Just getting around to AEW and agree with everyone else that Jericho as an announcer was a brilliant move. I've found it difficult to watch a lot of the shows with out fans but he made this so entertaining.

I also thought the Matt Hardy compound promo was awesome and him calling Jericho "Le hole of the ass" cracked me up.

Wow WWE deemed essential business in Florida

Potential opening for ufc to operate in the state?

All it does is let them broadcast live shows without an audience. They were running out of Pre taped stuff, I imagine.

There were reports that Raw can only have 3 taped shows per year and Smackdown has something similar. Vince doesn't want to go over that taped allotment because it might give Fox or USA room to re-negotiate.

texaggierm said:

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There were reports that Raw can only have 3 taped shows per year and Smackdown has something similar. Vince doesn't want to go over that taped allotment because it might give Fox or USA room to re-negotiate.

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You would think given the circumstances, there would be some wiggle room to have more.

J-Quob said:

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texaggierm said:

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There were reports that Raw can only have 3 taped shows per year and Smackdown has something similar. Vince doesn't want to go over that taped allotment because it might give Fox or USA room to re-negotiate.

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You would think given the circumstances, there would be some wiggle room to have more.

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Maybe, but he's protecting his assured revenue sources.

SACR said:

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How many of y'all on here have WWE Network?

Worth it?

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Def worth the price. I started watching all the Raw's in order after Austin won king of the ring in 96. I watch every raw then the ppv in the timeline. I will say once Smackdown started I don't watch all those just generally stick to Raw. I am currently in July 99

I did the same thing starting with the Montreal Screwjob! I was a WCW guy growing up, and I've joked about it on here before, but my mom really wouldn't let me watch WWF...so I missed the attitude era completely. Currently most of the way through '98

It's definitely worth it for the nostalgia alone. I don't really keep up with the current product at all, but I'm happy to pay the $10/month for the network.

Also, if you have a few hours on your hands, do a watch along with Tony Shiavone's podcast (What Happened When). He's a really funny guy and has some great behind the scenes insight. Starrcade '97 (Hogan-Sting) is a great one to start off with. Tony has me rolling the whole time and the nostalgia was off the charts!

SACR said:

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How many of y'all on here have WWE Network?

Worth it?

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I'm not sure why anyone that is following this thread would NOT have it.

The documentaries are really good.

I like pulling up some of the old WCW ppvs. Like early to mid 90s. Great nostalgia and it's just more entertaining than the new stuff for me.

I love listening to the Grilling JR podcast. It's great to watch a ppv that he is discussing and know so much of the backstory there.

A lot of WWE releases coming...first round:

Quote:

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WWE has come to terms on the release of Kurt Angle, Drake Maverick (James Curtin), Curt Hawkins (Brian Myers), Karl Anderson (Chad Allegra), Luke Gallows (Drew Hankinson), Heath Slater (Heath Miller), Eric Young (Jeremy Fritz), Rowan (Joseph Ruud), Sarah Logan (Sarah Rowe), Mike Chioda, Mike Kanellis (Mike Bennett), Maria Kanellis, EC3 (Michael Hutter), Aiden English (Matthew Rehwoldt), Lio Rush (Lionel Green), Primo (Edwin Colon) and Epico (Orlando Colon Nieves). We wish them all the best in their future endeavors.

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Looks like some decent talent AEW could add and actually utilize better. Surprised the OC is broken up.

Gallows and Anderson leaving sucks.

J-Quob said:

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A lot of WWE releases coming...first round:

Quote:

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WWE has come to terms on the release of Drake Maverick (James Curtin), Curt Hawkins (Brian Myers), Karl Anderson (Chad Allegra), Luke Gallows (Drew Hankinson), EC3 (Michael Hutter) and Lio Rush (Lionel Green). We wish them all the best in their future endeavors

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Eric Young and Heath Slater added to the list.

J-Quob said:

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J-Quob said:

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A lot of WWE releases coming...first round:

Quote:

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WWE has come to terms on the release of Drake Maverick (James Curtin), Curt Hawkins (Brian Myers), Karl Anderson (Chad Allegra), Luke Gallows (Drew Hankinson), EC3 (Michael Hutter) and Lio Rush (Lionel Green). We wish them all the best in their future endeavors

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Eric Young and Heath Slater added to the list.

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See that Gregory Helms, Lance Storm, and Fit Finlay are gone too (producers).

Add Kurt Angle and Aiden English, also

Running list:
Karl Anderson
Luke Gallows
Drake Maverick
Curt Hawkins
EC3
Lio Rush
Eric Young
Heath Slater
Aiden English
Dave Finlay
Mike Rotunda
Shane Helms
Lance Storm
Kurt Angle
Billy Kidman
Pat Buck
Shawn Daivari
Scott Armstrong
Sarah Stock
-------
[1:43p edit]
Mike Chioda
Sarah Logan

[2:05 edit]
Mike and Maria Kanellis
Primo and Epico
Eric Rowan

[2:39 edit]
Zack Ryder
No Way Jose

[3:18p edit]
Rusev (this one hurts)

[3:48 edit]
Deonna Purrazzo [NXT]
Aleksandar Jaksic [NXT]

whoa

We typically have post Wrestlemania cuts every year, so that is not surprising. Also, with basically no revenue from ticket sales, significantly less merchandise sales, and other financial losses from not having multiple live shows and PPVs in front of crowds, it makes sense that they would have to do a bigger reduction in expenditures.

Here is an update that was put out by WWE concerning the financials

Due to COVID-19 and current government mandated impacts on WWE and the media business generally, the Company went through an extensive evaluation of its operations over the past several weeks. This analysis resulted in the implementation of various short-term cost reductions and cash flow improvement actions including:

Reducing executive and board member compensation;

Decreasing operating expenses;

Cutting talent expenses, third party staffing and consulting;

Deferring spend on the build out of the Company's new headquarters for at least six months.

Given the uncertainty of the situation, the Company also identified headcount reductions and made the decision to furlough a portion of its workforce effective immediately. The decision to furlough versus permanently reduce headcount reflects the fact that the Company currently believes the furlough will be temporary in nature.

The Company's reductions of employee compensation and headcount result in an estimated monthly savings of $4 million along with cash flow improvement of $140 million primarily from the deferral in spending on the Company's new headquarters. Additionally, the Company has substantial financial resources, both available cash and debt capacity, which currently total approximately $0.5 billion, to manage the challenges ahead. Management continues to believe the fundamentals of the Company's business remain strong and that WWE is well positioned to take full advantage of the changing media landscape and increasing value of live sports rights over the longer term.

The Company will provide further details when it reports its first quarter 2020 results next Thursday, April 23 after the close of the market.

Christmas comes early for AEW! Talk about a great opportunity to bulk up their roster.

Gallows and Anderson would be great in AEW -- but I would LOVE if they went back to NJPW

chris1515 said:

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Christmas comes early for AEW! Talk about a great opportunity to bulk up their roster.

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Why would they bulk up their roster? They only have two shows a week and 1 PPV every two or three months. They barely use half of the current roster they have as it is.

chris1515 said:

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Christmas comes early for AEW! Talk about a great opportunity to bulk up their roster.

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This is most likely not going to happen for any companies right now. AEW might have money, but they are not going to just hire a bunch of people especially right now when there is not much coming in at all. I would guess they are spending more than they are making right now.

Even if they stockpile the roster, won't they run into the same issue everyone moans about WWE? Too much talent, not enough visibility. I mean they have people right now that were names when AEW started and now they are nowhere to be seen. As AEW brings in bigger names, those lowcard/midcard people are going to keep getting pushed further back. WWE has 32535 shows and they do this (it's dumb).

Man this broke my heart. Always liked Drake.

This sucks.

Honestly I haven't watched a TON of AEW. But when I have, I find myself thinking that a lot of those guys just aren't interesting. I think some of these Wwe cuts today would be an upgrade over what they have now.

I think one of the appeals of AEW for the talent is the work schedule isn't as demanding. So the more quality talent they have, maybe someone is better able to take a little time off as needed.

They're stupid getting rid of Rusev. But, with the contract issues he had, not surprising. He definitely needs to go to AEW. They'd be stupid not to take him. He'd be so over.

chris1515 said:

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Honestly I haven't watched a TON of AEW. But when I have, I find myself thinking that a lot of those guys just aren't interesting. I think some of these Wwe cuts today would be an upgrade over what they have now.

I think one of the appeals of AEW for the talent is the work schedule isn't as demanding. So the more quality talent they have, maybe someone is better able to take a little time off as needed.

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I have a similar problem with AEW in that I can't get in to a lot of the characters but even those guys seem to be much better/different types of wrestlers imo. And I can't even watch an AEW women's match while I was always into the WWE women's division.

And the crowd enthusiasm definitely helps the live shows for me and the story lines for the most part seem really fresh (I guess because they are considering the company hasn't been around long).

Totally agree that Rusev to AEW is a no brainer and would be great. I saw that he had offered money out of his own pocket to help WWE employees just a few weeks ago. Surprised they let him go although nothing Vince does these days should surprise anyone.

I wonder how many on that list were within the last few weeks of their contract and how much timing of the performers contract had to do with this.
Also, for those behind the scenes workers, how this was decided.

None of these guys have a place to go right now because there are no live shows.

Wow that suck to watch from Drake.

I'm surprise with the OC and Mike Chioda. He's been a referee there forever.

I've been seeing that there isn't a definitive answer as to whether some of people were straight released or furloughed