Thursday, August 29, 2013

Utterly Arbitrary mookieghana500

A ridiculous extension of 5 Years Wrestling Observer Results Page exercise.

RATING: Log{Sqrt[(Points by Region x % of Matches per Group) x (Points by Region x % of Matches per Group) x (Total Points per Match) x (Overall 5-Year Win Percentage) x Inverse(Overall 5-Year Win Percentage)] x (Number of Months Working 5+ Matches) x (Number of Months Working 5+ Matches) }

1. Kofi Kingston (797 matches) = 9.09 rating.
2. The Miz (747 matches) = 9 rating.
3. Cody Rhodes (724 matches) = 8.95 rating.
4. Big Show (725 matches) = 8.93 rating.
5. Randy Orton (734 matches) = 8.88 rating.
6. John Cena (801 matches) = 8.86 rating.
7. CM Punk (696 matches) = 8.84 rating.
8. Jack Swagger (681 matches) = 8.81 rating.
9. Sheamus (729 matches) = 8.81 rating.
10. Dolph Ziggler (704 matches) = 8.8 rating.
11. Kane (682 matches) = 8.78 rating.
12. Suwama (517 matches) = 8.69 rating.
13. Taiji Ishimori (520 matches) = 8.66 rating.
14. Mohammed Yone (508 matches) = 8.63 rating.
15. Shuji Kondo (503 matches) = 8.61 rating.
16. Kaz Hayashi (500 matches) = 8.61 rating.
17. Atsushi Aoki (521 matches) = 8.59 rating.
18. Genba Hirayanagi (503 matches) = 8.59 rating.
19. Takeshi Morishima (491 matches) = 8.54 rating.
20. Yoshinobu Kanemaru (496 matches) = 8.53 rating.
21. Hirooki Goto (485 matches) = 8.51 rating.
22. Hiroshi Yamato (475 matches) = 8.51 rating.
23. Shinsuke Nakamura (479 matches) = 8.51 rating.
24. Toru Yano (475 matches) = 8.5 rating.
25. Seiya Sanada (470 matches) = 8.48 rating.
26. R-Truth (575 matches) = 8.47 rating.
27. Togi Makabe (469 matches) = 8.46 rating.
28. Ryusuke Taguchi (474 matches) = 8.46 rating.
29. Ryota Hama (465 matches) = 8.46 rating.
30. Yuji Nagata (485 matches) = 8.46 rating.
31. Ricky Marvin (469 matches) = 8.44 rating.
32. Tomohiro Ishii (460 matches) = 8.43 rating.
33. Minoru Tanaka (468 matches) = 8.42 rating.
34. Takashi Sugiura (468 matches) = 8.41 rating.
35. Bobby Roode (456 matches) = 8.41 rating.
36. Daniel Bryan (653 matches) = 8.41 rating.
37. Santino Marella (559 matches) = 8.38 rating.
38. Ted DiBiase Jr (530 matches) = 8.38 rating.
39. Hiroshi Tanahashi (457 matches) = 8.38 rating.
40. Tiger Mask (455 matches) = 8.37 rating.
41. Zack Ryder (572 matches) = 8.37 rating.
42. Alberto Del Rio (607 matches) = 8.37 rating.
43. Primo (534 matches) = 8.34 rating.
44. Mark Henry (535 matches) = 8.32 rating.
45. James Storm (456 matches) = 8.3 rating.
46. Kai (444 matches) = 8.3 rating.
47. Jun Akiyama (462 matches) = 8.29 rating.
48. Wataru Inoue (425 matches) = 8.25 rating.
49. Takashi Iizuka (437 matches) = 8.25 rating.
50. Go Shiozaki (453 matches) = 8.2 rating.
51. Manabu Soya (403 matches) = 8.2 rating.
52. Minoru Suzuki (488 matches) = 8.18 rating.
53. Jushin Liger (454 matches) = 8.18 rating.
54. Yujiro Takahashi (450 matches) = 8.16 rating.
55. Gedo (413 matches) = 8.14 rating.
56. Kotaro Suzuki (426 matches) = 8.11 rating.
57. Tyson Kidd (482 matches) = 8.1 rating.
58. Jado (390 matches) = 8.1 rating.
59. Tensai (511 matches) = 8.09 rating.
60. KENTA (412 matches) = 8.08 rating.
61. Karl Anderson (393 matches) = 8.03 rating.
62. Masayuki Kono (380 matches) = 8.02 rating.
63. AJ Styles (391 matches) = 8 rating.
64. Akitoshi Saito (395 matches) = 8 rating.
65. Satoshi Kojima (441 matches) = 8 rating.
66. John Morrison (472 matches) = 7.96 rating.
67. Drew McIntyre (449 matches) = 7.95 rating.
68. Taichi (395 matches) = 7.95 rating.
69. Tomoaki Honma (403 matches) = 7.94 rating.
70. Taiyo Kea (366 matches) = 7.94 rating.
71. Ultimo Guerrero (379 matches) = 7.9 rating.
72. Mazada (376 matches) = 7.86 rating.
73. Volador Jr (369 matches) = 7.86 rating.
74. Chris Jericho (433 matches) = 7.86 rating.
75. Beth Phoenix (430 matches) = 7.86 rating.
76. Natalya (430 matches) = 7.84 rating.
77. Christian (455 matches) = 7.82 rating.
78. Yoshinari Ogawa (350 matches) = 7.82 rating.
79. Masakatsu Funaki (359 matches) = 7.82 rating.
80. Prince Devitt (374 matches) = 7.81 rating.
81. Wade Barrett (453 matches) = 7.81 rating.
82. La Sombra (388 matches) = 7.8 rating.
83. Akebono (386 matches) = 7.8 rating.
84. Atlantis (359 matches) = 7.77 rating.
85. La Mascara (360 matches) = 7.75 rating.
86. Tetsuya Naito (379 matches) = 7.74 rating.
87. Manabu Nakanishi (341 matches) = 7.73 rating.
88. Naomichi Marufuji (352 matches) = 7.71 rating.
89. Masao Inoue (363 matches) = 7.68 rating.
90. Jeff Hardy (419 matches) = 7.67 rating.
91. Sin Cara (448 matches) = 7.66 rating.
92. Blue Panther (344 matches) = 7.65 rating.
93. Negro Casas (347 matches) = 7.64 rating.
94. Rey Mysterio Jr (409 matches) = 7.64 rating.
95. Koji Kanemoto (375 matches) = 7.61 rating.
96. Takuma Sano (327 matches) = 7.57 rating.
97. Kensuke Sasaki (330 matches) = 7.56 rating.
98. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (317 matches) = 7.55 rating.
99. Katsuhiko Nakajima (317 matches) = 7.54 rating.
100. MVP (403 matches) = 7.54 rating.
101. Yoshihiro Takayama (381 matches) = 7.53 rating.
102. Evan Bourne (385 matches) = 7.51 rating.
103. Justin Gabriel (367 matches) = 7.49 rating.
104. Averno (316 matches) = 7.46 rating.
105. Mascara Dorada (336 matches) = 7.46 rating.
106. Joe Doering (291 matches) = 7.44 rating.
107. Alicia Fox (361 matches) = 7.44 rating.
108. Samoa Joe (309 matches) = 7.44 rating.
109. Shuhei Taniguchi (296 matches) = 7.43 rating.
110. Kurt Angle (298 matches) = 7.4 rating.
111. Layla (352 matches) = 7.39 rating.
112. Kenzo Suzuki (320 matches) = 7.39 rating.
113. Alex Riley (349 matches) = 7.38 rating.
114. Kazuchika Okada (292 matches) = 7.36 rating.
115. Great Khali (342 matches) = 7.36 rating.
116. Yasufumi Nakanoe (306 matches) = 7.35 rating.
117. Heath Slater (363 matches) = 7.35 rating.
118. Takao Omori (311 matches) = 7.31 rating.
119. Eve Torres (344 matches) = 7.29 rating.
120. Mephisto (294 matches) = 7.28 rating.
121. Taru (275 matches) = 7.27 rating.
122. Chavo Guerrero (345 matches) = 7.24 rating.
123. Valiente (298 matches) = 7.2 rating.
124. JTG (312 matches) = 7.18 rating.
125. William Regal (322 matches) = 7.17 rating.
126. Curtis Axel (317 matches) = 7.14 rating.
127. Bully Ray (284 matches) = 7.14 rating.
128. Kelly Kelly (306 matches) = 7.14 rating.
129. Bushi (286 matches) = 7.11 rating.
130. Kushida (268 matches) = 7.11 rating.
131. Antonio Cesaro (394 matches) = 7.11 rating.
132. Kento Miyahara (268 matches) = 7.1 rating.
133. Yamato (284 matches) = 7.1 rating.
134. El Terrible (286 matches) = 7.1 rating.
135. Vladimir Kozlov (318 matches) = 7.09 rating.
136. Velvet Sky (266 matches) = 7.05 rating.
137. Christopher Daniels (281 matches) = 7.04 rating.
138. Rey Bucanero (260 matches) = 7.03 rating.
139. Matt Hardy (333 matches) = 7.01 rating.
140. Maximo (281 matches) = 7 rating.
141. Masato Yoshino (269 matches) = 6.99 rating.
142. Shocker (260 matches) = 6.98 rating.
143. BxB Hulk (269 matches) = 6.97 rating.
144. Naruki Doi (264 matches) = 6.97 rating.
145. Akira Taue (244 matches) = 6.96 rating.
146. El Hijo del Fantasma (263 matches) = 6.94 rating.
147. Masaaki Mochizuki (272 matches) = 6.94 rating.
148. Cima (259 matches) = 6.92 rating.
149. Edge (293 matches) = 6.91 rating.
150. Osamu Nishimura (243 matches) = 6.9 rating.
151. Ken Anderson (257 matches) = 6.9 rating.
152. Brodus Clay (320 matches) = 6.89 rating.
153. Taka Michinoku (234 matches) = 6.88 rating.
154. Hernandez (260 matches) = 6.86 rating.
155. Yoshi Tatsu (271 matches) = 6.86 rating.
156. Ezekiel Jackson (270 matches) = 6.86 rating.
157. Jey Uso (270 matches) = 6.84 rating.
158. Mickie James (320 matches) = 6.83 rating.
159. Tama Tonga (235 matches) = 6.82 rating.
160. Jimmy Uso (269 matches) = 6.8 rating.
161. Masa Fuchi (238 matches) = 6.8 rating.
162. Hector Garza (256 matches) = 6.79 rating.
163. David Otunga (255 matches) = 6.79 rating.
164. Dragon Kid (240 matches) = 6.79 rating.
165. Mr Niebla (245 matches) = 6.78 rating.
166. Shingo Takagi (239 matches) = 6.75 rating.
167. Nobukazu Hirai (213 matches) = 6.74 rating.
168. Abyss (237 matches) = 6.73 rating.
169. Brie Bella (256 matches) = 6.71 rating.
170. Eric Young (239 matches) = 6.71 rating.
171. Davey Richards (283 matches) = 6.71 rating.
172. Ephesto (244 matches) = 6.69 rating.
173. Stuka Jr (249 matches) = 6.68 rating.
174. Shigeo Okumura (248 matches) = 6.68 rating.
175. Austin Aries (269 matches) = 6.64 rating.
176. Gail Kim (280 matches) = 6.62 rating.
177. Eddie Edwards (262 matches) = 6.6 rating.
178. Maryse (261 matches) = 6.6 rating.
179. Matt Morgan (230 matches) = 6.6 rating.
180. Nosawa (235 matches) = 6.6 rating.
181. Hiromu Takahashi (208 matches) = 6.59 rating.
182. Davey Boy Smith Jr (264 matches) = 6.59 rating.
183. Devon (229 matches) = 6.58 rating.
184. Brutus Magnus (231 matches) = 6.57 rating.
185. Jinder Mahal (241 matches) = 6.57 rating.
186. Chris Masters (247 matches) = 6.56 rating.
187. Akira Tozawa (230 matches) = 6.56 rating.
188. Genki Horiguchi (223 matches) = 6.55 rating.
189. Euforia (240 matches) = 6.53 rating.
190. Angel de Oro (233 matches) = 6.52 rating.
191. Ryback (265 matches) = 6.51 rating.
192. Carlito (242 matches) = 6.5 rating.
193. Sagrado (243 matches) = 6.5 rating.
194. Virus (249 matches) = 6.49 rating.
195. Rush (216 matches) = 6.45 rating.
196. Ryo Saito (205 matches) = 6.44 rating.
197. Alex Shelley (231 matches) = 6.44 rating.
198. Keiji Muto (215 matches) = 6.41 rating.
199. Shelton Benjamin (269 matches) = 6.41 rating.
200. Bison Smith (197 matches) = 6.39 rating.
201. Chris Sabin (202 matches) = 6.39 rating.
202. Fuego (203 matches) = 6.38 rating.
203. Hideo Saito (191 matches) = 6.38 rating.
204. Madison Rayne (213 matches) = 6.37 rating.
205. Jimmy Kagetora (200 matches) = 6.35 rating.
206. Felino (235 matches) = 6.33 rating.
207. Doug Williams (208 matches) = 6.3 rating.
208. Delta (199 matches) = 6.3 rating.
209. Gamma (196 matches) = 6.28 rating.
210. HHH (230 matches) = 6.28 rating.
211. Darren Young (237 matches) = 6.27 rating.
212. Titus O'Neil (229 matches) = 6.27 rating.
213. Kazarian (195 matches) = 6.25 rating.
214. Nikki Bella (208 matches) = 6.25 rating.
215. Michelle McCool (206 matches) = 6.23 rating.
216. Melina (211 matches) = 6.22 rating.
217. Angelina Love (187 matches) = 6.21 rating.
218. Takeshi Rikio (176 matches) = 6.2 rating.
219. Roderick Strong (234 matches) = 6.2 rating.
220. Fit Finlay (215 matches) = 6.2 rating.
221. King Fale (182 matches) = 6.2 rating.
222. Brazo de Plata (212 matches) = 6.19 rating.
223. Sangre Azteca (225 matches) = 6.18 rating.
224. Polvora (213 matches) = 6.15 rating.
225. Damien Sandow (232 matches) = 6.11 rating.
226. Don Fujii (189 matches) = 6.11 rating.
227. Epico (215 matches) = 6.1 rating.
228. Mitsuhide Hirasawa (167 matches) = 6.1 rating.
229. Rene Dupree (183 matches) = 6.1 rating.
230. Nobuo Yoshihashi (196 matches) = 6.1 rating.
231. Dustin Rhodes (191 matches) = 6.07 rating.
232. Seth Rollins (253 matches) = 6.07 rating.
233. Batista (191 matches) = 6.05 rating.
234. Kentaro Shiga (177 matches) = 6.04 rating.
235. Toscano (190 matches) = 6.01 rating.
236. Jay Lethal (207 matches) = 6.01 rating.
237. Jeff Jarrett (175 matches) = 6 rating.
238. Kaitlyn (220 matches) = 5.99 rating.
239. Yutaka Yoshie (184 matches) = 5.96 rating.
240. Sarita (204 matches) = 5.96 rating.
241. Rob Van Dam (191 matches) = 5.95 rating.
242. Brian Kendrick (226 matches) = 5.95 rating.
243. Masato Tanaka (195 matches) = 5.92 rating.
244. Cyber Kong (170 matches) = 5.9 rating.
245. Chris Hero (206 matches) = 5.89 rating.
246. Victoria (194 matches) = 5.88 rating.
247. Atsushi Kotoge (144 matches) = 5.88 rating.
248. AKIRA (153 matches) = 5.87 rating.
249. Misterioso Jr (189 matches) = 5.86 rating.
250. Maybach Taniguchi (139 matches) = 5.86 rating.
251. Shad Gaspard (175 matches) = 5.85 rating.
252. Curt Hawkins (180 matches) = 5.82 rating.
253. Rocky Romero (177 matches) = 5.8 rating.
254. El Texano Jr (194 matches) = 5.79 rating.
255. Tyler Reks (177 matches) = 5.79 rating.
256. Dragon Rojo Jr (168 matches) = 5.76 rating.
257. Diamante (179 matches) = 5.76 rating.
258. Escandalo (210 matches) = 5.75 rating.
259. Kenta Kobashi (137 matches) = 5.74 rating.
260. Super Crazy (197 matches) = 5.74 rating.
261. Elijah Burke (154 matches) = 5.73 rating.
262. Fandango (184 matches) = 5.68 rating.
263. Guerrero Maya Jr (172 matches) = 5.68 rating.
264. Aaron Aguilera (126 matches) = 5.67 rating.
265. Undertaker (169 matches) = 5.67 rating.
266. Lance Hoyt (171 matches) = 5.66 rating.
267. Yoshi-hashi (124 matches) = 5.65 rating.
268. Riki Choshu (155 matches) = 5.61 rating.
269. Gunner (138 matches) = 5.6 rating.
270. Takashi Okita (142 matches) = 5.6 rating.
271. Akihiko Ito (132 matches) = 5.58 rating.
272. AJ Lee (152 matches) = 5.58 rating.
273. Marco Corleone (172 matches) = 5.57 rating.
274. Dean Ambrose (193 matches) = 5.57 rating.
275. Tommy Dreamer (183 matches) = 5.55 rating.
276. Strongman (142 matches) = 5.54 rating.
277. Ricochet (151 matches) = 5.54 rating.
278. Bobby Fish (145 matches) = 5.51 rating.
279. Luke Gallows (173 matches) = 5.5 rating.
280. Rey Cometa (181 matches) = 5.5 rating.
281. Jay Briscoe (164 matches) = 5.49 rating.
282. Sami Zayn (168 matches) = 5.48 rating.
283. Sushi (120 matches) = 5.48 rating.
284. Metro (144 matches) = 5.45 rating.
285. Homicide (150 matches) = 5.44 rating.
286. Arkangel de la Muerte (189 matches) = 5.43 rating.
287. Taylor Wilde (131 matches) = 5.42 rating.
288. Psicosis (162 matches) = 5.41 rating.
289. Tamina (159 matches) = 5.38 rating.
290. Vangelis (173 matches) = 5.37 rating.
291. Robbie E (142 matches) = 5.35 rating.
292. Mason Ryan (143 matches) = 5.35 rating.
293. Jimmy Wang Yang (155 matches) = 5.33 rating.
294. Takaaki Watanabe (126 matches) = 5.3 rating.
295. Kzy (119 matches) = 5.25 rating.
296. Scott Steiner (124 matches) = 5.23 rating.
297. Jimmy Susumu (116 matches) = 5.22 rating.
298. Shane Haste (111 matches) = 5.22 rating.
299. Rich Swann (136 matches) = 5.21 rating.
300. Marcela (180 matches) = 5.18 rating.
301. Mr Aguila (144 matches) = 5.17 rating.
302. Black Warrior (143 matches) = 5.15 rating.
303. Rhett Titus (141 matches) = 5.15 rating.
304. Kyosuke Mikami (116 matches) = 5.14 rating.
305. Rey Escorpion (119 matches) = 5.14 rating.
306. ODB (142 matches) = 5.13 rating.
307. Mike Knox (138 matches) = 5.11 rating.
308. Consequences Creed (134 matches) = 5.09 rating.
309. Angel Azteca Jr (153 matches) = 5.06 rating.
310. Hunico (127 matches) = 5.04 rating.
311. Rhino (152 matches) = 5.04 rating.
312. Mark Briscoe (138 matches) = 5.04 rating.
313. Alex Koslov (139 matches) = 5.04 rating.
314. Zack Sabre Jr (122 matches) = 5.03 rating.
315. Colt Cabana (144 matches) = 5 rating.
316. Mikey Nicholls (100 matches) = 5 rating.
317. Shannon Moore (122 matches) = 5 rating.
318. Toshizo (98 matches) = 4.99 rating.
319. Shawn Daivari (124 matches) = 4.97 rating.
320. Pac (118 matches) = 4.96 rating.
321. Kenny King (141 matches) = 4.93 rating.
322. Shawn Michaels (110 matches) = 4.92 rating.
323. Super Strong Machine (94 matches) = 4.89 rating.
324. Amapola (171 matches) = 4.88 rating.
325. Charlie Haas (149 matches) = 4.88 rating.
326. Roman Reigns (136 matches) = 4.87 rating.
327. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (128 matches) = 4.87 rating.
328. Percy Watson (120 matches) = 4.86 rating.
329. Diamante Azul (98 matches) = 4.85 rating.
330. Matt Jackson (153 matches) = 4.84 rating.
331. Hikaru Sato (101 matches) = 4.81 rating.
332. Milano Collection AT (92 matches) = 4.79 rating.
333. Masahiro Chono (93 matches) = 4.79 rating.
334. Mitsuharu Misawa (88 matches) = 4.79 rating.
335. Trent Baretta (148 matches) = 4.79 rating.
336. Mesias (133 matches) = 4.76 rating.
337. Jamie Noble (102 matches) = 4.75 rating.
338. Keith Walker (88 matches) = 4.7 rating.
339. Low Ki (113 matches) = 4.7 rating.
340. Triton (93 matches) = 4.7 rating.
341. Jack Evans (151 matches) = 4.7 rating.
342. Yasushi Kanda (101 matches) = 4.67 rating.
343. Loco Max (141 matches) = 4.67 rating.
344. Nick Jackson (153 matches) = 4.66 rating.
345. Kevin Steen (152 matches) = 4.65 rating.
346. Bray Wyatt (94 matches) = 4.64 rating.
347. Nobutaka Araya (90 matches) = 4.6 rating.
348. Olimpico (125 matches) = 4.59 rating.
349. Awesome Kong (102 matches) = 4.59 rating.
350. Winter (118 matches) = 4.55 rating.
351. Delirious (118 matches) = 4.5 rating.
352. Susumu Yokosuka (113 matches) = 4.49 rating.
353. Booker T (100 matches) = 4.49 rating.
354. Rob Terry (99 matches) = 4.48 rating.
355. Crimson (90 matches) = 4.45 rating.
356. Suicide (90 matches) = 4.43 rating.
357. Chessman (132 matches) = 4.42 rating.
358. Brooke Tessmacher (79 matches) = 4.41 rating.
359. Rosa Mendes (115 matches) = 4.34 rating.
360. Titan (91 matches) = 4.34 rating.
361. Naoki Tanisaki (79 matches) = 4.34 rating.
362. Angel de Plata (104 matches) = 4.32 rating.
363. Satoshi Kajiwara (100 matches) = 4.29 rating.
364. Apocalipsis (140 matches) = 4.28 rating.
365. Jesse Neal (83 matches) = 4.27 rating.
366. Andy Woo (76 matches) = 4.26 rating.
367. Big E Langston (100 matches) = 4.22 rating.
368. Sho Soya (67 matches) = 4.2 rating.
369. Aksana (99 matches) = 4.19 rating.
370. Ippei Ota (77 matches) = 4.16 rating.
371. Tamon Honda (99 matches) = 4.15 rating.
372. Sensei (149 matches) = 4.13 rating.
373. Jimmy Kanda (68 matches) = 4.13 rating.
374. Desmond Wolfe (70 matches) = 4.1 rating.
375. Sonjay Dutt (93 matches) = 4.1 rating.
376. Jillian Hall (105 matches) = 4.09 rating.
377. Mondai Ryu (70 matches) = 4.08 rating.
378. Puma King (144 matches) = 4.07 rating.
379. Ryuji Hijikata (87 matches) = 4.07 rating.
380. Inquisidor (143 matches) = 4.06 rating.
381. Dark Cuervo (101 matches) = 4.05 rating.
382. Dark Ozz (100 matches) = 4.04 rating.
383. Naoki Tanizaki (72 matches) = 4.02 rating.
384. Nosferatu (105 matches) = 3.98 rating.
385. Tiger (77 matches) = 3.97 rating.
386. Dr Wagner Jr (136 matches) = 3.97 rating.
387. Petey Williams (89 matches) = 3.95 rating.
388. Namajague (76 matches) = 3.95 rating.
389. El Hijo del Signo (91 matches) = 3.93 rating.
390. Princesa Blanca (129 matches) = 3.92 rating.
391. Dragon Rojo (79 matches) = 3.88 rating.
392. Necro Butcher (91 matches) = 3.86 rating.
393. Kazushi Miyamoto (59 matches) = 3.86 rating.
394. Metalico (160 matches) = 3.86 rating.
395. Maria (72 matches) = 3.85 rating.
396. Super Shenlong (88 matches) = 3.84 rating.
397. D-Lo Brown (84 matches) = 3.84 rating.
398. Super Shisa (104 matches) = 3.82 rating.
399. Zema Ion (76 matches) = 3.81 rating.
400. Cancerbero (114 matches) = 3.81 rating.
401. Fabian el Gitano (93 matches) = 3.8 rating.
402. Hombre Bala Jr (95 matches) = 3.8 rating.
403. Molotov (148 matches) = 3.77 rating.
404. Daisuke Sekimoto (93 matches) = 3.76 rating.
405. Bull Buchanan (57 matches) = 3.76 rating.
406. Adam Cole (97 matches) = 3.74 rating.
407. Starman (147 matches) = 3.74 rating.
408. Paul Burchill (79 matches) = 3.73 rating.
409. Kenny Omega (97 matches) = 3.73 rating.
410. Artillero (144 matches) = 3.72 rating.
411. La Parka (121 matches) = 3.7 rating.
412. Raziel (103 matches) = 3.68 rating.
413. Bo Dallas (73 matches) = 3.68 rating.
414. Electroshock (118 matches) = 3.67 rating.
415. Disturbio (135 matches) = 3.64 rating.
416. Michael Elgin (84 matches) = 3.63 rating.
417. Niebla Roja (66 matches) = 3.63 rating.
418. Cibernetico (118 matches) = 3.62 rating.
419. Princesa Sugei (133 matches) = 3.61 rating.
420. Kishin Kawabata (66 matches) = 3.6 rating.
421. JBL (64 matches) = 3.6 rating.
422. Extreme Tiger (89 matches) = 3.6 rating.
423. Akira Raijin (67 matches) = 3.58 rating.
424. Dragon Lee (59 matches) = 3.57 rating.
425. Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa (72 matches) = 3.55 rating.
426. Hurricane Helms (73 matches) = 3.54 rating.
427. Naomi (64 matches) = 3.54 rating.
428. K-Ness (82 matches) = 3.54 rating.
429. Heavy Metal (85 matches) = 3.52 rating.
430. Lady Apache (102 matches) = 3.52 rating.
431. Dr X (90 matches) = 3.5 rating.
432. Uhaa Nation (53 matches) = 3.5 rating.
433. Makoto Hashi (70 matches) = 3.49 rating.
434. Kyle O'Reilly (93 matches) = 3.48 rating.
435. Kotoka (65 matches) = 3.47 rating.
436. Trueno (116 matches) = 3.43 rating.
437. Eric Escobar (69 matches) = 3.42 rating.
438. Pequeno Black Warrior (119 matches) = 3.42 rating.
439. Harlem Bravado (63 matches) = 3.4 rating.
440. Lance Bravado (60 matches) = 3.39 rating.
441. Pequeno Olimpico (116 matches) = 3.38 rating.
442. Brother Yasshi (52 matches) = 3.38 rating.
443. Billy Gunn (80 matches) = 3.37 rating.
444. Zorro (93 matches) = 3.36 rating.
445. El Samurai (66 matches) = 3.34 rating.
446. Kota Ibushi (70 matches) = 3.34 rating.
447. Ray Gordy (57 matches) = 3.27 rating.
448. Umaga (57 matches) = 3.21 rating.
449. Hooligan (148 matches) = 3.2 rating.
450. Robin (100 matches) = 3.2 rating.
451. Daisuke Harada (50 matches) = 3.19 rating.
452. Erick Stevens (66 matches) = 3.16 rating.
453. Lizmark Jr (66 matches) = 3.15 rating.
454. Estrellita (77 matches) = 3.15 rating.
455. Lance Cade (60 matches) = 3.15 rating.
456. Silver King (69 matches) = 3.14 rating.
457. Hub (51 matches) = 3.13 rating.
458. Super Comando (144 matches) = 3.12 rating.
459. Quu Quu Toyonoka Dolphin (46 matches) = 3.11 rating.
460. Luke Harper (69 matches) = 3.1 rating.
461. Bobby Zavala (88 matches) = 3.09 rating.
462. Jimmy Jacobs (85 matches) = 3.05 rating.
463. Joe Lider (116 matches) = 3.05 rating.
464. Ayako Hamada (53 matches) = 3.04 rating.
465. Junji Izumida (49 matches) = 3.04 rating.
466. Bengala (134 matches) = 3.02 rating.
467. Leono (128 matches) = 2.98 rating.
468. Camorra (131 matches) = 2.97 rating.
469. Fabi Apache (113 matches) = 2.94 rating.
470. Antonio Thomas (41 matches) = 2.93 rating.
471. Misterioso II (47 matches) = 2.92 rating.
472. Mictlan (54 matches) = 2.9 rating.
473. Super Halcon Jr (76 matches) = 2.89 rating.
474. Black Tiger (42 matches) = 2.86 rating.
475. Mascarita Dorada (96 matches) = 2.86 rating.
476. Big Daddy V (40 matches) = 2.85 rating.
477. Lluvia (76 matches) = 2.84 rating.
478. AR Fox (58 matches) = 2.84 rating.
479. Takemura (40 matches) = 2.84 rating.
480. Leo Kruger (60 matches) = 2.83 rating.
481. Nigel McGuinness (56 matches) = 2.82 rating.
482. Garett Bischoff (49 matches) = 2.8 rating.
483. Phil Atlas (39 matches) = 2.77 rating.
484. Tiffany (75 matches) = 2.77 rating.
485. Pierrothito (116 matches) = 2.76 rating.
486. Mitsuo Momota (50 matches) = 2.75 rating.
487. Cholo (116 matches) = 2.75 rating.
488. Hornswoggle (54 matches) = 2.75 rating.
489. Black Bushi (34 matches) = 2.74 rating.
490. Octagoncito (74 matches) = 2.74 rating.
491. Amazing Red (65 matches) = 2.73 rating.
492. Snitsky (49 matches) = 2.72 rating.
493. Super Camaleon (108 matches) = 2.72 rating.
494. Mike Bennett (69 matches) = 2.71 rating.
495. Nicho (89 matches) = 2.71 rating.
496. Soshun (35 matches) = 2.69 rating.
497. Pequeno Violencia (110 matches) = 2.67 rating.
498. Shachihoko Boy (40 matches) = 2.65 rating.
499. Aero Star (95 matches) = 2.64 rating.
500. Jimmy Rave (62 matches) = 2.63 rating.

This should definitively settle all arguments henceforth.
(c) 2013 by Chris Harrington 8.29.13

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair - match history (1991-2010)

Hogan leads the series something along the lines of 95-18-5.
Thanks for TheHistoryofWWE and WrestlingData for their helpful resources!

1991-1992 WWF
WWF @ Dayton, OH - Nutter Center - October 22, 1991: Ric Flair (w/ Bobby Heenan) defeated WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan (sub. for Roddy Piper) via count-out when Heenan grabbed the champion's leg, preventing him from returning to the ring; after the bout, Hogan attacked Heenan; although the Oakland show is generally regarded as the first Hogan / Flair bout, this is the true first meeting

WWF @ Oakland, CA - Coliseum - October 25, 1991 (14,900; 13,400 paid): WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair (w/ Bobby Heenan) via reverse decision; Flair had pinned Hogan at 11:35 by using a foreign object handed to him by Heenan but another referee came to the ring to dispute the call; immediately after the bout, Flair put Hogan in the figure-4 until Greg Valentine and Davey Boy Smith made the save
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJA_BYb_eFI

WWF @ Los Angeles, CA - Sports Arena - October 26, 1991 (13,800; 12,400 paid): WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via reverse decision at 13:28; Flair had pinned Hogan by using a foreign object but another referee disputed the call; after the bout, Greg Valentine made the save

WWF @ Tempe, AZ - Wells Fargo Arena - October 27, 1991 (5,600): Ric Flair defeated WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan via count-out at 12:30 after both men began fighting on the floor

WWF @ Pittsburgh, PA - Civic Arena - November 1, 1991 (10,800): WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via disqualification

WWF @ Milwaukee, WI - Bradley Center - November 2, 1991 (matinee) (7,800): WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via reverse decision

WWF @ Rockford, IL - Metro Centre - November 2, 1991: WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair

WWF @ Moline, IL - Wharton Fieldhouse - November 3, 1991 (matinee): WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via count-out

WWF @ Champaign, IL - Assembly Hall - November 3, 1991: WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via count-out after ramming Flair’s head into the ringpost

WWF @ Denver, CO - Coliseum - November 4, 1991 (6,400): WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via count-out

WWF @ Cincinnati, OH - Riverfront Coliseum - November 9, 1991 (6,000): Ric Flair defeated WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan via count-out

WWF @ Springfield, MA - Civic Center - November 12, 1991: WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via count-out at 14:52

WWF @ Portland, OR - Memorial Coliseum - November 14, 1991 (7,000): WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via count-out WWF Tag Team Champions the Legion of Doom fought the Natural Disasters to a double disqualification

WWF @ San Francisco, CA - Cow Palace - November 15, 1991 (5,000): WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair (w/ Mr. Perfect) via count-out at 6:59 after throwing Flair into the ringpost
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74AaZFsPF4g

WWF @ Anaheim, CA - Convention Center - November 16, 1991 (matinee): WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via count-out at 6:59

WWF @ San Diego, CA - Sports Arena - November 16, 1991: WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via count-out

WWF @ Fresno, CA - November 17, 1991: WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via count-out

WWF @ Richfield, OH - Coliseum - November 22, 1991 (10,000): WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via count-out at 12:15

WWF @ Evansville, IN - Roberts Municipal Stadium - November 23, 1991 (matinee): WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via count-out

WWF @ Chicago, IL - Rosemont Horizon - November 24, 1991 (9,000; 8,000 paid): WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via count-out at 13:25 after slamming Flair's head into the ring steps after both men began fighting on the floor

WWF @ Philadelphia, PA - Spectrum - November 30, 1991 (matinee) (10,318): Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via reverse decision; after the bout, the Rockers helped make the save for Hogan against Flair and Mr. Perfect

WWF @ New York City, NY - Madison Square Garden - November 30, 1991 (15,000): Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair (w/ Mr. Pefect) via reverse decision at 9:25; Flair had originally won the match via pinfall after hitting Hogan with a pair of brass knuckles, handed to him by Perfect (Greatest Wrestling Stars of the 90s)
http://www.wwe.com/videos/madison-square-garden-hulk-hogan-vs-ric-flair-11301991-25058991

WWF @ Austin, TX - Frank Erwin Center - December 4, 1991 (7,500; heavily papered): Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via count-out

WWF @ St. Louis, MO - Arena - December 8, 1991 (matinee) (7,900): Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via count-out

WWF @ Honolulu, HI - Aloha Stadium - December 14, 1991 (18,000): Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via count-out

WWF @ Hershey, PA - Hersheypark Arena - December 26, 1991 (matinee): Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via disqualification after Flair hit him with a foreign object

WWF @ Landover, MD - Capitol Center - December 26, 1991 (6,200): Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via count-out

WWF @ Richmond, VA - Coliseum - December 27, 1991: Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via count-out after throwing Flair into the ringpost on the floor; Flair originally won the match via pinfall after hitting Hogan with a pair of brass knuckles but another referee came out and had the match restarted

WWF @ Minneapolis, MN - December 28, 1991 (9,000): Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via count-out after attacking both Flair and Mr. Perfect on the floor

WWF @ New York City, NY - Madison Square Garden - December 29, 1991 (11,000): Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair (w/ Mr. Perfect) via count-out at 10:09 after ramming Flair's head into the ringpost on the floor; after the match, Flair jumped Hogan from behind but Hogan fought him off and sent him to the floor (Hulk Hogan: The Unreleased Archives)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKEVfCzNGzQ

WWF @ Chicago, IL - Rosemont Horizon - December 29, 1991: Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair

WWF @ Atlanta, GA - Omni - January 5, 1992 (4,500): Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via count-out

WWF @ Miami, FL - Arena - January 6, 1992 (6,000): Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via count-out

WWF @ Daytona Beach, FL - Oceanfront Center - January 7, 1992 (12,000): Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via count-out

WWF @ Ft. Myers, FL - Lee Civic Center - January 8, 1992: Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via count-out

WWF @ Philadelphia, PA - Spectrum - January 11, 1992 (matinee) (12,842): Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via count-out

WWF @ Hamilton, Ontario - Copps Coliseum - January 12, 1992 (matinee) (6,000): Ric Flair defeated Hulk Hogan via count-out

WWF @ Boston, MA - Boston Garden - January 18, 1992 (15,000; sell out): Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via count-out after sending Flair into the ring post on the floor at 13:45

Royal Rumble 92 - Albany, NY - Knickerbocker Arena - January 19, 1992 (matinee) (17,000): Ric Flair won the 30-man Royal Rumble match by last eliminating Sid Justice at 1:02:02
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFQEUiN4-G8

WWF @ Montreal, Quebec - Forum - January 20, 1992 (10,992): Hulk Hogan defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair via count-out

WWF @ Lubbock, TX - Municipal Coliseum - January 27, 1992: Hulk Hogan (w/ Brutus Beefcake) & Sid Justice defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair (w/ Mr. Perfect) & the Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) via disqualification at around the 11-minute mark when Flair shoved referee Earl Hebner as he and Taker double teamed Hogan; during the final moments of the match, Justice jumped off the apron and walked backstage as Hogan crawled toward the corner for the tag; after the contest, Beefcake got in the ring and faced off with Flair and Taker, risking his reconstructed face, until Hogan cleared the opposition from the ring and posed with Beefcake (Best of Saturday Night's Main Event)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OjvXLuQjfo

WWF @ Orlando, FL - Arena - February 15, 1992 (4,600): Hulk Hogan & WWF IC Champion Roddy Piper defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair & the Undertaker when Hogan pinned Flair with a small package after Flair accidentally hit Taker and Taker walked out of the match

WWF @ Auburn Hills, MI - Palace - February 16, 1992 (6,000): Hulk Hogan & WWF IC Champion Roddy Piper defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair & the Undertaker at 9:57 when Hogan pinned Flair after Flair accidentally hit Taker and Taker walked out of the match

WWF @ Tampa, FL - SunDome - February 17, 1992 (10,000): Hulk Hogan defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair via count-out

WWF @ West Palm Beach, FL - Auditorium - February 18, 1992 (5,000; sell out): Hulk Hogan & WWF IC Champion Roddy Piper defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair & Sid Justice when Hogan pinned Flair

WWF @ Rochester, MN - February 22, 1992: Hulk Hogan & WWF IC Champion Roddy Piper defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair & Sid Justice

WWF @ Minneapolis, MN - February 22, 1992 (5,600): Hulk Hogan & WWF IC Champion Roddy Piper defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair & Sid Justice when Hogan pinned Flair

WWF @ Hartford, CT - Civic Center - February 23, 1992 (5,500): Hulk Hogan & WWF IC Champion Roddy Piper defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair & Sid Justice at 15:05 when Hogan pinned Flair

WWF @ Pittsburgh, PA - Civic Arena - February 28, 1992 (12,500): Hulk Hogan & WWF IC Champion Roddy Piper defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair & Sid Justice when Hogan pinned Flair

WWF @ Boston, MA - Boston Garden - February 29, 1992 (matinee) (10,000): Hulk Hogan & WWF IC Champion Roddy Piper defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair & Sid Justice when Hogan pinned Flair

WWF @ Bangor, ME - Auditorium - March 1, 1992 (matinee): Hulk Hogan defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair via count-out

WWF @ Chicago, IL - Rosemont Horizon - March 7, 1992 (matinee) (7,500): Hulk Hogan & WWF IC Champion Roddy Piper defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair & Sid Justice when Hogan pinned Flair with a clothesline

WWF @ Nashville, TN - Municipal Auditorium - March 8, 1992 (matinee): Hulk Hogan defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair via count-out

WWF @ Mobile, AL - Civic Center - March 9, 1992: Hulk Hogan & WWF IC Champion Roddy Piper defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair & Sid Justice (w/ Harvey Wippleman) at 12:50 when Hogan pinned Flair with a clothesline (1992 Battle of the WWF Superstars, The Immortal Hulk Hogan)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pka6AJ7X_5Y

WWF @ Biloxi, MS - Coast Coliseum - March 10, 1992: Hulk Hogan & WWF IC Champion Roddy Piper defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair & Sid Justice

WWF @ Memphis, TN - Pyramid - March 14, 1992: Hulk Hogan & WWF IC Champion Roddy Piper defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair & Sid Justice when Hogan pinned Flair

WWF @ Oakland, CA - Coliseum - March 15, 1992 (matinee) (13,000 paid): Hulk Hogan & WWF IC Champion Roddy Piper defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair & Sid Justice

WWF @ San Diego, CA - Sports Arena - March 15, 1992 (5,800): Hulk Hogan & WWF IC Champion Roddy Piper defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair & Sid Justice when Hogan pinned Flair

WWF @ Philadelphia, PA - Spectrum - March 20, 1992 (11,500): Hulk Hogan & WWF IC Champion Roddy Piper defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair & Sid Justice when Hogan pinned Flair

WWF @ Richfield, OH - Coliseum - March 21, 1992: Hulk Hogan & WWF IC Champion Roddy Piper defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair & Sid Justice

WWF @ Toronto, Ontario - Maple Leaf Gardens - March 22, 1992 (6,500): Hulk Hogan & WWF IC Champion Roddy Piper defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair & Sid Justice

WWF @ New York City, NY - Madison Square Garden - March 23, 1992 (9,000): Hulk Hogan & WWF IC Champion Roddy Piper defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair & Sid Justice via disqualification (Hogan's last MSG appearance for 10 years; Sid's last MSG appearance for 3 years; Piper's last MSG appearance for 2 years)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8Mwpvg8XjM

WWF @ Sacramento, CA - Arco Arena - March 28, 1992 (matinee) (8,600): Hulk Hogan & WWF IC Champion Roddy Piper defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair & Sid Justice when Hogan pinned Flair with a clothesline

WWF @ Los Angeles, CA - Sports Arena - March 28, 1992 (7,000): Hulk Hogan & WWF IC Champion Roddy Piper defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair & Sid Justice

WWF @ Auburn Hills, MI - The Palace - March 29, 1992 (6,000): Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair & Sid Justice via disqualification when Harvey Wippleman hit Hogan with a bag

1994-2000 WCW
Bash at the Beach 94 - Orlando, FL - Arena - July 17, 1994 (14,000; 9,111 paid): Hulk Hogan (w/ Jimmy Hart) pinned WCW World Champion Ric Flair (w/ Sensuous Sherri) to win the title at 21:54 with the legdrop, moments after Mr. T sent an interfering Sherri backstage; after the bout, Hogan celebrated in the ring with Mr. T and Shaquille O'Neal (Hogan's WCW in-ring debut) (Hulk Still Rules, Hulk Hogan: The Ultimate Anthology, The Rise and Fall of WCW)
http://www.wwe.com/videos/wcw-bash-at-the-beach-1994-hulk-hogan-vs-ric-flair-7171994-25058770

Clash of the Champions XXVIII - Cedar Rapids, IA - Five Seasons Center - August 24, 1994 (4,200): Ric Flair (w/ Sensuous Sherri) defeated WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan (w/ Jimmy Hart) via count-out at 14:26 after Sherri hit Hogan in the knee with her high heel behind the referee's back; prior to the bout, Hogan was escorted ringside by Hart & Brother Brudi; after the match, ring announcer Michael Buffer mistakenly referred to Flair as the new champion; moments later, Hogan regained possession of the belt from Flair until the masked man returned and helped Flair target Hogan's knee; moments after the masked man went backstage, Sting came out to make the save, clearing Flair from the ring; Flair then went backstage with the title belt; Sting then helped Hogan backstage where he was loaded back inside an ambulance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UluY7oHlS90

WCW @ Zurich, Switzerland - Hallenstadion - September 1, 1994 (6,000): WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan pinned Ric Flair with the legdrop

WCW @ Birmingham, England - September 3, 1994 (2,000): WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan pinned Ric Flair with the legdrop

WCW @ London, England - Wembley Arena - September 4, 1994 (2,000): WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan pinned Ric Flair with the legdrop

WCW @ Schwerin, Germany - September 6, 1994: WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan pinned Ric Flair with the legdrop

WCW @ Bad Segeberg, Germany - September 7, 1994 (7,700): WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan pinned Ric Flair with the legdrop

WCW @ Schwarzburg, Germany - September 9, 1994: WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan pinned Ric Flair with the legdrop

WCW @ Berlin, Germany - September 10, 1994: WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan pinned Ric Flair with the legdrop

WCW @ Stuttgart, Germany - September 11, 1994: WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan pinned Ric Flair with the legdrop

WCW @ Munich, Germany - September 12, 1994: WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan pinned Ric Flair with the legdrop at 16:06

WCW @ Frankfurt, Germany - September 13, 1994 (5,000): WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan pinned Ric Flair with the legdrop

WCW @ Dortmund, Germany - Westfalenhalle - September 14, 1994 (7,200): WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan pinned Ric Flair with the legdrop

WCW @ Atlanta, GA - Center Stage Theatre - October 9, 1994: WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan & Dave Sullivan defeated Ric Flair (w/ Sensuous Sherri) & a masked man (Bunkhouse Buck) when a second masked man (Bucky Siegler) interfered; after the bout, Ed Leslie made the save

WCW @ Salt Lake City, UT - Delta Center - October 14, 1994 (4,300): WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan (w/ Karl Malone) pinned Ric Flair; after the bout, Malone made the save for Hogan against a masked man (Steve Keirn) before both of them threw the masked man to the floor

WCW @ Oakland, CA - Coliseum Arena - October 15, 1994 (about 4,000): WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan pinned Ric Flair at 17:53 with a boot to the face and the legdrop; after the bout, a masked man (Steve Keirn) attacked Hogan until Dave Sullivan made the save

WCW @ Anaheim, CA - Convention Center - October 16, 1994 (matinee) (2,400): WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via disqualification

Halloween Havoc 94 - Detroit, MI - Joe Louis Arena - October 23, 1994 (14,000; 8,595 paid; 3,000 freebies didn't attend): WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair (w/ Sensuous Sherri) in a career vs. career steel cage match (The History of the World Heavyweight Championship)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ayxe0gNN5s

Slamboree 95 - St. Petersburg, FL - Bayfront Center - May 21, 1995 (7,000): WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage (w/ Angelo Poffo & the Renegade) defeated Vader & Ric Flair (w/ WCW TV Champion Arn Anderson) at 18:58 when Hogan pinned Flair with the legdrop after Anderson accidentally dropped Flair with a double axe handle off the top when Hogan moved out of the way; during Hogan & Savage's entrance and mid-way through the bout, a large man (Paul Wight) was shown standing near the curtain; after the bout, Flair, Vader, and Anderson attacked Hogan, Savage, and Hart; moments later, Angelo Poffo, who sat ringside for the match, jumped the rail and climbed in the ring; Flair then repeatedly punched Poffo before putting him in the figure-4; Hogan and Renegade eventually cleared Flair and Anderson from the ring and tended to Savage and Poffo (Flair's TV in-ring return after a 7-month absence; Wight's TV debut) (Hulk Hogan: The Unreleased Archives)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCP-JC4gvKo

WCW @ Charlotte, NC - Independence Arena - December 11, 1995: Hulk Hogan & Sting defeated Ric Flair & Arn Anderson when Hogan pinned Anderson with the legdrop; after the bout, Brian Pillman and Lex luger attacked Hogan & Sting until Randy Savage made the save; during the brawl, Sting accidentally hit Savage

WCW @ Atlanta, GA - Omni - January 1, 1996: Hulk Hogan defeated WCW World Champion Ric Flair via disqualification at 7:55 when Hogan knocked down an interfering Arn Anderson and pulled Anderson's foreign object out of his own trunks, moments after Hogan knocked an interfering Jimmy Hart off the apron; after the bout, the Giant appeared as Hogan had Flair, Anderson, Chris Benoit, and Brian Pillman begging off; as the Giant attempted to assault the Giant with a stool, Randy Savage came out, grabbed the stool away, and helped clear the ring; moments later, Zodiac kept the Giant from going back to the ring - despite Sullivan's orders - by saying "Friend" and "Hurt" toward Hogan and Savage; after the commercial break, Gene Okerlund conducted an in-ring interview with Hogan and Savage in which Hogan challenged Flair & Anderson for a tag team match the following week and Savage alluded to having a secret weapon in their arsenol; Hogan was booed during the segment

WCW @ Charleston, SC - January 8, 1996: Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage defeated WCW World Champion Ric Flair & Arn Anderson at around the 15-minute mark when Hogan pinned Anderson with the boot to the face and legdrop; immediately after the fall, Chris Benoit, Brian Pillman, Kevin Sullivan, and the Zoadiac came ringside and brawled against each other while the Giant climbed in the ring and hit chokeslams on both Hogan and Savage; moments later, Zodiac climbed in the ring and held the Giant off from inflicting more punishment; during the bout, it was announced Savage would face Lex Luger and Hogan would face Meng the following week in Miami (The Very Best of Nitro)

Clash of the Champions XXXII - Las Vegas, NV - Caesar's Palace - January 23, 1996 (3,100): Ric Flair & the Giant (w/ Jimmy Hart) defeated Hulk Hogan & WCW World Champion Randy Savage (w/ Kevin Greene, Elizabeth, Woman, and several other women) when Flair pinned Savage at 9:52 after hitting him with a foreign object thrown in the ring by Hart; after the bout, Hogan and Greene cleared the ring of Brian Pillman and the Zodiac (Elizabeth's debut) (The Best of Clash of the Champions)
Clash of the Champions XXXII

WCW @ Canton, OH - Civic Center - January 29, 1996: Ric Flair (w/ Jimmy Hart) pinned Hulk Hogan (w/ Elizabeth) at around the 13-minute mark after hitting Hogan in the eye with one of Elizabeth's high heel shoes, stolen by Hart and Arn Anderson, who appeared ringside during the final moments of the contest; prior to the bout, Hogan was escorted to the ring by Woman, Debra McMichael, and Linda Bollea, though only Woman was referred to by name; after the bout, WCW World Champion Randy Savage came out to tend to Hogan, along with Elizabeth

WCW @ Knoxville, TN - Civic Coliseum - February 26, 1996: Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, & the Booty Man defeated WCW World Champion Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, & Kevin Sullivan

WCW @ Winston Salem, NC - Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum - March 11, 1996: Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, & the Booty Man defeated WCW World Champion Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, & Kevin Sullivan in a lumberjack strap match

WCW @ Chattanooga, TN - UTC Arena - March 18, 1996: Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage fought WCW World Champion Ric Flair & Kevin Sullivan to a double count-out in a Texas Tornado match

Uncensored 96 - Tupelo, MS - Coliseum - March 24, 1996 (9,000; 7,300 paid): Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage defeated WCW World Champion Ric Flair, Arn Anderson (w/ Woman & Miss Elizabeth), Meng, the Barbarian, Kevin Sullivan, WCW TV & Tag Team Champion Lex Luger (w/ Jimmy Hart), Z Gangsta, & the Ultimate Solution in a handicap three-tier steel cage match at 25:19 when Savage pinned Flair after Luger hit Flair with a loaded glove; prior to the match, the commentary team made mention of Brian Pillman not appearing as advertised for the match; stipulations for the match stated Hogan & Savage would start at the top tier and work their way down until they escaped the bottom cage; mid-way through the match, a brawl between Hogan & Savage and Sullivan & Luger continued out of the cage to ringside, with Hart eventually leading Z Gangsta & Ultimate Solution ringside to bring Hogan & Savage back inside the cage; minutes later, Flair & Anderson who were eliminated earlier in the match returned to gang up on Hogan & Savage; late in the bout, the Booty Man appeared and passed Hogan & Savage a frying pan; during the closing moments, Hogan & Savage went to leave the cage, with Savage then deciding to return to the ring and cover Flair instead for the win
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5i9yo_hulk-hogan-macho-man-randy-savage-v_sport

Clash of the Champions XXXIII - Denver, CO - Coliseum - August 15, 1996 (8,304; 5,931 paid): WCW US Champion Ric Flair defeated WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan via disqualification at 8:04 when, after Hogan was caught in the figure-4, Scott Hall & Kevin Nash came through the crowd and ganged up on Flair; after the bout, Sting, WCW TV Champion Lex Luger, Arn Anderson, and Steve McMichael - along with Woman & Elizabeth - cleared the ring
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x22gmk_hollywood-hulk-hogan-vs-ric-flair-w_sport

Fall Brawl 96 - Winston-Salem, NC - Lawrence Joel Coliseum - September 15, 1996 (11,300; 10,714 paid): WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, & the nWo Sting (w/ Ted Dibiase) defeated Sting, Lex Luger, WCW US Champion Ric Flair, & Arn Anderson in Wargames at 18:18 when referees Nick Patrick and Randy Anderson called for the bell after Luger became caught in the nWo Sting's Scorpion Deathlock as Hogan had Luger in a choke; order of entry: Hall, Anderson, Nash, Luger, Hogan, Flair, nWo Sting, and Sting; the participants remained backstage until they were officially in the match; upon his entrance, Sting single-handedly laid out the nWo before walking out on his team for them not believing him; after the match, Luger crawled in the aisle, calling for Sting, until he was attacked by the nWo; moments later, Flair and Anderson brawled with the nWo as Randy Savage cornered Hogan in the ring; moments later, the Giant arrived and twice dropped Savage with the chokeslam, with Miss Elizabeth appearing and begging Hogan to leave Savage alone; as Elizabeth covered Savage's body, Hogan spraypainted "NWO" across her back; Hogan then cut an in-ring promo calling Savage and Elizabeth trash and spitting on Elizabeth; the nWo then continued to stomp Savage before the Giant spraypainted "NWO" on his back and again dropped him with the chokeslam; moments later, the nWo took over the commentary position, scaring off the commentary team, with Dibiase saying he had made some demands to WCW and, because of the Wargames win, intended to see them come true; the trainer and Elizabeth then helped Savage from the ring as the show came to a close (nWo: Back in Black, The Rise and Fall of WCW)
http://www.wwe.com/videos/team-wcw-vs-team-nwo-war-games-fall-brawl-1996-26052191

WCW @ Dallas, TX - Reunion Arena - January 25, 1999 (15,103 paid): Ric Flair, Chris Benoit, & Steve McMichael defeated WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, & WCW TV Champion Scott Steiner via disqualification

WCW @ Buffalo, NY - Marine Midland Arena - February 8, 1999 (15,378; 14,145 paid): Ric Flair, Chris Benoit, & Steve McMichael defeated WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, & Scott Hall via disqualification

SuperBrawl IX - Oakland, CA - Arena - February 21, 1999 (15,880): WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan pinned Ric Flair at 12:01 after a masked man came out as referee Charles Robinson was knocked out and used a stun gun on the challenger as Flair had Hogan in the figure-4; the blonde woman came ringside at the 9-minute mark; after the contest, the woman pulled off the masked man's hood to reveal it as David Flair wearing a Wolfpac t-shirt; moments later, Kevin Nash came out to celebrate the win along with Hogan, David, and the woman (Torrie Wilson's first arena appearance)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTTI9qG8DMs

Uncensored 99 - Louisville, KY - Freedom Hall - March 14, 1999 (15,930; 15,334 paid): Ric Flair pinned WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan at 14:18 with the figure-4 to win the title in a steel cage first blood match after Arn Anderson came ringside, jumped David Flair and Torrie Wilson, both of whom appeared mid-way through the bout, and handed Flair a tire iron to hit Hogan with; prior to the bout, Flair grabbed the mic and told referee Charles Robinson he didn't want him stopping the bout because of a scratch and would leave it to Robinson's discretion; Flair bled profusely from the forehead within the first 5 minutes but the match continued, with Hogan bleeding as well late in the match; despite Hogan being the heel and Flair the face, they worked opposite styles with Flair emerging as the heel; pre-match stipulations stated if Hogan won, Flair would be forced to retire; due to pre-match stipulations, Flair was named WCW President for life
http://www.dailymotion.com/playlist/x5rp9_smd45482002_hogan-flair-uncensored-1999-cage-ma/1#video=x320s3

WCW @ Cincinnati, OH - Firstar Center - March 15, 1999: Hulk Hogan & Kevin Nash defeated WCW World Champion Ric Flair & Bill Goldberg

WCW @ Chicago, IL - United Center - March 19, 1999: WCW World Champion Ric Flair defeated Hulk Hogan via reverse decision at the 12-minute mark; Hogan originally won the match and title following a suplex into the ring but referee Charles Robinson disqualified Hogan for knocking him to the floor moments earlier

WCW @ Milwaukee, WI - March 20, 1999: WCW World Champion Ric Flair defeated Hulk Hogan via reverse decision

WCW @ Auburn Hills, MI - Palace - March 27, 1999 (13,914): Hulk Hogan defeated WCW World Champion Ric Flair via disqualification when the Horsemen interfered

WCW @ Baltimore, MD - Arena - March 31, 1999: WCW World Champion Ric Flair defeated Hulk Hogan via reverse decision

WCW @ Fairfax, VA - Patriot Center - April 2, 1999: WCW World Champion Ric Flair defeated Hulk Hogan via reverse decision

WCW @ Boston, MA - Fleet Center - April 3, 1999: WCW World Champion Ric Flair defeated Hulk Hogan via reverse decision; Hogan originally won the match and title when a replacement referee made the pinfall on Flair; moments later, initial referee Charles Robinson, who refused to make a pinfall as Hogan had Flair pinned, disqualified Hogan for attacking him just before the pinfall; after the bout, Hogan beat up Robinson

WCW @ Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand Garden Arena - April 5, 1999: WCW World Champion Ric Flair, Bill Goldberg, Diamond Dallas Page, and Hulk Hogan fought to a no contest

Spring Stampede 99 - Tacoma, WA - Tacoma Dome - April 11, 1999 (17,690): Diamond Dallas Page defeated WCW World Champion Ric Flair, Sting, and Hulk Hogan in a Texas Tornado match to win the title by pinning Flair with the Diamond Cutter at 17:27; Hogan was taken out of the match at the 6-minute mark following a knee injury; moments later, Eric Bischoff came out and checked on Hogan as he was helped backstage; late in the bout, guest referee Randy Savage dropped the flying elbowsmash on the champion as Flair had Sting in the figure-4; Gorgeous George, who escorted Savage to the ring before contest, remained at ringside throughout the match (Savage's return after a 10-month absence; Gorgeous George's surprise debut)
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xxx7u0_hulk-hogan-vs-sting-vs-ric-flair-vs-ddp-spring-stampede-1999-german_sport

WCW @ Kansas City, MO - Kemper Arena - October 4, 1999 (6,942; 5,724 paid): Hulk Hogan & Ric Flair defeated WCW World Champion Sting & Lex Luger

WCW @ Uniondale, NY – Nassau Coliseum - February 14, 2000 (8,160; 5,586 paid): Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair via disqualification

WCW @ Providence, RI - Civic Center - March 13, 2000 (5,996): Ric Flair & Lex Luger defeated Hulk Hogan & Curt Hennig via disqualification

WCW @ Fairfax, VA - Patriot Center - March 14, 2000 (5,891): Hulk Hogan fought Ric Flair & Lex Luger to a double count-out in a handicap match

Uncensored 00 - Miami, FL - American Airlines Arena - March 19, 2000 (5,000; 2,543 paid): Hulk Hogan (w/ Jimmy Hart) pinned Ric Flair in a strap match at 14:26 with the leg drop after kicking an interfering Lex Luger in the face; mid-way in the match, Luger and Elizabeth appeared as Hogan battled Flair near the entrance way, with Luger hitting Hogan over the head with a steel chair before returning backstage; pre-match stipulations stated the winner would be the one to touch all four corners but Hogan only touched 3 before pinning Flair
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87VxYgThcsw

2002 WWE
WWE @ Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Centre - May 13, 2002: WWE World Champion Hulk Hogan pinned Ric Flair in a No DQ match at 8:46 with the legdrop after Steve Austin interfered and dropped the challenger with the Stunner as Flair attempted to apply the figure-4; late in the match, X-Pac attacked the champion but Hogan easily fought him off; moments later, the Big Show interfered, with Bradshaw then knocking Hogan to the floor and chasing X-Pac through the crowd (Hulk Hogan: The Unreleased Archives)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAqoVRSDWYs

2009 Hulkamania Tour
2009/11/21 @ Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia) Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair
2009/11/24 @ Burswood Dome in Perth, Western Australia (Australia) Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair [No Disqualification Match]
2009/11/26 @ Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, Queensland (Australia) Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair [No Disqualification Match]
2009/11/28 @ Acer Arena in Sydney, New South Wales (Australia) Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair [No Disqualification Match]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8NSsccJl6U

2010 TNA
TNA @ Orlando, FL - Universal Studios - March 8, 2010 - Impact! (0.98) - Hulk Hogan & Abyss vs. Ric Flair & TNA World Heavyweight Champion A.J. Styles was a no contest when the lights went out and Sting appeared in the ring. Sting then attacked Abyss & Hogan with his baseball bat and stood aside as Flair & Styles attacked them with chairs, cutting both Hogan & Abyss open. Sting left as the beatdown continued, and Flair & Styles then headed up the ramp as well. Hogan took the microphone and said the match would be restarted later on with No DQ rules. Flair & Styles tried to come back to the ring to assault Hogan & Abyss again but were stopped by security. (Sting's first appearance in two months.)
Hulk Hogan & Abyss defeated Ric Flair & TNA World Heavyweight Champion A.J. Styles in a No DQ match when Abyss pinned Styles after hitting the Black Hole Slam. Hogan and Flair both bled profusely during the match, especially Flair. After the fall Desmond Wolfe came out and attacked Hogan & Abyss until D'Angelo Dinero tried to make the save. Styles took out Dinero's injured leg and he, Wolfe, and Flair appeared to have things well in hand until Jeff Hardy ran down the ramp and cleaned house. The broadcast ended as Hardy climbed to the top rope and prepared to hit the Swanton Bomb on Styles at 11:08 eastern time.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xciire_hulk-hogan-abyss-vs-ric-flair-aj-st_shortfilms

Friday, August 16, 2013

What are Brock and Rock worth to WWE - analysis by Chris Harrington (indeedwrestling@gmail.com)


Here's a quick look at WWE PPVs between 2006 and 2013, focusing on North American buys.


North American buys were collected from three sources - Jason Campbell's Pro Wrestling History, Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter, and WWE SEC Filings.
Nich Lichter had an interesting piece at Voices of Wrestling discussing "Which WWE PPVs did better than they should have?"

Besides just looking at weeks between PPVs, PPV price and PPV type (Major or Minor), I also wanted to include possible competition factors - particularly did Boxing or UFC run a rival PPV that same weekend?  You can see in the examples below there are some significant overlaps such as Wrestlemania 2010, Night of Champions 2011 and Survivor Series 2012.


Lastly, I wanted to look at the information in another way to see what I could uncover - particularly around the impact of Brock and Rock.

From these factors, I created a regression:

Regression Factors
  • Intercept Term (base number of people who'd "buy" your B-PPV if it was free)
  • Weeks Build (looking to see if longer builds = better results)
  • Rival PPV Buys (did UFC or Boxing have a major PPV that weekend that could dampen results?)
  • Was it Wrestlemania?
  • Was it Royal Rumble or SummerSlam? (I chose not to give Survivor Series a special flag)
  • Was there stipulation such as Hell in a Cell or Elimination Chamber?

I didn't include Special Guest Stars intentionally.  For the purposes of this analysis, I'm going to try to attribute the variation between the model prediction and actual to those megastar appearances.

When I use my regression, the 2012 PPVs that performed higher than expected were:

+92,000 buys = 4/1/2012 WrestleMania XXXVIII Rock vs. Cena; HHH vs. Undertaker (cell) - expected 622,900; had 715,000 NA buys

+46,000 buys = 4/29/2012 Extreme Rules Cena vs. Lesnar (extreme rules); Punk vs. Jericho (street fight) - expected 
112,700; had 159,000 NA buys

+35,000 buys = 11/18/2012 Survivor Series 2012 Punk vs. Cena vs. Ryback; Sheamus vs. Big Show - expected 86,900; had 122,000 NA buys (this was the same weekend as a major UFC PPV with GSP that did 680,000 buys)

+24,000 buys = 5/20/2012 Over the Limit 2012 Cena vs. Laurinaitis; Punk vs. Bryan; Sheamus vs. Del Rio - expected 99,600; had 124,000 NA buys

The three 2012 PPVs that performed poorer than expected:

-40,000 buys = 12/16/2012 TLC 2012 - Cena vs. Ziggler (ladder); Show vs. Sheamus (chairs); Shield vs. Kane, Bryan, & Ryback (tlc) - expected 112,700 buys; had 73,000 NA buys

-19,000 buys = 10/28/2012 Hell in a Cell 2012 - Punk vs. Ryback (cell); Show vs. Sheamus - expected 172,700 buys; had 153,000 buys

-17,000 buys = 2/19/2012 Elimination Chamber 2012 - Punk won Raw chamber; Bryan won Smackdown chamber; Cena vs. Kane (ambulance) - expected 154,500 buys; had 138,000 NA buys

Since I didn't account for "special talent" like Brock and Rock, let's make the bold assumption they were the ones who moved the needle.

Let's look at Brock...

Then, this model suggests that putting Lesnar on Extreme Rules was worth 46,250 North American Buys (75,750 worldwide buys). In Q2 2012, WWE made about $21/buy, so on the North American side, that would imply Brock was worth about a million bucks (~$970,000) to that PPV. 

I'm not sure what his first deal was, but according to Dave Meltzer his new deal was $5M for 3 PPVs (no PPV percentage deal). So using that guideline, on a per capita basis, Brock didn't "pay for himself" - i.e. he was below his per PPV cost ($5M/3 PPVs = $1.33M per PPV)
However, if you weigh it by total NA buys (Extreme Rules + Summerslam + WM 2013 = 159,000 + 283,000 + 715,000 buys), only about 14% of his buys came from this event, so you could argue that he only needed to break $700,000 in incremental revenue for this event to justify his pay. 

The problem comes when you look at Summerslam; even without accounting for Lesnar, the model was right on!

+3,820 buys = 8/19/2012 SummerSlam 2012 Lesnar vs. Triple H; Cena vs. Punk vs. Show = expected 279,200 buys; had 283,000 NA buys.

So, Brock delivered a whopping 3,820 additional buys which earned WWE less than $100,00 and certainly didn't cover Brock's cost.

To finish the trifecta, there's WrestleMania 29.

-11,000 buys = 4/7/2013 WrestleMania 29 Rock vs. Cena; HHH vs. Lesnar; Undertaker vs. Punk (and HHH vs Lesnar) = expected 636,000 buys; had 625,000 NA buys.

In other words, this would suggest WM 2013 actually undelivered in terms of PPV buys by 11,000 NA (21,500 worldwide).
And that's before we even take into account having both Lesnar and The Rock (and Undertaker) on that card.

Conversely, if we look at Rock's performance, Wrestlemania 2013 is the only card that he was on which underperformed model expectation:

+ 92,100 NA buys = 4/1/2012 WrestleMania XXXVIII Rock vs. Cena; HHH vs. Undertaker (cell) = expected 622,900 buys; had 715,000 NA buys

+ 62,200 NA buys = 11/20/2011 Survivor Series 2011 Rock & Cena vs. Miz & Truth; Punk vs. Del Rio; Show vs. Henry = expected 107,300 buys; had 170,000 NA buys

+ 61,800 NA buys = 1/27/2013 Royal Rumble 2013 Cena wins Rumble; Rock vs. Punk = expected 292,200 buys; had 354,000 NA buys

+ 56,100 NA buys = 4/3/2011 WrestleMania XXVII Cena vs. Miz; Undertaker vs. HHH; Rock host = expected 622,900 buys; had 679,000 NA buys

+ 20,500 NA buys = 2/17/2013 Elimination Chamber 2013 Rock vs. Cena; Swagger wins chamber = expected 154,500 buys; had 175,000 NA buys

If 60,000 additional NA buys is worth around $1.2 million to WWE, then these five events represent about $6 million in additional revenue. However, there were attractions beyond the Rock on some of these cards.

Last excercise: How much is WWE paying Rock?

Again, we can look at the financials...

Q1 2013 PPV REVENUE: $15.1M / OIBDA: $6.6M / 725,000 BUYS + 20,000 PRIOR PERIOD BUYS = +$8.5M IN PPV COST (OIBDA/REVENUE = 43.7%); 2 PPV events

Q1 2012 PPV REVENUE: $13.5M / OIBDA: $7.9M / 621,000 BUYS + 64,000 PRIOR PERIOD BUYS = +$5.6M IN PPV COST (OIBDA/REVENUE = 58.5%); 2 PPV events

There was a specific mention in the 1st Quarter 10-Q filing about OIBDA* "decreased by 16% primarily due to a $3.3 million increase in talent related expenses."

*) The Company defines OIBDA as operating income (loss) before depreciation and amortization, excluding feature film amortization and film impairments

Rock & Punk were on both RR & EC in 2013. Looks like PPV cost went up about $2.9M year-over-year. Obviously, there is going to be fluctuations with cost due to arena booking, other talent agreements, etc. However, you'll got to assume that The Rock's salary played a significant role, especially since WWE explicitly noted talent costs increasing.

Further evidence comes when you look at the quarter when Survivor Series 2011 took place and the Rock & Cena teamed up:

Q4 2011 PPV REVENUE: $14.6M / Profit Contribution: $6.4M = $8.2M cost (Profit Contribution / Revenue = 43.9%); 4 PPV events
Q4 2010 PPV REVENUE: $13.8M / Profit Contribution: $8.4M = $5.4M cost (Profit Contribution / Revenue = 60.9%); 4 PPV events

Again, $2.8M increase in PPV cost. (Rock only wrestled on one PPV in Q42011 as compared to twice in Q12013 so it's not as simple as saying his fee is $2.8M or anything. The quarterly report for Q42011 does note that one reason that profit contribution went down was "increased Pay-Per-View production".)

However, from this, it's clear that Rock is getting at least a million for each PPV.  And when you look at what he did, with the exception of Wrestlemania, he brought in at least $1.2M in North American buys alone!

Here's another slice:

PPV 2Q 2013: Revenue $37.1M / OIBDA: $9.8M / PPV Cost = 27.3M (OIBDA/REVENUE = 26.4%); 3 events
Wrestlemania: Rock, Brock
Extreme Rules: Brock
Payback: n/a

PPV 2Q 2012: Revenue $40.8M / OIBDA: $19.5M / PPV Cost = 21.3M (OIBDA/REVENUE = 47.8%); 4 events
Wrestlemania: Rock
Extreme Rules: Brock
Over the Limit: n/a (Camacho?)
No Way Out: n/a (Rob Grymes?)

The difference between the second quarter of 2012 and 2013 was +6.0M in cost. The other difference was Brock was Wrestlemania 2013 and there was additional PPV held last year during that quarter.

Let's first estimate the average cost for a PPV that doesn't have Brock or Rock. If we look at the fourth quarter of 2012 (since Q3 2012 had SummerSlam which had Brock), the average cost for a PPV was (13.0-7.7 = 5.3 for 3 events) 1.8M/PPV.

So, if we assume that it cost around $2M to put on Over the Limit or No Way Out, that leaves about $4M in cost increase. That wasn't just adding Brock to Wrestlemania. It's possible that Cena/Rock made a lot more in 2013 than they did in 2012. It certainly was Arena-related fees.  But overall, you're looking at a significant drop in Wrestlemania quarter profitability and it's certainly partially affected by the fact that they had Rock & Brock on that card.

Thursday, August 08, 2013

What is TNA worth?

As TNA continues to cut costs (reminiscent of the dying days of WCW), I've seen the $20 Million dollar number tossed around as a proxy for what the Carter Family allegedly turned down to sell TNA.

I'm a little dubious about whether they'd actually get these numbers. In the dying days of WCW, suitors would line up and big numbers would get tossed around. However, if you followed the story to the conclusion, the reality was quite different.

For instance, when WCW was going under there was lots of reports that "Fusient Media Ventures" would buy World Championship Wrestling FOR $75 MILLION! Here's a quote from a Jan 15 2001 MultiChannel News article:
After claiming for months that it had no intention of selling World Championship Wrestling, Turner Broadcasting System Inc. last Thursday sold the beleaguered grappler to a new venture headed by former Classic Sports Network president Brian Bedol.
Bedol, Classic Sports co-founder Steve Greenberg and former WCW president Eric Bischoff believe they can return the company to prominence--despite rival World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc.'s dominance in the category.
The deal also purges TBS parent AOL Time Warner Inc. of a financial drain. Industry observers estimate WCW lost $50 million to $70 million in 2000 alone.
Fusient Media Ventures, a new company, will pay about $75 million for WCW, sources close to the situation said. TBS Inc. will retain a minority interest in the company, which has struggled to compete against the WWF.
However, two months later, the deal had fell through. Here's a quote from a March 19 2001 MultiChannel News article:
The final bell for World Championship Wrestling may ring as early as next week.
Turner Broadcasting System Inc. last week put the grappling organization on hiatus as a deal to sell the beleaguered company to Fusient Media broke down.
Newly appointed TBS Inc. chairman and CEO Jamie Kellner may have dealt the deal's fatal blow by indicating he had no interest in securing a primetime cable slot for the struggling wrestling organization, industry sources said.  
TBS Inc. and Fusient, headed by former Classic Sports Network president Brian Bedol, initially announced a tentative pact in mid-January. At the time, Fusient agreed to purchase a majority interest in the WCW in a deal worth about $75 million. TBS Inc. would have retained a minority interest in the company.
The agreement also included a multiyear television agreement under which Turner Network Television and TBS Superstation would carry WCW programming. Former WCW president Eric Bischoff was expected to return to oversee the day-to-day operations and storylines for the grappling group.
Fusient had expected to complete the deal within 45 to 60 days.
But sources said Fusient began to re-evaluate its position after taking a closer look at the WCW's financial ledgers. Despite a successful run against World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. in the mid- to late-1990s, the WCW has been mired in red ink. Industry observers estimate it lost from $50 million to $70 million in 2000 alone.
"After taking a closer look, [Fusient] realized that the company was in much worse shape than it was led to believe," said the source.
The two parties continued to negotiate through March, but the deal-breaker apparently came when Kellner -- whom AOL Time Warner named two weeks ago to oversee a new TV-networks group that includes TNT and TBS Superstation -- nixed the television component.
"Kellner decided that he wasn't enamored with wrestling, and without distribution, the asset had no value," said the source.
Representatives from Fusient would not comment on the matter. A Turner spokesman labeled the reports as "speculation," and cited company policy in declining comment.

So, what happened to that SEVENTY-FIVE MILLION? Well, here's the reality... (MultiChannel News August 13, 2001)
It was only four years ago that World Championship Wrestling produced the top-rated show on basic cable and beat its main rival, the World Wresting Federation, on a weekly basis.
And when World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. acquired WCW from Turner Broadcasting System Inc. in March -- after pounding it into submission in the ratings battle over the last few years -- news reports put the price tag at up to $20 million. That marked a big drop from the reported $75 million that Fusient Media Ventures had offered for WCW during January, in a deal that later fell apart.
As it turns out, the WWF -- which has seen its ratings for fall since it moved to new cable home TNN: The National Network -- only paid a measly $2.5 million for WCW, plus an additional $1.8 million in related costs, the company revealed in a recent earnings report.
That's $4.3 million in total: the same price that Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Gary Sheffield was seeking for his Tampa home, the exact amount it recently cost to build a new air traffic control tower at Central Illinois Regional Airport, or the cost of a couple of Super Bowl commercials.
How did WCW's value fall from a reported $75 million offer to $4.3 million? The $75 million was a bogus number leaked by Turner executives "to save face," a source familiar with the deal said.
In reality, the source said, Fusient's original WCW offer in January was for $10 million, which included a guarantee that it would be allotted 5 percent of the primetime schedule on Turner Network Television and TBS Superstation for WCW programming.
Fusient agreed to pay up to an additional $65 million in seven years if WCW hit certain benchmarks, including increasing the value of the business to $1 billion, the source added.
Fusient later pulled its offer after it reviewed WCW's books, and made a second offer for WCW, which included no up-front money and an agreement to spend $5 million in advertising on properties owned by AOL Time Warner Inc. (Turner's parent company), a source said. Turner ended up taking WWF's offer.
TBS and Fusient executives declined to comment on the offer. All WWF president Stuart Snyder would say about the bargain price WWF paid for its longtime rival was, "It was the right number for both parties, and we've moved on."
In other words, Fusient was willing to give $10 million for all of WCW IF that included the Turner Channel timeslots. The other 87% of the money was basically if WCW could become an entity about the size of WWF. Likewise, if someone was offering $20 million for TNA, I would imagine that includes the timeslot and probably a substantial amount of back-end money if the company was actually worth what they were pretending it was.

tl;dr version = When WCW was almost sold to Fusient the number circulated was $75 million. Turner later said that number was made "to save face" and instead it was only $10M (which had to include the timeslot) and $65M later on if they could become as big as WWF.
I've been thinking about how TNA makes money.

I'd offer the idea that first we look at how WWE makes theirs.

WWE in 2012

Live and Televised Entertainment: $353.8M ($135.2M in profit) = 38.2% margin
* Live Events: $103.7M ($29.2M profit) = North American Live Events: $72.1M (248 events) + International Live Events: $31.6M (66 events) = 28.2% margin = 1.9765M people
* Venue Merchandise: $18.8M ($7.8M in profit) = 41.5% margin
* Pay Per View: $83.6M (4.02M buys worldwide) = $46.0M in profit = 55.0% margin
* TV Rights Fees: $139.5M = $88.9M domestic + $50.6M int'l = $57.3M in profit = 41.0% margin

Consumer Products: $87.8M ($53.8M in profit) = 61.3% margin
* Licensing: $46.3M ($36.0M in profit) = 77.8% margin
* Home Video: $33.0M ($16.7M in profit) = 50.6% margin
* Magazine Publishing: $6.0M (2 million copies) = $0.7M in profit = 11.7% margin
* Other: $2.5M ($0.4M in profit) = 16% margin

Digital Media: $34.5M ($14.2M in profit) = 41.2% margin
* WWE.com: $19.7M ($10.6M profit) = 53.8% margin
* WWEShop: $14.8M ($3.6M profit) = 24.3% margin

WWE Studios: $7.9M ($3.6M in losses) = negative
* Self-Distributed Films: $1.9M ($4.1M in losses) = negative
* Licensed Films: $6.0M ($1.5M in profit) = 25.0% margin
* (In Development: $1.0M in cost) = negative

Total: $484.0M ($199.6M in profit) = 41.2% margin

According to Wrestling Data, TNA had 227 shows in 2012. Annual Report for WWE notes they ran 314.

Average attendance for a WWE show was 6,000 (NA) / 6,700 (int'l) - from annual report. I pulled out the 2012 WrestlingObserver Results section for TNA shows, and about sixty of them had an attendance number. TNA median attendance was 800 and average was 1000. Now, this isn't completely apples to apples because WWE's # includes big PPVs (including WM) while Results section of WO is mostly smaller shows. Still, it seems about right to say a TNA house show is doing about a 1/6 of the average house show that WWE is doing.

So, if WWE held 314 shows which had live attendance which WWE counted as slightly under two million people. Meanwhile, TNA probably had about a quarter of a million people attending a live show (or about 1/8 of the # of WWE crowds). Average ticket price to WWE was $40 (NA) / $60 (Int'l). I did a quick Ticketmaster searc for TNA and saw something about a 4/$40 deal for TNA ticket. I will assume that they get about half to 2/3 of what WWE does for a live show though TNA obviously books smaller, cheaper places than WWE, so there is some cost savings there.

So, TNA in live event revenue (pretending that people paid to go to every show - weren't the Orlando tapings free?) would be ($100M/8)x66% = $8.5M in annual live event revenue. That's money in the door before you have to take care of expenses and it assumes (big assumption!) that you're getting money at every show. Honestly, I would be stunned if TNA was making more than $5M in Live Event revenue to be honest.

However, as it was pointed out, "doing a quick count of that wrestling data list tna had 95 shows in 2012 that they could possibly have made revenue on, the shows in orlando were all free entry and xplosion is taped prior to impact"

I'll use a proxy for Venue Merchandise. Since it was 18% of Total Live Event for WWE, we'll assume a generous 15%. So, .15 x $8.5M = $1.3M in Venue Merchandise (again, feels high to me).

Pay-Per-View Buys were 7k to 10k for most events, right? Assuming 12 PPVs, that would be 102,000 buys annually (versus four million worldwide for WWE). My guess for 100k in PPV buys would be about $2.1M in PPV revenue (after the split with the cable companies).

That's leads us to the big variable: SpikeTV and other Television Contracts.

It's really hard to guess what Spike is paying them. Like WWE, the network is keeping the advertising time for themselves, so that's similar.

WWE gets almost $140M for producing about 6.5 hours weekly and TNA is creating 2 hours (and a bit more for int'l purposes). So, let's just start by cutting WWE's number down - say a third (down to $43M). Now, I can't imagine they're getting close to WWE rates especially considering TNA is barely pulling above a 1.0 rating, and WWE is doing (on average) three times that. If you're generous, you'd cut the TV contract in quarter and reach about $10M. While this includes both domestic & int'l contracts) but $10M seems like the high end to me.

Mookie's TNA Estimate:
* Updated Live Events Estimate: (100,000,000 x (100k / 2 million) )x(40% to 60%) = $2 million to $3 million
* Venue Merchandise Estimate: 375k (calculated as 15% of $2.5million)
* Pay Per View Estimate: $1.7M (assume they only have 80% of the revenue split deal that WWE gets)
* TV Rights Fee Estimate: $8M (Spike) + international contracts

In the other categories, all you have left is: Licensing (very profitable) and Home Video (is what it is).

Where TNA is only about 1/10 the size of WWE in live events, I imagine they do better when it comes to Consumer Products as a percentage - probably between $5M and $12M. I don't know enough about their revenue streams when it comes to Video Games or Licensing , but I really don't know! Digital Media would probably be paltry and they don't have a Studios (lucky them).
So, we quickly see that over 60% of estimate income comes from TV Rights (maybe even as high as 80%) whereas WWE is more like 40%.

Where can they make more money? If they're a $40M company (all told), it doesn't seem like they aren't in a position to be running hundreds of shows a year profitably. They are pretty much completely dependent on TV Rights keeping them afloat.

I spent a long time trying to find any Viacom numbers that even allocated their Media Empire into specific Channel Budgets. Best I could do was:

* I finally found an estimate of Spike TV Advertising Revenue: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/articl ... inment.php
Spike ranked 23rd among cable networks with $323 million in ad revenue in 2012, according to figures from SNL Kagan. That was down slightly from $330 million in 2011. By contrast, TNT's ad revenues in 2012 were $1.05 billion, second only to ESPN.
"Spike paid UFC 35 million and were broadcasting 10-20 hours of programming per week. They were doing two hours of TNA, which, no matter what the ratings, were not attractive to sponsors." - Dave Meltzer
* A few years ago, Spike was running Entourage episodes and paid $600,000/episode: http://adage.com/article/media/spike-s- ... nd/145853/

* NYTimes reported that Viacom spent about $50 million when they bought the majority stake in Bellator: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/busin ... ?hpw&_r=1&

In fall 2011, the company paid around $50 million for a majority stake in Bellator Fighting Championships, according to people with knowledge of the deal who did not want to be identified discussing internal company business.

All together, that's barely $13M on a promotion that probably costs at least upwards of $15M to run. With tight talent budget control, using double-shots for taping, gets some live event revenue instead of just freebies and some international distribution, they could be breaking even, but certainly not banking anything relevant every year. There's a small amount of licensing and other commercial products that they might have.

Friday, August 02, 2013

WWE 2nd Quarter 2013 Results






Revenue is up but Operating income is down.

Regarding Wrestlemania:
Although WrestleMania XXIX was the highest grossing and second most profitable event in the Company's history, overall profits from WrestleMania (inclusive of the Pay-Per-View, Live Event and other businesses) declined $1.2 million from the prior year as a 15% reduction in pay-per-view buys and increased talent and production costs more than offset the impact of higher live event ticket and pay-per-view pricing
(PUFF DADDY AND LIVING COLOUR ARE BANKRUPTING WWE!)

Regarding cost increases in SG&A (Selling, General and Administrative Expenses) increase of almost 6 million...
Compensation and benefit expenses increased approximately $4.8 million with a 10% increase in headcount predominantly to support our various strategic initiatives... The rise in expense was driven by increases in compensation and benefits of $2.4 million, talent development costs of $1.0 million, marketing expenses of $1.0 million, and higher consulting and professional fees. The increases in these expenses were primarily to support our content related initiatives, including the potential launch of a WWE network.

I didn't see anything concrete about WWE Network beyond Vince's general optimistic statements:
We continue to believe that these investments will enhance our ability to create new programs and to distribute all of our content in a way that optimizes its value, through the renewal of key television contracts and the potential launch of a WWE network.”



NOTE: They are in line to have over $500m in revenue this year (only second time to achieve that feat)

That's true. I like to consider their revenue without WWE Studios because that stream is so scattered and doesn't go back so far..

Fiscal Year
FY1995: $87.4M (full year)
FY1996: $85.8M (full year)
FY1997: $81.9M (full year)
FY1998: $126.2M (full year)
FY1999: $251.4M (full year)
FY2000: $379.3M (full year)
FY2001: $438.1M (full year)
FY2002: $409.6M (full year)
FY2003: $374.3M (full year)
FY2004: $374.9M (full year)
FY2005: $366.4 (full year)
FY2006: $400.1 (full year)

Calendar Year
2006: $415.3 (full year - WWE Studios); $214.4M (half year - WWE Studios); 16 PPVs (including ECW's December to Dismember)
2007: $485.7M - $16.0M = $469.7M (full year - WWE Studios); $244.9M (half year - WWE Studios); 15 PPVs
2008: $526.5M - $24.5M = $502.0M (full year - WWE Studios); $278.4M (half year - WWE Studios); 14 PPVs
2009: $475.2M - $7.7M = $467.5M (full year - WWE Studios); $242.1M (half year - WWE Studios); 14 PPVs
2010: $477.7M - $19.6M = $458.1M (full year - WWE Studios); $240.5M (half year - WWE Studios); 13 PPVs
2011: $483.9M - $20.9M = $463.0M (full year - WWE Studios); $249.6M (half year - WWE Studios); 13 PPVs
2012: $484.0M - $7.9M = $476.1M (full year - WWE Studios); $259.3M (half year - WWE Studios); 13 PPVs
2013: $276.3 - $4.0M = $272.3M (6 months); will have 12 PPVs for full year (7 in the back half)

It will be close on whether they'll break $500M not including WWE Studios (formerly WWE Films) revenue. Historically, the first half of the year is about 53% of total revenue, but that's swung from 51% to 55% in the past seven years.

How much does the Rock make for a PPV?

You can try to suss it out by looking at the quarterly PPV costs..
2013 Trending Schedule

Q1 2013 PPV REVENUE: $15.1M / OIBDA: $6.6M / 725,000 BUYS + 20,000 PRIOR PERIOD BUYS = +$8.5M IN PPV COST (OIBDA/REVENUE = 43.7%); 2 PPV events
Q1 2012 PPV REVENUE: $13.5M / OIBDA: $7.9M / 621,000 BUYS + 64,000 PRIOR PERIOD BUYS = +$5.6M IN PPV COST (OIBDA/REVENUE = 58.5%); 2 PPV events

There was a specific mention in the 1st Quarter 10-Q filing about OIBDA* "decreased by 16% primarily due to a $3.3 million increase in talent related expenses."

*) The Company defines OIBDA as operating income (loss) before depreciation and amortization, excluding feature film amortization and film impairments

Rock & Punk were on both RR & EC in 2013. Looks like PPV cost went up about $2.9M year-over-year. Obviously, there is going to be fluctuations with cost due to arena booking, other talent agreements, etc. However, you'll got to assume that The Rock's salary played a significant role, especially since WWE explicitly noted it.

Look at the quarter when Survivor Series 2011 took place and the Rock & Cena teamed up.

Q4 2011 PPV REVENUE: $14.6M / Profit Contribution: $6.4M = $8.2M cost (Profit Contribution / Revenue = 43.9%); 4 PPV events
Q4 2010 PPV REVENUE: $13.8M / Profit Contribution: $8.4M = $5.4M cost (Profit Contribution / Revenue = 60.9%); 4 PPV events


Again, a $2.8M increase in PPV cost. (Rock only wrestled on one PPV in Q42011 as compared to twice in Q12013 so it's not as simple as saying his fee is $2.8M or anything. The quarterly report for Q42011 does note that one reason that profit contribution went down was "increased Pay-Per-View production".)

Brock however is not a percentage deal; he gets $5M for 3 PPVs.

HIGHLIGHT FROM THE CONFERENCE CALL - read the transcript at SeekingAlpha

Brad Safalow - PAA Research
Okay. And then the last question I had was on some of the comments Vince that you made about television rights fees and what you feel would be an appropriate mark-to-market as far as at least doubling. I just want to be clear that you guys are going to be held to that standard I mean that’s based on the contracts in play here we’re talking about $75 million to $100 million of incremental EBITDA if you did in fact double your television rights fees. So I just want to make sure that I understand what you’re saying is that’s what you’re playing for here.

Vince McMahon
I’ll allow you to put a hammerlock on me if we don’t.