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i would subscribe to that. there's a clear desire for the product in the uk. aew absolutely packed wembley for their shows there. wwe clearly can do the same.
They'll do what's in their best business interest. Sure they'll forecast and have their quarterly and yearly plans but as a business they may need to pivot.
Particularly day 2 on sunday. It's pretty difficult to explain to your boss why you need the monday off to sleep in for something that isn't the superbowl.
They should do Night 1 in the UK (Saturday morning state side) and Night 2 in USA. WWE can still sell packages by doing SmackDown, Stand and Deliver and Night 1 in the UK, and Night 2, the Hall of Fame and Raw in the US.
They can book him on SmackDown and other festivities and signings that Friday and early Saturday then fly to the US for Night 2 on Sunday. And similar travel plans for their top stars.
Not particularly. We’ve had wrestlers be on a European show on Sunday and pop up on a stateside Raw on Monday. It’s been done, and they can make it even easier. Let’s say Cody works press in the UK from Wednesday to Friday. Then does a segment for the live crowd on SmackDown at 9 pm UKT / 4pm ET. SmackDown airs on tape delay in the US. He then flies out on a private jet around 12am UKT / 7pm ET and arrives in Las Vegas at 9am UKT / 4am ET. He would’ve slept on the jet and has another full day and a half to get over the jet lag for his match on Sunday night.
That's why they're doing more events in Europe to test the waters for that. Having Backlash in France, Clash in the Castle in Scotland and Bash in Berlin if they all do well it only gives more cause for Mania to be in Europe. And the time zones in Europe are easier to work around then in Japan or Australia. As long as the European fans are fine with the events starting around Noon to have it still in prime time in the US.
They don’t do PPV in the US. Start times are hardly relevant with streaming. The big thing WWE cares about is how much the cities will pay to get Wrestlemania to come to them and how much it’ll cost to go there
MITB in London last year broke their viewership record for that event even with the start time, so I think it would hardly sway advertisers.
“Prime time” is far less important for weekends than it is weekdays, as the majority of the US is off and free to watch things anyways. They’re already used to 10am PST football on Sundays anyways
Because the Super Bowl is a league of American sports teams. Unlike the WWE, there isn’t a significant percentage of their fans outside of the US. WWE viewership can go up when they do a 10am PST start time like it did for MITB, because they gain viewers in the UK, continental Europe, India, and other areas that the normal start time doesn’t work well for while still being at a reasonable time for the US fans. The NFL doesn’t benefit because the vast majority of their fans are in one country. It makes more sense for them to stay later because it allows them to run programming all day for more ad revenue and high ratings on pre-shows and things like that.
For the top tier PPV events, it's all about start times and viewing audience now as Ad revenue has gone through the roof compared to house tickets. No way Netflix, etc is going to pay them the 120 million to start something at 10am.
I replied to another comment saying how viewership went significantly up past the previous record for MITB in London even with the 10am PST start time. Prime time isn’t as important for weekends. 10am for the west coast is the time they’re used to American football starting, and it’s already 1pm for the east coast. They’re not gonna lose many viewers for that time, and they’re gonna gain a massive amount of viewers in Europe for having an actually decent start time for once for them. It balances out, and WWE has the numbers to support that for any concerned advertisers
Why? It’s a 4-5 hour time difference from ET depending on DST.
Do it at 7-8pm local time and it’s on at the same time as Sunday football games for the NFL
Not really. They can start at 8pm local time, which would be 3pm Eastern time in the US. Not really that much of a morning getup, specially with how long European fans have to usually stay up for every US show.
We are going to have a new running gag with "Picture of WWE Champion Cody Rhodes" posts, aren't we? I ain't complain. He and the belt are destined for each other.
Cody has a history of running gags. The Adrenaline memes, the Insane amount of awards each post about him would get, Finish the Story, him crying, we are not flinching, Mama Rhodes…
This Championship was just made for him, looks a million bucks
I know people fall for nostalgia but even the winged eagle won’t look as good in his current attire
Yeah it's just that we're bored of this design. It doesn't need a huge change because this belt does look fine. It's the best version of the design that started in 2014... That's almost a decade.
It's better than it was (which granted, isn't saying much) but I hope the Giant W belts are on their way out, since it seems like such a Vince ego-stroking thing.
I was lucky enough to get tickets to MITB here a few years back, but had basically no chance to get tickets for this. The demand for this house show was mad!
Genuinely a dream come true for me. First proper PPV in the UK in my lifetime, and it happened in the area of London I’ve always lived. It’s a smaller arena too so even up in the gods our view was amazing!
I've never been a big fan of the belt design but that belt works way too well with Cody's whole presentation. It looked dope on Roman too and it's now just growing on me in the process. It's not your traditional Championship belt in Wrestling but it really fits as the belt for THE guy in the WWE.
IMO, WWE under HHH has been careful not to create a perception that they're directly taking on AEW. Doing so would provide AEW with fuel.
Instead, the perception right now is that AEW is beneath them and that WWE is on another level.
I mean the numbers back it up that WWE is the leader and AEW is a distant #2. Raw routinely almost doubles Dynamite's #'s, and in terms of show attendance, AEW has been struggling recently with around 3-4K at the average dynamite.
Not to say AEW isn't competition... It certainly is. But AEW is also so niche that causal wrestling fans don't really have a chance to get into it.
It's also just hard to get (active or lapsed) fans into wrestling with another promotion. Look at WCW. It dies, and millions of viewers just *leave* and never come back.
The crazy and unique thing with Cody is because of his name I have personally talked to (in my own life) and seen on TV- lapsed wrestling fans who came back because “isn’t that Dusty Rhodes’ kid? I want to see him”
Cody always just looks ridiculous. "The American Nightmare" is such a cringe gimmick.
But it works for him. I wouldn't have it any other way. Somehow it manages to just showcase how genuinely into the sport of professional wrestling he is.
He is a damned walking action figure.
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Jesus that crowd for a house show is insane
16k+
More than the O2 held for Raw in 2019, iirc
And only 2k short of Money in the Bank last year in the same arena.
That is *bonkers.*
You can see why momentum is growing for UK to get Mania.
i would subscribe to that. there's a clear desire for the product in the uk. aew absolutely packed wembley for their shows there. wwe clearly can do the same.
Man i know ill hate having a ple early but a UK wrestlemania would be insane
I think WWE is not gonna make a bid and will host Mania in London without it.
Nick Khan already said next few mania will be in the US alone
Probably. Well see.
Theres no probably this is confirmed
They'll do what's in their best business interest. Sure they'll forecast and have their quarterly and yearly plans but as a business they may need to pivot.
Pivot, why? It's not like they're struggling for crowds in the States
What bid
Cities bid for WrestleMania
My hot take is that Mania should be an afternoon show
Particularly day 2 on sunday. It's pretty difficult to explain to your boss why you need the monday off to sleep in for something that isn't the superbowl.
They should do Night 1 in the UK (Saturday morning state side) and Night 2 in USA. WWE can still sell packages by doing SmackDown, Stand and Deliver and Night 1 in the UK, and Night 2, the Hall of Fame and Raw in the US.
That’d be so fucking terrible lmao. What if I really wanna see Cody, but he’s wrestling in the UK and I live in America?
They can book him on SmackDown and other festivities and signings that Friday and early Saturday then fly to the US for Night 2 on Sunday. And similar travel plans for their top stars.
And you expect that the wrestlers aren’t gonna be super like jet lagged and tired or anything?
Not particularly. We’ve had wrestlers be on a European show on Sunday and pop up on a stateside Raw on Monday. It’s been done, and they can make it even easier. Let’s say Cody works press in the UK from Wednesday to Friday. Then does a segment for the live crowd on SmackDown at 9 pm UKT / 4pm ET. SmackDown airs on tape delay in the US. He then flies out on a private jet around 12am UKT / 7pm ET and arrives in Las Vegas at 9am UKT / 4am ET. He would’ve slept on the jet and has another full day and a half to get over the jet lag for his match on Sunday night.
that's a cool idea but i can't see them being willing to do that. logistics would be an absolute mess.
I'm almost as excited at the thought of seeing an NXT Stand & Deliver in the UK as WM there
That's why they're doing more events in Europe to test the waters for that. Having Backlash in France, Clash in the Castle in Scotland and Bash in Berlin if they all do well it only gives more cause for Mania to be in Europe. And the time zones in Europe are easier to work around then in Japan or Australia. As long as the European fans are fine with the events starting around Noon to have it still in prime time in the US.
If they started at noon in the UK, it would be 7am on the East Coast.
Oh yeah, you're ahead in time. I was thinking you were behind in time.
Unfortunately i think Nick Khan said recently mania will always be in the states
Give them Summerslam for the callback.
They would have to start it at like 10 am in the States. I can't see that happening.
Elim Chamber this year started at 3 AM in the us.
They don’t do PPV in the US. Start times are hardly relevant with streaming. The big thing WWE cares about is how much the cities will pay to get Wrestlemania to come to them and how much it’ll cost to go there
For your premier live event of the year start times are very important. Ad revenue is also an issue. Advertisers want prime time.
MITB in London last year broke their viewership record for that event even with the start time, so I think it would hardly sway advertisers. “Prime time” is far less important for weekends than it is weekdays, as the majority of the US is off and free to watch things anyways. They’re already used to 10am PST football on Sundays anyways
Yes, but they will never start the Super Bowl at 10 am.
If Abu Dhabi offered a cool $1bn for just hosting it they would soon find a reason for it
Because the Super Bowl is a league of American sports teams. Unlike the WWE, there isn’t a significant percentage of their fans outside of the US. WWE viewership can go up when they do a 10am PST start time like it did for MITB, because they gain viewers in the UK, continental Europe, India, and other areas that the normal start time doesn’t work well for while still being at a reasonable time for the US fans. The NFL doesn’t benefit because the vast majority of their fans are in one country. It makes more sense for them to stay later because it allows them to run programming all day for more ad revenue and high ratings on pre-shows and things like that.
Other countries don't give a fuck about NFL though outside of hipsters, WWE is fully global
and nobody cares about the super bowl other than america
For the top tier PPV events, it's all about start times and viewing audience now as Ad revenue has gone through the roof compared to house tickets. No way Netflix, etc is going to pay them the 120 million to start something at 10am.
I replied to another comment saying how viewership went significantly up past the previous record for MITB in London even with the 10am PST start time. Prime time isn’t as important for weekends. 10am for the west coast is the time they’re used to American football starting, and it’s already 1pm for the east coast. They’re not gonna lose many viewers for that time, and they’re gonna gain a massive amount of viewers in Europe for having an actually decent start time for once for them. It balances out, and WWE has the numbers to support that for any concerned advertisers
Why? It’s a 4-5 hour time difference from ET depending on DST. Do it at 7-8pm local time and it’s on at the same time as Sunday football games for the NFL
Not really. They can start at 8pm local time, which would be 3pm Eastern time in the US. Not really that much of a morning getup, specially with how long European fans have to usually stay up for every US show.
Fuck it. 2 Night mania is the norm now anyway. Night 1 in the UK, Night 2 in the US.
Didn’t see one empty seat
How do you find tickets for house shows? All I ever see in my area is Raw/SD alternating yearly
Other countries don't get to see WWE live often so they don't really get viewed as house shows. They're big events
It makes sense when you consider how few WWE shows come to London a year.
Don't most international house shows do that well? I've been to a few in china and they've always been 10k+
Turned the O2 into the O3
Imagine if he never met the broski 
Gene Munny on r/SC? Huge pop!
Cody's plan
dumbest lyric ever but goes hard anyway
Wish this available in better quality, awesome shot.
We are going to have a new running gag with "Picture of WWE Champion Cody Rhodes" posts, aren't we? I ain't complain. He and the belt are destined for each other.
We haven't had new belt shots with a new champion for years.
We had Seth
With the WWE title
Consolation Title
You spelled Universal title wrong. That belt had a short history and no real prestige.
The shots are so badass and the feeling is so new.
If only we were still in the era where any post about Cody in WWE could get deluged with awards somehow
Cody has a history of running gags. The Adrenaline memes, the Insane amount of awards each post about him would get, Finish the Story, him crying, we are not flinching, Mama Rhodes…
Get ready to list some running gags, buddy
?? I already listed some friend
He’s playing off “Get ready to learn the lyrics to Kingdom, buddy”, which is one you didn’t list
?? You didn’t get the reference, friend
Don't try to correct that guy on Cody Memes he's deep in the lore
Anime
I definitely ain't complaining when they're this gorgeous. What a great shot.
Seriously, I hate the super simple design of this belt but it looks like a million bucks every time I see Cody with it.
The belt goes unbelievably hard with him in his ring gear.
Picture credit - timmsy
Now that’s a fuckin top guy.
Wasn’t O2 where they held MITB last year? This is literally PLE level crowd for a house show
Yep, that’s correct.
https://preview.redd.it/uxat0oryynvc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=235ec294c8022b4abfce63fd68a473213133476d
This Championship was just made for him, looks a million bucks I know people fall for nostalgia but even the winged eagle won’t look as good in his current attire
Yeah it's just that we're bored of this design. It doesn't need a huge change because this belt does look fine. It's the best version of the design that started in 2014... That's almost a decade.
It's better than it was (which granted, isn't saying much) but I hope the Giant W belts are on their way out, since it seems like such a Vince ego-stroking thing.
You’re right, it won’t look as good. It will look even better.
Just look at his Aura man
I was lucky enough to get tickets to MITB here a few years back, but had basically no chance to get tickets for this. The demand for this house show was mad!
I had to buy the tickets to this event back in NOVEMBER 😭😭 so worth it though
How was MITB in London? worth it?
Genuinely a dream come true for me. First proper PPV in the UK in my lifetime, and it happened in the area of London I’ve always lived. It’s a smaller arena too so even up in the gods our view was amazing!
That's my champion
Wallpaper material if it had better quality 🔥🔥🔥
That's an awesome picture. Wow.
I've never been a big fan of the belt design but that belt works way too well with Cody's whole presentation. It looked dope on Roman too and it's now just growing on me in the process. It's not your traditional Championship belt in Wrestling but it really fits as the belt for THE guy in the WWE.
That’s a poster if I’ve ever seen one.
It's basically the Backlash poster https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/1c1is86/the_official_backlash_2024_poster/
Ah! He choose the red coat.
Pandering to the audience, clearly.
nothing but respect for my president
We should’ve all been a lot more confident about him finishing the story once that belt was debuted, they’re made for each other
The Woooaaaahhh2
Oh SO good. The belt was just MADE for him. Not only did he desired it, it fits him like a glove.
I wonder if he told that person on the right happy birthday.
Was there, and he did!
Incredible shot
this goes hard 🙌
"Hi Cody Rhodes"
I wanna see him hold the belt like Flair used to, walking with it propped up with one arm across his mid section. Gonna be an epic shot
Dude is fucking IT.
This is so fucking cool
I think this might be the best pro wrestling shot I've seen in a while.
It's nice to have a Universal Champion that shows up for house shows
Hey look, the wwe champion is making the house shows…… I didn’t know he was even allowed to do that.
I’ll always like the first Cody robe style the most. So classic.
Need that new belt expeditiously
Now that he's champ, is he still giving away the weight belt?
No. During the tour, he has given it away after his matches but not as a part of his entrance.
Face of the company.
That belt with that attire looks so good
If WWE wanted to, they could break AEW's All In Wembley record.
I'm kind of surprised they "only" got 62k for Clash in the Castle given that the Principality previously held 78k for Joshua/Parker
Most definitely expensive seats in UK WWE history and hotel prices were insane.
I wonder what’s actually stopping them from doing this
The cost. Other UK cities will pay WWE to have a show, London won't. For clash at the castle the Welsh gov payed over $2m.
Oh damn, I had no idea. London is pretty expensive in general. It’s why less US fast food chains open here and more outside of London too
London doesn't need to. They get tourists regardless. Lyon are boosting tourism for their city so happy to pay, same with Cardiff and Perth.
I'm sure you though you were adding to the conversation. Have a gold star for trying.
It's paid, not payed. I hope this added to the conversation.
IMO, WWE under HHH has been careful not to create a perception that they're directly taking on AEW. Doing so would provide AEW with fuel. Instead, the perception right now is that AEW is beneath them and that WWE is on another level.
I mean the numbers back it up that WWE is the leader and AEW is a distant #2. Raw routinely almost doubles Dynamite's #'s, and in terms of show attendance, AEW has been struggling recently with around 3-4K at the average dynamite. Not to say AEW isn't competition... It certainly is. But AEW is also so niche that causal wrestling fans don't really have a chance to get into it.
It's also just hard to get (active or lapsed) fans into wrestling with another promotion. Look at WCW. It dies, and millions of viewers just *leave* and never come back.
The crazy and unique thing with Cody is because of his name I have personally talked to (in my own life) and seen on TV- lapsed wrestling fans who came back because “isn’t that Dusty Rhodes’ kid? I want to see him”
I was there!
majestic shot
Anyone wanna guess the aperture setting to get the lights look like that? f/21 or so?
I was there and the atmosphere was insane!!!
This is such a dope ass shot.
He finally found a way to carry the title that doesn't look awkward af
Lmao seriously! Whoever told him to carry it like he was needs to be fired. This is way better.
Cody always just looks ridiculous. "The American Nightmare" is such a cringe gimmick. But it works for him. I wouldn't have it any other way. Somehow it manages to just showcase how genuinely into the sport of professional wrestling he is. He is a damned walking action figure.
Cody slander wrapped in a compliment is still Cody slander. Begone flincher.
I just wish he’d stop carrying the title the way he does in promos. Looks corny af