The WWE business comparisons for October 2006 are in and are largely the same as the October 2005 numbers. The only major letdown was No Mercy, which got 235,000 buys last year and is currently at 195,000 buys this year. Even taking into account the PPV price raise the show will make less money than it did last year. On TV, Raw was more or less stable with an average of 4.74 million viewers per show in October. Smackdown’s average went up to 4.21 million viewers from 4.03 million last October, which is wholly attributable to CW being available in three million more homes than UPN was. Meanwhile, ECW’s average fell to 1.83 million viewers from a peak of 2.46 million in August.
In other news:
– King Booker strained his back a few weeks ago and was given time off to rest for his PPV matches. In an interview with the Houston Chronicle he said the King Booker gimmick was his wife’s idea and that WWE has given him permission to use WWE talent on his indy shows in south Texas. The first will be in Pasadena on the 21st, with Booker facing Charlie Haas in the main event and Umaga and Boogeyman also on the card. Booker has been training Boogeyman during the week as a pet project.
– Ric Flair returned to action earlier than expected after reaching an out-of-court divorce settlement with his ex-wife Beth. It was scheduled to be a two-week trial but Beth threatened to reveal “everything” and her children talked her into settling rather than making headlines.
– New Year’s Revolution shapes up as follows: Cena vs. Umaga for the title, Edge/Orton vs. DX, Nitro vs. Hardy in a cage match, James vs. Victoria for the women’s title, Carlito vs. Masters, Flair vs. Kenny and Benjamin/Haas vs. Cryme Tyme. Benjamin and Haas are to be kept together as a tag team full-time.
– See No Evil has grossed $3.79 million on DVD so far, debuting at No. 9 on the charts.
Credit: Wrestling Observer newsletter (click here for subscription information)
