On Article in Market Watch About who will take over after Vince McMahon

This is my comment on article by Kevin Riley entitled Analyst on WWE: The Company 'May Have To Look Outside For A CEO'

First off in article he is saying that HHH and Stephanie McMahon aren't being introduced to investors as them taking over the business.

I just want to say this HHH and Stephanie McMahon know what they are doing and they have been trained for their jobs. I first want to give a back story of Vince McMahon and his company before I address this statement. I watched the Austin Podcast and saw the McMahon history unfold before my eyes. Around the time I was born Vince wanted to get into his Dad's company. His Dad didn't want him in the company, but he got chosen to go in. Vince was unprepared for what his life would be like and he was a visionary. He took the WWE to height unheard of and sure I routed for WCW, but Vince came out on top. He managed a company that went global and sure he made lots of mistakes that nearly cost him his business, but he bounced back.

Vince as what Jesse Ventura called Vince Jr. The PT Barnum of this time on Coast to Coast AM with George Noory. He not only revolutionized wrestling, he revolutionized the world. Politicians, Sports Athletes, and every sporting event come out to their own theme music. UFC took a lot of tricks from Vince. And your not telling me Vince hadn't thought about who is going to take over his company.

HHH also said on the Stone Cold Steve Austin Podcast that Vince gave him the developmental, NXT, he understands the business and he understands how to get people over and he understands the behind the scenes with the show. He worked the gimmick of Daniel Bryan. HHH has been in the business for 20 years + and has learned a lot as Stephanie has. Vince was doing most of it alone. His wife was there, but didn't take as much interest in the product as Vince. However, you have a couple working together in unison on one product. If you remember where Vince was where he started and what he did for wrestling and remember, he and his wife bought the company, and now to a global company he has done a lot.

However, I want to give you evidence of someone who went into the wrestling business and failed because they knew nothing about how to run a wrestling promotion. It is the story of WCW. Ted Turner bought WCW and put a President in charge. Some of them knew nothing about wrestling and put a booker in charge who eventually had everyone booking the show. Only one who made a profit was Eric Bischoff, but they would not let him do what he needed to do to catch up to WWE, because of Time Warner.

See as Eric Bischoff put in his book Controversy Creates Cash, Time Warner wasn't out to eliminate wrestling, they want the Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Braves, and most of the sports off TV.

And now 15 years later all that is on TBS is comedies which are in reruns, two new shows, movies, which the same movies air all the time and etc.

I don't even know what the hell is on TNT. The first time I watched it was when Dallas came back on TV.

Ted Turner was a CEO who was outside the business and you see what happened. And I know Vince wouldn't put Eric Bischoff or Hogan to run his business.

So you see. Maybe, the best candidates would be HHH and Stephanie. You need someone to eat, sleep and breathe the business. Other promoters wouldn't understand the business and you need someone young and in shape for that business.

HHH might not be ideal for that position some would say, but he has NXT as his accomplishment. He has talent just sitting waiting for the call. WCW had the power plant, but WWE has a minor league system.

And I think, creating a Dean Ambrose, Daniel Bryan, Bray Wyatt, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Rusev, Luke Harper, and other talent such as Big E Langston Just to name a few who made it.

Let's face it talent doesn't last that long in the WWE and they might go elsewhere such as TNA, but lets face it the only promotion in town is the WWE. As Vince says they are Sports Entertainment. They are competing with everyone. They needed a streaming network in order to compete with the online market.

Kevin Riley says that someone should take over WWE and be the CEO after Vince, but Vince ain't dead yet. He loves this business and will do what it takes for it to succeed after he leaves this world. And I believe he has trained HHH and Stephanie well should they take over the business. Only Time will tell.

On the First Week of the WWE Network

It's amazing to see the WWE Network come about. It is not a typical Cable TV station, but they have made the transition to what will be the next major transition to Cable TV and on demand TV and that is a streaming TV or online network. They broke through on something that I'm sure every network is planning on doing. Sure there has been content online such as a streaming network such as Netflix or youtube, but having a network is something else and they have been working at this for awhile and with the content they have they could go on for days just with the stuff they had last year and the stuff they are currently working on. However, they have old footage from most of the territories they bought out.

Even though there are complaints with the footage it contains and I even have complaints and I will discuss it in this blog, but I will end on a positive note.

Some complaints I had were that I had some streaming issues. It paused or shut off when I was watching. Either it could be technical on their end or poor internet service on my end, but all I know it has improved since the beginning of the week.

Also, there wasn't a lot of old WCW, NWA, Mid South Wrestling, or AWA footage yet. I was especially a fan of WCW and NWA as I was WWE and they had contributed to wrestling just as much. I feel this material would add to the network instead of playing a lot of replays on material. I'm sure they are putting some stuff together because it's the first week and they want to give the WWE Universe a taste, but eventually they are going to have to add some shows.

Also, I didn't see a Primetime Wrestling, Old WWF Superstars or WWF Challenge recap or even a Saturday Night's Main Event or Clash of the Champions in their list of Pay Per Views. They were just important. And a Raw and Smackdown recap for the week.

However, I'm not going to just critique, it is the first week and they are doing the best they can. They have had old material in the work for awhile that they are finally releasing. They have the entire library of Pay Per Views of WWE, WCW, and ECW. They showed some shows from WCCW and ECW. They showed new shows such as Wrestlemania Rewind, Countdown, and shows featuring the NXT which could eventually become the next major promotion even bigger then TNA and this is a farm system of WWE.

All in all after the first week it hasn't been that bad and it is overwhelming to keep up with. I have to make sometime out of my schedule to watch some of it and I don't have that much time. Other Networks on TV have a lot of material, but don't have that much on there. And I'm sure if they did a network like this it would be overwhelming and I'm sure they are ready for it. And for what they have on it for $9.99 a month it's worth it. Better then what we would pay for some premium stations. And for the material it's a steal. Normally you would buy a pay per view for $50 and old pay per views for $5 or more so that alone it is worth it.

I'm happy that the WWE Network is finally here and I know many are complaining about it, but rest assure they know what they are doing and even if it is the beginning stage. It is impossible to cover everything all at once. I'm sure they are going to do their themes and focus on different stars and all that stuff. So give it some time it's only week one. I'm looking foward to see what they do when they are more established and what kind of programing they come up with and what they will evolve into.

Maybe it will be something for everyone, The old, the new, and something in between. Maybe everyone will enjoy the WWE Network eventually.

The Wrestler of the Week: Hulk Hogan Part 3

This will wrap up the series of the wrestler of the week on Hulk Hogan. When I last left off I discussed about his last run in WCW. After WCW closed, He came to the WWE as Hollywood Hulk Hogan to be apart of the nWo for the last time. And it was to set up his feud with The Rock for the stage of Wrestlemania. In a great match Hogan lost to The Rock, but he earned his crowd back. Then Hollywood became Hulk again. And he was cheered 20 minutes when he came out on Raw the day after. He later on and beat HHH for the championship and lost it to The Undertaker. He was putting over talent when he came back.

He left and then came back to feud with Vince McMahon where the fought at Wrestlemania. He then later became Mr. America in the feud with Vince before he left. He came back twice more once to team with Shawn Micheals and the fight him and beat him on Summer Slam and another time to feud with Randy Orton and feud with him at Summer Slam.

He then left and resurfaced in TNA where he fought Ric Flair and Sting before retiring from wrestling do to injuries, but he stayed in it as General Manager and he became Immortal. He later feuded with Bully Ray and then Dixie Carter before he left and now his next chapter is up in the air.


                          

Wrestler of the Week: "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan Part I

                             

Last week I did Ric Flair and what kind of wrestling fan would I be not to put Hulk Hogan. Hulk Hogan defined professional wrestling for his era. He has done so much for wrestling to put it mainstream. Hulk had the charisma and he knew how to work the crowd simply by being the Hulk. He was the best of wrestlers, but with the moves he had and the ring psychology he was a master.

In the 1970's, Hulk went to school and was going to become a musician. This never came to be. He had a greater calling ahead of him. That was when he was trained by Hiro Matsuda and became a wrestler. Hiro was serious about wrestling and as Hulk would know if he was not serious, his body part would be broken as Hulk would soon find out. Hulk came back.

He wrestled shows with Andre the Giant as a heel in the WWE, I think it was the WWWF at that time. Then he was fired for staring in Rocky III with Sylvester Stallone. His career then went to stardom. He then went to the AWA to feud with Nick Bockwinkel. Hulk's stardom was rising and he left back to the WWE because he wasn't getting his fair due and to become champion. Vince hired him back a few years later after Vince Sr. hired him. Hulk Hogan was Vince's man and he ran with the ball for 10 years.

Bob Backlund reintroduced Hulk Hogan's after a match with the Wild Samoans and Hulk then challenged the Iron Sheik where he won the WWE championship belt. He later on went to feud with Rowdy Roddy Piper which had the War to Settle the Score. It introduced Rock and Wrestling where it was new and innovative for the time. It set up the first Wrestlemania main event with Hulk Hogan and Mr. T vs. Rowdy Piper and Paul Orndorff.

His next big feud was with Paul Orndorff which very well could have main evented Wrestlemania III, but they had something bigger and that was Hulk Hogan's feud with Andre the Giant. His match with Andre the Giant was Hulk's peak for his run as champion.

He then developed a feud with Macho Man Randy Savage at Wrestlemania V. There was a personal story with there feud. And you can't blame Macho Man Randy Savage for his jealousy then especially after how Hulk acted on air. I thought Macho was the face. But a good feud for Hogan with wrestling.

He put over the Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania VI. Where Hulk Hogan lost clean. When someone beat the Hulk, Hogan made that victory count.

He then ran with the ball again as Hulk was the go to guy against Sgt. Slaughter.

He ended his big run in WWE when he lost against the Yokozuna.

Hulk was exhausted and went away from wrestling for a little bit and when he came back he would soon innovate the wrestling world once again in what would be called the Monday Night Wars.

Next week I will continue the Wrestler of the Week with Hollywood Hulk Hogan.
  
         

Wrestler of the Week: Ric Flair

This segment on the blog is Wrestler of the Week. This could be a past, present or upcoming wrestler that is trying to make it in the business. The Masked Man David Shoemaker started in his blog in the beginning charting the dead wrestler of the week. This is just the Wrestler of the week. There have been many wrestlers and although it is difficult to chronicle all of them I will try to do one a week. For this week I will do a Short Bio of Ric Flair for the Wrestler of the Week.

Ric Flair who turns 65 years old this year is still willing to fight and style and profile as the Nature Boy could. This week he gave a motivational speech for the 49ers and they won. Who better to deliver a speech then him. This is a testament of his career and a career that witnessed so much.

First, let me start off the story with a plane wreck that paralyzed a wrestler, killed the pilot and gave Ric Flair a serious back injury in where he was told he would never wrestle again. 30 years later and he wrestled.

He had an epic battle with Harley Race in 1983 and it was called The Flair for the Gold. He came back from injury and worked his way for the main event at the first Starcade and won the championship belt.

Then, he had a classic feud with Dusty Rhodes where Dusty claimed he had hard times on him and his family.

He had which could have been the best heel group in wrestling called the 4 Horseman which caused havoc on the NWA and then the WCW. Even though the later versions were watered down.

In 1991, he claimed that he was the real world champion and challenged Hulk Hogan. He eventually won the Royal Rumble to become the WWE champion.

He came back to the WCW, where he became champ again and helped launch Hulk Hogan's career at WCW at Bash at the Beach 1994

His legacy then continued as he came to the WWE as scripted as co-owner of the company. But his greatest matches and accomplishments happened in a group known as Evolution. He was giving back to the business and trying to teach Randy Orton and Batista about wrestling and he even gave back to all the young wrestlers he wrestled.

He even had epic battles with HHH, Randy Orton, and Edge. He became tag team champion and Intercontinental Champion. Out of how well he wrestled and stayed young despite his age.
He retired from the WWE with a match against Shawn Micheals at Wrestlemania.

He then went to TNA where he managed a heel group called Fortune.

Now he is enjoying he retirement only as Flair could, "A limosine riding, jet flying, wheeling dealing, son of a gun." He has proven a lot in his career and worthy enough to be The First Wrestler of the Week.
 
                          

Review of Part 2 of WWE Legends of Mid-South Wrestling

To quote Rowdy Roddy Piper in Wrestling terms, Mid-South Wrestling was ECW before ECW was ECW. It had a hard wrestling style and Cowboy Bill Watts believed in no mats. It was a tough place to work, but all the legends worked there.

First, this DVD featured the feud between Hacksaw Butch Reed and the Junk Yard Dog. As was said in the DVD Butch was more of a wrestler and didn't have much charisma and the JYD had the charisma. The DVD featured a Ghetto Street Fight. Butch was jealous that he didn't have was the JYD had. Who could argue with him on that one.

Second, it featured some of the classic feud between the Midnight Express managed by Jim Cornette and the Rock N Roll Express. This was the greatest tag team feud at the time. There was feuds in WWF but they can't match the classic rivalry of this feud that these two teams had and this DVD featured some matches from this feud.

Then, Shawn Micheals discusses how Ted Dibiase elevated his career. Shawn was saying that he is a class act and helped put him over even if he was a jobber at that time. Shawn many years later elevated himself to one of the greatest wrestlers of this time.

Finally, on Part 2 of this DVD, Terry Talyor discusses his big match with Ric Flair at the Silverdome in Lousiana. Terry was mentioning that Ric was hung over drunk when he got there. He then told him to get him a cup of coffee and wake him up in an hour. He came to the ring and looked immaculate and took him to a 45 minute match and Ric Flair won. Terry Taylor was winded and Ric could have gone all not long. It's what made Ric one of the greats.

This was a good part of the DVD. I enjoyed the rivalries and the back story behind the events. This would have been a good promotion to watch and I wish I had watched more of it at the time, but by the time I started to watch it channel 68 on TV in my town in NJ became the Home Shopping Network. More reason why I'm exciting to see the WWE Network. As for Mid South Wrestling it was a great promotion at the time, but they couldn't compete with The WWF now WWE and the NWA or WCW. A lot changed in how wrestling was run, but we could respect what they had accomplished for wrestling.

Commentary on Ground Breaking Announcement for WWE Network

The WWE has came to a time where they finally announced the WWE Network. They have answered a lot of questions that have been asked for along time. They answered how much it will cost. They answered on what platforms it will be on. They answered what they will content will be on the WWE Network as speculated. And they mentioned how it will work. In case you missed the coverage that has been buzzing or you are curious in reading my review here is what they discussed at their announcement in Las Vegas, Nevada.

First, they mentioned that it will be a Online Streaming site a 24/7 service. You could go back to the programing any time if you missed it and it reminds you of future programing.

As for programming, It will feature new shows, NXT, WWE Superstars, a replay of Raw and Smackdown, Old contents from former wrestling shows from other promotions, Old pay per views from WWE, WCW, and ECW. Also, the finale, it will feature all 12 Pay Per Views including Wrestlemania. And I'm sure I might be missing other material they have.

They are taking a gamble and are revolutionizing the way they do things. They didn't say they are getting rid of the pay per views on TV, but they did mention the price and for all they offer they are giving it away for $9.99 a month. And for all of what they offer it is worth it and a steal.

The launch date for the WWE Network is February 24, 2014 at 11:05 PM on Monday after Raw.

This seems like a revolutionary concept and it will be the new wave of the future.

1984 was a year that changed how wrestling was done. Vince McMahon started to utilize Cable TV and marketing with his main man Hulk Hogan and Hulkamania. It revolutionized how sports entertainment started to operate. It took wrestling out of the dark ages.

Since then, 30 years later about almost 30 years to the day when Hulk Hogan beat the Iron Shiek for the WWE title, on January 8, 2014, they announced the launch of the WWE Network.

It is the first network of it's kind mainstream wise to be online. There hasn't been a network to do this and it's a gamble, but a gamble that might pay off. They could change the way of entertainment is done for the internet.

WWE has come along way from where it started and now it could start a new trend in entertainment. Vince has had ideas and with this network he utilizes all the effort of wrestlers from the past who have worked to that moment. Vince might have clawed his way to victory, but he has succeed in his journey. The WWE Universe has him to thank for all that he has accomplished.

Thank you, Vince.