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| UNHOLY WAR IN PROGRESS! | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Sep 5 2013, 12:54 PM (921 Views) | |
| BigPoppaBuyrate | Sep 5 2013, 12:54 PM Post #1 |
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Poppin' Buyrates Since 1996
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SNEAK PEEK! --- [We hear the closing notes to the theme from Webster just before we fade to black and then back up on a shot of the steel mesh that makes up the double caged hell known as WarGames. A voiceover that long-time wrestling fans can quickly and easily identify as belonging to St. Louis hero and former World Champion Hamilton Graham begins.] “They call it WarGames.” [We get a sequence of slow motion shots from AWA WarGames gone by - MAMMOTH Mizusawa barreling over Juan Vasquez with a running lariat starts it off followed by Stevie Scott and Marcus Broussard trading right hands.] “Ten men locked inside a cage that covers two whole wrestling rings.” [More footage, this time with Raphael Rhodes sailing off the top rope, smashing a flying headbutt down onto the Hotshot.] “No rules. No referee in there to keep things under control. Ten men who despise each other with the freedom to do whatever they want to whoever they want.” [Kolya Sudakov’s chain becomes involved in the 2010 edition of WarGames as Juan Vasquez loops it around the throat of Stevie Scott. Cut to Stevie Scott having a splintered piece of a wooden flagpole shoved into his bloody forehead by Tin Can Rust.] “And to win? You gotta beat someone up bad enough to make them give up - the one thing that, to a man, every person who laces boots to get inside that squared circle hates to do the most.” [The footage fades to show Hamilton Graham standing behind a sheet of steel mesh himself. His fingers are wrapped in the metal, knuckles turning white under the grip.] “They call it WarGames... and it’s the damndest thing I’ve ever seen. War is coming and Hell is coming with it... right here... tonight.” [The shot of the legendary grappler suddenly bursts into static, leaving a black screen. Another voiceover is heard, this one digitally distorted to hide the identity of the speaker.] “For months, I’ve warned you of what was coming. I’ve warned you of the threats facing the AWA. And I’ve told you what needed to be done to stop them. But you’ve all failed to listen. Tonight, I’ll MAKE you listen. War is coming?" [The digital voice chuckles, an ominous sound with the distortion.] “You haven’t seen war yet. But you’ll see the first shot fired... tonight.” [That voice fades out to leave the blackened screen which soon fades into a panning shot of the exterior of the Chaifetz Arena where the fans are still filing into the building under a large banner that reads “AWA’s UNHOLY WAR - TONIGHT!” Some fans turn to shout at the camera as we take a look at the site of the final Heat Wave event of 2013. The voice of Gordon Myers is heard.] GM: Happy Labor Day, everyone, and welcome to the final event of the 2013 Heat Wave tour, UNHOLY WAR! [The voice, piped in over the PA system, gets a big reaction from the crowd who we now see as we fade to the interior of the building. The panning camera shot shows us the squared circle with red, white, and blue ropes set up in the center of the building, surrounded by black mats, a steel barricade, and then rows upon rows of steel chairs just beyond the railing. There are also permanent seating set up in the “arena bowl.” Every seat in sight appears to be full.] GM: We are LIVE here in the Chaifetz Arena - the jewel of Midtown - here on the campus of Saint Louis University! We are LIVE in St. Louis, Missouri - the home of SuperClash II! It’s been a summer where we’ve seen Memorial Day Mayhem and one of the most shocking title changes we’ve ever seen. We’ve seen James Monosso retired at the hands of Calisto Dufresne and Eric Preston. We’ve seen men like Glenn Hudson and Sultan Azam Sharif put on the shelf. We’ve seen the TV Title change hands TWICE! We’ve seen out and out war rage for weeks! We’ve seen opportunity knock for many of the AWA superstars but despite all of that, tonight just might be the biggest night of the summer! [The crowd cheers again at that.] GM: We are SOLD OUT here in the Chaifetz Arena - a crowd of over ten thousand fans in the building for this big night of action. By my side, as always, is the... colorful Bucky Wilde. [We cut down to ringside to find Bucky Wilde standing next to a black-suited Gordon Myers and... well, colorful is a kind term. Bucky looks like he’s been shopping in Apollo Creed’s closet with a big red, white, and blue top hat. A bright sunburst yellow sportcoat, dark crimson pants, and Green Lantern-esque dress shirt round out the ensemble.] BW: Colorful don’t cut it when you’re talkin’ ‘bout Bucky Wilde just like calling this the biggest night of the summer don’t cut it when you’re talkin’ ‘bout Unholy War! When you step back and look at this lineup, Gordo, on paper it’s got a chance to be one of the biggest nights EVER! We’ve got all three titles on the line! We’ve got one of the biggest six man tag team grudge matches we’ve ever run across! We’ve got the Shane Gang facing off with their biggest rivals! AND we’ve got WarGames?! Incredible! GM: Incredible indeed. Nine matches on the card tonight and I’ve had fans coming up to me all day long telling me how much they’re looking forward to this match or that match and I think EVERY match on this show has fans that are looking forward to it the most. It’s going to be a night jam-packed with action so we’re not gonna waste any more time - we’re heading straight up to Phil Watson for the opening matchup! --- So, show's in progress! About to start the first match on the show. |
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| sychosys | Sep 5 2013, 03:49 PM Post #2 |
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This Space For Rent
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Has the AWA fanbase really organically evolved to this point from: [dohtml] <br><br><!--c1--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>CODE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='CODE'><!--ec1-->**********************************************************<br>**********************************************************<br>**********************************************************<br> American Wrestling Alliance<br> Proudly Presents<br> Memorial Day Mayhem<br><br> Live from the Ft. Worth Convention Center<br> Ft. Worth, Texas<br> May 24, 2008<br>**********************************************************<br>**********************************************************<br>**********************************************************<br><br>{...}<br><br>...and then we fade through black to a shot of the interior of the<br>Fort Worth Convention Center with a graphic reading, "Memorial Day<br>Mayhem - Fort Worth Convention Center - Ft. Worth, Texas. The crowd<br>is roaring as we get our first look at the capacity crowd of <u><font color="red">just over<br>10,000.</font></u> <!--c2--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--ec2--> [/dohtml] Oh...we haven't actually evolved at all then. Well...carry on! |
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| Overly_Critical_Jue | Sep 5 2013, 03:52 PM Post #3 |
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Amigo, I ain't anybody but Juan Vasquez!
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We drew 12,000 in Louisiana, dangit! |
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| sychosys | Sep 5 2013, 04:02 PM Post #4 |
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This Space For Rent
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When I started writing that, I assumed I was gonna dig out some dive of a show with maybe a hundred fans in attendance. I had no idea that the AWA was drawing ten thousand fans from the start! |
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| Overly_Critical_Jue | Sep 5 2013, 04:14 PM Post #5 |
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Amigo, I ain't anybody but Juan Vasquez!
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Blue's gonna go back and edit that to say 1,000. |
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| BigPoppaBuyrate | Sep 5 2013, 04:25 PM Post #6 |
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Poppin' Buyrates Since 1996
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First match done! As for the attendance thing, I think that was the only show the first year to do that kind of number. Most of the other shows were in the WKIK Studios. I think the second MDM was under 5,000 actually. I have no explanation and will let others try to puzzle it out! |
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| sychosys | Sep 5 2013, 04:41 PM Post #7 |
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This Space For Rent
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[dohtml] <table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>CODE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='CODE'><!--ec1-->**********************************************************<br>**********************************************************<br>**********************************************************<br> American Wrestling Alliance<br> Proudly Presents<br> Memorial Day Mayhem<br><br> Live from the Arena Theatre<br> Houston, Texas<br> May 25, 2009<br>**********************************************************<br>**********************************************************<br>**********************************************************<br><br>{...}<br><br>...and then we fade through black to a shot of the interior of the Arena<br>Theatre with a graphic reading, "Memorial Day Mayhem - Arena Theatre -<br>Houston, Texas. The crowd is roaring as we get our first look at the<br>capacity crowd of <font color="red"><u>just under 3,000.</u></font> <!--c2--></td></tr></table> [/dohtml] So what caused such a massive hemorrhaging of fans in just one year? Was this Blue subconsciously representing the devastating impact of the 2008 financial crisis? |
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| JeremyS | Sep 5 2013, 04:50 PM Post #8 |
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MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!
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It can be reasonably explained. Mid-South used to do huge business in the Superdome every year, once a year. No other show was anywhere close to their Superdome shows. They didn't "hemmorage" business, rather, they had a venue that could support that many people and managed to entice fans from every market they served. |
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| sychosys | Sep 5 2013, 05:06 PM Post #9 |
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This Space For Rent
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Then, logically, wouldn't you book that venue again to make more money? The fact the the 2009 show was packed proves that the AWA deliberately downsized to a much smaller arena. As the WKIK Studio is too small to provide a datapoint, I can only conclude that terrible house show attendance compelled them to aim so low. Kolya Sudakov = worst drawing champ ever? |
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| Overly_Critical_Jue | Sep 5 2013, 05:23 PM Post #10 |
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Amigo, I ain't anybody but Juan Vasquez!
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He was mainly a tag team wrestler before he won the title and couldn't cut promos. I'm sure house show business went into the tank while he was on top. |
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| BigPoppaBuyrate | Sep 5 2013, 05:39 PM Post #11 |
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Poppin' Buyrates Since 1996
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Well, MDM the following year was run in Houston - a different market than Dallas/Ft. Worth. So, you could argue they sacrificed the short-term payday in an attempt to grow the market or perhaps they decided that with all the shows in Dallas in '08, they might be suffering market fatigue and wouldn't draw the same number which would look worse. |
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| orklad | Sep 5 2013, 08:13 PM Post #12 |
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The Luther Burger
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The overhead for running shows at a larger venue may have been more than the AWA was anticipating...insurance riders, union rules for the set up, etc... Putting on big events is pricey, and the bigger the venue, the pricier it gets...it could be that without some sort of cash to underwrite it, the gate money is simply not enough to make the brass want to take that sort of risk again. Add in a fat TV contract where you get part of the ad revenue though? That changes the equation. |
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Orklad or Don, Lord of Pudding | |
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| BigPoppaBuyrate | Sep 6 2013, 12:53 AM Post #13 |
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Poppin' Buyrates Since 1996
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Two matches done. |
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| guzzdude | Sep 6 2013, 04:37 PM Post #14 |
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Martin Luther King, Jr
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The first show was a "throwback to the 70's" night and tickets were $3 a pop and $.50 for a beer... it drew big numbers but was unprofitable! |
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| sychosys | Sep 6 2013, 08:44 PM Post #15 |
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This Space For Rent
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The "market", such as it was, in Dalls/Ft. Worth was barely developed, with the AWA having only been around for a two months before MDM 2008. They were also facing direct competition from PCW at the time (I'm not sure that we've ever determined what parts of Texas constituted their "hotbed"), so 10000 was an incredible number. Clearly, the AWA should have done whatever was necessary to keep Marcus Broussard happy. |
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