SEScoops Mailbag: Should WWE Move Raw Because Of The NFL?

SEScoops Mailbag for September 3rd

(submit YOUR questions to sescoops@gmail.com)

Q: I know this would never happen, but seeing that football season is coming up soon and that tends to drag down Raw’s rating for 4 months, do you think WWE would be able to perform better in the male demographic on a Tuesday or Wednesday? – Donnie P.

A: Maybe, but the difference would be slight. Raw has shifted to Thursdays on occasion and always performed worse because people are creatures of habit. Monday has always been wrestling night and moving Raw to a different slot would harm their viewership rather than help it.

Q: When will WWE expose who the mystery GM is? – Justin

A: When Michael Cole is good and ready. Oops.

Q: Did the old territory system die before or after WrestleMania 3? – Andrew

A: Certain territories were still alive after that third Mania show. It wasn’t a singular date where they all dropped dead, they were phased out through the late 80s/early 90s.

Q: Do I need to graduate from high school in order to join WWE? -Johnny

A: You need to graduate from high school regardless of whether or not you join WWE.

Q: On the “Rise and Fall of ECW” DVD, it states that ECW was the highest rated show on TNN, or at least that’s what Ron Buffone says. What sort of numbers was the show doing and how did it compare with what Raw and Nitro were doing at the time? Also, what was the best PPV number ECW ever did? – Paul Snaith

A: The numbers the TNN show got were nowhere close to what Raw and Nitro were doing, even in the dying days of WCW. They were more comparable to TNA Impact or NXT on SyFy, generally wavering between an 0.7 and 1.1. Highest rated edition was a 1.3 (1/21/00 and 3/3/00) while the lowest rated was the final episode (10/6/00) at an 0.6. As for their PPV numbers, I believe the best one the original ECW ever did was for their second to last show, “Massacre on 34th Street” (12/3/00), but I don’t have the exact number. For the record, the first ECW “One Night Stand” show in 2005 did the greatest number of buys by leaps and bounds, though it was a WWE production that received hype on their programming leading up to the event.

Q: Which gimmick match do you consider pretty funny when watching it now? For example, Abdullah the Butcher getting the electric chair, Giant-Hogan monster truck tug-of-war, Big Bossman vs. Al Snow double cage match with guard dogs, or Triple H vs. Henry Godwin “Hog Pen” match). – Anonymous

A: They’re all pretty ridiculous to look back on. I recall years ago on Raw during the Attitude Era there being a divas match on some sort aptly dubbed an “Over the Top, Off with Your Top” match by Jerry Lawler. Not necessarily as ridiculous as the ones you mentioned, but I still laugh when I think of that clever match title.

Q: This is in regards to the recent A.J. Styles interview where he seemed uncharacteristically critical toward TNA management. As we all know, Fortune launched a program with EV2.0 shortly afterward. Do you think the fans get worked? Seems right up Russo’s alley and the timing seems to point in that direction. – Mike

A: It’s entirely possible. Styles does not seem to have a history of working his public interviews in that manner, and many of the points he hit on are factually true. It is a fact that other wrestlers in TNA legitimately feel the way, so if it was Russo pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes, congratulations. But that doesn’t change the fact that you still have people working in your company who are unhappy and turning it into a storyline won’t do much to help locker room morale.

Q: I’ve been watching wrestling since I was a kid in the early 70’s and was of the mind that Bruno Sammartino was a God. I understand the situation between Bruno and Vince is pretty bad, so I’m not getting my hopes up for the Hall of Fame. I was able to take some comfort in the fact that he was at least pictured in the opening montage that runs prior to every WWE show. However, I’ve noticed he’s been replaced. Is there any reason behind slighting the guy who carried the (then) WWWF title, if not the company, for a total combined twelve years over his two reigns? – Bill (War Machine) Lawless

A: I wouldn’t read too much into it. Yes, there is still animosity between the two sides, mostly from Bruno’s side as WWE has made numerous attempts to get him into the HOF before and he’s always turned them down. They featured him in their opening montage for quite some time before replacing him, but they also replaced others recently including Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon, who has always been one of Vince’s favorites. They simply felt it was time to update the montage.

Q: Where do you go to watch Ring of Honor? Is it not on TV because I can’t find it, is it an online thing? – Nathan B.

A: ROH is most definitely on television and can be found Monday nights on HDNet. If you’re cable provider does not offer HDNet, you can easily find full episodes on YouTube.

Keep those questions coming to sescoops@gmail.com and remember to include your name!