The Cubed Circle Newsletter
In this week’s issue we cover ROH on SBG as always, we
preview Chikara High Noon, we discuss the logical inconstancies of RAW, and on
page four for you convenience I have created a table of the WWE 3rd
quarter financials. As always you can find a full PDF above and if you haven’t
downloaded it already, I urge you to do so.
Cubed Circle Wrestling
Newsletter Rating System
*- Horrendous match, bad booking, bad pacing, botches left
and right, poor work rate and bad crowd reactions can all lead to this.
**- Below average match, forgettable, couldn’t have added
much for the show unless there was a great angle, before after or during the
match.
***- Good match, there were some really good points in the
match, had fun watching it, it had some points missing, the crowd possibly
wasn’t into it or it didn’t go long enough. But, the match was still good.
****- Great match, well worked, the crowd were most likely
into it, this match was a highlight of the show. The match would most likely be
in the top 50 matches of the year.
*****- Almost guaranteed match of the year, ticked all the
boxes well worked, well booked, great crowd, had some amazing spots, very few
botches or no botches that really affected the match and the match could
influence the business in a major way. This is a prestigious rating and it is
the highest acclaim I could possibly give for a match, this rating is only
given out with extreme thought and consideration.
ROH on SBG 2011/10/29 Review
The show started with a video package from last weeks show,
featuring Lethal and Bennett for the TV title, it was decent, but it wasn’t
anything to out of this world. Kevin Kelly and Nigel previewed the main event,
we then cut to a video package for Strong vs. O’ Reilly. Strong said that
O’Reilly was just a punk kid and that he normally doesn’t waste his time with
punks, but when he beats O’ Reilly in four minutes, he will show that Team
Richards is just a joke. Really good promo that made a seemingly insignificant
match into something important and meaningful.
1. Roderick Strong vs. Kyle ‘O Reilly
Truth handed Bobby Cruise a cue card, that had all of
Truth’s “accolades”, it was a nice touch. Both men chain wrestled a lot at the
start, exchanging holds at an extremely fast pace. Truth was on commentary, but
he never added that much to the match, he pitched in every now and again, but
for the most part he was a distraction and at ringside is where he should have
been. They wrestled some more on the mat and then went straight into a strike
battle. The crowd got really hot for ‘O Reilly, but Strong slowed the match
down again with a back breaker. ‘O Reilly began to make his comeback, we had a
this is wrestling chant, Strong then killed ‘O Reilly with strikes in the
corner and then a sit out powerbomb. Strong hit a knee in the corner and then
hit the double knee gut buster. He locked in the Strong Hold, but ‘O Reilly
made it to the ropes. ‘O Reilly locked in a choke on Strong, in a very MMA like
spot, which played into the story nicely. Strong then hit a huge Sick Kick for
the win. Truth then said that he had a message for Richards, a beat down ensued
with Strong, Elgin and Truth. A training partner of Team Richards came out, but
the House of Truth destroyed him. The crowd began to chant Richard’s name, he
ran out half dressed, he was going to hit Truth, but Strong attacked him from
behind. The bell rand the whole way through. Out came Edwards, he cleaned
house, Richards made it to his feet and they double teamed Truth. A good stiff
match, with a pretty well booked segment after the match. It was kept simple
and they continued to build the continuing feud between Richards and Strong.
*** ½
Cornette was interviewed at ringside, he said the House of
Truth wouldn’t run rampant, he fined them $2500, thank god for Jim Cornette and
his decent amounts. Some plants began to chant we want Steen, wearing Steen is
right shirts. Cornette said, that Steen was a great wrestler, but he is the one
who has to deal with him. Cornette said he was a insurance disaster, he said
that Ring of Honor wouldn’t do business with Steen. I like how ROH is building
this up and I presume that Steen will make an appearance at Glory By Honor, to
build up a match at Final Battle.
We then had this week’s Inside ROH, highlighting the ROH
title match at Final Battle and a new contender for Wrestling’s Greatest Tag
Team. We cut to Lethal and Edwards, Lethal pointed out that he was undefeated
and said that he wanted to be the Best in the World and that’s why he came to
ROH. Edwards said if he gets chosen for Final Battle then he would have to
train like he never has before. He said he would show everyone, if he got the
title shot. The proving ground match rules were highlighted for next week. The
challengers were announced as Cedric Alexander and Caprice Coleman, they said
they would take the challenge. Should be interesting. A good addition of Inside
ROH, setting a few things up.
Steve Corino was sitting with Kelly and Nigel he wanted to
apologize about Steen, they said they shouldn’t talk about that.
2. Alex Silva vs. Tommaso Ciampa
Silva went out to shake the hand of Ciampa, Ciampa hit a
leaping kick and started to unload on Silva. Ciampa shoved Silva into the
barricade on the outside and then hit a big suplex. Silva hit an enzugiri,
Ciampa then a hit a really big boot. Corino at this point was going crazy on
commentary, saying that no one knows what its like to be responsible for what
he did to Steen. Ciampa then hit the huge knee in the corner, over and over and
over again on Silva. He then hit project Ciampa for the win. Ciampa loocked
like a monster in this match and it was a pretty fun squash.
** ½
3. The Briscoes vs. The All Night Express
Both teams just started going at it in the middle of the
introductions, but in about a minute or so it had settled down into the ring.
ANX worked over Mark, King was then double teamed out of nowhere. King made a
comeback just after the commercial break. King began to crawl his way to Titus,
but Titus was knocked off of the apron. Mark ripped at the face of King, they
hit a cutter combo, but Titus broke it up. King got the hot tag and ran wild.
Mark got Titus up to the top, but Titus hit the reverse snake eyes. King then
hit a cutter from the top, he then it a huge DDT on Briscoe. King went to the
top for the doomsday, but he was pushed off the top rope, Titus never saw and
Mark hit the assisted hurricanrana for the win. This was a fun match, but the
timeline just doesn’t work. Having ANX win a Ladder War, one of the most
prestigious matches in ROH on an iPPV in the main event and then not getting
the shot just doesn’t work for me.
*** ¼
Overall Show Thoughts
This was definitely one of the best overall ROH on SBG
shows, in terms of match quality and building to a show. The show is definitely
picking up steam and it will be interesting to see if it can continue in the
next set of tapings.
Bits and Pieces
CHIKARA High Noon
On the 13th of November 2011 Chikara is hosting
it’s first iPPV, headlined by Mike Quackenbush vs. Eddie Kingston in the finals
of the 12 Large Summit. The show also
has a couple of matches that could be potential blow offs, including Tim Donst
and Ares of the BDK, taking on the Ultra Mantis Black and Hallowicked. We also
have a match between Colt Cabana and Archibald Peck, over the rabbit known as
Colt Cabunny.
This is a very important show for Chikara, because this is
their first and only chance for Chikara to attract a lot of new viewers. The
promotion for the show has been great, with many video packages and previews
posted on YouTube. The 12 Large Summit dragged on a bit, but was mostly
enjoyable, but for the most part it has been a success. Chikara crowning it’s
first singles champion after 11 years is a pretty big deal, Quackenbush will
probably walk out of High Noon with the championship, as I don’t see Kingston
receiving the championship.
All in all the show should be at least good and is available
for preorder on GoFightLive. Expect a review in the coming weeks.
WWE RAW With The Muppets
This week’s edition of RAW featured the Muppets as special
guests and although this edition of RAW was particularly bad, it wasn’t due to
the Muppets. The problem with the show is that if you have been watching RAW
for more than a week, your brain would have just overloaded from the sheer
amount of inconsistencies. And even if you haven’t watched RAW for a couple of
months, if you know anything about wrestling, this show did most things wrong.
For starters the point that most people actually mentioned
the least, they beat their top champion, the WWE champion Alberto Del Rio,
clean. Making this even worse was that it was on free TV, against a man that
isn’t even in convention for that championship, he isn’t even on the brand. He
was beaten by Big Show, with no trace of doubt, just like that, one, two, three
in the middle of the ring.
The Rock made an appearance, via satellite, which got a
pretty big reaction, but wasn’t miced properly. He said at the start of the promo
that he wouldn’t be teaming with Cena, but then somehow by the end of the promo
he agreed to team with him. It had to do with his twitter followers you see, he
needs to assist Cena in defeating the nonexistent team of Truth and Miz.
Speaking of Miz and Truth, the mainevent of the show, the
Miz vs. John Cena, was of course interrupted. It was interrupted by Truth who
was immediately taken care of by Cena, so please remind me again why we need
the Rock? Twitter followers, that’s right.
Dolf Ziggler no matter how hard he tries is still stuck with
the likes of Ryder and Santino. Santino was carrying strength positions created
by Muppets, (And I thought the WWE had a wellness policy). But, complaining
about the Santino segments is just nitpicking at this point.
WWE 3rd Quarter
Financials
It is time once again for the WWE financials to be released
and instead of explaining all of that data, I have made this neat table for all
of the information.
|
Revenue Stream
|
This Quarter
|
Last Year
|
Last Quarter
|
|
Total
|
$108.5 million
|
$109.6 million
|
$142.6 million
|
|
Live and Televised
|
$
78.1 million
|
$ 73.8 million
|
$110.5 million
|
|
Consumer Products
|
$ 19.8 million
|
$ 21.4 million
|
$ 21.6 million
|
|
Digital Media
|
$ 6.9 million
|
$ 6.8 million
|
$ 6.2 million
|
|
WWE Studios
|
$ 3.7 million
|
$ 7.6 million
|
$ 4.3 million
|
|
Live Event Revenue
|
$ 23.0 million
|
$ 22.8 million
|
$ 35.2 million
|
|
Pay-Per View
|
$ 15.8 million
|
$13.6 million
|
$ 34.4 million
|
|
TV Rights Fees
|
$ 34.0 million
|
$31.1 million
|
$32.0 million
|
|
Venue Merchandise
|
$ 3.6 million
|
$ 3.9 million
|
$ 6.3 million
|
|
Home Video
|
$ 8.3 million
|
$ 7.2 million
|
$.7.5 million
|
|
Licensing
|
$ 9.0 million
|
$ 7.2 million
|
$ 12.0 million
|
|
Magazine
|
$ 1.9 million
|
$ 2.6 million
|
$ 1.6 million
|
|
WWE.com
|
$ 3.7 million
|
$ 4.0 million
|
$ 3.4 million
|
|
WWE SHOP
|
$ 2.8 million
|
$ 2.4 million
|
$ 3.2 million
|
Next Weeks Issue
Next week we will be covering all the news of the week and
what will cause wrestling’s next boom period? So check it out next week.
Contact
Any Questions or Queries: Rubyclouding@gmail.com
New! Twitter:
@RyanClingman
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