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WHAT NBCSN’S SHUTDOWN MEANS FOR WWE, TAKER’S COMMENTS TO ROGAN AND MORE

By Dave Scherer on 2021-01-25 10:00:00

You can send us questions for the PWInsider.com Q and A at pwinsider@gmail.com.

How do you see the shutting down of NBCSportsnet affecting WWE?

I think overall it should be a positive.  With NBC moving NASCAR and NHL to The USA Network (and Peacock) it will give the network more quality programming that brings eyeballs to USA.  I think that makes Raw and NXT more important to USA since the shows bring in a guaranteed weekly audience (kind of like how AEW is important to TNT for the same reason).  It should put USA in a better position to compete for being the top ad supported cable network, which they used to vie for when they were creating popular dramas years ago.  That should make the WWE properties more valuable to them.  I don’t know if Raw will get postponed/moved but if it does, for the $265M dollars they get paid (for a lower audience than they were delivering when they signed their deal in 2019), I wouldn’t complain much if I were them.  As for NXT, if NBC renews their deal with the NHL, it would mean NXT moving if hockey continues to air nationally on Wednesdays.  I think that would be a good thing for WWE overall.  They don’t want to blink and move NXT away from AEW, but if the network does it, then it’s “not their call”.  I would love to see NXT on Tuesdays, but if it went to Thursday that is fine too.  I would also love to see USA pony up some more money for NXT and get WWE to kill the replay on the WWE Network.  Then we would know exactly what kind of number the show does.

To me, I am finding Jim Cornette to be accurate more and more about AEW.  Last week was the worst Dynamite ever.  It really was a showcase of acrobats (the proverbial spot monkeys) missing move after move after move.  And it was very obvious they were missing by a mile!  Another fun thing (sarcasm) is seeing a wrestler do a move to  another wrestler where you have NO clue who the giver or taker was.  Then the announcers try to cover for it.  Never mind the fact that the finishing move in a lot of matches is far less devastating than numerous other moves in the match.  I've also noticed a lot of wrestlers throwing, or giving a move to an opponent where it looks like they just HOPE the other guy lands safely, instead of being able to control the guy.  Am I off base with any of these observations?  Do you think tightening up some of this stuff would make for a better product that would interest more fans?

As I said in yesterday’s column, I agree with what you said.  I have made my criticisms of AEW pretty clear.  With that said, I also have to say that they have a fervent fan base that loves what they do.  So the question this: Can they expand and reach more people that feel the way that their fan base does, or does the emphasis on performing keep them from growing?  To me, it’s the latter but it’s a matter of opinion for sure.

Based on the fact that the art of wrestling is the illusion, how is the double-stomp done safely and it doesn’t crack someone’s rib or seriously injure someone?

It’s all in how the move is performed.  The person doing it pulls back right before impact to lessen the impact.

Did you have an issue with what Undertaker said to Joe Rogan about the way the locker room is today?

No, I had no issue with it at all.  He will turn 56 years old in a few months and as some who is a few years north of him, I understand what he meant about then vs. now.  I think of how things were thirty years ago vs. today and some things were better then, or at least since I was living them in real time I think they were.  That is all Taker was saying in my opinion.  He broke in when the business was one thing, now it’s something entirely different.

Do you think Wrestlecon will happen this year?

It will not.  We are in a pandemic.  They have already canceled their dates in Los Angeles and as of now, have no plans for Tampa.

Do you think Eva Marie will return one the women’s Royal Rumble?

I can’t say I think it, but it wouldn’t shock me if it happens.

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