Welcome to the second edition of Sound Off! Want to give a shoutout to those who took the time to read last weeks article. Had a lot to get off my chest. This week will be no different. If you ever have any suggestions for this series, hit me up. Totally open to Sound Off becoming a Q&A !!
ALL IN
This past Sunday, the members of Being The Elite and Bullet Club held their inaugural ALL IN press conference in the upper west side of Chicago. There were major announcements, laughter, passion, and etc. I personally want to congratulate Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks on their major accomplishment of selling out The Sears Centre Arena.
This is a major accomplishment not only for the guys in The Bullet Club, but the wrestling business as a whole. Marketing and Word Of Mouth is very important. As someone who wants to be in the business, I just marvel at what these guys have been able to do from a marketing standpoint. All In is the purest form of hustling out there, but not in a bad way. Setting goals for yourself and making it a reality. Like I said last week, success bleeds through good people. Maybe from a storyline standpoint I had Bullet Club fatigue over the years, but I have the utmost respect for those guys.
All In is sold out, so what’s next? This event taking place in Chicago is very cool and long overdue. One thing I kinda get annoyed with this whole thing is that supposedly this show is about being Anti-WWE. WWE has nothing to do with this show. This is a mega event for the independent scene, leave it at that. It’s a celebration! “Oh good luck, Vince” (Just stop already). I have no idea what the card will be for this show, but i’m sure the fans in attendance will not be disappointed. Went to the TNA TV Tapings at the same arena five years ago the same week I started going to broadcasting school. I wish I can I go to this show, but for those who are, have fun.
Chicago deserves this spotlight. For far too long these special gatherings have been dominated by the East and West Coasts. In my biased opinion, Chicago is the best wrestling city in this country. We have the best fans. The atmosphere at the Sears Centre Arena will be truly special. I know I’ll cover the show one way or another for this website. Wish these guys nothing the best going forward. Stuff like All In gives me hope and motivation to enter the business and make my dreams a reality.
STARRCAST
Let’s look at the wrestlers and podcasts that will be appearing at this Starrcast Convention!!
Podcast Row: (King Of Pro Wrestling Podcast, Predetermined, A Pro Wrestling Hangout, Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, Divas Drop Kicks Dives, All Things Wrestling Radio, Banned From Ringside Podcast, Court Of Nerds, The Don Tony & Kevin Castle Show, Heels and Quads Wrestling Podcast, High Spot Podcast, Hitting The Marks, Kings Of The Ring, MatMania, New Age Insiders, Neal Pruitt’s Secrets of WCW Nitro, Rant With Ant, Rock N Wrestling Podcast, Sitting Ringside with David Penzer, Super Kicking It With Kelsi, Two Faced Wrestling Talk, View From The Top Rope, We Watch Wrestling Podcast, WrestleCast Radio, VW, James Ellsworth #Duhcast, Marty & Sarah Love Wrestling)
Wrestlers/Personalities: (Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks, Marty Scrull, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, X-Pac, Terry Funk, Diamond Dallas Page, Christian, Bruce Prichard, Eric Bischoff, Konnan, Jeff Jarrett, Lex Luger, Macaulay Culkin, Matt Cohen, Jerry Lawler, Road Warrior Animal, Billy Gunn, Tony Schiavone, JJ Dillon, Tully Blanchard, Colt Cabana, Sean Mooney, Dutch Mantell, Ron Funches, David Penzer, Papa Buck, Teddy Long, Ron Simmons, Joey Janela, Penelope Ford, Jay Lethal, Wade Keller, Bruce Mitchell, Blue Meanie, James Ellsworth, Hurricane Helms, Disco Inferno, Shane Douglas, Mikey Whipwreck, RD Reynolds, Madusa, Leva Bates, Noelle Foley, Robbie E, Pharaoh, Kevin Sullivan, Dave Meltzer, Bryan Alvarez, Brandi Rhodes, Maffew From Botchamania, Mia Yim, Brian Cage, Moose, Santana Garrett, Chelsea Green, Hangman Page, Joey Mercury, Mandy Leon, Jimmy Jacobs, Magnum TA, Tessa Blanchard, Gail Kim, Mandy Leon)
For more information on Starrcast click here
Don’t really have much to say, just wanted to plug the Starrcast Convention. Yes it would’ve been an honor to have The Josh Lopez Wrestling Podcast at Starrcast, but the show is not the same without my brother. This podcast was recently nominated for WRA Wrestling Radio Show Of The Year and my brother is a major part of this show. Yes the marquee says my name, but it’s our show. I would be uncomfortable being at Starrcast by myself.
This convention is great and you should check it out. I’m very happy and proud of my brothers at Rant With Ant who are going to be THE marquee podcast at Starrcast in my opinion. Love all three guys. Talk about another collection of guys betting on themselves and running their brand independently and on their own terms.
Big shoutout to former guest of The Pro Wrestling Experience, Conrad Thompson who was a driving force behind Starrcast. I always enjoyed Conrad’s work and considered him a friend. I really enjoyed the interview I did with him a couple years ago. The guy bust his ass. He’s taken over this podcast game and he deserves all forms of adulation.
WWE Stock/TV Deals:
World Wrestling Entertainment stock skyrocketed 15.4% on Thursday on reports the company is closing in on an eye-popping new deal with NBC Universal for the rights to air “Monday Night Raw” on the USA Network for three times what it currently gets.
Analysts are projecting the new deal to be worth well north of $400 million a year. It’ll also be too rich for NBCU to maintain a monopoly on WWE’s linear business; the conglomerate elected not to renew a deal for a second program, “SmackDown Live,” which has aired on USA since 2016. WWE is now free to shop those rights around to a host of parties said to be kicking the tires.
“We think ‘SmackDown’ is due for a big raise as well, and likely still viewed as a bargain for several players reportedly interested,” said Eric Katz, senior analyst for Wells Fargo.
That was a snippet of a recent article that was published on Variety. WWE’s stock right at now is at $51.42 !! That’s insane. However, I forgot something. The business is on a downward spiral right? WWE better watch out because people are leaving in droves because of Roman Reigns. I’m being sarcastic as you can tell.
There’s a possibility that the SmackDown Live Brand will move to a different network. Adding on to that, the blue brand can also expand to three hours. Personally for me, more wrestling, the better. I know people have their gripes about wrestling shows being three hours. In 2018, I don’t think you’re required to watch a show at a certain time. A three hour show can turn into a 90 minute show if you properly use the DVR. What can help SmackDown in this scenario is that the show won’t have as many programming restrictions as they did on the NBC/Universal Property.
$WWE closed at $50 per share today following last night's report about NBCU renewing Raw at "as much as 3x" and letting Smackdown go to open bidding. The stock price has more than doubled in the last 12 months. Approaching $4 billion market cap. pic.twitter.com/MxwT90KEqC
— Brandon Howard Thurston (@BrandonThurston) May 17, 2018
Quotes from WWE Co-President George Barrios' talk on Tuesday about the possibility of Raw and Smackdown being on separate networks. https://t.co/CFhkcXzYY5
— Brandon Howard Thurston (@BrandonThurston) May 17, 2018
10 Summer Feuds !!!
To wrap this weeks blog, I’m gonna give you the 10 feuds I would like to see during the Summer.
– Bobby Lashley vs. Braun Strowman
– Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose
– Seth Rollins vs. Jason Jordan
– Alexa Bliss vs. Ember Moon
– Kevin Owens vs Finn Balor
– Daniel Bryan vs. Andrade Cien Almas
– Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles
– Becky Lynch vs Asuka
– The Bar vs. The Usos
– Deleter Of Worlds vs. McIntyre & Ziggler
You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @NotoriousJoshie
Check Out Episode 106 of The Josh Lopez Wrestling Podcast
