SEScoops Mailbag for August 18th

(submit YOUR questions to [email protected])

Q: I would like to know the real reason for the Stone Cold Steve Austin heel turn at WrestleMania 17 when he joined Vince McMahon. Do you think that was a good move for business? – Troy

A: Austin has said that it was all his idea and he now regrets doing it. Instead of a handshake, if he could do things differently, he would have given McMahon a Stunner to close out the show. At the time, he felt his character was getting stale and needed a fresh start. As far as whether it was good for business, the numbers don’t lie. Ratings began a slow descent that they’ve never recovered from and thousands of fans who watched wrestling back then stopped doing so, never to return. It killed their golden goose and don’t think that it doesn’t play a role in why they’ve been so resistant to turning John Cena heel all these years. More than a decade later, WWE recently began conducting focus groups to see how they can work to get back what they refer to as “lapsed” fans.

Q: It is quite clear that Melina has a poor reputation with the locker room and just about everyone. My question: I believe in “Have A Nice Day”, Mick Foley was very complimentary of her to the point where it was a little creepy. Was this tongue-in-cheek or did Mick really see something in her? It just doesn’t add up. – Paul from Bangor, ME

A: Nope, Mick is a very big fan and thinks quite highly of her, not necessarily from an in-ring POV, but more as a nice, warm person. It’s not a gag. If you ask me, I think he probably just wanted to Bangor (get it? Because the person writing in is from a place called Bangor? Okay, let’s forget this ever happened).

Q: Is the [wrestling] media killing wrestling? Back in the day, WWE had better ratings and more fans then they do now. Could it be spoilers that ruin the surprises or the wrestlers’ personal lives getting on the internet or what? The fans used to love the Hardy Boys, but now people bash them for their mid-life crisis. Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior are disrespected because of their personal lives, but they used to be idols. – Austin N.

A: What a tired argument. The media is not killing wrestling, dumb wrestlers (and bookers) are killing wrestling. It’s like saying guns kill people – no, people kill people and just happen to sometimes use guns. Spoilers have been readily accessible on the internet since at least the mid-90’s and it’s never been proven that a live show consistently outperforms a taped show. The Hardys? People bash them because they’re a few fries short of a Happy Meal and bring scrutiny upon themselves by having their home raided by police, or by posting ridiculous YouTube videos of themselves eating grapes and tasering their girlfriend and running around their home with a gun pretending to chase ghosts. You can’t blame the media for that. As for Hogan and Warrior, they used to be idols to many fans because those fans were 10-years old and didn’t know any better. Now that they’re running around with iPhones cutting promos on each other every five minutes, it’s just sad. That hardly means I hold Steve Jobs and Apple responsible for their silly behavior.

Q: What if one day the WWE were to “really change forever”, as Triple H told us it would, and the company produced [more interesting] storylines and make ALL their championships seem important. Do you think WWE would be better off if they switch all of their programs from the USA network and SyFy to ESPN? And if they were to get a deal right now with ESPN, do you think it would mean anything? – Adrian Ramlochan from Trinidad

A: If only if it were as easy as you make it out to be. WWE isn’t in a position where they can just snap their fingers and shift their programming onto another network. As a matter of fact, wrestling is nowhere near as hot as it was a decade ago and TV executives have figured out the dirty little secret about wrestling fans –by and large, they don’t watch other programming on a promotion’s home network. UFC got lucky when Ultimate Fighter got a slot immediately after Raw and took off because contrary to what Vince McMahon would have you believe, there is lots of crossover between the wrestling and MMA audience. But that’s the exception, so if wrestling fans are only going to watch wrestling shows and wrestling isn’t the hot commodity it once was, then what other network would want it? WWE found that out the hard way when Spike ended negotations to bring them back and left USA as the only suitor. Nobody else wanted them, including ESPN. Besides, it’s a sports network and WWE thinks sport is a dirty word. They’re entertainment now, you see. It wouldn’t be a good fit.

Q: What was the fallout about between Goldust and his father, the “American Dream” Dusty Rhodes that caused them not to talk to each other for 5 years? – Rory B.

A: It revolved around Dustin’s relationship with his future wife, Terri, who he first met in WCW. He talks about it in his book, “Cross Rhodes: Goldust Out Of The Darkness”.

Q: I remember earlier this year, Cody Rhodes said that when he wins at WrestleMania 27, he would unmask Rey Mysterio. When that time came and he won the match, he just grabbed his protective face mask and left. What’s up with that? – Chase Hawkins

A: Just another stipulation, much like John Cena getting fired, that WWE either forgot about or decided wasn’t worth mentioning again. Perhaps Alberto Del Rio remembered Cody’s earlier vow during the Raw Money in the Bank match last month when he ripped Mysterio’s mask off his face and threw it into the crowd. Another example of Mexicans taking jobs that Americans don’t want.

Q: Is there a RAW GM anymore? The computer seems to be around at all the RAW [shows] and Pay-Per-Views, but no annoying dinging sounds in the middle of promos. So do you know what happened to the GM? – Abbas

A: Victim of the recession. Lost his day job and couldn’t pay his internet bill anymore.

Keep those questions coming to [email protected] and remember to include your name!

The UFC has officially announced what we reported here earlier this week – that their business relationship with Spike TV is over and they’ve reached a new blockbuster television deal with FOX broadcasting that will see up to 4 live events on FOX each year as well as the UFC’s Ultimate Fighter show moving to FOX-owned cable channel FX.

In a move that looks like Spike is trying to save face and after getting ‘dumped’ by UFC, Spike TV has issued the following statement, claiming they have cancelled their hit Ultimate Fighter series:

“The Ultimate Fighter season 14 in September will be our last. We are increasing our commitment to distinctive, original series that we own such as Auction Hunters and Bar Rescue which are delivering on our goal to reach a broader audience. Our 6-year partnership with the UFC has been incredibly beneficial in building both our brands, and we wish them all the best in the future.”

Here’s the official press release from the UFC:

Los Angeles – Today, Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC), the world’s leading mixed martial arts organization and No. 1 Pay-Per-View event provider in the world, finds its perfect media match in FOX, the No. 1 television network in the country. FOX Sports Media Group, the umbrella entity representing FOX Networks Group’s wide array of sports platforms, has reached a multi-year, multi-media rights agreement with Zuffa, LLC, owner of the UFC brand.

The landmark agreement, which puts UFC on par with many of the country’s professional sports organizations, delivers four live events in prime time or late night each year to the FOX broadcast network, home to the country’s biggest sports events, including the Super Bowl, World Series and Daytona 500. The first live event airs Saturday, Nov. 12 at 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT. Additional programming on multiple FOX networks launches January 2012 and includes live fights, pre and post shows, countdown shows, UFC Unleashed, UFC Primetime, the UFC Knockout series, Best of Pride, weigh-in specials, and much more original content from extensive Zuffa archives. The agreement also provides for developing robust mobile and authenticated online offerings to exploit a vast array of digital platform rights.

In spring 2012, THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER, UFC’s signature weekly reality show moves to FX, FOX’s general entertainment cable network now in more than 99 million homes. With the move to FX, the show will feature a newly-designed format. FX is also set to televise another four-to six-live UFC events annually, with a mixture of additional events and programs heading to FSMG cable networks including FUEL TV.

“We’re excited to be part of the FOX family,” says Dana White, UFC President. “The UFC is finally where it belongs on the number one network in the country and aligned with the most prestigious sports properties in the world. I’ve always said that the UFC will be the biggest sport in the world and with this relationship it will become a reality.”

“My brother Frank, Dana and I always believed that our passion for the sport of Mixed Martial Arts would help us to build the UFC into a successful global brand and ultimately make it one of the premier sports properties in the world,” said Lorenzo Fertitta, Chairman and CEO of the UFC. “The partnership with FOX is a major step in making this a reality and also builds on the great relationship that we already have established with FOX in Latin America, Australia and Europe.”

“Mixed martial arts is not only the fastest growing sport in the world, but also the world’s most exciting form of man-to-man competition, and the UFC is the world’s premier MMA organization,” said FSMG President & Co-COO Eric Shanks. “Since FOX Sports is America’s No. 1 sports network and FOX is America’s No. 1 network for young adults, the UFC on FOX is a perfect match.”

“UFC’s growth over the past decade is nothing short of phenomenal and it has become one of the marquee sports in this country,” said John Landgraf, President and General Manager, FX Networks. “There is a reason for its rising popularity. It features some of the greatest athletes in the world, and we believe it will be a terrific addition to our schedule and look forward to our relationship.”

Founded in 1993, UFC has been on a meteoric rise since 2001 when it was acquired by Zuffa, LLC, owned by Lorenzo Fertitta, Frank Fertitta III and Dana White. UFC’S first brush with FOX Sports goes back to June 2002, when Fox Sports Net carried UFC’s first non-pay-per-view event on basic cable television, and delivered what was then its largest audience to date. Through cooperation with state athletic commissions, consistent rules were established and refined for competition through officiating, judging, the addition of weight divisions, length of rounds and better equipment. Combined with an unyielding devotion to fighter safety, the UFC has vaulted to mainstream status in the minds of US sports fans attracting major sponsors such as Bud Light, Dodge and Harley Davidson.

UFC has displayed tremendous growth in digital and social media consumption. Unique visitors to UFC.com tripled between 2006 and 2010 (2.1 million to 6.3 million), and UFC established local web sites in 10 countries and Latin America. Using a unique blend of incentives, promotions and original content, including live bouts, UFC has seen its number of Facebook friends increase from 800,000 in 2009 to 6.1 million at present, outpacing the NFL, MLB and the NHL. UFC currently ranks second to the NBA in social media followers among the major sports organizations. Additionally, UFC President Dana White regularly interacts with over 1.5 million fans that follow him on Twitter.

Mixed martial arts skews much younger than more established US sports, which ranged from age 43 for Super Bowl XLIV to 61 for horse racing’s Triple Crown in 2010. Thus far, the median age for UFC on Spike in 2011 is 36 and 56% of UFC fans fall into the adult 18-34 demographic. Live UFC programming performs extremely well in the advertiser attractive, hard-to-reach male 18-34 demographic, with live event programing averaging a 1.53 rating, making it a top-20 cable show this year.

Video game website GameTrailers.com has released new gameplay videos of the upcoming WWE ’12 game from THQ.

Based on what we are seeing from this game, it looks to be a real winner. This is a total reboot of the WWE video game franchise – rebuild from the ground up.

An overview of the new features in WWE 12.

Meet the superstars of the WWE!