WWE.com posted a story chronicling Brock Lesnar’s title win last night in their “Inside WWE” news section. The story was very positive when it came to Lesnar, but it also took an obvious pot shot at UFC PPVs:

Critics have noted that many of the fights on the UFC pay-per-view ended in the first round, leaving UFC producers scrambling to fill the three-hour event with content. The dearth of hearty competition left many viewers to watch less prestigious under-card fights and only served to bolster claims that UFC pay-per-view events can often be a “crap shoot” in regards to filling the full three hours.

They make a good point, but things actually turned out pretty well last night–since some of the main card’s fights were so short, we got to see a lot of great action from the prelims, as well. In fact, the show was on the air for three airs and was pretty action-packed, in my opinion.

I think this is pretty ironic statement coming out of the same organization that put on ECW Decemenber to Dismember 2006–if I remember correctly, that show was like 2 1/2 hours max and ranks up there as one of the biggest rip-offs in PPV history.

In conclusion: Hey pot, you’re black.

WWE released their third quarter results today, and it wasn’t rosy news for stockholders. Consider the numbers:

• Revenues fell: $108.8 million in Q3 2008, compared to $108.1 million in Q3 2007
• Operating income fell: $7.9 million in Q3 2008, compared to $13.4 million in Q3 2007
• Net income fell: $5.3 million in Q3 2008, compared to $8.5 million in Q3 2007

You might say, “Lex, revenues only fell $0.07 million, no biggie!” Let’s dig a little deeper, because the real rub here is found when you examine the PPV revenues.

Revenue from live and televised events grossed $68.7 million in Q3 ‘08, compared to $68.6 million in Q3 2007. Keep in mind, pay-per-view revenues are a part of that live and televised revenue. Pay-per-view revenue accounted for $16.4 million of that $68.7 million in Q3 ‘08, compared with $18.8 million of the $68.6 million in Q3 ‘07.

So what does all this mean? One obvious point is that PPV revenues were down $2.4 million this quarter, a huge drop. This was a direct result of fewer buys. The Great American Bash (196,000 this year, 229,000 last year), Summerslam (477,000 this year, 537,000 last year) and Unforgiven (211,000 this year, 210,000 last year) all underperformed.

Here’s another point: If you look at the revenue numbers for the first three quarters of 2008, WWE appears to be making just as much money off Raw, Smackdown and ECW television rights fees and advertising as they are on PPVs. And keep in mind, those nine months include the WWE’s biggest PPV, Wrestlemania.

I think these numbers provide a pretty compelling argument for WWE to reduce the number of PPVs they put on each year. People just can’t afford to buy that many PPVs, especially with the economy going sour. If they’re doing that well on house shows and non-PPV televised events, why not cut out several PPVs and put some supercards on free TV. After all, they could charge more for the advertising and score some really good ratings if people knew there was a huge show with big title matches on free TV.

As I said the other day on the Raw post, they need to give some of their shows that Clash of the Champions feel. Fans will appreciate good wrestling on free TV, and in turn, become more interested in the product and more likely to purchase PPVs since there wouldn’t be one to two PPVs EVERY month.

Sorry to get so heavy into numbers, but I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this issue. What’s better for the WWE: keeping the same number of PPVs they have now, or cutting down and adding some supercards on free TV?

This is a pretty crowded weekend for PPV. UFC 88 airs tonight, featuring everbody’s favorite fighter, Chuck Liddell. Tomorrow, of course, we have WWE Unforgiven. The question is, will you order the PPV?

Initially, I was gung-ho for this show, but I’ve cooled a bit. My main concern is the HBK-Chris Jericho match. I’ve been looking forward to this match for a while, but the question is, how will HBK’s injury affect what they do in the ring? No one seems to have the answer right now, but my gut feeling is he’ll be able to do enough to put on a killer match with Jericho. Still, this has what’s really shaken my confidence in the show.

I’m also very interested in the Smackdown Scramble match–if Great Khali did happen to cost Triple H the title, we’d have a new, fresh champion on Smackdown. How cool would that be? Of course, with rumors of Undertaker getting a title shot at the end of the show, that could go out the window in a manner of minutes.

Outside of those two matches, I could take or leave the show. I’m probably more interested in the ECW scramble than the Raw scramble. Right now, Raw is easily the worst show on WWE television, running close to being as bad as Impact. I can’t really put my finger on why Raw has been so bad lately, but I think it’s just a mixture of semi-boring storylines (outside of Jericho and HBK) and the same-old players at the top of the card (Batista, JBL, Kane, etc.)

So what’s the deal here. How many of you will order the show? I’m definately ordering UFC tonight, so that makes this one a pretty hard decision for me. I hate paying for two PPVs in one month, but what if I miss an epic match between Jericho and HBK?

From Wrestlingattitude.com,

WWE has changed the date on their website for the Armageddon pay-per-view to December the 14th when the original date was listed for the 21st. The show will be held at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, NY.

The interesting thing is, TNA’s website lists their Turning Point pay-per-view as also being held on December the 14th. It would be very interesting to see TNA and WWE duke it out for pay-per-view buys but I’m guessing this is probably a typo or some kind of misunderstanding. Running against a WWE pay-per-view would be a horrible mistake for TNA but it would be cool to see the two end the year with something that’s never happened before. 

If this wasn’t corrected, TNA would be for lack of a better word SCREWED SIDEWAYS. I don’t ever remember WWE having a PPV on the same day as WCW did. I can see why TNA decides to hold PPVs on the same day as UFC do because well it’s completely different but they would still lose out in the buy rates. But to compete with WWE on the same day would be suicide.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMZmZLUL1kI&feature=user]

TNA World Heavyweight Championship Weapons Six Sides Of Steel Match

Samoa Joe (C) Vs. Booker T

TNA X Division Championship Match

Petey Williams (C) Vs. Consequences Creed

TNA World Tag Team Championship Match

The Latin American X-Change (C) Vs. Beer Money Inc.

Last Man Standing Match

AJ Styles Vs. Kurt Angle

New Jersey Street Fight Match

Christian Cage & Rhino Vs. Team 3D

Black Tie Brawl & Chain Match

Jay Lethal Vs. Sonjay Dutt

6-Women Knockouts Tag Team Match

The Beautiful People & Awesome Kong Vs. Taylor Wilde, Gail Kim & ODB

Remember, Hard Justice is ON SUNDAY

Top 10 Wrestlemania Matches

I am asking for your opinions on which Wrestlemania matches I should leave off, and what should be moved on. The fact is that there have been some stellar matches and I KNOW that this list that I will make will be the most controversial, because everyone has their favorites. While Rock/Hogan and Hogan/Andre at WM 3 were classic and great, oozing with emotion, the matches sucked technically. See my problem? I really like Hulk/Warrior, but some may thing that that match sucked. How could I include Taker/Batista and leave of Macho/Hogan or Hogan/Andre? That is an example of what might appear when I am done with the list.

The only chance that HHH will get at being a part of this list is if Taker gets him there, and I dont see that happening, via vote. So much for 11+ titles and NO top 10 Wrestlemania matches to show for it, Hunter.

I hope to see this discussed on “The Rant.” I will email you guys.

Which ones should I remove and which should I keep?
The ones marked “STAYS” would be impossible for me to remove off the list.

HBK/Bret -STAYS
Macho/Steamboat -STAYS
HBK/Flair -STAYS
Bret/Austin -STAYS
Austin/Rock/ WM 17 -STAYS
TLC WM 17 -STAYS
Edge/Foley - STAYS

Not so sure:
Warrior/Hulk
HBK/Kurt
HBK/Razor
Triangle Ladder match WM 2000
HBK/HHH/Benoit
Hulk/Andre WM III
Taker/Batista
Taker/Edge
Cena/HBK
HBK/Y2J
Owen/Bret
Goldust/Piper Parking Lot Brawl - one of my FAVS!!!!!
MITB WM 24
Benoit/MVP I just really liked that match
MITB WM 22
Benoit/Angle WM 17
Taker/HHH WM 17
Shane/Vince
HBK/Vince
Vince/Hogan
Austin/Rock III
New Age Outlaws/Chainsaw Charlie/Cactus
Brock/Angle
Hogan/Slaughter
Macho/Hogan
I PICKED ALL THESE FROM MEMORY, help me out
—————————————————————————-
Goldberg/Brock

Too bad there cant be a poll
Please respond!

gets:
-Cena. Smackdown needs faces. Its been Batista, Edge, Taker since King Booker lost it, except for Kahli’s short reign.
-Beth. Moving to Smackdown would make sense. How many DIVAS are left on RAW for Beth to run over?
-Kennedy. To feud with Edge possibly. Kennedy may also go to ECW and become champion there.
-London and Kendrick
-UUUUMAGA
-Snitsky
-CM Punk

outside chance of cole to raw and JR to smackdown WONT HAPPEN THOUGH!

gets: take note that ECW will be on the road with RAW
-JBL
-Jeff Hardy. Lets face it, Hardy will never become a RAW champion. If he moves to SD or ECW, then it is believable that he can become heavyweight champion. If he went against edge, then maybe Lita could return for one night and Matt would help Jeff become champ. Team extreme would return for one night.
-Big Show.
-Carlito. His push begins here.
-Noble
-Finlay
gets:
-Kelly Kelly
-Natalia
-Batista. Fresh feud. He will become part of the new evolution, along with Orton. Remember, Orton asked Batista is he would like to team up. Batista didnt say yes, but he didnt say no
-MVP. WWE will build him back up. SD writers dont know what to do with him.

WHAT announcers will be drafted? Lillian? King?