WWE exec says UFC has no real stars

[Travis40]

I hate to break into this, but it doesn't matter if it's a sport or entertainment, wrestling is more mainstream than MMA tbh.



...and before you start the "You're a wrestling fan" thing, I like UFC, I've bought some of their PPV's and I enjoy the hell out of watching UFC, but I just think wrestling is more mainstream.

 

[Kaedon]

But what about the ones who dont? You keep making it seem like people are onyl mainstream if they star in movies, and again, I'd say Lebron James is as mainstreak as it comes, and I don't see him in movies.

hes not as mainstream as Shaq. Not as mainstream as Michael. Hell, PEOPLE STILL WEAR MICHAEL JORDAN'S SHOES, but no, Lebron, hes wayyyy more mainstream than Jordan.

I'm sure MikeRaw will also reply to this, but I just thought I would add a few things as well.While I'm not to sure about how much they draw in terms of attendance, I have heard that being at a live UFC event isn't that great unless you are really close up because of the cage.

But its oh so popular and mainstream, they should be selling out places like The Citrus Bowl every month...

While I don't exactly see the relevance of this, or see a problem with them drawing the same thing every month, the UFC did have a bit of a "superbowl" type event in December. They were promoting it as their most stacked card of the year, with 3 big main event fights. The buyrate for that event was a little over 1 million, which is a bit better than what Wrestlemania did this year. The WWE doesn't have an event that even comes close to Wrestlemania. Yet the UFC's ppv in November with Lesnar/Couture had a buyrate of a little over 900,000. Also in January the GSP/BJ PPV had about 800,000 buys. So this proves that the UFC does have a "superbowl" (again I don't even see why this matters), but unlike the WWE other ppvs can actually come close to matching it.

Its relevant because its generally accepted in the MAINSTREAM that the Superbowl is THE sporting event of the year. To have your NON SPORTING event compared to it by shmucks on ESPN means you appeal to more than just the hardcore wrestling fans.

 

[Next Big Thing]

Did you ever hear me say hes not good? Of course he's good, but there have been other guys who make just as spectacular shots and who are currently even MORE dominant. So using your "winning is all that matters" logic, they SHOULD be talking about the next guy, and not Tiger.

Ummm... who has been better than Tiger Woods in golf over the last 12 years? Sure Tiger doesn't win every event, but over that period of time nobody even compares to his dominance, and that is why he gets so much attention.

And there are tons of other tennis players (the female ones especially) who get talked about more. Why? Because they have tits and sex sells.

That's why this weekend I heard about Roger Federer winning the French Open non stop? Also, it depends where you are talking about. In tennis the Williams sisters might be talked about the most in the U.S. because they are from the U.S., but seeing as how tennis is an international sport, Federer has been the biggest star over the last few 4-5 years, along with Nadal.

 

[MikeRaw]

I hate to break into this, but it doesn't matter if it's a sport or entertainment, wrestling is more mainstream than MMA tbh.



...and before you start the "You're a wrestling fan" thing, I like UFC, I've bought some of their PPV's and I enjoy the hell out of watching UFC, but I just think wrestling is more mainstream.

Stats? Backup? Facts? Give some support. Because it's not.
Fact- UFC is more talked about
Fact- UFC isn't laughed at. We've had numerous threads, even on this very forum, about people being embarrased to be wrestling fans because no one cares about it.
Fact- UFC outsells WWE in PPV buys... By a large margain
Fact- UFC's videogame is on pace to shatter WWE's video game buys. It's first week outsold WWE's Smackdown vs Raw, and the sales are still piling in.
Fact- UFC's show, which doesn't even feature their own fighters, equals WWE's shows (whcih features their own superstars) in ratings

But its oh so popular and mainstream, they should be selling out places like The Citrus Bowl every month...

Every month? LOL. WWE's weekly shows sometimes get 5000 at an event. At some PPV's, even big ones, they can get as few as 7,000. The only time they get monster attendance numbers is Wrestlemania. Their monthly PPVs usually have between 7 and 12,000 in attendance. The average UFC event has about 15,000. They could hold tons more though, if they can book an arena. For example, studies show that if they come to Toronto, they could easily sell 60,000 tickets to the Rogers Centre.

 

[Kaedon]

Ummm... who has been better than Tiger Woods in golf over the last 12 years? Sure Tiger doesn't win every event, but over that period of time nobody even compares to his dominance, and that is why he gets so much attention.

Im talking daily. Daily Tiger is up and down. But when hes down, using YOUR LOGIC, he should be talked about less but hes not. Its all Tiger, all the time. Why? Because HE IS THE FACE OF THE SPORT. No matter how he does, he will be the face of the sport until the next Tiger comes along.

 

[Next Big Thing]

Its relevant because its generally accepted in the MAINSTREAM that the Superbowl is THE sporting event of the year. To have your NON SPORTING event compared to it by shmucks on ESPN means you appeal to more than just the hardcore wrestling fans.

I'm not sure I get what you're saying here. Maybe you could clear it up for me.

 

[chessarmy]

This argument is like trying to compare the NHL with the WWE, it just won't work. Both have their own talent who are seen as megastars by their respective fans.

Now, with that said, I believe Triple H, John Cena, Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, and Edge are probably more well known than UFC's top stars. I have a personal bias towards pro wrestling though, so my opinion probably isn't valid

 

[Kaedon]

Bro I dont know how else to put it, lol

 

[The Rated R CMStar]

I agree with Kaedon. While the comparison can't be perfectly made, wrestling is more mainstream than MMA. Mikeraw even went as far as mentioning other countries in this...the further you go from the US and Canada the less MMA matters to people. The same cannot be said about wrestling. Go to someone in Peru or Argentina and ask them if they know John Cena or Tito Ortiz, and they will answer Cena.

Also Mike, you keep saying WWE is entertainment....wrestling is ridiculized and is hardly accepted by the showbiz, and to most people it is seen as a sport, a fake one, but mostly perceived as a sport.

As for "Movies mean mainstream" argument that has developed. I see John Cena all over my TV with Subway and Gillete between others, I see Big Show on talk shows, I see The Mcmahons even getting covered on ESPN. The same cannot be said about MMA guys. And as for the Lebron example, yeah, he's not in movies, but he's everywhere with his sponsorship contracts.


And yes, UFC draws more buyrate, but that is because you have to wait months to see guys compete. Brock Lesnar wrestles this month and maybe until November/December we won't see him again. That motivates people enough to pay. Besides, from there, you can't really see the UFC guys anywhere. But, in WWE, why would I pay to see a guy I see a min of 2 times per week wrestle the same match he'll be wrestling either next month again (which they will intend I pay for again) or maybe even the next night (for free).

Should WWE keep Taker, HHH, Cena, Edge, Orton etc...in a schedule like the UFC, they would easily outdraw them.

 

[Travis40]

Stats? Backup? Facts? Give some support. Because it's not.
Fact- UFC is more talked about
Fact- UFC isn't laughed at. We've had numerous threads, even on this very forum, about people being embarrased to be wrestling fans because no one cares about it.
Fact- UFC outsells WWE in PPV buys... By a large margain
Fact- UFC's videogame is on pace to shatter WWE's video game buys. It's first week outsold WWE's Smackdown vs Raw, and the sales are still piling in.
Fact- UFC's show, which doesn't even feature their own fighters, equals WWE's shows (whcih features their own superstars) in ratings

1. That's not a fact. That's just something you just made up to put in that post. You can't prove that UFC is more talked about than WWE.

2. I've actually been laughed at for liking UFC, hearing everything except "it's fake".

3. UFC does outsell WWE in PPV's, I'll give you that.

4. That's because the UFC video game is better, it doesn't mean that UFC is more mainstream.

5. I really doubt that TUF equals Raw.

Almost every televised event WWE has, they sell out. There's around 16,000 people EVERY WEEK. Just because UFC is a real sporting event is why it's on sports networks, and just because it is, it still doesn't make UFC more mainstream.


But I'm done posting in this thread because this obviously isn't going anywhere. The UFC dickriders will continue to praise UFC and UFC's fighters, and WWE dickriders will continue to do the same thing UFC dickriders are doing.

 

[Next Big Thing]

Im talking daily. Daily Tiger is up and down. But when hes down, using YOUR LOGIC, he should be talked about less but hes not. Its all Tiger, all the time. Why? Because HE IS THE FACE OF THE SPORT. No matter how he does, he will be the face of the sport until the next Tiger comes along.

What the fuck are you talking about? My logic is he shouldn't be talked about when he doesn't win? Maybe you are replying to to many posts and can't keep up. Please show me a post of mine that had that logic in it. I have said that he is the face of the sport like 3 or 4 times. I have explained that he is talked about even when he loses because he is the face of the sport and he's the reason so many people tune in. But that's not the argument at all. The argument is that you said he's so talked about because of his charisma, which is completely untrue. He's so talked about because of how good he is, which is now about the 5th time I have said that in this thread.

 

[chessarmy]

Mike, Ultimate Fighter has two coaches who are current UFC fighters. As well as compelling "storylines" that keep viewers watching. Not only that, but the fighters aren't exactly no name talents. I mean, isn't Kimbo going to be one of the fighters next year?

 

[Kaedon]

What the fuck are you talking about? My logic is he shouldn't be talked about when he doesn't win? Maybe you are replying to to many posts and can't keep up. Please show me a post of mine that had that logic in it. I have said that he is the face of the sport like 3 or 4 times. I have explained that he is talked about even when he loses because he is the face of the sport and he's the reason so many people tune in. But that's not the argument at all. The argument is that you said he's so talked about because of his charisma, which is completely untrue. He's so talked about because of how good he is, which is now about the 5th time I have said that in this thread.

Your logic is "When someone is dominant, they are talked about" however, there are times when Tiger is NOT dominant, or even good, and he is still talked about. Therefore using your logic, on those days or weeks, he should be talked about LESS if it all. But that is NOT reality.

 

[chessarmy]

^ I'm on your side about WWE having more star power, but to be fair, the only reason Tiger is still talked about even if he loses is because he is so popular. Why did he get popular? Because of his skill at the game of golf, not his "charisma"

 

[Next Big Thing]

Your logic is "When someone is dominant, they are talked about" however, there are times when Tiger is NOT dominant, or even good, and he is still talked about. Therefore using your logic, on those days or weeks, he should be talked about LESS if it all. But that is NOT reality.

Then you have obviously missed my point. Tiger has been dominant over a long period of time. Of course he doesn't win every event. In fact he loses more events than he wins. But he's dominant because in comparison to other players, his win per tournament ratio is unbelievable. To compare it to another sport, take game 3 from last night of the Lakers/Magic series. Today I heard a lot of talk about Kobe Bryant not coming through for the Lakers. He didn't have a great game last night but was still talked about a lot today because he is more often than not a great player that comes through, and it's something to talk about when he doesn't play great.