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Given the shorter attention span today's audience has when compared to even a few years ago, do you think televised promotions have the opportunity to "re-teach" the audience with the current situation? Lately on Raw and Smackdown for example, there is a good amount of mat wrestling and grappling. If there were an audience present, only the most over wrestlers would be able hold the attention of the crowd for long with that style. Do you think promotions doing television like WWE, AEW, IMPACT, etc. can benefit to retrain the audience to have more patience and enjoy this style instead of all action and spots, by showing more of this style on TV since there is no crowd to react negatively with chants or lack of engagement?
Honestly? I don’t, no. I think that we are already seeing less and less people watching the shows. Look at Raw. The first week at the PC they did 2,335,000 viewers. By 4/13, they lost over 400,000 viewers (I am typing this on 4/19 so I don’t know what this week’s show did yet). And that is with no live sports to compete against. I think what it shows us is that at least some people watch wrestling for everything but the in-ring action, or at least the other aspects are more important to them. I think the wrestling can actually turn off people with short attention spans, not vice versa.
Given that WrestleMania 36 was split into two individual pay-per-views, each with their own pre-show and box office receipts, is AJ Styles a WrestleMania headliner, having closed the April 4 event against Undertaker?
Sure, he headlined WrestleMania 36A.
AEW seems to be in a great situation financially during this time. They have signed several WWE wrestlers (Matt Hardy, Luke Harper, etc). Do you see Tony Kahn spending a lot to sign more people. Is this their chance to complete?
I do see Khan signing talents, not all but certainly some. But I don’t see a huge rush to do so right now. They have taped some Dynamites in advance and without live crowds, it doesn’t make sense to do much now. Hopefully when 90 day clauses start expiring, we will be coming out of this pandemic and AEW can put some of the strong talents that got released to work. I wouldn’t worry about competing if I were them. I would focus on growing.
With Covid-19 still being a threat, do you think that if any other superstar in WWE were to walk out like Roman Reigns did, especially after today’s massive cuts, that there would be any repercussions against them?
I think it would depend on the talent. If Seth Rollins did it, he would probably be OK. If someone way down the card did it? Well they should be concerned. We don’t know for sure that the cuts are over, and in fact I would guess they aren’t. WWE usually gets a push on its stock price when they release people. The workers have to know that.
If you were Roman Reigns, When it’s all said and done, would you be a little cross with how WWE omitted all mentions of you on TV, as if you didn’t exist? Or would you think it’s just business and let it go?
I would consider that I work for a “special” buckaroo in Vince, a guy that kept a PPV going after Owen Hart died, and I just say, “That’s Vince for you.”
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