As part of WWE’s 2014 Second Quarter earnings results released on Thursday morning, WWE also reported pay-per-view buyrate information for WrestleMania, Extreme Rules, Payback and Money in the Bank.
These figures are for traditional pay-per-view buys, not including people who watched the shows on the WWE Network.
WrestleMania XXX drew 690,000 buys, down from 1,039,000 last year
Extreme Rules drew 108,000 buys, down from 231,000 last year
Payback drew 67,000 buys, down from 186,000 last year
Money In the Bank drew 122,000 buys, down from 199,000 last year
We are a little over halfway through the year. With Money in the Bank behind us, the WWE will now focus on building up its second biggest pay-per-view of the year, SummerSlam. With that said, I felt it would be interesting to look at the top five matches from the second quarter of 2014. I included full match videos and highlights where possible, but WWE licensing restrictions made it difficult at times. (I also apologize for the terrible music in a few of the videos.)
5. Dolph Ziggler vs. Bad News Barrett (April 14th Raw)
Dolph Ziggler is rarely given more than ten minutes to perform anymore, so it is definitely worth enjoying when he is given enough time to show off his talent. In this match, Ziggler squared off with Bad News Barrett in the first round of the Intercontinental Championship tournament. Both superstars put on a great show, with Barrett ultimately winning after hitting a Bad News Bullhammer Elbow. The action was fast paced in this contest, with both guys showing why they have main event talent. This would start Barrett’s push to win the title, although he would of course later be stripped as a result of injury. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdwcxG9A8UU
4. Daniel Bryan vs. Kane (Extreme Rules)
This would end up begin Daniel Bryan’s only title defense, as he was stripped of the title just a few weeks later due to injury. He made the most of his time with the strap, however, by engaging in a great contest with Kane. Of all the matches on the list, this is definitely the one that had the most old-school feel to it, with the action spilling to the back of the arena at one point. Bryan also used a forklift to help secure the victory by delivering a diving headbutt from the top of the vehicle. Ultimately, the match was a throwback to the Attitude Era, providing fans with a simultaneous glimpse into both the past and future of the company. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ReEU8WzzQo
WWE announced an estimate of 107,000 buys for their “Extreme Rules” pay-per-view in May. By comparison, the same event produced 209,000 pay-per-view buys in 2013, when the WWE Network was not available.
According to estimates, roughly 40,000 of the 107,000 buys for this year’s event came from North America, despite the fact that major distributors such as DirecTV, Dish Network and some cable companies did not carry the show. Roughly 67,000 buys came from international orders.
The following are highlights of a new Appleton Post-Crescent interview with Hornswoggle:
On when fans starting taking him seriously: “Man, I still don’t think they do,” he said. “I get four, five tweets literally every day saying, ‘Why do you still have a job?’ And I guess it’s staying under the radar more than anything (laughs). I really think this whole storyline and these matches with (El) Torito has really made people look at me like, wow, he can do this.”
On stealing the show at Extreme Rules in the “WeeLC” match: “Before this, I really didn’t have matches. I’d wrestle a little boogeyman or I’d juggle around or use squirt guns, but now I’m having legit wrestling matches. Our WeeLC match at Extreme Rules stole the show. I don’t care what anyone says. It was a pre-show to the pay-per-view and I will go to bat for that match against any match that was on that night. That match stole the show because people didn’t expect what we did and the crowd tore the roof off.”
“New Jersey fans are the most ruthless fans in the country for booing and hating on whatever’s in the ring if they don’t like it. We had them chanting, ‘This is awesome’ and ‘Holy (expletive)’ the whole match. That’s when I realized I can do this. It felt so good to finally have one of those moments after eight years. It was great and I really think people are starting to take me seriously and realize that I’m more than a circus act.”
When it comes to Batista’s latest run, one could argue that management hit him with a bait and switch. He was promised that he would win the Royal Rumble and go on to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. Instead, he was practically booed out of the building after winning the Royal Rumble and ended up tapping out to the Yes Lock at WrestleMania to allow Daniel Bryan to win the championship.
As most probably know by now, Batista “quit” on this past week’s Raw, as he will be taking a few months off to promote his new movie Guardians of the Galaxy. Upon return after a several year hiatus, Batista represented what many feel is wrong with the current state of the WWE.
Batista did not win a title after returning, but he was involved in a memorable feud between Evolution and the Shield.
Instead of relying on the guys that work day in and day out to headline the biggest pay-per-views of the year, the WWE has instead relied upon part-time superstars such as the Rock and Brock Lesnar to headline their biggest events. The reliance on part-time superstars is one of the reasons a certain someone (*cough* CM Punk *cough*) decided to pack his bags and head home.
However, despite all of the criticism Batista has received since returning, one has to wonder if he earned the respect of fans. In my opinion, I think it is fair to say that he did just that.
In the end, Batista was promised the world but was basically handed a half-empty bag of peanuts. Following the Royal Rumble, which featured an extremely hostile Pittsburgh crowd, it became apparent that Batista’s wishes would not be granted. The company was quickly forced to turn him heel, which messed with the dynamics of the WrestleMania main event, which featured a heel champion in the form of Randy Orton.
– Alberto Del Rio became the first person to officially qualify for the WWE Money In The Bank ladder match this year. Del Rio advanced to the match, which as noted may be for a the WWE World Heavyweight Championship depending on Daniel Bryan’s status, by defeating Dolph Ziggler at Monday’s RAW.
– WWE released the latest list of the top-ten most-watched shows on the WWE Network for the week of May 26th through June 1st. You can check that out below.
Last night, the WWE Universe saw the soldiers overthrow their all-powerful leader, as the Shield destroyed the King of Kings and the rest of Evolution in a six-man tag elimination match.
The match was likely the last encounter between the two groups. Batista is scheduled to take time off starting tonight and there is little focus on the rivalry in tonight’s preview for Raw, so it seems unlikely that the program will be continued.
Roman Reigns dominated Evolution last night, ultimately winning the contest by pinning Triple H.
With Evolution in their rearview mirror, one has to wonder where the Shield will go from here. They have already feuded with a good portion of the roster, and none of the members are really in line to challenge for a title, so it will be interesting to see what happens with the Hounds of Justice tonight.
One thing is certain though: all of the members are being booked strong. This was evident last night, as all three members of the group picked up an elimination against Evolution, with Roman Reigns ultimately securing the victory by pinning Triple H after hitting a spear.
It is obvious that Roman Reigns is being groomed as the first breakout star of the group. There were rumors that he and Triple H are being booked to square off at SummerSlam, but after last night’s emphatic victory by the Shield, that idea seems a bit less likely.
Assuming last night’s contest is the final time Evolution and the Shield meet, it was a fitting conclusion to a great rivalry. Their first contest at Extreme Rules is without a doubt the match of the year thus far. It appeared that last night’s matchup would surpass their first meeting.
After all, it had all of the ingredients of a classic match. It had the backstory between the two groups, it had the no-holds barred stipulation that would make the contest more exciting, and it also had a sense of finality due to the fact that most knew Batista was leaving after the event. It failed to live up to the hype of their first meeting, however.
– The WWE Payback post-show on the WWE Network will only be a 30-minute show next Sunday night. WWE tried a one-hour post-show for the recent Extreme Rules pay-per-view, but ultimately felt like the show dragged on without a lot happening.
– The following is another clip of the new WWE “Greatest Factions” DVD and Blu-ray. This clip features former ECW faction, “Triple Threat.”
The following are highlights of a new interview with Short Sleeve Sampson:
His favorite moment in WWE: “There are definitely several different ones. The ones that stand out the most are the parodies. I was mini-Kurt Angle and I worked with Angle and did some work with John Cena as well. Both of them are very professional and fun to work with.–Another one was my Undertaker parody and working with him and JBL. I don’t know if getting chokeslammed by The Undertaker was the best thing in the world, but hey, how many people can say they’ve been chokeslammed by The Undertaker?”
His relationship with Vince McMahon: “It was a huge honor to work for him. I have a lot of respect for Vince and what he’s done, whether or not I agree with some of his decisions. He’s the head honcho and to work for the number one company is a great experience.”
Backstage heat reports at Extreme Rules: “I had been taking pictures throughout the day and after the weeLC match, I uploaded some of those pictures to my Facebook and social media pages. I was getting a lot of comments on the pictures and after an hour or so, someone commented on that particular photo: “If I were WWE, I’d fire Short Sleeve Sampson right now.” And I thought why would someone say that? So I looked at the picture and saw that Cena and the Wyatts were in it and I was surprised. So I deleted the picture. That was all done before their match took place that night. In that hour, people probably saved the photo and uploaded it, because the next day I saw that the photo went viral.
WWE never contacted me about it. I actually talked to them and everything’s been fine. There’s no heat. Had I known what was in the background, I never would have uploaded the picture. And I put up an apology for that online. I appreciate everything WWE has done for me and the opportunities they’ve given me and I would not want to burn any bridges.”
– It was announced on this week’s edition of WWE RAW, which was a taped show from the O2 Arena in London, England, that the headline match on this week’s edition of WWE Main Event, which airs live on the WWE Network on Tuesday night, will be Mark Henry vs. Cesaro.
– WWE revealed the ten most-watched shows on the WWE Network last week on RAW on Monday night. Below is a look at the latest top-ten:
1. WWE Main Event
2. WWE Slam City
3. WWE Legends House
4. RAW Pre-show
5. Extreme Rules 2014
6. WWE NXT
7. RAW Backstage Pass
8. WrestleMania Rewind
9. WrestleMania XXX
10. WWE Countdown
– John Cena has recently granted three more wishes through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Cena met with children at Extreme Rules in East Rutherford, RAW in Greenville and RAW in Greensboro. Cena has now granted well over 400 wishes.
– According to mixed reports, WWE Superstar Rob Van Dam suffered a shoulder injury during his match at the WWE live event in Glasgow, Scotland last Wednesday. Van Dam continued to work the tour after the Glasgow date, however, so the injury doesn’t appear to be anything serious.
It seemed as if the tag team division had been revitalized last year. However, almost as soon as fans started to become excited about the division again, half of the teams were broken up and it has been largely ignored.
The Usos are the current champions, and I think their pay-per-view exposure shows how confident the WWE is that the Uso brothers will draw. After all, they defended their tag titles on the pre-show at WrestleMania and did not appear in any capacity at Extreme Rules.
With that said, it would not take much effort to get the division back to where it was at the end of last year. Here are five current or potential tag teams that could help make the division relevant again (or at the very least, get it onto the pay-per-view card).
5. Rybaxel – At first, this team seemed like it would go nowhere. They had both just basically flopped while under the tutelage of Paul Heyman, so why would anyone believe that they would fare well without him? Surprisingly, both have improved since leaving Heyman, especially Ryback. He is hilarious on the microphone and can actually be pretty entertaining when he’s allowed to speak. I think the WWE still has plans to push both guys in the future, and a run with the Tag Team Championships could help elevate both superstars.
4. Damien Sandow and Dolph Ziggler – These guys have adopted similar personality traits in recent weeks, most notably because both guys seem disgruntled, annoyed, and displeased that their talents are not being properly utilized. Sandow and Ziggler would make a great team if paired together, as both are impressive in the ring and on the mic. There were rumors a while back of a possible stable of disgruntled superstars being formed, including Ziggler and the Miz, but a team of Sandow and Ziggler would work even better and could make the tag title picture exciting again.
3. Jack Swagger and Cody Rhodes – It is no secret that Zeb Colter has been trying to recruit a new member to the Real Americans since Cesaro betrayed him a few weeks back. With Cody being the son of the American Dream Dusty Rhodes, it would make sense for him to become a Real American. Cody and Goldust are definitely going to part ways soon, with Cody likely being the one to turn heel, so it would provide the perfect opportunity for Cody to align with Swagger and Colter afterward.
– The following is the latest list of the top ten most watched shows on the WWE Network for this past week:
1. Extreme Rules 2014
2. Legends House
3. RAW Pre-show
4. WrestleMania Rewind
5. WWE Countdown: Greatest Villains
6. Extreme Rules 2014 Fallout
7. WWE Main Event
8. ECW Hardcore TV
9. WWE NXT
10. WrestleMania XXX
– The National Entertainment Collectibles Association will be releasing a Bret Hart action figure as part of their new “The Simpsons 25th Anniversary: Celebrity Guest Stars” series. You can check out a photo of Hart’s action figure below.
– It’s being said that the “WeeLC” match at Extreme Rules was a backstage sellout. Many of the WWE Superstars were apparently glued to the monitors watching the match as it took place.
– The following is the latest “RAW Slam of the Week” video, which features Evolution:
The fact that Brock Lesnar is not scheduled to work this year’s WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view, which he generally has in the past, could be a sign about how he will be used when he does return.
According to one suorce, the fact that Lesnar isn’t going to be used at Extreme Rules could be a sign that he will work the September pay-per-view, which is Night Of Champions, which would mean whatever program he starts for SummerSlam, where he’s almost guaranteed to appear, will continue on after the show, leading into a rematch or something along those lines at Night Of Champions.
The following are highlights from a recent Q&A update by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On Daniel Bryan running from Kane on RAW: “I can only assume that DB running away was to protect his wife as I don’t know any other reasonable explanation.”
On his relationship with Eric Bischoff: “My relationship with Eric is good and I will be interviewing him on a Ross Report podcast soon. I think that he’s moved on to other things from pro wrestling.”
On if WWE should have put the U.S. title on Rusev instead of Sheamus: “No…Rusev is too green to carry a championship match and needs to remain on a deliberate pace with constant coaching to allow him to grow into a star. He has potential and I like the package with Lana.”
On Extreme Rules not being very “extreme”: “In a PG world it is increasingly difficult to be “Extreme.” It might be time to re-evaluate that theme within WWE.”
On a CM Punk return to WWE: “I don’t see CM Punk returning to WWE any time soon, if ever. He’s enjoying life and there is life outside and beyond wrestling.”
Check out more JR Q&A updates at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
– The latest edition of Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast, which features his review of WWE Extreme Rules and an interview with Stryper frontman Michael Sweet, is now available. The official description for the show reads as follows:
TIJ – EP36 – Extreme Rules Review & Michael Sweet
“Chris has your Extreme Rules PPV Review (whose predictions fared better – Y2J’s or Egypt’s)… and a conversation with Stryper frontman Michael Sweet! Michael’s got a new solo album, autobiography, and tour, stories about brotherly love in Stryper, the yellow & black, his stint with Tom Scholz and Boston, and finding love again after losing his wife, Kyle.”
The Monday, May 5, 2014 post-Extreme Rules edition of WWE RAW averaged 4.29 million viewers, which was down seven percent from last week’s “go-home” show.
The hourly breakdown for this week is as follows:
Hour One: 3.96
Hour Two: 4.41
Hour Three: 4.45
The final rating, which should be out soon, should fall between a 3.0 and a 3.2.
The most extreme moment from Sunday’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view was undoubtedly Seth Rollins’s balony drive onto Evolution members Triple H and Randy Orton during the Shield vs. Evolution match. A video has surfaced (courtesy of Youtube user Michael Morris) showing Rollins’ death-defying leap from a jaw-dropping perspective.
– It was announced during Monday’s post-Extreme Rules edition of WWE RAW that the new WWE United States Champion Sheamus, who won the title by winning a 20-man battle royal to open RAW, will have his first title defense this Friday night on WWE SmackDown.
– Adam Rose made his WWE debut on Monday’s RAW. He appeared in the third hour in a segment with Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter. While Colter was reading his “deportation list,” Rose’s music interupted him. He came out partying with his friends. He told Colter not to be a lemon, but instead be a Rose-bud. Colter ordered Swagger to attack him, but Rose caught him with a big boot and threw him out of the ring. Rose and his friends partied in the ring to end the segment.
– It was announced on Monday’s post-Extreme Rules edition of WWE RAW that on WWE Main Event this week, John Cena will be on hand live to respond to Bray Wyatt’s promo from RAW. WWE Main Event airs live on the WWE Network at 8pm EST tomorrow night.
– WWE added the following “WWE Mashup” to their official YouTube channel, which features Rikishi vs. The Real Americans.
– WWE revealed the top-ten most watched shows on the WWE Network during this week’s edition of RAW. The latest top-ten looks like this:
1. Extreme Rules 2014
2. Extreme Rules Pre-show
3. Legends House: Striking Out
4. Extreme Rules Post-show
5. Legends House: Cart Before The Horse
6. WrestleMania XXX
7. RAW Pre-show
8. WWE NXT
9. WWE Countdown: Tag Teams
10. WWE Main Event
– The following are video highlights of the 20-man battle royal from RAW that saw Sheamus walk out victorious as the new WWE United States Champion.
– Sheamus won a 20-man battle royal on WWE RAW on Monday night — last eliminating Dean Ambrose — to become the new WWE United States Champion.
– Speaking of the new U.S. champ, as previously reported, he apparently fell asleep during Extreme Rules on Sunday night. He commented on those reports via his official Twitter account, writing the following tweet.
I swear, wasn't having 40 winks during the Rusev #ExtremeRules bout… That said, I am very well rested for #Raw tonight.
