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WWE TV: July 10-16


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I saw on reddit that Max Landis started a petition to bring back Talking Smack already. Also, Renee Young and others have gone on twitter basically saying how sad that they are that it was cancelled.

 

I still don't fully understand the reason for cancellation. I get that ratings would matter to USA, but this is a Network show - but the cost of producing Talking Smack, I'm guessing, is pretty low. I mean, especially compared to producing 205 Live. I know its even cheaper to just air old WCW and WWE PPVs after SmackDown, but I thought the reason they weren't doing that was because they want the Network to provide new, relevant content and not just be "the vault"?

 

My only theory is that Vince felt like doing RAW Talk and making that the "flagship" talk show is more important to him than having a comparatively more successful SmackDown version be seen as "the original" and the "better version." I say this because, as far as I've heard, there's no plan to cancel RAW Talk and, if there were, I don't think anyone would give two shits because if Talking Smack's ratings were low enough to be cancelled, I'd imagine RAW Talk's are even lower.

 

Having the hard numbers would be really helpful, but I know those won't ever see the light of day. Aside from those, I feel like I'd need strong evidence beyond "RAW has higher ratings than SmackDown, so it does a better post-show number too" to convince me RAW Talk gets more viewers, especially when you look at the popularity of the post-shows' respective hosts, how "buzz-worthy" they are, and the fact that, before 205 Live got shoveled in, one show took place after fans had just watch a 3-hour show and another after a more digestible 2-hour show.

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Since we live in Bizarro World, Raw Talk probably does get higher viewership numbers, just like Daniel Bryan isn't a draw, Roman Reigns is over and sells tons of merchandise, and everything else that is up is really down. Nothing makes any sense.

 

Edited to add: I remember reading once that NCIS is a show that nobody watches except 14 million people, in the sense that it's one of the highest rated shows on TV but gets almost no water cooler talk or critical buzz. So I'm starting to think that's how wrestling works now.

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It seems like both Talking Smack and 205 live were getting low viewer numbers, but getting rid of 205 would be admitting the cruiserweight division is a flop so if one has to go it's going to be the post game show even if it's the one that gets more positive buzz.

 

It seems like they are in another cost cutting mode (see also: no more pyro) so Talking Smack ended up having to take one for the team.

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I don't think Raw Talk is weekly, I think it is also only after PPVs. I really like Talking Smack, and I am hoping that instead of replacing it with old ppvs, they replace it with a new weekly talk show, maybe one where Renee talks to guys from both brands plus NXT about ongoing current storylines. Then it wouldn't have to be live, it could be pretaped to save money.

 

Did you guys watch 205 Live this week? I really liked the I Quit Match between Noam Dar and Cedric Alexander.

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I thought about watching it, but I am so over that angle it's not even funny. It's like the Miz/Ambrose of the Cruiserweight Division. The feud that wouldn't die.

 

I am surprised Mad Dog is loving Noam Dar. Normally I find myself agreeing with many of his opinions, however when it comes to Dar, if I never saw him again, it would be too soon.

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As far as Talking Smack, Sports Illustrated is reporting that Vince pulled the plug because he doesn't like the unscripted promos. Which makes a lot more sense, over the idea of the decision being made due to ratings.

 

Meltzer wasn't buying this one Twitter yesterday FYI. I think it confirms a little too close to people's biases and it makes me skeptical of it. I think it's just as likely that Vince had never seen Talking Smack.

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I thought about watching it, but I am so over that angle it's not even funny. It's like the Miz/Ambrose of the Cruiserweight Division. The feud that wouldn't die.

 

I am surprised Mad Dog is loving Noam Dar. Normally I find myself agreeing with many of his opinions, however when it comes to Dar, if I never saw him again, it would be too soon.

 

I like the slimeball deal he's got going on. He's been consistently fun through the first 6 episodes.

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I'm pretty sure I read a recap of Baron Corbin on Jericho's podcast that said Vince gave him more freedom in his promos on Smackdown BECAUSE of how he did on Talking Smack which goes against the whole "evil Vince killed it because he hates everything good and fun" thing.

 

But of course people gotta stick to the tried and true narrative that Vince = 100% bad and HHH = 100% good so maybe Vince DID decide all on his own that Talking Smack needed to die but the real reason was because the pact with Satan required a new sacrifice to prolong Vince's lifespan.

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I'm pretty sure I read a recap of Baron Corbin on Talking Smack that said Vince gave him more freedom in his promos on Smackdown BECAUSE of how he did on Talking Smack which goes against the whole "evil Vince killed it because he hates everything good and fun" thing.

 

But of course people gotta stick to the tried and true narrative that Vince = 100% bad and HHH = 100% good so maybe Vince DID decide all on his own that Talking Smack needed to die but the real reason was because the pact with Satan required a new sacrifice to prolong Vince's lifespan.

 

Yeah, I don't get the HHH love going on. This problem with babyfaces getting chumped constantly has him written all over it. You think he was kicking and screaming and resisting when he beat Sting at Mania when no one wanted to see it. Or he was forced to do that almost two year program with Rollins that no one wanted to see. Also, look at NXT. It's a cold product right now, the magic is gone.

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I concur. I was off NXT for a while, I found it had gone into a decline and was getting rather bland and uninteresting, but I agree that since Mania or thereabouts, there has been a noticeable increase in quality. The weekly show has made it back onto my "must watch" list, and I've not been disappointed. The past month alone has featured a couple of outstanding matches, Aleistar Black vs. Chris Hero (or whatever his WWE name is, I forget how to spell the first name. Kassius? Kassus?) and most recently Bobby Roode vs. Roderick Strong.

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To be honest, I was expecting the reveal to be something even worse so it didn't seem that bad to me. It does seem silly that they try to do things like this in 2017 that will only lead to Jason becoming Lance Von Angle, but at least they didn't say he was having an affair with Dixie.

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