WWE Monday Night Raw Discusison: Big Show v. Generic Boxer
Written by Lex on March 3rd, 2008 in Uncategorized.
The trend of not announcing matches for Raw continues this week. Well, techincally, at least. We do know Big Show will be facing off in an exhibition with a professional boxer, but we don’t know who that boxer will be. Here’s to hoping for some surprise Mike Tyson-ear biting action. How great would that be?
Also, as noted in the first comment by the man himself, sideshowRaheem, Chris Jericho’s Highlight Reel will return to Raw tonight.
Discuss Raw here.
March 3rd, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Chris Jericho’s “Highlight Reel” returns tonight!
March 3rd, 2008 at 6:38 pm
sideshow–
Thanks for the heads up…didn’t see that mentioned earlier. I added it to the post!
March 3rd, 2008 at 7:20 pm
who do u guys think will be inducted into the hall of fame 2nite???? i think it will either be mae young or Gordon Solie that guy was the man at announcing back then its sad that wrestling fans will more then likely be like who’s that guy cause most of them r 10 to 15
March 3rd, 2008 at 7:28 pm
im actually looking forward to watching RAW tonight, it’s been the only really enjoyable show in the last couple of weeks, at least for me.
I’m hoping for an hbk turn, although next week would be fine; looking to see more of the relatively good build up for the main event; i could go another week without hornswoggle, i prefer a 20 minute McMahon promo over the shit that disgrace has been pulling for the past 6+ months; and maybe we’ll get to listen to santino badmouth lawler for a few minutes.
my hopes are high, but i wont be surprised if it turns out to be a stinker like so much of wrestling does.
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Pretty good opening to the show if I do say so myself. Orton cracked me up with his “let’s make a pact.” Reminded me of that movie “Darjeeling Limited.”
And now they are calling an MMA exhibition…and not boxing. Interesting.
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Who the hell is Brandon “The Thrill” Hill?
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:07 pm
At least “The Thrill” has some what of a boxer’s body.
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:10 pm
If this is an “MMA” exhibition why is this guy dressed for boxing, lol. It’s like they decided to change it to “MMA” at the last minute.
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:11 pm
lol brandon hill: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Hill
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:11 pm
I wanna see someone use a chokeslam in a real mma match. It would be hilarious
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Am I wrong that it would have been more interesting if Big Show would have boxed the man not wrestled? This Big Show/Money Mayweather part is terrible.
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:14 pm
That last ten minutes has made me want to buy Wrestlemania! No not really.
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:14 pm
sideshow–
I got scared and thought someone might have already created a wikipedia page for him.
Streeetsboro–
It was bad b/c the satellite feed for Mayweather was badly out of sync.
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:14 pm
Damn, that dude took a SERIOUS bump.
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:15 pm
lol im gonna block that part from my memory forever
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:16 pm
I know Lex There is bad weather all over the midwest.
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:23 pm
if they think Mayweather is going over as the face here they are SERIOUSLY mistaken. 99% of the folks are gonna wanna see Big Show kill him. Literally kill him. I know I do already.
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Yeah, Mayweather is playing the heel role, and I think they realize that at this point. Although, I’m kind of sensing a weird reaction for Show–the crowd is booing Mayweather, but simply doesn’t seem to care that Show is part of the equation.
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:42 pm
This week on cooking with Goldberg we learn how to cook potato pancakes.
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:47 pm
So who just turned heel there Y2J, Hardy or nobody.
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Can some one explain to me why in that promo for WM24 with Carlito they where playing the Mexican Hat dance song in the background. Since WM is in Florida should they be playing some Cuban music not Mexican.
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Streetsboro–
You want bad weather? I just looked out my window and saw that my neighborhood is covered in snow. NOW that’s bad weather. At least, in Dallas, LOL. We NEVER see snow.
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:58 pm
kind of a lack luster sho so far
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:07 pm
the lito mania commercial was just stupid enough to get a couple of laughs out of me. at least its better than that retarded kelly kelly / mae young ad.
On mayweather vs big show, they did the wrong thing in trying to super heel show up by killing rey. no wrestling fan wants to cheer a boxer they know nothing about who claims they are the best fighter.
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Carlito’s still in the WWE?
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:13 pm
ERECTILE MALFUNCTION!
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:19 pm
who’s the girl on the playboy cover? Heaven knows it’s not Maria. It looks nothing like her. If they’ve photoshopped her face like that, who knows what they’ve done to her body.
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:22 pm
has anyone been checking out wwe’s industry news section? there’s some crazy shit going on over there.
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Kanadian–
Yeah, ROH, TNA…it’s weird. I mean, they are just taking it from other sites, lol.
Dynamite–
Sideshow’s got a link to the pictures in a post below. I didn’t care for them. She’s pretty, but it’s nothing special.
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Wow, Carlito’s push is back.
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:28 pm
is it just me, or is maria really lame now that she lost her stupid character and has become just another actual idiot diva?
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:35 pm
do they really think anybody finds this chump interesting? This might cut it when he’s talking to the 5 people that still watch boxing, but his bumbling promos don’t cut it here.
And fire Mike Adamle. Please.
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Finlay’s new music is much better then that fucking hornswaggal shit.
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:45 pm
What’s with all the new music, anyway? They totally killed Jeff Hardy’s music…I don’t get it.
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:46 pm
So is this going to re-open the “Who is Vince’s son?” storyline, or will that just be buried and forgotten.
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:47 pm
God Damn It!!! JBL is a great fucking heel he’s the only one that can make this Vince/Hornswaggle thing entertaining.
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Sideshow–
I was thinking the same thing.
March 3rd, 2008 at 10:20 pm
as long as they are bullying hornswoggle, i’m entertained.
Raw was kinda crappy. i might do a “yea/boos” on it but probs not. i like the main event story, but they’re making cena the underdog, getting beaten up every week, not looking good for mania.
March 3rd, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Damn! Is it just me or was Mae Young a fox back when she was 18? She had some vicious ass curves!
TWEN-TAY-THREE SKIDDOOOO!!
March 4th, 2008 at 5:29 am
why does RAW get 4 MITB competitors?
Shouldnt Batista want to win the MITB match more than anything else and not just to beat Umaga?
When will the midcard titles be defended? They should give a title to Santino.
March 4th, 2008 at 5:37 am
-JSN
Matt Hardy is healthy now and is expected to return at tonights SD! taping so I would guess there’s gonna be a US title match at WM with him and MVP.
March 4th, 2008 at 7:28 am
I thought this was a good episode. The first segment made me laugh with Big Slow. When the camera was on him, I saw in the background, fans leaving there seats. I think that says it all. No one cares about this. Kennedy and Cena had a good match. I was confused as well with the highlight reel. Not sure if Hardy turned, I doubt it, or what. I see that being the next feud with Jericho being a heel.
I do have some questions though. Seriously, how did the Jericho/Lashley feud end??? I miss a PPV or something. Also, I though Santino/Carlito were number 1 contenders for the tag belts. What happened there??? Did I blink and miss that match?
March 4th, 2008 at 7:58 am
Horseman–
Fans might have been leaving their seats b/c Mayweather was there via satellite…perhaps if he was there in person they would have stayed? Maybe?
March 4th, 2008 at 8:33 am
Lex:
To me, that’s a sign that the whole angle is not working. I was thinking about this the other day. Could Vince have spread out the 20 million to make Mania must see. Examples: Give the Rock like 6 million for a match, Bring Sting in to wrestle Flair and have the horseman cost Sting the match, have Hogan there. My point is, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
March 4th, 2008 at 10:02 am
I think I’ve decided to stop watching televised wrestling until something major comes along and makes it good again. I really feel like I’m wasting my time on it.
At least I have a steady stream of indy DVDs.
March 4th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
see even a few months I used to stay up and watch RAW (its on 2am here) but I coudltn give two shits anymore.
March 4th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
- horseman, and too all
There’s no way mayweather is getting paid $20 million. It’s a work.
on the subject of hardy, he isn’t truning heel, but thats the second time he’s got a cheap twist of fate, 1 on y2j and 1 on orton. i don’t like that, it makes me want to dislike hardy.
March 4th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Kanadian–
Do we have any evidence that he’s not getting paid 20 mil?
March 4th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
well, do we have any evidence that he is? (not to go against you lex, but i was just wondering)
March 4th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
We have economic improbabilities that largely out weigh the alternative, and we have the know incompetence of both WWE and media coverage of WWE that should make us all very skeptical of everything reported on wrestling, no matter where the source.
We have had WWE say Mayweather was getting paid $20 million, then that one report on it, and then a bunch of other sports and news outlets picking it up. I am told by WWE and MVP that MVP is the highest paid superstar on Smackdown, but I don’t simply take that as the truth, because I know that’s a gimmick. I also know this is a gimmick, an unsuccessful gimmick, as he’s booked as the face, but a gimmick nonetheless.
It’s all anecdotal evidence, but it’s better than WWE’s word.
March 4th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Hmm. So you’re telling me the AP would be dumb enough to report a gimmick? It’s the Associated Press…not TMZ we are talking about here. Until it’s proven otherwise, it’s reality…
Also, with SEC rules, could the WWE just float fake numbers like that? Wouldn’t that violate some kind of securities law?
I don’t really see the economic improbability–granted, as I pointed out on the podcast (and Sideshow pointed out on the blog), it would seriously cut into revenues, but maybe somehow the WWE thinks it will pay off by generating more buys and more advertising money. Who knows. Some sweet advertising deals based on Mayweather’s involvement would easily pay for it. Let’s not forget, Mayweather and De La Hoya made HUGE money on their last PPV. Way MORE than 20 mil…
Now…if it comes out as hard fact that the WWE isn’t paying him 20 mil, and the AP reported it, that would be awesome…because it’s pretty hard to get respectable news organizations to fall for wrestling storylines.
March 5th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Yes, I’m saying the Associated Press is dumb enough to report a gimmick. I don’t know what their sources are for getting that information, but but who else besides Mayweather and WWE would know how much he’s getting paid? The only people with any knowledge of the amount he’s getting paid are the one’s who are in on the story. What WWE said and have used multiple times within their build up should not be the default reality to be proven wrong.
WWE hasn’t had any problems floating fake numbers around before; they say MVP is the highest paid superstar on Smackdown, they said Vince McMahon was a billionaire when he was really only around the 750 million mark.
They are smart people at WWE. The amount of revenue required to make a 20 million dollar pay day a valid investment after all the costs come into play would have to be giant (sideshow went through the rough numbers).
If Mania does end up bringing in the 2.4 million buys the boxing show did, then I guess I’ll be wrong. I just think WWE saying they are paying Mayweather $20 million means one of two things: They have severely overestimated Mayweather’s appeal to wrestling fans, or They are lying. I say they are lying.
March 5th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
hey while i was watching Raw 2 weeks ago i remember Mayweather saying, “i was a boxer and i was the best and now i’m a wrestler and i am the best…” i think that might lend some credibility to the 20mill thing cause if he signed a 20 mill contract and it lasts for like a long time then it might work out.
March 5th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
and can someone tell me why stone cold is still on the raw roster and why Big
Show is on the Smack Down! roster
March 5th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
- shortzandat
there is nothing saying he’s signed a long term contract; and if he had, it would work out even worse, for us and for WWE, than if they actually just paid him 20 mill for mania. the guy is a shit talker, he is a boxer, and after mania, even less wrestling fans are going to care about him.
March 5th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
-Kanadian
you are right about the long-term thing and about the fact that if he did sign a long-term contract then it would be worse for wrestling fans and that he would probably cost the WWE more than 20 mil because they would have to pay him to end his contract erly
March 5th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
There was one quote from his manager in one of the first stories where it made it sound like a long-term deal…I don’t remember exactly what he said.
There are other possibilities, too. The money might be spread out over several years. It might be incentive-based–Mania does x number of buys, you get 10 mil–sells this many dvds, you get 3 mil, this many tshirts, 500k. There are a lot ways they could do the money. He may be getting paid UP to 20 mil…
By the way, I’m not saying I believe it either. I’m VERY skeptical. But until I see some concrete evidence, I’m going to take it at face value. After all, Money Mayweather doesn’t bullshit when it comes to money, right?
The great thing about the $20 million number is that it’s right on the border–it could be real, it could be a storyline.
Also, Kanadian, on the floating fake numbers deal, saying MVP is the “highest paid wrestler on Smackdown” on a television show is a lot different than telling the Associated Press that you’re paying someone 20 million dollars. When public companies release financial information, it’s considered a legal transmission. That’s why public companies have to publish quarterly reports with all their financial statistics, and that’s why public companies disseminate official financial information through PR Newswire and other sources. Commenting on any sort of financial stuff in the media is very serious business for a company that’s listed on the stock market.
March 5th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
i look at the reports of 20 million dollars from the sense that WWE wasn’t planning on the numbers getting out until they were used in the storyline, or that they released the numbers to get “pluh-blicity”, which they have. i think they put the numbers out there to get reported on, published, talked about etc. to generate buzz and interest for their show, which it has.
do you think when the next quarterly report comes out it’ll have info on mayweather’s pay day, cause if it is in fact 20 million dollars then that’s worth mentioning
March 6th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Kanadian–
The quarterly reports don’t go into that much detail, as far as I know. I believe they just give revenues, profits, and totals of salaries…things like that. I’ve never looked that in-depth into one. I do know WWE released their initial revenues on Mania last year, and it was something around 25 million…I think I used the actual number on the podcast. That’s the part that makes me really skeptical about all this.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:37 am
25 million is not enough to give a 20 million payday to Mayweather. Didn’t Trump only get like 5 million given to a charity? Using this, WWE is paying 15 million more than Trump, therefore, assuming they get the 1.25 million buys, which I doubt they will, WWE will be making only $10 million. If my calculations are correct (they probably aren’t), if they do any lower than 500,000 buys, Mania will make no money, they’ll break even.
Now, the show right now looks pretty shitty. Although I think the matches look better than last year, with all these celebrities shortening my match times, and the extra cost, I want to order this show less and less. I don’t think they’ll get as many buys as last year, and I don’t buy the $20 million pay day.
March 6th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
But remember, PPV buys aren’t the only revenue they make from this show. There’s live gate, merchandise, and most importantly, advertising $$$.
March 6th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
that’s true, Lex
March 6th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Kanadian–
Here’s some good stuff. This guy on espn thinks he’ll get about $1 million–his source is “wrestling insiders,” and he criticizes reputable news outlets for publishing the $20 million number. $1 million is surprisingly low, if that’s true.
I’m assuming by wrestling insiders, he means Dave Meltzer.
March 6th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
By the way, I would have guessed like 5 mil.
March 6th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
i’ve read various different reports. some say its 1, some 2, and some say he gets that and a large portion of ppv buy money. that’s what i would believe.
March 7th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
-Lex
that was a very good article and I am very glad that you found it. what are your predictions on that match?