The Heat and the Shine

The death of pro wrestling territories was authored long ago.  Maybe it's time for a rewrite. Credit Vince McMahon, blame cable television , whatever.  They're gone.  For now. Conventional wisdom is that advances in technology preclude a return to the territory days.  Information technology is too cheap and production technology is too expensive.  The former allows people to explore beyond their local wrestling product.  The latter makes it too impossible for local wrestling to compete with WWE. Perhaps.  Conventional wisdom is often wise, but sometimes it's off base.  (I'd insert a line about politics, but I don't want to be banned by Indy promoters.) Conventional wisdom goes awry when it masquerades as fundamental truth.  Is it fundamentally true that, when people are allowed to sample a "major league" product, they ignore their local product?  Does flashier television production fundamentally disqualify simpler productions from being emb

UFC is expected to set a company record for single-night revenue on November 12, 2016.  That is the night that Conor McGregor chases the UFC Lightweight (155 lb.) Championship at UFC 205 in New York City. In digesting the previous paragraph, three things stand out.  One: UFC's business model is largely based around massive revenue intakes for single-night events.  Two: With rare exceptions, there is little to distinguish one UFC pay-per-view from the other.  A new number pops up every month or so, some fights happen, and the company moves on to the next one.  Three: A man who has never competed as a UFC Lightweight is about to challenge for the UFC Lightweight Championship. Maybe there should be a fourth: UFC fans love it.  UFC is having no trouble making money right now.  Their business model works. Does it work well enough, though? UFC's new owners, WME-IMG, used a very large loan to purchase UFC: $1.8 billion, to be exact.  The new owners are going to have to increa

UFC made headlines in the financial news world yesterday, and not in a good way.  Bloomberg reported that the United States Federal Reserve admonished Goldman Sachs over WME-IMG's purchase of UFC. The story was circulated by the usual cadre of anti-UFC folks in the MMA world, but that doesn't mean that it's benign. Let's go through exactly how the UFC sale went down and what the Fed was complaining about. Some time ago, UFC's former owners, Zuffa, LLC (led by the Fertitta brothers) approached Goldman Sachs about brokering a sale. Approaching a bank about brokering a sale is standard operating procedure when the seller wants to go on the open market in order to attract debt-driven buyers.  The idea is that Zuffa didn't want to limit themselves to selling to only people/companies who have billions of dollars of cash on hand.  Zuffa wanted to be able to sell to people/companies to are willing to take on billions of dollars in debt, and then pay Zuffa with

That UFC 205: McGREGOR vs. ALVAREZ would be a hot ticket is no surprise.  It is the first mixed martial arts event in New York since UFC exploded in popularity a decade ago, and it features Conor McGregor, UFC's top box office attraction.  An attempt at a box office record -- beating the $12 million in tickets sold at Toronto's SkyDome in 2011 -- was expected by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, a close watcher of UFC's business since the promotion's inception. Still, the box office level that UFC management has Madison Square Garden scaled for is eye-popping: $18 million.  In an arena with under 18,000 available seats*, the math is simple: UFC is hoping for an average ticket above $1,000. Standard UFC 205 tickets sold through Ticketmaster were at seven standard price levels: $106, $256, $456, $606, $806, $1,006 and $1,506.  As of the time of publication of this article, standard price levels below $1,506 are all unavailable on Ticketmaster. Once UFC 205 ti

CM Punk's journey to UFC Fighter is complete. At UFC 203, he made the walk. He stepped in the cage. To borrow a memorable Arn Anderson promo, he said what he was going to do and then he did it. In many eyes, that was a win. The cynical might ask, "A win for who?". It is a fair question. Victory, after all, is in the eyes of the beholder. Punk surely won. The world can debate his level of self-awareness, but most agree on this: he lives to prove people wrong. 'Fake' wrestlers don't step in the Octagon, and he did. For others, victory is less clear. Wrestlers, fighters, fans, announcers; they hold opinions across a broad spectrum. Some love the effort, some hate the spectacle and many carry ambivalence on those very topics. "What harm was done?" is a common refrain from supporters of this and other spectacles. The injured party can be summed up in a single word: excellence. That concept, which drives so many admirable parts of Western civiliza

Pro wrestling fans know that it's worked. NBA fans think that it's real. Those are two obvious facts, but their repercussions are less than obvious to many.  The NBA can draw from angles that evoke old time wrestling; modern pro wrestling can't. The NBA and its broadcast partners learned the value of old time wrestling booking today.  The Cleveland Cavaliers were subject to something akin to a "Loser Leaves the Playoffs" heading in to Game 5 of the NBA Finals last night.  They needed to win three straight times to avoid elimination. Due to fans believing that the NBA isn't predetermined (which I don't think it is, for the record), the "needs to win out" angle worked.  The 18-49 demographic (demo) rating was 7.6, up a whopping 27% from a shockingly low Game 4 demo rating.  People tuned because there was suspense in whether the season could end. Due to pro wrestling fans believing that New Japan is predetermined (which it is, for the rec

The International Pro Wrestling Commission (IPWC) issued the following statement upon reviewing live reports and video footage from the TNA 'Impact Wrestling' event of June 7, 2016. The following disciplinary action has been assigned in response to the actions of various parties during the June 7, 2016 TNA 'Impact Wrestling' event: MATT HARDY (Cameron, NC, USA) has been fined $2,500 USD for delaying the start of the Impact Wrestling event.  TNA producers Dixie Carter, William "Billy" Corgan and David "Lagana" Lagana were issued a warning for repeated start time delays, along with notice that fines may be imposed for future delays under the IPWC's "lack of institutional control" provision. DREW GALLOWAY (Tampa, FL, USA) has been fined $1,000 USD for agreeing to a Championship match without IPWC performance enhancing drug (PED) procedures in place.  IPWC rules stipulate a minimum of fifteen (15) days of random, twenty-four (24)

Whether one's taste runs towards stuntman spot-fests, wild multi-team tag matches or bouts between cool little guys and unwelcome big guys (twice!), WWE Money in the Bank -- happening on June 19 at 5 p.m. PDT -- has something for every wrestling fan. Being that the show is nearly two weeks away, now is not the time to preview the card. But, being that the show is happening in Las Vegas, now is the perfect time to preview a last-minute trip to watch the show live. The live WWE experience is so far superior to the televised experience that there is no comparison. Who cares if you miss the commentary? You get chanting and little kids and long merchandise lines and lots and lots of overpriced beer (or food, if drinking isn't your thing). It's the summer, the kids are out of school.  If you have been thinking about getting away for a day or two and you're a WWE fan who hasn't planned his (or her) getaway yet, this is the show to do it for. SummerSlam will be a

Will Ospreay and Ricochet had a match on May 27 at New Japan's "Best of the Super Juniors" in Tokyo.  Maybe you've heard. It was the talk of the Internet Wrestling Community (IWC) for days after Vader , a Hall of Famer with a tremendous legacy in Japan, Tweeted critically about a choreographed spot early in the match.  Predictably, IWC sentiment sided with the young blood, while a few old fogies (and people who admire old fogies) defended the big man. Overlooked, at least until the June 6, 2016 Wrestling Observer  was perused, was the fact that the match didn't draw.  Patches of seats at the 2,005 seat Korakuen Hall were visibly unfilled during the match, and the announced attendance was a mere 1,505.  The flyers match couldn't draw flies. Best of Super Juniors ran over two-and-a-half weeks and Ospreay vs. Ricochet are both non-Japanese headliners, so perhaps the lukewarm attendance was predictable.  Though the show was on a traditionally strong drawing

TNA Slammiversary happens this Sunday (June 5, 2016 at 5 p.m. PDT), and conventional wisdom is that the show will do tepid business.  TNA hasn't been touring and their weekly Impact Wrestling show on Pop TV has been beset by a string of bad luck .  The number of wrestling fans buying one-time pay-per-views has dwindled.  The main event is Lashley vs. Drew Galloway.  And there are ongoing questions whether it is worth wrestling fans' time  to emotionally invest in a promotion that has seen numerous departures and a decline in ancillary spending (production, promotion, marketing, etc). It is all quite bleak. Until, that is, a brief Twitter perusal  results in a viewing of this:   It is TNA's 'Contract Signing' video promo for the Matt Hardy vs. Matt Hardy "Full Metal Mayhem" match at Slammiversary. The video is an acquired taste, to be sure.  It has nearly as many Dislikes as Likes on YouTube.  The acting is campy and it hardly fits with the more

The good news is that a UFC 199 preview appears on ESPN's front page.  Just scroll down through fourteen other front page stories, the ads for ESPN's sister sites, a handful of pictures and nine embedded videos and it right there.  A thousand words and forty-nine words on tomorrow's pay-per-view by ESPN's top UFC writer, Brett Okamoto. That UFC 199 would be relegated to niche sport coverage is no surprise.  The cynical might point out that the NBA Playoffs (basketball) and the X-Games (skateboarding, etc.) are televised by ESPN, and Disney -- ESPN's corporate overlord -- is well-versed in media synergy.  Those who have a more virtuous view of ESPN (including this blog) might point out that the Stanley Cup Finals (hockey) and Copa America (soccer) are also heavily covered, despite airing on NBC and Fox, respectively. No major stars + a one-sided main event + numerous other big sporting events = minimal coverage of UFC.  That equation is no mystery to anyone w

There is an intrinsic pleasure found in feeling important, and one former pro wrestling great surely felt it this weekend.  Vader, the Hall of Fame "monster" who at one time was among the best big men in the business, surely had that feeling after his Tweet-shaming of the Will Ospreay vs. Riccocet match at New Japan's "Best of the Super Juniors" triggered a storm of arguments about what pro wrestling is and should be. Vader's initial Tweet came after he was forwarded an out-of-context clip of a synchronized highspot that occurred early in their match: This is a memorized gymnastic/dance rountine it saddenens me to see the direction wrestling is headed https://t.co/TvU9eTkBC0 — Big Van Vader (@itsvadertime) May 27, 2016 Vader offered praise after watching the full match , but the damage was done.  Battle lines had been drawn, with fans of a more grounded style on one side and people citing wrestling's need to "evolve" on the other

With the 'Heat and Shine' blog only recently moving to a daily format, several things are still being tinkered with.  The plan, at least for now, is to have UFC be the focus of the blog on Fridays, with Monday through Thursday primarily dedicated to pro wrestling.   Feedback on the blog's format, schedule, content, layout and anything else you can think of is appreciated.  You can email me , tweet at me or leave a comment below.  Thank you. UFC has a ' Fight Night ' show (airing on Fox Sports 1 in the United States) on Sunday at 6 pm PDT/9 pm EDT, and this blog could scarcely be more excited. Cody Garbrandt vs. Thomas Almeida is the main event.  Both fighters are unbeaten, 24 year-old studs.  Both fighters are expected to have long careers in the upper echelons of UFC's lighter weight classes (Sunday's fight is at 135 pounds), but only one will enter the Championship picture with a flawless record. The undercard for 'Fight Night: Almeida vs. Ga

The news that WWE Smackdown is moving to Tuesdays (and airing live, and splitting from Raw) generated a lot of discussion yesterday.  Absent from most of said discussion was talk about the current residents of Tuesday night wrestling, TNA. That TNA has become an afterthought to most pro wrestling fans is hardly news.  The promotion has gone from a struggling cable network to an under-distributed cable network to, now, an unknown cable network.  All of this at a time where streaming is more popular and audiences are more fractionalized and all of the other problematic things that get written about modern linear television. From the outside looking in, TNA's adventure on Pop TV has appeared to be especially harrowing. The TNA-Pop marriage initially appeared to be a match made in heaven, with Pop in need of loyally watched content (TNA maintained 18-49 demographic ratings around 0.10, even with the limited distribution of Destination America) and TNA in need of wide distributio

This morning, Entertainment Industry Press Release Aggregator Variety  broke the news that WWE is re-doing the much-reviled Brand Extension.  While the term "Brand Extension" was wisely avoided, Variety 's echoing of WWE press materials report indicated that the new WWE will have all of the traits of the old Brand Extension era: separate rosters, separate writing staffs and separate angles. WWE's press release focuses on the fact that Smackdown will now air live, but that's hardly the big news to wrestling fans.  The bigger news is that Smackdown is moving to Tuesdays and that the roster is being split up. Luckily for wrestling fans, WWE's burying of the lede will have no effect on the volume of commentary on the Raw/Smackdown split.  Countless podcasts, websites and, yes, this blog, will happily provide takes for fans' perusal. This blog is going to let the news sink in and save its take on The Split for another day.  Hopefully that take will be j

Mick Foley's post-Raw interview with Shane McMahon was noteworthy primarily for Shane's reaction when Triple H was brought up.  Twitter user  @traskbryant  caught the exchange and summed it up quite well: In case you missed the HHH question directed at Shane...SO AWKWARD pic.twitter.com/1HNgqg6Q4g — Trask (@traskbryant) May 24, 2016 The obvious conclusion is that Shane is playing an angle.  Triple H vs. Shane for control of the company is a natural escalation of Shane's recent on-camera role. Kudos to WWE for playing up the Triple H vs. Shane angle.  The best drawing modern pro wrestling angles require a mix of fact and fiction.  Most fans are in on the work, so suspense -- which is essential for spiking business -- must come from areas outside of the WWE storyline 'world'. Recent examples of WWE business spikes exemplify the use of fact and fiction to draw.  CM Punk's post-pipe bomb promo match with John Cena and Ryback's title challenge in the mi

Ed. note: A person with knowledge of the wrestling business pointed out that Cody Rhodes was likely referring to John Cena, not Seth Rollins, when he referred to "watching a monitor advertising a returning star" in his statement about his request for a release from WWE. On Sunday afternoon -- mere hours before the WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view, Cody Rhodes released a statement explaining his request for a release from WWE. Reading the true meaning of pro wrestlers' public statements is tricky business.  Pro wrestling is still a business full of workers and many workers have been taught to draw money in any way they can.  It is impossible to tell it Cody's words were an honest spilling of emotion, an opening promo for his Indy career, some combination of the two or something else entirely. Whatever the overall purpose of Rhodes's statement, a few lines stood out. Rhodes ostensibly referenced Seth Rollins, who probably-not-so-coincidentally happened to be

How do you know you're addicted to pro wrestling?  Because you care about WWE Extreme Rules, that's how. And, it's the low form of addiction.  The ugly form.  Not the 'addiction' of passion and focus.  The addiction of need; the loss of control.  The addiction that public service announcements warn you about. There is no other rational cause for an adult to care about the current WWE product.  All that makes the art form of pro wrestling is absent from Extreme Rules.  Suspense, empathetic characters, irreconcilable conflict; all absent.  In their place are false drama, cartoonish caricatures and easy choices. To rebuild WWE will take a massive effort and it is not clear when that will come; or If.  The promotion has been in decline for nearly a decade and a half.  Spurts of creative power -- as with Nexus or Daniel Bryan -- have provided false hope.  Nostalgia acts like The Rock have delivered fleeting peaks of interest.  Yet the core continues to erode.