free

Mania for free?

22nd March 2015 by Scott Keith
Hi Scott/BODers

So…I’ve just re-subscribed to the network from my UK adress (having spent the previous 6 months residing in a hospital in Texas) and it seems that my first payment isn’t due until Apri 5th – about a week after Mania. Seems like a huge oversight on their part given the expected huge number of people who will sign up solely for Mania. There is nothing to stop someone signing up on the day, cancelling the following day and never paying WWE a penny.
S’up with that?

I’m just bummed that Sling TV actually found out my Canadian IP and banned my account.  That shit was AWESOME. 
 
Anyway, I was under the impression that your credit card is instantly debited by the $9.99 because you’re basically paying in advance, but perhaps they changed the system for the worse? 
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Best Free TV Match Ever

7th May 2014 by Scott Keith

Hey Scott,
All the clashes going up in the network made me wonder about something. Obviously most all time great matches took place on a ppv but with so many more eyes on a match when its aired on TV, it seems like that makes great free TV matches even more special. What would you say is the best one ever? Sting vs Flair? Cena vs Punk? The raw 10 man tag? DBS vs Owen? The Benoit vs Hart Owen tribute? Hbk and Austin vs Owen and Davey? There are so many to choose from but what's your favorite and do you think a great match on free TV is a bigger deal than a great ppv match? Thanks!
​I'd have to go with Flair-Steamboat by a mile, but there's certainly some other good ones in the list.  The best I can remember watching live were Michaels & Austin v. Davey & Owen and then of course Austin & HHH v. Benoit & Jericho, and the latter one instantly became one of my all-time favorites.  I think with the weekly nature of TV, great matches kind of get forgotten faster there, whereas PPV is treated as a special big deal and thus you're more likely to remember something big that happened at, say, Wrestlemania than some random RAW.  But really, a great match is a great match no matter where.  ​
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NFL Free Agency Thread

11th March 2014 by Scott Keith

I thought those who wanted to talk about the free agent frenzy that is happening could do it here instead of in other threads.

Here are some of the signings that have took place already:

Tampa Bay: DE Michael Johnson
Chicago: DE Lamarr Houston
Tennessee: HB Dexter McCluster
Cleveland: OLB Karlos Dansby
Baltimore: OT Eugene Monroe
Miami: FS Louis Delmas
Jacksonville: OG Zane Beadles

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Wrestlemania on free tv?

13th October 2013 by Scott Keith

>

> Scott,

> Do you or anyone else on the BoD know if Vince and company ever explored the possibility of selling Wrestlemania to the networks like the super bowl? I know with the current model they are making approx.. $60 million in ppv revenue.

> The NFL tv rights are worth $3.1 billion a year across fox, CBS and NBC and that's for all games broadcasted including the super bowl.

>

> 2 years ago the super bowl brought in about $250 million in ad revenue. Could WWE draw a 3rd of that and get a network to pay $75 million for Wrestlemania? You would have to think you would get more eyeballs just because it's on free tv right?

>

> Curious to hear your thoughts.

>

The yearly WM special barely draws a million viewers, and their flagship show does 4 million on a GREAT day. Vince would be suicidal to throw away PPV revenue on that level when advertisers still treat our so called sport like its the ghetto of TV.

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Free Marvel #1 Crashes

14th March 2013 by Scott Keith
Hi Scott,

Thought you might be interested in this follow-up to Marvel's offer: http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/12/tech/free-comics-marvel-sxsw/index.html?hpt=hp_bn5
-D
Yeah, I tried it on my phone, tablet and PC, and couldn't log into either Comixology or the Marvel app for most of the weekend.  Really annoying because there was a ton of good stuff that I don't think is even available on Marvel Unlimited.  They're really kind of blowing away DC right now.  Especially Hawkeye and Superior Spider-Man, two titles that I look forward to more each month than anything in the New 52.  
I should point out that Marvel Unlimited is now on IOS and "soon" on Android, and once they actually launch on Android I will never have to turn my tablet off again.  
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Free wrestling book download

2nd January 2013 by Scott Keith
Hi Scott,

Thank you for the plug last time out, really appreciate it. If you want a physical copy of the book, I would be happy to send you one if you let me know the details.


Was just hoping you could pass onto your readers that a teaser edition of our Complete WWF Video Guide Volume #1 is currently available for FREE kindle download here http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009EG6K96 until January 5th. Many thanks

Done!
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Smackdown – December 18, 2012 (Live Commercial Free Show)

19th December 2012 by Scott Keith
Smackdown
Date:
December 18, 2012
Location:
Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentators:
Josh Matthews, John Bradshaw Layfield, Michael Cole
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
This
is a special show so that they can start taping the holiday episodes
sooner. This is live as well as commercial free for no apparent
reason. After last night’s Slammys, we’ve got a lot of places we can
go now, so hopefully the show tonight is as good as Raw was last
night. It’s hard to say what to expect from these shows though as
they can be hit or miss. Let’s get to it.

We
open with a recap from last night as you would expect a show to do
anymore.
The
main event is Cena/Sheamus vs. Big Show/Ziggler as you would expect.
We
open with MizTV which has to be the most frequent talk show segment
in years. The guests tonight are Ziggler and AJ who haven’t been
confirmed as a thing yet. Langston is with them as well. Ok
considering AJ and Ziggler kissed on the stage, maybe they are a
thing. Miz asks why all of this stuff has happened and AJ says ask
Cena why he played with her heart. She lost her job as GM to keep
Cena’s good name clean and we get a clip of Cena kissing AJ.
AJ
goes on a rant about having her heart broken by Cena. We get a clip
from thre weeks ago with Cena and Vickie talking about the bows
Vickie found in the locker room. Cena made fun of them, AND THAT IS
A PLOT POINT. Yes, an eight second line about FREAKING BOWS is the
reason this story is happening. Then Cena told AJ to stop coming to
the ring with him, like she was some dirty little secret. Cena is
supposed to be better than that, but he broke her heart. Therefore,
she broke Cena’s chances at TLC.
Miz
asks who Langston is so AJ says he’s Big E. Langston. Ok then. Miz
doesn’t really care about what’s going on because AJ is crazy.
Apparently that work ticks her off, but she’s proven to Dolph that
she’s not crazy. He doesn’t care that Cena won Superstar of the
Year, because he stole the show and Cena’s girl. Miz makes fun of AJ
for being a slut and says Ziggler is the sixth member of One
Direction. Langston lays out Miz.
Teddy
comes up to talk to Booker T with a prospect for a job later. It’s
Brad Maddox and Booker goes off on Teddy. Long says that Brad is a
good prospect because he has a big social media following. Booker
gives him the chance because Teddy says Booker knows what a second
chance means. What is with the references to him being an ex-con
lately? Maddox gets the match and finds out his opponent later.
Damien
Sandow vs. Sin Cara
Rey’s
music hits for some reason but there’s no Rey. Cara speeds things up
to start and Damien bails to the floor. Back in and Cara walks the
corner for the armdrag, followed up by a springboard missile
dropkick. Cody breaks up a springboard something and Cara is down on
the floor. That gets two for Sandow back inside, as does a suplex.
A quick chinlock goes nowhere so there’s the Russian legsweep.
The
Wind-Up Elbow misses, but Sin can’t get anything going. Back to the
chinlock for a bit until Cara escapes and hits a quick cross body.
Cara dives on the Scholars on the floor….and here comes the Shield.
They have Mysterio’s mask and throw it at Cara, allowing Sandow to
hit the Terminus for the pin, appropriately enough at 6:19.
Rating:
D+. Dull match here which
didn’t go anywhere. Shield attacking various people is still a good
idea, because at least they’ve proven they can back it up. Not a
terrible match here, but once Mysterio didn’t show up it was clear
that something was up and Shield is the right idea. We still need
some reasoning behind these attacks, but it’s not bad yet.
Post
match, Shield destroys Cara and hurts his knee, which is likely a way
to get Cara off TV for a legit knee problem he’s been having.
Flo-Rida
and Miss Piggy waste some time so we can get Cara out of the ring.
Santino
Marella vs. Tensai
This
is fallout from the presentation of an award last night. Santino
grabs a headlock to start but Tensai runs him over. Santino does his
power walk thing but stupidly tries to slam the big bald guy.
Instead he escapes a powerslam and tries a German suplex. That goes
nowhere and a slam completely fails. Off to a weak looking chinlock
by the monster before a cross body is no sold. Santino does his
signature stuff and finally slams Albert. The Cobra is blocked and
Santino is put in a sleeper. The Cobra hits the top of Tensai’s head
to no effect. The backsplash misses Santino and he steals a pin that
was clearly going to him the whole time at 4:18.
Rating:
D-. Tensai, go away. Get off
of my television, go back to Japan, go to Belarus, go wherever will
take you, but get away from me. You’re a joke, not interesting, not
anything to see, and just annoying overall. Just go away already so
no one can miss you. Why he was hired back I have no idea.
Cara
has a severely injured knee.
We
recap the Cena/Flair/Punk/Heyman/HELL NO/Shield/Ryback segment from
last night.
Kofi
and HELL NO are in the back with Kane telling Kofi to watch over his
shoulder for the Shield tonight. Bryan looks ticked off and
apparently he’s mad for not winning a Slammy last night. Kofi pulls
his Slammy out. “You mean like this one?” They try to console
Bryan by reminding him that he got to hang out with Flair, but make
the mistake of saying Flair has the best catchphrase ever. Bryan:
“NO! NO! NO!” Funny stuff.
Kofi
Kingston/HELL NO vs. Prime Time Players/Wade Barrett
Mysterio
apparently has a neck injury from the attack by Shield. Kofi and
Titus start but Kingston goes right for Wade, allowing the heels to
take over. Young gets dropkicked down and here’s Bryan to kick him a
lot. There’s the surfboard hold by Bryan and it’s off to Kane for a
low dropkick to Young’s chest. Back to Daniel for a dropkick of his
own as I think this match is going to last awhile.
Bryan
fires off the kicks to Young in the corner but gets caught in a Stun
Gun to change the momentum. Barrett comes in to pound away for a
bit, but Bryan dives away for a tag to Kofi. The IC Champion goes
off on Wade but Young breaks up Trouble in Paradise, allowing Barrett
to clothesline Kofi to the floor. The Players work over Kingston as
we look at the crowd to see if Shield is coming. Apparently
Mysterio’s neck injury is a SEVERE neck injury and not just a regular
one. Good to know.
Barrett
pounds away on Kofi a bit for two before it’s back to Young. Kofi
finally comes back with a tornado DDT out of the corner, allowing for
a double hot tag to Kane and Titus. The masked man takes over and
hits a side slam for two. The top rope clothesline misses and
there’s the Clash of the Titus to Kane, but Bryan makes the save.
Everything breaks down and Darren gets the tag. Bryan pulls Titus to
the floor and the chokeslam pins Young at 10:45.
Rating:
C-. Not bad here but where are
we supposed to go with either of these feuds? HELL NO has beaten the
Players time after time, while Kofi has beaten Barrett in their PPV
title match. Then again, these feuds are likely going to keep going
because that makes it easier on the writers, and Heaven forbid they
have to figure out something new.
It’s
the top of the hour so let’s hit that recap button.
Sheamus
explains some UK comedy show to Cena but he doesn’t get it. He says
Langston is the strongest person he’s ever faced, which seems to turn
Sheamus on. Sheamus asks what’s up with AJ. “You can tell me, no
one is around.” Cena whispers in Sheamus’ ear and Sheamus starts
to laugh but is disturbed by something Cena says. John says more
though and Sheamus isn’t sure what to think. He looks scared but
Cena was kidding him. Sheamus: “But is that even possible?”
Here
are Punk and Heyman with something to say. Punk says the fans are
going to look back in the years and be shocked that they didn’t vote
Punk Superstar of the Year. He talks about how the fans clearly
don’t care about winning and losing, meaning they’re the kinds of
parents who put their kinds in t-ball where they don’t keep score so
the kids don’t know how big of a failure they are. Punk rips on Cena
for being a mockery of the words on his shirt: Hustle, Loyalty and
Respect.
This
turns into an anti-Flair promo because Punk says he never loses.
He’s been champion for nearly 400 days and he’s still here two weeks
after having knee surgery. He’s not on strike like the Pittsburgh
Penguins because he doesn’t have an off season. No one can beat him,
and here’s Ryback. You know, that guy that loses every match he’s in
anymore. Ryback actually talks, and says that on the first Raw of
the year, he’s getting his title shot against Punk.
Antonio
Cesaro vs. Ryback
Ryback
throws Cesaro to the floor to start and pounds his head into the mat
back inside. The Goldberg chant start and Ryback hits the Thesz
Press and a splash. All Ryback so far. Cesaro bails to the floor
before the Meat Hook can hit and gets his belt to leave. Ryback
heads to the floor and tries to throw Antonio back in, but Cesaro
escapes and sends Ryback into the steps for a nine count.
Back
in and Antonio hooks a cobra sleeper for a few moments. Ryback
misses a charge in the corner, sending his shoulder into the post. A
middle rope European Uppercut gets two for Cesaro and it’s off to a
cravate. Ryback fights up and pounds Cesaro down before hitting the
Meat Hook. Shell Shock gets the clean pin at 5:11.
Rating:
C. Erg. If you need to put
Ryback over someone to keep him strong, PICK SOMEONE OTHER THAN THE
FREAKING UNITED STATES CHAMPION. This was just a step above a squash
as the steps and post did way more damage to Ryback than Cesaro did.
The match was nothing good either, but the fans were WAY into it.
We
see Miz going through Navy training. He also flies a plane.
Riveting stuff.
AJ
comes up to Kaitlyn in the back and Kaitlyn doesn’t want to talk to
her. Kaitlyn tells AJ she’s tired of this and a brawl breaks out.
Divas
Title: Eve Torres vs. Kaitlyn
We
get a freaking recap of the brawl that just happened ON A SHOW WITH
NO COMMERCIALS. REALLY? We REALLY NEEDED THAT??? Kaitlyn gets
thrown down to start and Eve hits her running flip splash for two.
We head to the floor with Eve still in control. Nothing happens
there so here’s a Downward Spiral for two by Eve.
Off
to a chinlock by the champion (Eve if that wasn’t clear) until
Kaitlyn gets two off a small package. A sloppy middle rope sunset
flip gets two for Kaitlyn as does the reverse DDT. Kaitlyn dives
onto Eve off the apron to the flor as this just keeps going. Kaitlyn
goes up but Eve grabs the referee’s foot….AND THAT’S A DQ at about
5:20.
Rating:
D. OH GOOD FREAKING GRIEF. If
there was EVER a time to change this stupid belt, it was right here.
Kaitlyn isn’t anywhere near good in the ring and now we have to sit
through a long match until we get to THAT stupid ending? Give me a
freaking break. Terrible match with a bad ending on top of that.
Ziggler
says he’s a future world champion when Show comes up. He threatens
Ziggler and Langston looks to stare Show down, only to have AJ stop
him. Show threatens to kill Dolph if he tries to cash in tonight.
We
recap the Sheamus/Show stuff from last night which included the
attempted cash in by Ziggler, only to see Cena spoil it. Jerk.
Brad
Maddox vs. Brodus Clay
Brodus
pounds away with headbutts to start and drops some elbows. Maddox
comes back with a quick dropkick to the side of the head for one and
we hit the chinlock. Brodus comes back with a splash in the corner
and suplex to set up the splash for the pin at 2:08. Same Maddox
match as always.
Post
match it’s the Shield to beat down Brodus. They actually hit the
SuperBomb.
Dolph
Ziggler/Big Show vs. John Cena/Sheamus
Apparently
Santa Claus is hosting Raw on Monday. Shouldn’t he be working? Cena
and Ziggler start things off with Dolph ducking under a Cena punch
and strutting a bit. Off to Show so Cena can fire away punches with
little effect. Show misses the chop and gets dropkicked into the
corner. Show pounds him right back down again and it’s off to
Ziggler for some elbow drops.
Cena
backdrops Ziggler down but can’t make the tag before Show comes back
in. He stays in for about two seconds so it’s back to Ziggler.
Dolph misses a splash in the corner and there’s the tag to Sheamus.
He hits the ten forearms on the apron but has to stop to punch Show
before he can hit White Noise. The Cloverleaf is broken up with
Sheamus being kicked to the floor. Show takes Sheamus’ head off and
the match slows down again.
Sheamus
gets pounded on now as we hit the second heat segment of the match.
Show gets in his usual power stuff, followed by Ziggler pounding away
for awhile with his usual stuff. Back to Show whose chokeslam is
countered into a DDT to put both guys down. The double tag brings in
Cena to face Ziggler and everything breaks down. Sheamus and Show
head to the floor and then up the ramp as Ziggler gets two off the
Zig Zag. There’s the AA to Dolph but Langston comes in for the DQ at
11:30.
Rating:
C-. Why, it’s almost like this
was EXACTLY THE SAME THING THEY DID LAST NIGHT. Good grief are the
writers that creatively bankrupt? I mean, it’s the NEXT DAY and you
can’t come up with another idea? This match did very little to make
me feel better about this show, which has been the same story that
this match had: no reason for it to exist.
The
heels pose to end the show. Seriously, that’s it. Oh wait we do get
a commercial for Tribute to the Troops because EIGHT HOURS OF TV THIS
WEEK ISN’T ENOUGH.
Overall
Rating: D. What in the world
was the point in this being a special? The lack of commercials makes
an already tiring show even more exhausting as you don’t get a
breather if you want to see the whole thing. The main event was your
standard main event tag match and it’s nothing to see at all.
There’s nothing of note here and while it’s not a horrible show, it
falls into the same category Smackdown stays in anymore: completely
unnecessary viewing.
Results
Damien
Sandow b. Sin Cara – Terminus
Santino
Marella b. Tensai – Pin after Tensai missed a backsplash
HELL
NO/Kofi Kingston b. Prime Time Players/Wade Barrett – Chokeslam to
Young
Ryback
b. Antonio Cesaro – Shell Shock
Kaitlyn
b. Eve Torres via DQ when Eve grabbed the referee
Brodus
Clay b. Brad Maddox – Splash
John
Cena/Sheamus b. Dolph Ziggler/Big Show via DQ when Big E. Langston
interfered
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com
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Book recommendation and free blog post for you

1st November 2012 by Scott Keith

Scott:


I highly recommend to your blog readers that they grab a copy of "Marvel Comics: The Untold Story" by Sean Howe. http://www.amazon.com/Marvel-Comics-The-Untold-Story/dp/0061992100/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351701610&sr=8-1&keywords=marvel+comics

The longer I read it, the more it sounded exactly like working for Marvel was like being on the WWE Creative Team: artists/writers at Marvel would lay out long storylines that got changed at the last second by the editor-in-chief or VP of Marketing or someone much higher up which created storyline snafus, continuity problems, etc.. In the Corporate Marvel Era, higher-ups lived by the monthly sales tallies, and then demanded that the writers do the same, initially successful things over and over again (like killing off characters for the "cheap pop" of the sales boost) to goose next months' sales/next quarter's balance sheet, and the writers complained that using the same gimmicks over and over turned off the audience. All of which sounds a lot like WWE living and dying on their Monday night ratings.

And there's other parallels between the old WWF as a family-owned company vs. WWE being a publicly-traded corporate behemoth and Marvel's independent age vs when they were owned by various giant companies in terms of creative and artists freedom (or lack thereof), and, as noted above, the demand for more product, more characters, more, more, more, regardless of how diluted it made the product or how badly it burned out the writers (and in a few cases with Marvel, sadly, led to their early deaths).

And don't get me started on the incredible similarities between artists/writers coming up with comic book characters and turning them into giant Marvel successes only to find that Marvel owned them outright if the artist/writer left the company and the WWE's control over every aspect of its trademarked characters' outfits and personalities.

I'm sure that comic book fans will find this book interesting, but pro-wrestling fans who also like comic books will find it utterly fascinating because the parallels between the two worlds are AMAZING.

As they say in the blogs, "Highly Recommended."

mj
I'm dying to read that book, actually.  I shall be picking it up on Kindle forthwith.  
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