I was listening to the Slate Political Gabfest because I am a tea-drinking liberal fuck from the suburbs of Chicago, and a quote they were talking about on negotiating TV rights piqued my interest, for some reason: “Carriage fees are the monetization of passion.”
Carriage fees refer to how much a cable company (Comcast, AT&T) pays to air a cable channel. These fees are passed on to the consumer. Who costs the most? In 2014 it was ESPN, TNT, Disney, and the NFL Network. Who had the most ratings? Disney, ESPN, History Channel, and our pals at the USA Network. ESPN costs $5.54/subscriber, USA just $.71/per subscriber. The thought goes – how much is this cable channel going to get the consumer to subscribe to cable in a cord-cutting world?
This affects negotiation. Passion can be more important than ratings. If someone is obsessively watching the channel, it costs the cable company more, and cable as a whole costs the consumer more. ESPN’s got SportsCenter. TNT’s got NBA. Disney’s got the children. NFL Network has the NFL. USA, meanwhile, gets much less than those, despite having our pals at World Wrestling Entertainment and the highest ratings on cable.
AMC, despite having a hot show like The Walking Dead, is still struggling to break through and get those carriage fees. The Mad Men 2-year finale was spread out over two negotiation periods, not for its’ ratings but its’ passion – the people cared, so they tried to turn that into something. I don’t know if it worked out, this is just a WordPress blog don’t expect those things from me.
USA Network meanwhile is able to command at least DECENT carriage fees – higher than CNN, Nickelodeon, TBS, and ESPN2 – but not the best.
I say all this because at the end of the day Monday Night RAW and SmackDown Live are television shows. And they go through cycles like anything else, despite being weird-ass professional wrestling. And the Road to WrestleMania – that is sweeps week! That’s where the fans show all the passion. And every business presentation WWE gives seems geared towards this: “OUR FANS ARE FUCKING PASSIONATE. THEY ARE THE MOST PASSIONATE FANS IN THE GOD DAMN WORLD. DO YOU FUCKING HEAR US!?!?!?” And they base a lot of that off the passion they are able to milk during the Road to WrestleMania AKA WWE’s sweeps week.
They want to use this mindset to ideally negotiate higher carriage fees.
They also want better ads on their show – more Snickers, less Shingles pills.
After sweeps week, of course – we get what we get. This was really a pretty shit week of WWE TV. But it also felt like an anomaly after all the fun stuff this year so far. They went to the United Kingdom, and I bet all the good brothers and sisters in the back got to get all drunk and enjoy themselves, but both big TV tapings felt like house shows more than anything. And that’s fine… a house show can be solid. But it was still pretty much a week that didn’t really even feel like canon.
Isn’t this how it always is in WWE post-sweeps week, post-Mania? Wrestling has a lot more tricks up its sleeve than most shows on television, but any TV show going 52-weeks is going to have some rough patches. Ya just wish they used a few more tricks.
WWE really lucked into having The Club vs. The Bloodline post-Mania last year, and then the Draft made things semi-interesting again, and then SummerSlam kinda sucked and then the fall was AWESOME for SmackDown and TERRIBLE for RAW and then everything got interesting again headed towards Mania outside of the stupid-ass Orton/Wyatt feud.
I’d argue that if they didn’t seem desperate to cool things down so much post-Mania, the buzz might just be bigger, the stars might just seem larger. Some of the lame stuff we get at this point in the year is the return on investment we get from all the other weaker points of the year. They’re doing well in some places (BRRAAAUUUUNNN) but really dropping the ball in others (Rollins, Bray, any lady on RAW not named Alexa, making Jinder/Breezango look like such chumps before giving them title feuds). If they give their characters some more juice, it’s a lot easier to get through the rough patches. They can’t all be winners, but I wish a lot of them didn’t feel like such losers.
I’m sure they’ll run some sweet angle in June/July (Nexus, Pipe Bomb, Mark Henry having a lot left in the tank, Owens debut) that gets things cooking again, but until then… Yeesh.
Either way, I’ll be watching. Because I’ve got the PASSION, baby!
RAW (5/8/17)
Midway through this show, Michael Cole called this episode of Monday Night RAW the “most physical, emotional, and personal” one he could remember. What a rib. The BALLS of this company.
This was a show that felt like a night off for everybody. Nothing really compelling or worth going out of your way to watch, just some hijinks between Ambrose and Miz, a couple decent but completely unspectacular matches in Miz vs. Finn and Joe vs. Seth, some other matches too short to really accomplish anything (Alicia/Sasha, Jack/TJP), and a real crap Tag Team Turmoil and Ambrose/Wyatt main event.
Here were the few highlights:
– Miz vs. Balor and Joe vs. Seth were completely decent, though also completely forgettable
– The U.K. atmosphere was fun, though also less fun than usual
– DEAN-O chants!
– Balor’s #PeleOuttaNowhere on Miz
– Graves: What do you call the man that slays the King…slayer? Cole: Thanks.
– Enzo’s “OW OW OW OW OW” before going to break
– Cesaro’s rapid-fire Garvin Stomp
– The “He’s Got Kids” chant in Tag Turmoil followed by the Cesaro nut shot followed by the “No More Kids” chant
– Alexa Bliss, yeah she sure is purty but I’m more attracted to the WORK
– Wondering to myself, “Did they change the IC Title match from Extreme Rules to next week during the taping?”
– Also wondering to myself, “Does heel TJP mean he wears more baby oil?”
The whole Braun/Roman/Kalisto angle was pretty rough – still dig Roman and Braun going at it, but this was a weak point. The attempt with Kalisto is admirable, but him interrupting Braun getting LAUGHS probably isn’t a great sign. The theme is awful too… intro just sucks the life out of anybody listening. Sometimes I think they’re trying to get Kalisto over, sometimes I don’t think they care and just want Braun over, sometimes I don’t think it matters because it’s wrestling. Also: When Braun and Ambrose were interacting, just zero mention of Dean being Roman’s friend? Nothing?
So Roman went after Braun’s hurt arm and now Braun disappears to get surgery. Godspeed, Braun Strowman. We eagerly await your return.
WTF does Roman do? I vote for him and Kalisto teaming up to battle the Revival.
Nia and Alexa together is kinda interesting. She wrestled Mickie James and it was OK. Some say Alexa isn’t great in the ring, and some watch her work a god damn arm and think she’s gonna be just fine. Pretty slop-ass finish though.
The Tag Team Turmoil match was a whole lot of I don’t give a fuck. Love Cesaro & Sheamus and like that they just ran through everybody but whatever, everybody who worked in this needs some JUICE, and I don’t mean CJ Parker. Let’s get The Revival back already.
Seth Freakin’ Rollins – if you’re gonna falcon arrow Samoa freakin’ Joe, MILK IT.
Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose was a very very very mediocre main event. If I’m in the crowd I just wanna go home. The suplex off the apron was crazy, that’s about it. Bray’s a great character, great sports entertainer, but pretty shit wrestler, especially when he needs to kill 15 on RAW.
SMACKDOWN (5/9/17)
This show at least had a good main event and AWESOME Usos promo.
The opening promo with all the #TopGuys started pretty rough, with Orton and Jinder having themselves the most generic-ass promo battle. Jinder feels out of place but in a good way, like he isn’t supposed to be here and it’s all just happening anyways. At the end of the day though it was just two guys generically reciting a script. “And at Backlash, I’m going to…” gahh kill me. KO as The Face of America is kinda getting on my nerves too and not in a good way – I just don’t get it. Feels like an aggressive re-branding and not sure what demo its’ aimed for. Segment got pretty fun once AJ came out to a massive pop and people practically crying in their seats, then Corbin interrupting and Zayn jumping him.
James Ellsworth is honestly a perfectly fine dirtbag promo. Liked the deal with all the ladies introducing each other and Charlotte saying she doesn’t need a damn introduction. Otherwise, Nattie vs. Becky was just a couple minutes of background noise for this whole angle to keep moving. Like the idea of it, but this chapter didn’t offer much.
Really hope this Lana thing is one long con.
GO BREEZANGO! Can guarantee they will be massively over in Chicago for the Usos match, otherwise… hope this all works out. Fashion Files is a neat thing and the WEEE-OOO WEEE-OOOO gets me every time.
The tag with Ascension was a solid quick squash… main problem with a weak tag division is there’s not many guys for the team you’re building up to run through. Good timing having Week 2 of the Breezango face (?) push in the U.K., where Fandango remains an inexplicable God.
WHAT A MOTHERFUCKING USOS PROMO. Oh my GOD. LET THESE BOYS LOOSE. BEST IN THE WORLD.
Harper vs. Rowan was a decent enough match but what in the hell guys… why the cool down for Luke Harper?
I love that Vince McMahon has JUST ENOUGH faith in Dolph Ziggler to put him in this spot with Nakamura but not enough to invest any real actual effort innto him. Nak looked fucking GREAT taking it to Dolph – that boot was pretty. He remains feeling special, hope they can keep that up.
Is Sami Zayn autistic?
That New Day Arcade promo was sweet.
Mojo Rawley could be a modern day Barney. He also might just be a down syndrome version of John Cena.
Nice Rusev promo. Rusev vs. Nakamura is gonna be wild.
The 6-man main event was really fun and hit all the right notes… Jinder and Sami tearing it up like last week, Jinder avoiding Randy, Zayn vs. Owens, Zayn taking a beatdown, an awesome AJ Styles hot tag, AJ taking a beatdown, and a BIIIIG Orton hot tag. Fun way of using a bunch of guys… if your show is going to feel like a house show, it should be more this and less Bray vs. Dean-O. Jinder threw a hell of a knee and a hell of a big boot in this match. Typically fun WWE 6-man finish run and then JINDER PINS ORTON! JINDER PINS ORTON!
TALKING SMACK (5/9/17)
SmackDown was taped early in the day (on U.S. time) so Talking Smack was Renee and JBL bantering about wrestlers SmackDown is trying to give some steam (Jinder, Sami, KO, Breezango, Usos, Charlotte, Naomi, Mojo and Dolph) and some backstage interviews with Mojo, Dolph, and the Usos. Another awesome Usos promo here, otherwise pretty skippable though I do like the idea of spending some time talking up folk getting pushed.
205 LIVE (5/9/17)
You give a bunch of talented wrestlers their own show, Corey & Tom on commentary, and it’s not clicking – SOMETHING IS BEING DONE WRONG!!!
This show at least had one good match and one REALLY GOOD match.
Mustafa Ali vs. Tony Nese was good, though another really solid 205 Live match in the 205 Live vacuum. Tony Nese is a guy I am pretty indifferent on although he does kinda play a decent role as generic cruiserweight strongman douchebag… just most of it is unspectacular and kind of a microcosm of the disappointment of 205 Live. Love Ali.
Brian Kendrick vs. Akira Tozawa was a great matchup on a wrestling show nobody cares about. I know the point of wrestling is to get over, but this was an incredible match to deafening silence. The thought came to my mind that this is basically cruiserweight Regal/Finlay with more flying. Everything these guys throw HITS, including the topes. There’s a Dragon suplex to Captain’s Hook that Kendrick does here that is just incredible. Tons of great counters towards the end, check this: Tozawa counters a Sliced Bread, smashes Kendrick with an elbow, spin kicks Kendrick twice, avoids an elbow and rolls under Kendrick and hits a backdrop – just wow. Or this: Tozawa misses a senton, Kendrick applies a Captain’s Hook, Tozawa desperately fights out and rolls through, Tozawa misses a pump kick and Kendrick tries a schoolboy, Kendrick just CLOCKS Tozawa with a boot to the face and sets up a Sliced Bread, Tozawa counters with a front cradle that has Kendrick desperately reaching the ropes as the 3 is counted. Just so much WHOA here. Tozawa rules and Kendrick knows how to work with him.
Beyond that, thought Aries fully committing to chugging that beer in the toast with Jacky Boy was incredible. Also, the Noam Dar shit is NXT Redemption level. Also, CEDRIC’S BACK SOON!
NXT (5/10/17)
This was a rock solid wrestling show, lots of strong TakeOver: Chicago build. Aleister Black continues to gain steam – WHAT A SQUASH this week, this time over a big fella as opposed to a little fella which was sweet. WHAT A KNEE!!! WHAT A KICK!!!! Incredible stuff, love that Blacks works CHARACTER into his matches. Guy has PRESENCE. CONFIDENCE. It’s tremendous.
I like how I knew barely anything about Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate before 2017, and now they are having my most anticipated match at TakeOver: Chicago (which I’ll be at live. Gotta love THE MACHINE.
“Remember when NXT didn’t feel like developing characters,” I THOUGHT to myself as I got emotional watching a Ruby Riot video package.
Nikki Cross as a recently released feral child not able to successfully do a sit-down interview is AMAZING. What a little segment here… fantastic.
Nigel’s name for #DIY, “a couple of likeable fellows,” is a far better name than Hashtag DIY. I cannot believe I marked out for Tino’s music hitting to confront them – what have I become? Highly enjoy that Tino’s theme drops “3-car garage” as a sign of being rich – Tino is a man who very humbly brags about his middle-of-the-road socioeconomic status. Tino & Riddick Moss vs. #DIY was OK… I like the idea of Tino & Moss but they’re very Natural Born Thrillers right now. Very formula tag with Ciampa taking a beating and Johnny Wrestling going on a run. Sweet camera angle on Johnny’s tope here – almost first person. Think Tino wasn’t ready to take Ciampa’s knee off the apron towards the end.
Hideo Itami vs. Roddy Strong was the main event and it was good but disappointing. Felt like two guys who had a classic in em like 5 years ago. Enjoyed the pre-match interviews in gorilla before their music hit. This built steadily and had some fun stuff in it, but never really got bumping. Matwork + chops + kicks. And oh MAN were those chops and kicks nasty, but still. Real physical, real sweaty. Couple sweet backbreakers. Liked the finish, at least, with an exhausted Roddy all dazed just PUSHING Itami and going down to the GTS. A match like this can be fun, but is also designed to hit some kind of peak towards the end, and when it doesn’t it just falls flat. Good, not great.
MAIN EVENT (5/10/17)
Welp. I wasn’t expecting Aleister Black. So that was cool. As was London’s pop when they realized it was him. Even Aleister Black gets put in a chinlock on Main Event, but it was a blast seeing him kick Curt Hawkins around for a bit. Gran Metalik vs. Noam Dar was the other match. Is WWE purposely keeping Metalik away from the stink that is 205 Live? Interested in the thought process here. He’s a spectacular fella, but these cold formula matches that nobody watches don’t seem like the best endorsement. And Noam Dar won. Shrug emoji.
WWE TV Match of the Week: Akira Tozawa vs. THE Brian Kendrick was the best thing I saw this week… when the story of 205 Live is written their series will be one of the highlights.
WWE TV MVP of the Week: Was wondering if anybody did anything more impactful than The Usos promo this week, and then I thought about Aleister Black. Yeah. Him.
U.K. week on the main roster was not good, but 205 Live had a couple strong matches and NXT picked up the slack with a really solid show.
RAW: 3/10
SmackDown: 4/10
205 Live: 6/10
NXT: 6/10
