WWE Notes on Prinze Jr, SummerSlam & Buyrates

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Freddie Prinze Jr made a good impression on the rest of the writing team on his first day in the job. The other writers found him to be enthusiastic, outgoing, eager to contribute and very aware of the current WWE product although not so much more general wrestling history. He was said to have a good grasp of the product and characters although he lacks the experience of which ideas can work and which can prove detrimental to those involved. Michael Hayes and Brian Gerwitz were notified of his appointment the week before the story broke, yet the other writers only found out on the way to last week’s Raw. Prinze Jr and a companion were flown in to Washington, DC, on first class tickets and treated as well as a top WWE perfomer would have been. It remains to be seen whether or not such treatment will last and, if it doesn’t, whether Vince McMahon will stay interested in having him around or if Prinze Jr will grow tired of the schedule and quit. The rest of the writing team have to attend regular meetings in Stamford that can involve waiting for six or seven hours, without catering being provided, until Vince is ready to see them.

Another name from Hollywood that WWE added to its creative team under the radar is writer/producer/director Michael Pavone. His credits include Fox’ “Prison Break” and most recently, Lifetime’s “Side Order of Life.”

Up until last week’s Raw the plan for SummerSlam was to go with a Punk/JBL/Cena/Batista four-way for the World Heavyweight Title. Vince changed his mind and added the Cena/Batista match to the card on the day of the show, believing that the line-up for the PPV was too weak.

In another change to the planned SummerSlam card, Jericho/Michaels was originally to have been held off until Unforgiven, with Michaels taking time off to sell the injury. Jericho had been scheduled to hold Highlight Reel segments at house shows this week, yet that was scrapped in favour of doing a Cage Match with Michaels.

Judgement Day 2008 did an estimated 244,000 buys for $4.18 million in revenue. Last year’s event did much the same, with 245,000 buys for $3.9 million.

Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, 04 August 2008 (subscribe here)