Does Raw have a budget? and i was wondering how much do you think things like the zamboni/Beer truck/cement mixer cost back in the day of Austin? Those were some of the defining moments of the attitude era and i feel like theyve moved away from that but maybe because its just not cost effective. The whole D-Bry escalade paint thing made me think of this.
Yeah, the show has a budget of a million or so. Blowing up cars and such generally ran $100k or so in the Russo era, not sure about today.
Not that this may surprise some ppl on this board, but that paint d bry used def looked water soluable imho.
ReplyDeleteThe budget really only makes a difference if it doesn't work. DB using water soluble paint? Works for the character. Now he just needs to start kicking heads off, that shit's free.
ReplyDeleteAre we not going to get a segment with Daniel Bryan driving a turnip truck down to ringside and spraying everyone in Corporation 2.0 with vegetable juice?
ReplyDeleteNo wonder they've got enough to give a pair of loses like the Usos some pyro
ReplyDeleteUSA Network helps with the funding of the show, so the budget tends to fluctuate based on ratings.
ReplyDeleteI like the Usos, but it is funny that they cut the pyro out of the opening of the show and really, aside from Kane, how many every day Superstars even have pyro any more? Does anyone? It's strange -- the Usos may very well have the most expensive entrance out of anybody on the roster.
ReplyDeleteYeah I didn't realise that so few people have pyro anymore. Is it really only Kane & The Usos? And yeah I like them too, I was just being silly
ReplyDeleteIf not expensive, then at least the worst $$:card status. Pyro has sadly been a cost-cutting measure for years; I remember Orton looking goofy with his \_O____/ without his golden shower pyro.
ReplyDeleteAnd really for the ratings they pull, RAW is dirt cheap compared to normal broadcast shows.
ReplyDeleteI took a glance at the WWE Superstars page. I think Rey Mysterio does, but he's out more than he's active these days (ditto for Undertaker). The only other full timer that I believe does is, believe it or not, Kofi Kingston. I think that might be it.
ReplyDeleteChristian used it better with his epic "At last. You're On. Your Own!" theme music.
ReplyDeleteI loved that intro.
ReplyDeleteThey can be weird with the pyro. I've seen the last three TV shows in Ottawa (2 Raws, 1 Smackdown). The first Raw I attended had NO pyro, which was a bummer. At first I thought they just skipped the opening pyro because they had a Ferrari for ADR parked right beside the Tron, but they went the whole show without pyro, which made me think it might have been an arena issue (safety? insurance?).
ReplyDeleteSmackdown and the last Ottawa Raw though, pyro all over the place! FYI, the heat from Kane's pyro carries pretty far.
Definitely. That shit came down from the top of the Tron on both sides, fucking magnificent. I miss that theme too.
ReplyDeleteFunny thing about pyro is that the vast majority of people don't care at all about it. Total waste of money unless it fits the character specifically (e.g. Kane).
ReplyDeleteI miss the days when there was a minimalist theme going on, to be honest. Back in the day, you didn't need a gargantuan video screen or huge steel set by the entrance way; just hang up a sign, a few banners over the ring (I MISS THOSE THINGS) and change the apron skirts. To be honest, going with a smaller set may increase the intimacy and freshen things up, and save them a good bit of money in the process.
ReplyDeleteBut they also want to be cutting-edge, and that shit won't fly in OUR HIGH DEFINITION!
ReplyDeleteI'm actually OK with this look (except for it looking interchangeable; I wish the shows had a different configuration); I'm too spoiled with my HDTV and I want all my shit to pop off the screen with color.
Wow....I think you may be right. It didn't dawn on me on how much they've cut down on it until you mentioned only three or four full-time guys still have pyro.
ReplyDeleteYou know what they really need to bring back? The mid-90's logo lights where they dim the lights and show a wrestler's logo in the ring and in some cases around the arena. That would make the entrances look so much cooler than the pyro would, although if you insist on pyro, then go for the double whammy and have both so at least someone can have a really badass entrance like Razor Ramon circa 1995.
ReplyDeleteIt would be a good idea for TNA to cut costs and use that kind of set, like bring back the 2006 heel ramp and just use that set. It's not like they EVER use the big screen on the ramp anyway, so just get rid of it.
ReplyDeleteI know I'm being a graphics hoor here...but I really don't want TNA to go back looking like an American Gladiators set, esp. because I think the side video displays of the wrestlers themselves during entrances is pretty awesome. But again, I'm just being an HD hoor.
ReplyDeleteIf they insist on keeping the current set, the least they can do is give the guys actual entrance videos with wrestling footage instead of just lazily playing the same freaking graphic on a 5 second loop.
ReplyDeleteThe 2006 entrances are a million light years better than the current entrances because those entrances had everything the current setup lacks (actual entrance videos and well done ones at that, good lighting, immediately recognizable entrance themes and pyro which much like WWE has seemingly disappeared from TNA as well).
Alberto Del Rio had a pretty sweet pyro as well.
ReplyDeleteNow that Del Rio is a heel again, they really need to give him his old pyro back, it would be a great way to make him come off as even more of an egotistical, arrogant heel.
At least bring back the freaking cars, the poor guy's getting tortured worse than Patrick Wilson's character in Hard Candy.
Don't they sort of do that with Punk?- his six pointed star from the Chicago flag is shining over the crowd, I thought.
ReplyDeleteImmediately recognizable themes? Ehh, I don't know about that. It's been almost a year since I've watched TNA, but during my Impact-watching runs, about 80% of the roster had music that had me going, "Wait, who is that?" before they came down. A lot of the midcard lacked that instant-pop hook right at the top, the ones that guys like Storm, RVD, Hardy, Styles, Bully Ray, and a couple of other top guys had. Say what you will about WWE's Downstait-y musical era, at least they make sure to give an instantly recognizable riff or chorus right from the go to pretty much everyone.
ReplyDeleteAMW, Alex Shelley, LAX, Christopher Daniels, Raven, Monty Brown, Team Canada, Christian Cage, Rhino, Abyss, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Sting, Jeff Jarrett, even some of the lower-card guys like Sonjay Dutt and Shark Boy all had immediately recognizable themes whereas now James Storm, Bully Ray, Aces & 8's, Bobby Roode, Kurt Angle and Mickie James are the only ones who have immediately recognizable themes.
ReplyDeleteEveryone else has had their music inexplicably changed so many times, usually with something even worse than the theme they previously had (Kazarian, Jeff Hardy and Abyss immediately come to mind).