Combined Rating: 7.4
Combined Rating a Year Ago: 8.9
If the ratings don't spell it out, then I don't know what will. WWF's numbers dropped again, while WCW's first hour number is now the struggling one. The WWF is in full panic mode, and I imagine Viacom is pounding their fist into the wall because they bought a downward trending WWF. Nitro's first hour should be much higher though. At least a 3.0... I mean, who or what do they have against them that hour? NOTHING!! Now if the second hour surpasses the first hour's rating, then I have seen it all.
The opening interview, of course, drew the lowest rating of the first hour for the WWF. Yeah, go ahead and give me that Monday Night Football starting excuse, because Nitro continually pulls their highest segment of the second hour in that first 15 minutes. Wrestling fans will watch wrestling, and football fans will watch football. If the WWF were to try a hot opening match, mainly involving Chris Jericho and someone who could carry a good match(Benoit or Guerrero), then the WWF would be in business. By the way, I stick by my claim that Jericho is the most over in the WWF. More than the Rock, and more than Austin. No lie!
Eddie Guerrero vs. Billy Gunn was the second lowest draw, which means Billy Gunn as IC champ isn't a ratings draw. It's very obvious by the crowd on that one, not to mention Guerrero attempting to sell all of the weak moves Gunn had to offer. But hey, Gunn is the "best pure athlete in the WWF" according to guys like Jim Ross. Did I mention the ratings are going down?
Nitro's second hour went up a little bit, maybe with viewers guessing who the mystery man was? By the way, at least Sid is a new opponent for Steiner to work with, even if Sid can't wrestle at all. It gets tiring watching Steiner feud with Booker T, Bill Goldberg, or Sting a million times over.(Although the Goldberg ones are good) Sid is something new, and Flair didn't disappoint with the surprise if you ask me. But damn, that match is going to suck at Starrcade!
Nitro had some horrible wrestling, and my opinion is that if they had better matches, that second hour rating would even be higher. Bigelow vs. Rection is a World Wide match, at best, and it shouldn't have bored us on Nitro. Again, Stevie Ray shouldn't be in a main event. That's just crazy, you know?
Steve Blackman, Shane McMahon's boy, fought Tiger Ali-Singh to the lowest quarter hour rating of the second hour. I think it's time to give up that belt Shane, I mean Steve. Angle vs. Austin was a decent draw, with it being a 5.6 compared to the Benoit match of 5.3. Remember, that's Benoit's fault for the lower rating.....(sarcasm).
I'm sure the WWF will blame this week's ratings on Kurt Angle, whom the whole show was centered around. It just can't be the Undertaker, Austin, or the Rock. Oh no, it just can't! If they are soooo great to go over the younger wrestlers, why can't they draw larger ratings themselves? I thought so.
Finally, the Mtv Experiment is a total flop. Mtv is just whoring heat for some cheap ratings for the rest of their Sunday shows. Plain and simple. I barely see any Heat commercials on Mtv. Superstars and Livewire are about where they should be on TNN.
Lenny Lane had a tryout match with the WWF last night, as he joins a possible list of WCW failed opportunities. Lane, like many of the other WCW slap in the faces, have untested potential, and when fitted with the right gimmick and push, magic can happen. I guess we'll just have to see when the WWF does sign Looney Lane to a contract. Same with Lynn.
Wow, nice of the independent federation, XSE, to tell us directly that ECW cancelled the Texas shows due to financial problems. That's a nice bombshell for the ECW locker room, as you'd figure houseshows bring in revenue, right? So when Paul Heyman cancels those, the wrestlers won't get paid. So why cancel them for financial reasons? ECW is in real trouble, more than ever, right now because no cable channel will even think to pick them up right now. The best thing for Paul Heyman is to somehow cut costs, meaning lots of wrestlers and added production to stay alive. He's done it before...
It's rumored that the WWF will try a 6 way Hell in the Cell match for the World Title. Yes, that's the product of half-ass booking folks, as they quickly put together a SHOCKING match to attempt to get higher buyrates. The match will feature the Rock, Kurt Angle(champ), Undertaker, Steve Austin, Rikishi Phatu, and Triple H. Yeah, those are the guys the WWF attempts to fit most of the television time around, so what about the rest of the card?
This book is absolutely loaded with tons of color pictures of your favorite WCW wrestlers. It's also a hardback book, and rather large too. You'd figure a big hardback book like that, with lots of color pictures would cost.... say around $60? $50? Nope. Just 5 easy payments... Ok, I'm kidding, it's ONLY $19.95 or $20 because pricing is so retarded. That's a hell of a deal for such a quality type book.
Since it's the holiday season, this would be a great gift for a little WCW mark out there... A little one would be all over this, because it's packed with lots of pictures, information, and other stuff concerning WCW, and it's cheap too! I give it an
How the elves and reindeer acted towards Santa, after watching RAW is WAR kind of reminded me about what the PTC claims WWF television does to actual kids. Sort of ironic that Mick has it that way, but I don't think it's intended. This book, by the way, is upsetting several parents thanks to the content in this book, including an elf who enjoys mooning Santa.
All I can say is that Jerry Lawler is a great artist! I remember him drawing Bret Hart or someone back in the day while he was feuding with them, and I recalled how good of an artist he was then. So Jerry Lawler is a decent wrestler, a great commentator, and a great artist? Yep, that's the guy getting all of the wisecracks for marrying a lady who he is about twice as old as.
This book is great on all levels, and it's just another addition to the legacy of Mick Foley. What will he write next? This book gets an easy
By the way, the Bill Goldberg: I'm Next book just came in, and I'll try to read it this week. I sort of have a busy schedule with work coming up, so I don't know how long it will take me. Many of you have asked if I'll review Chris Jericho's video, or Kurt Angle's video. Again, it's the holiday season, and Tito needs the money for other things at the moment! Don't worry though, I'll buy or rent them as soon as possible!
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@That's it for today. I'll be back tomorrow to discuss Dubya Cee Dubya tomorrow, so just chill....
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