As for being a bit late today.... when you get a rare opportunity to finally sleep in, you take it!
Combined Composite: 7.55
Last Year's Combined: 9.4
Looking at the ratings now, we can see that RAW is decreasing slowly, and Nitro is increasing slowly. RAW is sort of jumping up and down in the numbers, but Nitro has increased since they bottomed out with the 1.8 second hour rating a few weeks ago. What does that mean??? Well, it could mean that the "wrestling" product is slowly gaining viewers, OR it could mean that RAW's product is dropping? I believe it's the WWF, since WCW has already bottomed out with the 1.8 second hour rating. Maybe leaving USA Networks was a bad thing?
I wouldn't say that. Many viewers, like myself, are just baffled with some of the booking ideas that the WWF is shoving down our throats. The past few Nitros have been solid, with none of the errors that usually come up when Russo is in charge. Oh no, he's actually coming back too! I don't really think RAW has to worry about WCW, because the combined returns of Russo and Hulk Hogan will totally destroy the decent work of the Taylor/Ace booking.
So what was the WWF's lowest rated segment? Well duh, it was Kurt Angle vs. Crash Holly. I told you that this joke of a match was a bad decision, and it's this segment's rating that made the first hour rating so low. It's rather insulting to see the World Champion wrestling a hardcore jobber for the first match of the night. The ratings prove that, so stop sending me mail about it!
Everything else for RAW did pretty good in the ratings, EXCEPT for the Regal vs. Road Dogg match. For one, NOBODY cares about Road Dogg anymore, and nobody has caught onto Regal just yet. Plus, I'm sure a good many changed the channel once they saw this garbage going on with K-Kwick. Hey, you might as well bring back Men on a Mission and P.N. News for a REAL angle. Hopefully, this new team of Road Dogg and K-Kwick can let their wrestling do the talking, but that's highly doubtful.
While KroniK provided an odd boost in the first hour, they didn't prove to be big draws for the main event. I've seen a lot of reviews about KroniK performing well, but I'll disagree there, as many did for the main event match rating. Nitro needs more credible main events to steal the overhyped RAW first hour main events.
Again, the ratings could be thanks in part to TNN, because they've got pop!
Hey, the WWF panic button helped to jump Heat's rating up 0.7 this week, and the other two jobbers shows for TNN did better too. Heat still sucked if you ask me, as the Mtv hyped crap just isn't working. All it's doing for Mtv is giving their other shows after 8 pm a nice lead in for higher ratings. It's not benefitting the WWF at all.
Kickass! Lance Storm vs. Booker T. Finally, we get a decent push for Storm, after being shoved into the never-ending Misfits in Action feud. Who are they? Ahem. Let's hope this is a good match with Booker helping Storm to look good for future matches.
Ric Flair is supposed to make several announcements about Storm, and what to do with Mike Sanders great title reign. Hey, I have an idea what to do with that title reign!!! Why not get Chavo Guerrero, Billy Kidman, Rey Mysterio, Kwee Wee minus the gimmick, Elix Skipper, and Lash Leroux(sp?) to revamp the cruiserweight division instantly?????? How about that?
Oh wait...I'm hearing of a 6 man cruiserweight match for the title shot at Mayhem... Ace/Taylor actually have brains after all! Whoooo!! Now you better keep Kidman in that division, no matter how much he "claims" how great of a regular wrestler he is. Kidman is NOT a heavyweight wrestler, thank you.
Oh God.... Buff Bagwell is going to do a "shoot" interview for us tonight on Thunder. Why don't they release him already? No, they won't do that since they have tried to hard to make this guy their next superstar, ever since the early 90s. Of course, Buff would be a superstar if he wasn't a fucking idiot troublesome human being.
Again, CLICK HERE to check out the show, which should be up sometime today!
@That's all for today. I'll return tomorrow with WCW day, reviewing Thunder, giving the Phat Stats, and just throwing around my opinions. Remember, this Saturday's column will be discussing Survivor Series 1997, and not the Ultimate Warrior. I'll save that tragedy for a later date. Check out the Phat Pharm!
Phat Pharm: NEW "Kicking Ass and Taking Names Later" and the "Hot Tag" are up, and Ready to Read! CLICK HERE!!!!!!!
Take Care, and Thanks for Reading.