WWE Snark-Free Zone

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC58TAVprS4

 

One of my biggest memories of Randy Savage

 

I don't remember that at all, great stuff. Jake was such a great heel, too, till he went nuts irl. Wow, Savage & Piper as faces there, that's almost surreal. But then, they both had that odd distinction later in their careers that, no matter how bad they were supposed to be, nobody would accept them as heels anymore because they were so popular.

[RexMundi]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

Gonna miss Randy. One of if not the best workers that ever hit the business.

 

~Rex

[Cygnia]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

Meanwhile...

 

BRISTOL, PA. (MAY 21, 2011)–Ring of Honor Wrestling owner, Cary Silkin, announced today the sale of the promotion to Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., one of the largest television broadcasters in the country and which owns and operates, programs, or provides sales services to 58 television stations in 35 markets across the United States.

 

ROH, currently the third largest wrestling promotion in the country, just celebrated its ninth anniversary, and Mr. Silkin is excited about taking the next step towards increasing the company’s visibility and expanding its operations.

 

“We have been waiting for and working for this opportunity for quite some time”, he said, “and of our 9 years in business, there has been no better roster of wrestlers than this one to expose the ROH product to the masses. With Sinclair’s resources and many avenues of distribution, we believe many new fans around the world will be as captivated as those who have followed Ring of Honor over the years.”

 

The month of September will see the debut of the new Ring of Honor television program which will be syndicated across the Sinclair network of stations, and with it, ROH will become the only wrestling promotion in the United States with a major, multi-market presence on broadcast TV. But if you don’t live in a market with a Sinclair station, fear not, says Mr. Silkin. “Through our revamped website we will be able to make the TV show available to anyone in the world with internet access.”

 

Sinclair officials are enthused about the project as well.

 

“We are very excited about this acquisition,” commented Steve Marks, COO of Sinclair’s Television Group. “Television and professional wrestling have a long history of successful partnerships and driving viewership. Unfortunately, the broadcast networks have not protected that relationship, allowing professional wrestling to migrate to cable network distribution. We believe that the powerful promotional platform that our TV stations provide, coupled with our 22% share of the U.S. TV households, will allow ROH to achieve name brand recognition and grow its share of the wrestling market. When you consider the makeup of our station mix and the number of CW, MYTV and FOX affiliates we operate, this is a perfect fit for our viewer demographics.” Mr. Marks also noted, “Longer-term, we can envision syndicating ROH wrestling to broadcasters in markets where Sinclair does not have a presence, and even internationally.”

 

Mr. Silkin assures the ROH fans worldwide that they will be seeing the same exciting, hard-hitting style of pro wrestling that they have become accustomed to. “We have established the name Ring of Honor as synonymous with the best in-ring action in the sport. The only thing that will change is that it will now be easier for fans around the world to follow. Our visibility will increase greatly–our production will be upgraded–but the work ethic of our incredible talent roster and our athletic style of wrestling will remain the same. This is what our fans have told us they want, and we will continue to give it to them.”

 

The current front office staff, including Cary Silkin, Syd Eick, and Ross Abrams, will remain with ROH going forward. Hunter Johnston, a favorite of ROH fans for years as the masked grappler Delirious, will still handle matchmaking, Jim Cornette will remain as executive producer, and other familiar faces like ring announcer Bobby Cruise and senior referee Todd Sinclair will be in place.”

 

Additionally, longtime wrestling broadcaster Kevin Kelly, already the voice of ROH internet pay-per-views, will assume the TV play-by-play chair this fall. Veteran NWA and WCW promoter Gary Juster will come aboard to be in charge of live event operations, which are planned to continue in current ROH markets as well as expanding into new locations concurrent with the increased TV exposure.

 

Mr. Cornette, who along with Mr. Johnston, will be in charge of talent and matchmaking, sees this as a new beginning for pro wrestling. “This is not old-school wrestling, and it’s not sports entertainment,” said Mr. Cornette. “This is wrestling for the 21st century, a new style developed by fresh, young stars that incorporates wrestling, mixed martial arts and high-flying, high-risk action with unique personalities, and it’s showcased by a sports-based presentation completely different from any other product out there. In my 30 years in the sport, it’s the most exciting live-event wrestling experience I’ve seen, and I’m thrilled to help bring it to broadcast TV.”

 

A major press conference, open to wrestling press and mainstream media alike, is being planned for Baltimore on Friday, June 24th. This event will feature a number of the ROH staff and wrestlers both announcing news about ROH’s future and answering questions. The media event will be presided over by new ROH COO, Joe Koff. Mr. Koff, a longtime Sinclair executive with an extensive background in TV sales and management, also has experience in pro wrestling television production and syndication. Most visible of his projects may have been the first-ever live, prime time syndicated pro wrestling events, the Battle of the Belts, which aired from 1985 to 1987. These Championship Wrestling from Florida-based cards were broadcast live to a syndicated network of stations and may be best-remembered for the classic Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham NWA World Title contest from St. Petersburg.

 

The press event will kick off a weekend which includes ROH’s next internet pay-per-view event, “Best In The World 2011,” live from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Sunday, June 26th at 4PM EST. In addition to all the top stars on the ROH roster, this event will feature the return of some favorite stars from Ring of Honor’s past, and can be ordered by anyone in the world with internetaccess through Gofightlive.tv for only $14.95. More information about Ring of Honor can be obtained through their website, www.rohwrestling.com.

[Twilight]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

As long as Sinclair Television Group doesn't interfere with the booking and provides decent monetary support for ROH, I'm ok with this. Especially if it means folks like Kevin Steen can start wrestling there again.

[RexMundi]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

I smell.....ECW. ROH going for the Hammerstein Ballroom and TV support that I can look for on at least 4 channels in this area.....SMART move (you can't even mention the hammerstein Ballroom around us old ECW people without a chain reaction of Awesome). They won't steal to much from Vince, but they will Slaughter TNA/iMpact.

 

~Rex

[Psybolt]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

I have been watching the Randy Savage Ultimate Collection I picked up today in a two-pack with the John Morrison Rock Star DVD. Savage had some really great matches over the years. The Wrestlemania 8 match vs. Ric Flair was really intense. And he can drag a classic match out of the Ultimate Warrior the year before. Savage had a great connection with the crowd. They always reacted/supported him.

[death tribble]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

I had a gander at the WWE site to see if they had anything on Randy Savage's death. Lo and behold they have videoes and a biog up.

Also Twitter reactions from various stars. The present ones don't mean a lot but Jericho and Bret Hart's ones are sincere. Piper couldn't as he was too upset.

Nothing from the top of the office although Jim Ross did.

[Cygnia]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

Punk's outfit last night was in tribute to Savage as well.

[Burrito Boy]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

That was the best episode of Raw in a long time. Bret Hart came out, Big Show got run over, Michael Cole was humiliated, Alex Riley beat the hell out of The Miz, and there was a tribute to Randy Savage. It seemed like the old days again, which made me happy.

[RexMundi]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

Was a good show last night. Liking the Heel turn for R Truth as well.

 

~Rex

[Cygnia]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

Wasn't happy with the Kharma bit thought. Unfortunately, it sounds like Vince decided to put his grip into the angle.

 

from WrestleZone

 

"It was apparently a "wild as hell" producers meeting with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon and top lieutenant (and son-in-law) Triple H today, as the boss felt like changing plans heading into the summer months.

 

"Vince knows he wants Rock vs Cena for next year's WrestleMania, and he thinks everything else is up in the air and up for grabs at the moment," a key WWE insider exclusively told WrestleZone this evening, "several plans changed today, and I think it's very fair to say that all plans changing right now .. except for Rock vs Cena, which is as etched in stone as anything ever can be with Vince McMahon in charge!"

 

As an example, Vince apparently changed gears with his approach to Kia Stevens, the former Awesome Kong, now known as Kharma. "That segment was actually discussed over a week ago, and then it was scrapped in a way that no one thought it should ever be discussed again," we were told, "all of a sudden, Vince decided to go for it, all the way, and push it hard out of nowhere. The writers are totally on eggshells again because they don't know which way the wind is blowing, and Vince is changing his mind at every turn."

 

In the meantime, we were told Vince was "more hands on than even before" today, demanding to have the talent rehearse every line, and the writers and producers make sure every word on the scripts was rehearsed over and over again.

 

"It's going to be an interesting summer," another WWE source told us, "Vince is just in one of his moods.""

[RexMundi]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

Vince may be in a mood, but then that mood may be, buying his own cable channel.

 

~Rex

[Psybolt]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

Sounds as if Kharma is pregnant.

 

 

 

 

Whoa.

 

And it sounds like Maryse is a bitch. She made some snide remarks about the other divas heading to McDonalds. Obviously a slam on Kharma's weight.

[wrestlinggeek]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

Yeah, all in alll, Monday was a good Raw. Except, of course, for the bit with Kharma. She comes out, there are six Divas in the ring, including Beth Phoenix, who could present the most credible physical challenge to her, and Gail Kim, with whom she has such history in TNA. I think "Cool! We're finally gonna see some good action out of her!" Instead, Kharma just sits down in the ring and starts mumbling to herself and crying. I'm not sure how long the segment really was, but it felt like at least 10 minutes. I was surprised not to hear the audience start the "Boooooring! Booooooring!" chant. But, hey, maybe there's some big payoff planned for down the road. Tonight, Impact. I'm interested to see what's gonna happen now with the X Division, after the fallout of last week.

[Blue]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

Yeh, i wasn't going to bring that up due to the thread's "no snark" rule, but since it's on the table already...

 

I liked the pre-recorded Karma vignettes. I didn't like the "divas frozen in fear" thing. When she comes to the ring and there are 8 girls I figured they'd do a standard squash with her somehow beating all of them (which would have been a bad move; I could see her taking out 3, 4 at the most, just to make her a monster, but let's not get silly). Then she does nothing, and does it on camera for too long. I'm thinking "Can we move on already?" I can't even guess where Vince is headed with this. If it's a repentence thing, he's pulled the trigger on it way too early. If she's insane, that needs to be portrayed better. Maybe she's possessed?

 

In any event, what a waste of 8 divas in a ring. Especially since we don't see Beth Phoenix all that much these days.

[Cygnia]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

Rumor going around is that in real life Kharma is pregnant and this is a way to get her off TV. If this is true, I'm still not happy at the way it was handled.

[Burrito Boy]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

Belated Raw comments:

 

R-Truth's entrance was hilarious. And his in ring rant was great--especially the bit about being in Richmond, Virginia, the capitol of the Confederacy. Usually, I'm shouting "Shut up and wrestle!" when they start the show with a lot of talk but I was seriously entertained this time. I liked R-Truth before and I'm starting to like him even more now that he's a heel who's going crazy. To steal a phrase from Tazz: Shades of JBL.

[Psybolt]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

R- Truth has definitely seen his career revitalized. Unfortunately, he is scheduled to face Cena at the next PPV and that can't be good.

[RexMundi]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

R-Truth....Heel Turn as a nut case.......All Hail the Little Jimmy's out there 'cause the dudes great as a Heel. Likewise for Christian over on Smackdown, and the WWE, NEEDS a batch of Solid stand alone Heels.

 

~Rex

[The Main Man]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

I have to admit, I never knew that R-Truth could be so entertaining as a heel. And now I fear he will lose to Cena and thus his heat.

 

It also seems that an important lesson is emerging: team up with John Morrison if you want to later make it as a heel in the WWE. That said, I still don't care for the Miz, but he's become... tolerable for me. He still doesn't sell his opponents' promos like they are even remotely credible opponents and he acts like he's just waiting for his opponent to finish so he can monologue - I mean all of that in a performance sense, not in a character sense. He also still holds for pops like he's a face.

 

Compare him to R Truth, who does take his opponents seriously and who doesn't give a shit if the fans want to chant "Little Jimmy" with him or not. That's a heel in my book.

[slikmar]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

I haven't been watching, but one thing that sounds like it is missing is the heel afraid of the face thing. I used to love when you would see HHH look up and, for instance, going into hell in the cell Foley became Cactus Jack. The sheer terror on HHH's face was worth it. Sounds like none of the current heels have that ability, but they should. Miz should be one of those.

[wrestlinggeek]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

I haven't been watching' date=' but one thing that sounds like it is missing is the heel afraid of the face thing. I used to love when you would see HHH look up and, for instance, going into hell in the cell Foley became Cactus Jack. The sheer terror on HHH's face was worth it. Sounds like none of the current heels have that ability, but they should. Miz should be one of those.[/quote']

 

Sheamus, of all people, can let a bit of credible fear into his face. Watch some of his matches with Randy Ortan, especially when he just avoids a punt to the head.

[Psybolt]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

Sheamus' date=' of all people, can let a bit of credible fear into his face. Watch some of his matches with Randy Ortan, especially when he just avoids a punt to the head.[/quote']

 

I like Sheamus. I think he has a great future. He can really bring it when in with the right opponent. And he's still relatively young. He has a great look. I think he could be a real star moving forward.

[Psybolt]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

Randy Orton has a concussion. I hope he will be able to give us a match with Christian on Sunday. Gonna be seeing Capitol Punishment and that was the match I was most looking forward to.

[Blue]

Re: WWE Snark-Free Zone

 

I heard that too and had a feeling they'd turn it into a three-way match so they could drop him out early, let the other guys take the bumps, but it's not sounding that way.

 

I guess the Tough Enough numbers were pretty decent, which says to me that USA will probably order a second season. If Stone Cold is back then I'm likely to catch it periodically.