CCharger
The Great One  
Posts 3557
Registered 7-21-2010 Member Is Offline Mood: Covfefe
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| posted on 6-29-2017 at 02:33 PM |
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18 Years Ago...
...Stone Cold Steve Austin and Undertaker broke the record for the highest rated wrestling match in cable television history with a 9.5 rating.
Cageside Seats spells this out the best so I will quote them rather than trying to paraphrase:
"18 years ago today on RAW is WAR from Charlotte, North Carolina, Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated The Undertaker to win the WWF Championship. The
win made Austin just the third man to win the WWF Championship four times, joining Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart.
The bout is the most-watched wrestling match (and segment) in the history of cable television, scoring a 9.5 rating (meaning nearly one in ten homes
that had cable had the match on) and an estimated 10.7 million viewers. By comparison, the �This Is Your Life� segment, often cited as the most
watched segment in RAW history, got only an 8.4 rating.
The marks surpass the RAW is WAR May 10 main event with Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, and Vince McMahon defeating The Corporate Ministry�s The
Undertaker, Triple H, and Shane McMahon in terms of rating and viewers (9.17 rating, with 10.58 million viewers). In fact, five of the twelve most
watched matches in cable history were on that episode. That episode was the highest-rated in the show�s history, with an 8.1 rating for the
night.
RAW crushes Nitro in the head-to-head for the evening, with a 6.8 for WWF�s offering and a 3.6 for WCW�s."
It was truly a different time when a wrestling match could garner that kind of rating.
What is even more striking to me is that part that I bolded in which almost half of the the most watched matches ever were on one single episode.
Just...wow.
[Edited on 6-29-2017 by CCharger]
[Edited on 6-29-2017 by CCharger]
"She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted."
"The powers of the president to protect our country are very substantial and will not be questioned."
--- Stephen Miller, Trump senior White House advisor, Feb. 12, 2017
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Slade
The Great One
Posts 3828
Registered 11-10-2002 Location Fredericton, New Brunswick Member Is Offline Mood: Cero Miedo!
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| posted on 6-29-2017 at 03:22 PM |
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Five of the twelve most watched matches in cable history were on the May 10 RAW is WAR. The televised matches on that card, in order, were:
- Kane vs. Billy Gunn
- Big Show vs. Paul Bearer
- Sable vs. Debra for the WWF Women's Championship
- Test vs. Big Boss Man in a Nightstick on a Pole Match
- Mideon & Viscera vs. Cactus Jack in a Hardcore Handicap Match
- Bradshaw vs. Farooq in a Lumberjack Match
- The Mean Street Posse vs. Pat Patterson & Gerald Brisco in a Loser Leaves WWF Match
- Jeff Jarrett vs. Val Venis
- Ken Shamrock vs. Chyna
- Shane McMahon, The Undertaker & Triple H vs. Vince McMahon, The Rock & Stone Cold Steve Austin
There are some real classics on that card! I can't believe only five of them are among the twelve most watched matches in cable history!
"Love is making out with someone after you've blown a load on his/her face." - Dan Savage
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CCharger
The Great One
Posts 3557
Registered 7-21-2010 Member Is Offline Mood: Covfefe
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| posted on 6-29-2017 at 03:29 PM |
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http://oswreview.com/history/most-watched-wwe-cable-matches/
Here's the full list.
"She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted."
"The powers of the president to protect our country are very substantial and will not be questioned."
--- Stephen Miller, Trump senior White House advisor, Feb. 12, 2017
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the goon
Sister Act
Posts 6323
Registered 3-13-2004 Location Charlotte, NC Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 6-30-2017 at 02:21 AM |
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I was there live for that Austin/Taker match and never realized it was the highest-rated pro wrestling match in TV history, so that's pretty
damn cool. Also, I was one of the few that night that was actually cheering for Taker, so I remember standing there with my arms crossed in
disappointment after Austin won while the rest of the Charlotte Coliseum (may it rest in peace) lost their collective shit.
quote:
Originally posted by Slade
Five of the twelve most watched matches in cable history were on the May 10 RAW is WAR. The televised matches on that card, in order, were:
- Kane vs. Billy Gunn
- Big Show vs. Paul Bearer
- Sable vs. Debra for the WWF Women's Championship
- Test vs. Big Boss Man in a Nightstick on a Pole Match
- Mideon & Viscera vs. Cactus Jack in a Hardcore Handicap Match
- Bradshaw vs. Farooq in a Lumberjack Match
- The Mean Street Posse vs. Pat Patterson & Gerald Brisco in a Loser Leaves WWF Match
- Jeff Jarrett vs. Val Venis
- Ken Shamrock vs. Chyna
- Shane McMahon, The Undertaker & Triple H vs. Vince McMahon, The Rock & Stone Cold Steve Austin
There are some real classics on that card! I can't believe only five of them are among the twelve most watched matches in cable history!
And this is why the Attitude Era is nowhere near as good as we remember, because holy shit does some of that look bad. Not to mention that ten matches
on a two-hour show means they were probably no more than five minutes apiece.
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Slade
The Great One
Posts 3828
Registered 11-10-2002 Location Fredericton, New Brunswick Member Is Offline Mood: Cero Miedo!
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| posted on 6-30-2017 at 02:51 AM |
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Oh yeah, half the matches lasted no more than 3-minutes and the longest match barely went past 8-minutes.
Here's that list again, this time with match lengths:
- Kane vs. Billy Gunn (5:10)
- Big Show vs. Paul Bearer (3:00)
- Sable vs. Debra for the WWF Women's Championship (0:50)
- Test vs. Big Boss Man in a Nightstick on a Pole Match (7:03)
- Mideon & Viscera vs. Cactus Jack in a Hardcore Handicap Match (4:35)
- Bradshaw vs. Farooq in a Lumberjack Match (2:30)
- The Mean Street Posse vs. Pat Patterson & Gerald Brisco in a Loser Leaves WWF Match (2:09)
- Jeff Jarrett vs. Val Venis (8:03)
- Ken Shamrock vs. Chyna (Match called a "no contest" before it began - entire segment including ring entrances lasts about 3-minutes)
- Shane McMahon, The Undertaker & Triple H vs. Vince McMahon, The Rock & Stone Cold Steve Austin (4:38)
[Edited on 6-30-2017 by Slade]
"Love is making out with someone after you've blown a load on his/her face." - Dan Savage
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First 9
The Rowdy One
Posts 2421
Registered 1-22-2013 Member Is Offline Mood: Doing the Emma Dance
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| posted on 6-30-2017 at 05:45 PM |
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Yeah, the short matches by themselves might not be good but that whole episode was fun as fuck. It was comissioner Shawn Michaels fucking with
everybody and it was great to see stable mates facing each other, the eeevill Paul Bearer fed to Big Show, and Cactus Jack looking awesome by
squashing two Ministry goons.
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SpiNNeR72
Showstopper 
Posts 669
Registered 10-21-2006 Location Shetland Member Is Offline Mood: Amused!
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| posted on 7-5-2017 at 09:17 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by the goonAnd this is why the Attitude Era is nowhere near as good as we remember, because holy shit does some of
that look bad. Not to mention that ten matches on a two-hour show means they were probably no more than five minutes apiece.
See this is why I never "got" the fuss about the attitude era. Sure, due to more edgy angles and the rise of the internet having an underrated
effect, it was a boom time for wrestling but the quality of the product (meaning actual matches) was pretty poor.
Wrestling as it is right now is light years ahead and far more enjoyable than it was back then, and the bullshit is pretty much on a par.
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