Essential TSC's Official Random News & Notes Thread

[Konnan]

WWE Raw ratings (Feb. 9, 2015): Viewers drop dramatically despite Sting tease, Brock Lesnar appearance
WWE used the tease of Sting appearing (he never did, with impostors showing up in his stead) and a late promotional push for World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar to help boost ratings for last night's episode of Monday Night Raw in Columbus, Ohio.

It failed, miserably.

Actually, viewers were down in a big way. The show averaged 3.66 million viewers, a huge drop from the 4.29 million it posted last week. The hourly breakdown shows a drop for each hour, as usual:

Hour one: 3.79 million
Hour two: 3.67 million
Hour three: 3.52 million

Those are incredibly low numbers, some of the worst Raw has posted in a number of years and there really isn't much of an explanation for it. All hands were on deck and we're just over one month away from WrestleMania 31 while there is no sporting competition.

 

[Konnan]

As noted, there was relationship drama on social media last night as nude photos of Seth Rollins and NXT Diva Zahra were posted on Rollins’ social media accounts, apparently by his fiancee.

It appears there will be no heat within WWE on Rollins for the incident. WWE officials believe that Rollins’ social media accounts were “obviously” hacked. WWE officials felt that because the photo was re-posted several times after he initially deleted it, that he wasn’t the culprit.

WWE issued a memo to the roster after last night’s RAW and requested that they do not discuss or make reference to the situation publicly because doing so would be “insensitive” to Rollins

 

[Konnan]

The American Dream got some things on his mind, Deddeh

 

[Konnan]

WWE made him take down a tweet about Abu Dhabi

Why do we bring the best entertainment into a country like abu dhabi and they look down upon women and gays? I get it! #MillionsofDollars”

 

[R=G]

LOL!

 

[Vinny Lupton]

WWE Raw ratings (Feb. 9, 2015): Viewers drop dramatically despite Sting tease, Brock Lesnar appearance

Was the rating getting back to normal from unusually high past weeks though? Post-RR Raw was gonna do numbers with or without Roman fukkery, then the next week was the first real Raw and Trips had his announcement (that was 2 wks ago right?) .. and this past Monday it's back to the usual pace.

 

[Grifter]

 

[Konnan]

Was the rating getting back to normal from unusually high past weeks though? Post-RR Raw was gonna do numbers with or without Roman fukkery, then the next week was the first real Raw and Trips had his announcement (that was 2 wks ago right?) .. and this past Monday it's back to the usual pace.

A couple of weeks ago they had the lowest ratings they've ever had and this weeks ratings beat that week for the lowest so this weeks ratings are the lowest RAW ratings in WWE history from what I understood

 

[trick]

 

[Vinny Lupton]

this weeks ratings are the lowest RAW ratings in WWE history from what I understood

No chance in hell breh. Raw has gotten 1.x ratings before

 

[Konnan]

No chance in hell breh. Raw has gotten 1.x ratings before

I dunno bro thats what that article on Cageside Seats said

 

[Konnan]

Charlotte is evidently going up to the main roster thats why she dropped the belt

 

[Konnan]

Hope they dont job her to one of the Bellas right of the jump

 

[Konnan]

A Portland-based retired pro wrestler has filed a class action federal lawsuit against World Wrestling Entertainment alleging the company fails to protect and educate its wrestlers on serious head trauma while heavily promoting and profiting from the violence that leads to such injuries.

William Albert Haynes III, who wrestled in WWE between 1986 and 1988 as Black Jack Haynes, also claims in the lawsuit that the company hid and denied medical research and evidence of traumatic brain injuries sustained by its wrestlers.

Haynes, who had at least 15 concussions, now suffers from depression and shows symptoms of dementia stemming from his time working for WWE, the suit says.

"No one at WWE ever warned Haynes about the risk of sustaining numerous sub-concussive and concussive blows," according to the lawsuit. "Had he been so warned, Haynes would not have wrestled for WWE."

Haynes seeks a jury trial, unspecified monetary damages, increased medical monitoring for wrestlers, including WWE establishing a trust fund to pay treatment and evaluations, and other demands.

Similar class action lawsuits have been filed this year against the NFL and NHL by retired players who claimed their leagues hid or minimized the risk of concussions and their possible long-term ramifications, such as memory loss, depression and the development of brain-related diseases including dementia and chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

WWE spokesman Brian Flinn released a statement to The Oregonian on Monday saying the company has "committed significant funding" for concussion research by the Sports Legacy Institute. WWE currently uses brain function testing for its wrestlers, offers annual educational seminars and has banned "deliberate and direct" blows to the head, he said.

How could the WWE conceal medical information, Flinn said, when chronic traumatic encephalopathy had not been discovered in the late '80s.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Portland, claims wrestlers take serious risks while performing for the Connecticut-based company despite predetermined match results and choreographed action. The complaint names a series of routinely used wrestling moves, such as the brainbuster, that are designed to have wrestlers land headfirst.

The lawsuit also cites several instances involving current and former wrestlers that have sustained concussions or knocked unconscious during a live show and the match continues despite an apparent need for medical attention.

Repeated blows to the head and numerous concussions have led to suicide among WWE wrestlers in some cases, the suit says.

Former WWE wrestler Chris Benoit, who often jumped off the top rope headfirst towards his opponent and routinely hit in the head with chairs, killed his wife, son and then himself at their home in Georgia home in 2007. An examination of Benoit's brain found that he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy and that at 40, his brain looked like one of "an 85-year-old Alzheimer's patient," according to the lawsuit.

Haynes, now 61, alleges in the suit that WWE, classifies its wrestlers as independent contractors to avoid providing them with health, disability or unemployment insurance.

He also claims WWE encourages its wrestlers to take steroids, cocaine and other illegal drugs to increase pain tolerance and heighten the intensity of their matches.

Haynes, who began wrestling in 1982 and retired in 1996, was forced to wrestle in WWE matches that involved the use of steel chains and chairs as weapons, the complaint says, including one at WrestleMania 3 in 1987 when he was hit in the head with a 10-pound chain wrapped around the fist of his opponent that caused a wound that needed 20 stitches to close.

While with WWE, Haynes wrestled an average of at least 26 days a month and, at one point, worked 97 days in a row, the suit says.

 

[puppetmaster]

Past its expiration date but I wouldnt mind seeing this.