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Updated daily from the corner cubicle, Torch columnist James Caldwell's weekday blog focuses on hot topic current events and other items of interest from around wrestling.

Updated Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Well, so much for curiousity bringing in a flood of new and/or returning ECW viewers to the show last night. WWE might have set the download record for last week's episode, but viewers who watched last week's show on Sci-Fi or caught the replay on WWE's website didn't feel the need to stretch out the Adamle Experience to a second week.

It didn't help that absolutely nothing happened on the first 55 minutes of the show last night. Re-run mixed tag match, re-run video packages, another Morrison & Miz and Yang & Moore segment, a meaningless squash with Henry vs. Nunzio, and a quick five-minute "main event" match between Kofi and Shelton added up to a must-not-see TV show.

Sure, competition was stiff from NBA playoffs last night, with the Suns and Spurs continuing their must-see series, but the rating declining 15 percent from last week is a sign that viewers had enough of what WWE is doing with the ECW broadcast.

It's a C-level brand where the most minimal of effort is placed into writing the shows and assembling talent in scenarios to be successful. It appears that a significant level of the audience that had been hanging on week after week saw the Adamle move as the final straw in their loyalty to the ECW brand name.

Viewers were fine with things just the way they were with a watered-down and over-produced Joey Styles on the play-by-play. They had a sense of pride in Styles that isn't there with Adamle. Styles might have been a listless announcer in his final days thanks to how WWE produced him, but at least he was the people's bad announcer. Adamle is just a bad announcer.

***

Updated Tuesday, April 22, 2008

- Raw Ratings swoon continues. The story on another dissapointing week in the Raw ratings is made up of several factors. This week, we can add Dead Brand Split to the story.

WWE advertising the stars of Raw, ECW, and Smackdown on one three-hour extravangaza didn't mean much. Their abuse of the brand split over the last few years has led to so much casual inter-change on a weekly basis that I'm not even sure what brand Finlay is officially part of.

You also have to factor in NBA playoffs going up against Raw. Rockets vs. Jazz last night wasn't exactly a blockbuster match-up (and yes, I'm still shaking my head over the outcome), but looking at the NBA ratings from this past weekend, TNT is drawing a big chunk of viewers in WWE's key demo of males 18-35.

Related to the political involvement, I believe this was a case of people wanting to read about the candidates appearing on Raw to satisfy their curiousty, but they didn't want to actually spend three hours of their lives sitting through a wrestling show to see the 20-second political speeches.

WWE received intrinsic value, even if it didn't show up in the ratings, by having the candidates on the show to keep WWE relevant and in the public spotlight on their once-a-month average. There just wasn't any must-see TV to generate a significant bump.

The key factor related to the wrestling product, which I touched on last week, is that there isn't a stand-out star right now. Hunter takes away from Cena. Cena takes away from Hunter. The post-WrestleMania vibe to this Raw brand is that there are good stars on the roster, but there isn't a must-see act on the show.

The product doesn't feel stale all the way through, as WWE is trying to revitalize the tag and Women's divisions. The product just doesn't have that kick it had before Mania. It's like a good salad with all the right ingredients, but there isn't an amazing flavor from the combination of ingredients to make you stand up and pay attention.

***

A few thoughts on a Tuesday evening...

ECW tonight. Can you feel the excitement in the air for ECW tonight? No, I can't either, but tonight is Mike Adamle Botches the Classics night two. Should be a grand ole time with our friends The Edge, Mike the Miz, Tom Dreamer, and The Tazz on drums.

After recording the Raw post-game audio show last night with Greg Parks, we were tongue-in-cheek predicting that ECW will pop a 1.6 rating for tonight's broadcast, as everyone will tune in to hear if this Adamle fellow is really that bad or if it's a great exaggeration. (It is no exaggeration in case you're in that camp.)

I imagine there will be at least two weeks of the Adamle factor driving a slight increase in ratings, and whether that continues into May will depend on whether he continues to come up with new material to botch. Tonight should be an interesting show, especially to see if Adamle self-deprecates about last week's call, and/or if Tazz makes any comments about the performance.

Santino vs. Bill Clinton. The one thing missing from last night's Raw broadcast (besides a formal explanation of how the King of the Ring tournament was put together) was a verbal confrontation between Santino and fake Bill Clinton. Forget about rebuilding the tag division, when else would we have had the opportunity to see Santino apply his mastery of fumbling the English language in a verbal battle against fake Bill, who stole the show?

Cross The Line. And you thought TNA's Cross the Line campaign was simply a cute slogan for some TV promos. Think again! TNA is building an entire ad campaign around the annoying, but harmless "Cross the Line" concept to encourage wrestling viewers to give TNA a try if they're tired of their old brand of wrestling.

I still don't know where the line is or how I'm supposed to cross it, but the next step for TNA would be an Old Spice guarantee that they'll buy wrestling fans a WWE or ROH PPV if they're not totally satisfied with the TNA brand. Hey, TNA is supposed to be making money now, right?

***

Updated Monday, April 21, 2008

WWE will be airing taped messages from Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama during tonight's three-hour broadcast, as the Dems battle for eleventh-hour votes with the Pennsylvania primary on Tuesday.

WWE won't disclose the content of each video message, but I'm sure they will fall right in line with past taped messages that have aired on the likes of American Idol. McCain will probably try to force some comedy to show he's not that old (and not a robot), Obama will appeal to the young demo by saying he's a real and authentic American just like those working-class wrestling fans, and Clinton will probably try to squeeze in a popular wrestling reference that somehow ties into the Pennsylvania race. Maybe she grew up watching Bruno.

As far as WWE is concerned, it's a chance to regain relevance lost after WrestleMania. Mainstream cared about Mayweather vs. Big Show, but they don't care about anything on the Backlash card. The ratings have been affected, as WWE is hitting ten-year lows for ratings.

The overall three-hour rating for this show probably won't be strong, as the additional first hour will drag down the overall rating. During the regular two hours, WWE is certainly expecting a rating above the weak 3.2 from last week. After all, they'll have taped messages from Presidential candidates and a King of the Ring tournament.

The success of tournament as a ratings stunt will depend on who's matched up in the brackets. Without any wrestlers advertised ahead of time, WWE is banking on intrigue from a concept that's out-of-date and has no connection with the Cena Audience that has come on the scene the last three years. I fail to understand why WWE didn't announce at least two or three marquee wrestlers ahead of time to lock in viewers for tonight's broadcast.

It's good timing on WWE's part to get back in the spotlight with the Democratic candidates eagerly seeking any edge that yet-another-speech can't provide. Should be an interesting show tonight.

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