turning at Invasion. Something screwy is definitely going on, especially with how stacked the WWF team is. Say an Austin jumps over, it will even things up bigtime, and open up a nice cushy feud with the Rock when he returns. :)
Take a look at Mtv Heat. If Tough Enough was good for anything, it has created SOME new wrestling fans on Mtv. That's what I blame on the higher ratings there, because Tough Enough does run a few extra Heat commercials that the WWF didn't have before. Impressive. I missed the show, by the way, and with Billy Gunn/Big Show on it, I'm glad that I did. By the way, any guesses on who the 30 WWF releases will be? Not that I want someone fired, but it would not surprise me if Gunn gets the cut with the underachieving for his age. I think a lot of WCW talent will get the axe, as will a few developmental wrestlers who just aren't shaping up to expectations.
Superstars and Livewire did their new normals, I guess. Those shows are so poor. The WWF should feature a few matches on those shows, ya know, Superstars or Livewire exclusives, to really help those two out. They don't even have to be headliner matches. Just your basic Jakked match or any kind of fallguy versus midcarder match.
-So what do I think of the ECW trademark conflict? Well, I just think it's a few guys, who are owed money from the ECW bankruptcy, attacking the WWF out of jealousy and revenge because they feel the WWF drove them out of their jobs. The WWF obviously isn't fretting on this whole situation, as they are gladly using the ECW trademarks without even caring. The threat by the legal system must not be big, or the WWF, who has been involved in several lawsuits lately including one against WCW for using WWF trademarks, would pull back from using ECW stuff. Duh. The WWF knows better, and these accusations or shit starting by certain individuals is probably making the WWF laugh.
-Wow, I continue to see Tough Enough repeated throughout the weekend, with this past weekend having the most. It's Mtv's top rated show, by the way, so they are milking it bigtime. I still think that Viacom are a bunch of hypocrites for allowing Mtv to whore the WWF's successful Tough Enough show, while denying a simple 2 hour timeslot for a WCW show now. Oh well. The WCW/ECW Invasion angle is shooting up the ratings on the 2 big WWF shows, and that's all that matters right now, so Viacom can stick it.
-I suggest that everyone read the latest Non Sanctioned column discussing Tommy Dreamer. It's a very good read by the Governor, as it's a great dedication to the Innovator of Violence. I can remember, one time, when Dreamer had a broken heel and he still wrestled. He had this huge boot set up on his foot, and he wrestled just like he normally did. I was also amazed at how hard he was working when he had a few crushed discs in his spine during the time he won the Tag belts with Raven. I'm sure that the WWF will treat Dreamer right and pay him off for his hard work with his few more years left as a wrestler, and then afterward as a road agent backstage.
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@That's it for today. I shall be back with Smackdown Hype and more Daily Apples, so until then, how about chilling until the next episode?
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