=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
Friday November 6, 2009
=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
11/5 Superstars TV results: Santino Marella over Chavo Guerrero; Jack Swagger over Primo; Paul Burchill over Tyler Reks; and Chris Jericho over Finlay.
11/5 Smackdown/ECW house show results from Frankfurt, Germany: Cryme Tyme over The Hart Dynasty; Yoshi Tatsu over Zack Ryder; Ezekiel Jackson over Goldust; Mickie James won a Diva battle royal; Christian over William Regal; John Morrison over Dolph Ziggler, Matt Hardy & Rey Mysterio in a four-way; Drew McIntyre over Finlay; Michelle McCool over Mickie James; and The Undertaker over CM Punk in a casket match. Show drew around 8,000. We have a more detailed report in today's mailbag.
We're looking for brief reader reports from the WWE shows this weekend in Brussels, Belgium; Dusseldorf, Germany; and Newcastle, Minehead, Liverpool and Nottingham, England to you2us@wrestlingglobe.com.
Smackdown TV tonight has Batista vs. Matt Hardy; CM Punk vs. R-Truth; Rey Mysterio vs. Mike Knox; Dolph Ziggler & The Hart Dynasty vs. Cryme Time & John Morrison; Beth Phoenix vs. Brittney Carter; and Drew McIntrye vs. Jimmy Wang Yang.
***
A memo leaked to us by a senior cable industry source reveals that WWE is planning to raise the suggested retail price of it's PPV specials by $5 to $44.95 in the United States, starting with the Royal Rumble on January 31. This appears to be a move to offset losses by reducing the numbers of PPV events from 14 to 13 in 2010.
The memo read:
"As part of our ongoing efforts to maximize the WWE pay-per-view business, we have made several changes to our branding strategy in 2009. A key priority was to rename and retheme several of our events to better describe those pay-per-views and to build interest for our fans through new “hooks” and stronger themes. In contemplating the future of the pay-per-view business, we would like to make you aware of two important changes we are making to our pay-per-view strategy in 2010.
1. WWE will increase the suggested retail price of its pay-per-view events (excluding WrestleMania), by $5.00, to $44.95. This change in the SRP shall become effective commencing with Royal Rumble, which will be held on January 31, 2010. This will be the first price increase for non-WrestleMania events since 2006. Please note that the SRP for WrestleMania will remain $54.95."
2. WWE is eliminating one of our June pay-per-view events therefore reducing the number of pay-per-view events in 2010 to 13 events. Please find the preliminary 2010 WWE pay-per-view event schedule below and attached."
The strategy of reducing our pay-per-view calendar to one event per month (except for October) achieves both creative and business objectives for WWE. It allows us to better develop compelling storylines and arcs in order to motivate our fans to purchase more pay-per-views. This change also allows for increased marketing windows for each event, during which we can more effectively communicate our sales message."
The memo also contained a calendar of events for 2010 which is listed below by event, date, location and arena:
Royal Rumble
Sunday, January, 31, 2010
Atlanta, GA
Philips Arena
Elimination Chamber
Sunday, February 21, 2010
St. Louis, MO
Scottrade Center
WrestleMania XXVI
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Phoenix, AZ
University of Phoenix
Backlash
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Baltimore, MD
1st Mariner Arena
Extreme Rules
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Oakland, CA
TBD
WWE The Bash
Sunday, June 20, 2010
TBD
TBD
TBD
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Kansas City, MO
Sprint Center
SummerSlam
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Los Angeles, CA
Staples Center
Night of Champions
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Chicago, IL
Allstate Arena
Hell in the Cell
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Dallas, TX
American Airlines Center
WWE Bragging Rights
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Minneapolis, MN
Target Center
Survivor Series
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Miami, FL
American Airlines Arena
WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Houston, TX
Toyota Center
***
Dennis Miller is confirmed to guest Raw on December 14 in Corpus Christi, TX. He will host the Slammy Awards during a special three-hour show.
Anyone get their Wrestlemania tickets today?
Edge is signing autographs in Sydney, Australia next Wednesday at the Westpoint Blacktown.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING NEWS
11/5 Impact TV results from Orlando, FL: Beer Money over Eric Young & Rob Terry; Desmond Wolfe over Cody Beaner; Tara over Hamada; Bobby Lashley over Homicide; Taylor Wilde over Madison Rayne; AJ Styles over Christopher Daniels with Samoa Joe as the special referee; and Matt Morgan & Hernandez over Team 3D.
TNA are back on the road this weekend. They run tonight in Murray, KY and Sunday in Jackson, TN with AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe on top.
There is also a special charity event on Monday at the Wildhorse Saloon to benefit The Boys and Girls Clubs of Middle Tennessee. Full line up is AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe; Bobby Lashley vs. Scott Steiner; Beer Money & Frank Wycheck (former NFL tight end) vs. World Elite; Abyss vs. Rhino in a Monster's Ball match; Tara vs. Velvet Sky; D'Angelo Dinero vs. Suicide vs. Homicide in a three-way; and Hernandez vs. Kip James.
***
Dixie Carter's talent meeting prior to the TV tapings this past week is online at http://tinyurl.com/yagw7zx. It's a less abrasive version speeches that Eric Bischoff gave to the WCW locker room in the late 90s; one in which Raven walked out and much later Chris Benoit, Perry Saturn, Dean Malenko and Eddie Guerrero. One former industry power-player analyzed Dixie's speech by saying she is no Stephanie McMahon but is moving in the right direction: "I don't think she's in Stephanie's league as a ruthless businessperson, but this is how she chose to publicly address the members of her staff and locker room. If she went this far, she should have offered releases to talent. It's been done in WWE in the past. Bischoff did it in WCW and only Raven took him up on it. It was done in ECW. She wanted to position herself in public and behind the scenes as a strong leader. I don't think she came off as strong as Stephanie, and that's the standard she needs to live up to when she says she wants to go forward and step up in the industry. She didn't do anything wrong, and came across like a person who had belief in the direction she chose. She also didn't instil any confidence, either."
The updated lineup for Turning Point next Sunday is AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Daniels in a three-way for the TNA title; Kurt Angle vs. Desmond Wolfe; Bobby Lashley vs. Scott Steiner; The Machine Guns vs. The British Invasion for the tag titles; Tara vs. Awesome Kong in a steel cage; Amazing Red vs. Homicide; and ODB, Taylor Wilde & Sarita vs. The Beautiful People.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Today's Diva of the Day is Awesome Kong at http://tinyurl.com/yfw9egd.
Shimmer has a DVD taping on Sunday in Berwyn, IL at the Eagles Club. The show sold out but there is an after party for anyone in the Chicago area that wants to hang out and party with the wrestlers. Address is 39TEN Lounge, 3910 S. Harlem Ave, Lyons, IL. Begins at 8:30pm, lasts til closing. All ages welcome until midnight. No cover. Among those in attendance will be: MsChif, The Canadian Ninjas, Ayako Hamada, Amazing Kong, Cheerleader Melissa, Sara Del Rey, Wesna Busic (w/ Annie Social), Rain & Jetta (w/ Lacey), Allison Danger, Mercedes Martinez, Jessie McKay, Malia Hosaka, Cat Power, Tenille, Nikki Roxx, Portuguese Princess Ariel, Rachel Summerlyn, Kellie Skater, Daffney, and Melanie Cruise. More info on Shimmer at www.shimmerwrestling.com.
The Tampa Tribune has a story on Jimmy Hart supporting Brian Blair's opponent Irene Guy in the 2010 Republican primary for Florida's District 47 state House seat. Story is at http://tinyurl.com/yhwwhpo
Alex Marvex has a story on Dragon Gate with Gabe Sapolsky pushing tonight's PPV at http://tinyurl.com/yfvfbxb.
Candice Michelle will be signing autographs from 11 - 1pm on November 28 at The Frank & Son Collectible Show, 19649 E. San Jose Ave, City of Industry, CA. For more info, email Steve at celebritysignings@sbcglobal.net or go to www.ipanetwork.com ... Kevin Nash, Traci Brooks and SoCal Val will be signing autographs December 5 and 6 at Steel City Con in Monroeville, PA. For more info go to www.steelcitycon.com. Also, Nash and Amy "Lita" Dumas will be signing autographs from 11 - 2pm on December 19 at The Frank & Son Collectible Show, 19649 E. San Jose Ave, City of Industry, CA.
Brian Tramel is reporting Memphis area wrestling promoter Bert Prentice came home from the hospital on Tuesday and said he is now cancer free.
Today is the sixth anniversary of the passing of Mike "Crash Holly" Lockwood at the much too young age of 32.
WRESTLING GLOBE MAILBAG
Me and a friend decided on short notice to visit the house show in Frankfurt yesterday. We got some good seats (approx. tenth row) and from my thinking the arena was almost packed, I would say around 8.000 people or so.
Opener Cryme Tyme vs. Tyson Kidd and D.H. Smith was the right thing to open the show with. Shad and JTG knew how to get the crowd hot, for the start they received huge pops. Match was solid, classical architecture, strong heel offense from the start, hot tag, face victory after turbulence in the ring.
Next up Zack Ryder vs. Yoshi Tatsu. Crowd was almost dead during the whole match. It seemed, that nobody in the arena watches ECW and knows those two are.
Ezekiel Jackson vs. Goldust was kind of a squash. First heel victory today for which also nobody seemed to care. Ezekiel is an impressive figure.
Diva battle royal for a title shoot tonight was what you expected, Mickie James and Beth Phoenix being the main actresses. Towards the end of the match we realised that the battle royal was not top rope since Mickie kicked Beth through the ropes below and Natalya over the second rope for the win.
ECW title match Christian vs. William Regal. Regal came to the ring with huge heat. He took the mic and discredited Germans "I could never possibly suck like a German", nice draw for even more heat. Christian seems to be loved here, hugest pop until now. Christian interacted with the crowd so the start of the match took a while. Good mat wrestling in the beginning. Match seemed to long, but not to long and having Christian win with a not so good looking Unprettier. Nice long celebration in the ring afterwards. You could tell that Christian loves to be in the ring. Match of the night psychology wise.
Next up a fatal four way for the Intercontinental title. John Morrison vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Matt Hardy vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. Match of the night entertainment wise.The faces started of by beating down Ziggler. Afterwards Matt and Rey teamed against Morrison and then it was a free for all. Intense match with lots of near falls, all signature moves and a win by Morrison in the end. After the match the three faces celebrated together on the ramp.
After a 15 minute break Drew McIntyre entered the ring almost no reaction. He drew good heat with defamation of Germans and even read some sentences in German, which I thought was really good. Of course Finlay then had a good stand with the crowd. He even took a German flag with him to the ring. After a little bit of drama the match had some good mat wrestling stuff. Drew won with a roll up with his feet on the ring ropes. Finlay did not.
Diva title match Michelle McCool vs. Mickie James was a normal diva match without particular highlights, won by Michelle.
Main event was, as announced, a casket match between The Undertaker and CM Punk. Punk received good pops at his entrance, and had an argument with a fan ringside. Undertakers entrance was the loudest the arena had heard this evening. During the match Punk had much fear of the casket. Highlights were an almost-rope walk of Taker, a nice chokeslam, a beautiful GTS and the chair usage of Punk against Taker. Taker won as expected after an nicely executed tombstone. Celebration afterwards was fairly short for his "last" tour.
Overall a solid around three hour show with good work by some talent (Drew McIntyre, participants of the fatal fourway, Christian, Regal, Cryme Tyme).
We waited behind the arena for around an hour (maybe 50 meters away from the buses, behind a fence) to meet some talent. Finlay and Matt did wave, but that's all we got.
We really like your newsletter, its the best source for overseas wrestling fans to be up to date.
Florian Keppler
=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Missed an issue? Go to: http://lists.topica.com/lists/wrestlingglobe
Please send any mailbag letters or news tips to: you2us@wrestlingglobe.com
----Wrestling Globe Newsletter by Mike Aldren - All the latest professional wrestling news, gossip and occasional opinion. WGN is read by industry power players, many top wrestlers and thousands of fans from all around the world.
