LAW March 17 Update – WWE Addresses Head Shots
**This
Monday night The Fight Network will debut ‘Bret Hart – Survival of the Hitman’,
it’s a two hour documentary that was produced by myself and colleague Jorge
Barbosa as well as Wai Ting. The documentary focuses on the life and career of
Hart and what led to his return to the WWE earlier this year. It contains
interviews with Bret Hart, former head of WWE Canada Carl DeMarco, members of
Hart’s family and other talent in the industry among others. Tune in Monday
night at 7pm and 11pm EST on The Fight Network – here is a quick trailer for
the documentary.
**There
isn’t a whole lot new to say in regards to the ratings results from Monday
night. TNA did their lowest ‘Impact’ rating since 2006 and there is zero sign
of any upward mobility for the promotion in this timeslot. I would be very
surprised for TNA to change timeslots but they could be forced to if Spike
forces the change. I don’t understand the logic of looking at the ratings
pattern from January 4th and realizing that the unopposed hour of
8-9pm EST is in their best interest to capitalize on, shoot their big angles in
the first hour and hope to keep viewers past 9pm EST. The mindset of booking to
surprise needs to be thrown out the window right now and when they have
anything they feel can generate interest, buzz and pull in an audience then it
needs to be promoted ad nauseam. This weekend’s pay per view and the Monday and
Tuesday TV tapings will tell the tale of what has been taken from these two
weeks of sobering numbers. I want to see TNA succeed, it only makes the
industry healthier to see more people with jobs, two promotions making lots of
money and having a competitive field for the audience but the current direction
is being slapped in the face week after week with reality checks and clear
indications of what IS NOT WORKING and it’s continually ignored. If ratings
patterns and numbers are going to be ignored than it’s hard to have sympathy
for a company whose head remains in the sand whose lone hope is waking up
tomorrow and it being 1997.
**In a
move that is overdue but am very happy to see finally addressed by the WWE,
they have made changes to their Wellness Policy that prohibit the use of not
only chair shots to the head but any intentional strikes or blows to the head,
which will be subject to fines and / or suspensions mandated by EVP of Talent
Relations John Laurinaitis. TNA needs to take the same steps because the amount
of research into concussions over the past three years has been very
significant and both the NFL and now WWE are taking steps to address issues
within their respective industries.
**WWE ‘NXT’
continues to drop posting a 0.9 rating on Tuesday night. There needs to be more
of a push on ‘Raw’ the night prior to set up angles for the show and give
people a reason to tune in each week because right now there isn’t a hook for
those outside of the core audience.
**Mickie
James posted a blog on the WWE Universe site discussing her recent bout with
staph infection that forced the company to take the title off of her and is the
reason she has been off of TV for the majority of the past month. James was
diagnosed with a strain of MRSA (the same infection Kevin Nash had in his elbow
in late 2008) and was told by her doctor that she will miss WrestleMania and
had it not been detected in time she could have lost her leg or even died from
the strain.
**The
latest poll numbers for Quinnipiac have Linda McMahon ahead in the race for the
Republican nomination with 44% for McMahon, 34% for Rob Simmons and 9% for
Peter Schiff. McMahon is the only candidate that is airing commercials right
now and is gaining ground through her vast resources as she has stated in
previous interviews that she has ear marked $50 million for her campaign.
**Jeremy
Borash announced today on Twitter that Spike will be replaying ‘Impact’
Thursday night at 9pm EST. Last week’s replay of ‘Impact’ ended up doing a 0.96,
right below the 0.98 rating the first run of ‘Impact’ did last week.
**Dixie
Carter today confirmed that Bobby Heenan, Dory Funk Jr. and Baron Von Rashke
will be three of the legends that will be attending the TNA fan fest on the
weekend of ‘Lockdown’ in St. Charles, Missouri. I almost guarantee the WWE will
get Heenan to attend the WWE Hall of Fame and avoid appearing for TNA.
**It was on this day in 2002 that ‘WrestleMania X8′ took place at the Skydome
(now Rogers Center) in Toronto featuring the Hulk Hogan Vs The Rock match,
which to this day is the most crowd heat I have ever experienced live. The show
did 850,000 buys on pay per view and also featured Chris Jericho Vs Triple H
for the undisputed title.
**It has
been announced that Jushin Thunder Liger will not be appearing at the Anime
North event in Toronto
on the weekend of May 26th – 28th. Officials will be
announcing a replacement wrestling guest shortly. (Thanks to Jason Kydd)
**
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