WRESTLING.PRO - PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING
 
 Pro Wrestling News
 Pro Wrestling Forum
 WWE
 Wrestlers
 
 Pro Boxing
 Pro Gamer

Welcome to Wrestling.PRO - Your guide to professional wrestling!

News feed from: ProWrestling.com RSS Feed 

News feed from: Headline Planet Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:02:36 +0000
  • “The Big Bang Theory” Ratings Cleanly Beat “American Idol,” “Finder” Jumps Even though “The Big Bang Theory” beat “American Idol” in 8-8:30PM timeslot last week, the average for the entire “Idol” episode–an hourlong affair–still topped the rating for CBS’ flagship comedy. FOX, therefore, could realistically claim “Idol” maintained its Thursday dominance. That may not be true this week. According to the fast nationals, “Big Bang” tied the “Idol” hourlong average with a 5.4 adults 18-49 rating. On a half-hour basis, the CBS show cleanly defeated “Idol,” which only mustered a 4.8 for its first portion. “Big Bang,” in fact, even won the head-to-head viewership game, scoring 16.0 million against the 15.5 million for “Idol.” For the hour, “Idol” managed a 17.0 million average. While a loss to “Big Bang Theory” is rough at this point in the season, there was still some good news for “Idol” and FOX. Despite dropping massively on a week-to-week basis for this Wednesday’s airing, Thursday’s “Idol” actually held relatively steady in comparison to last week’s show. The series has definitely lost a lot of spark, but at least there are signs the nosedive is slowing. Against repeats of “Person of Interest” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” and an episode of low-rated “30 Rock” instead of usual competitor “The [...]
  • “Touch” Ratings Start Strong, “American Idol” Gets Alarming With an intriguing concept, positive buzz and Kiefer Sutherland as the lead, “Touch” was going to debut well on FOX no matter what. Add in the “American Idol” lead-in (albeit a reduced one), and you have a very strong performance. “Touch” opened to a 3.9 adults 18-49 rating with 12.0 million viewers Wednesday, easily making for FOX’s most successful drama debut of the year. While some will complain about the raw retention out of “American Idol,” which drew a 6.4 and 19.5 million viewers, it actually held up far better than series typically do in the position. “Idol” is an appointment show with a specific fanbase, and it is very difficult to retain that audience for any lead-out series at 9PM. On the subject of “Idol,” that 6.4 would be historically disappointing for any airing of the show. As the rating for the second Wednesday night audition episode, it is very alarming and reflective of how much steam “Idol” has already lost this year.
  • “Touch” Premiere Scores With “Heroes” Emotion, But It’s Not Perfect A successful TV drama premiere achieves two key objectives: it delivers a thoroughly-entertaining, engaging standalone hour and it introduces a compelling plotline, a signature storytelling style and a three-dimensional cast of characters that viewers will want to experience once a week, every week, for several years. It is thus unsurprising that the debut episode of FOX’s “Touch” is being promoted a “preview” rather than a series premiere or pilot. If graded against the aforementioned “premiere rubric,” it would miserably fail on the latter of the two grounds. And the episode is far too entertaining, emotional and well-crafted to find itself on the same planet as the word “failure.” Kiefer Sutherland’s return to the network following “24,” “Touch” centers on Jake Bohm (David Mazouz), a seemingly-autistic, young boy who demonstrates a peculiar obsession with numbers. Jake narrates the show, and is quick to reveal that the narration is the only verbal dialogue he has ever delivered; in real life with his widower father Martin (Sutherland), he is a mute. Martin, whose wife was killed in the World Trade Center on 9/11, devotes his entire life to Jake. He works hard, currently as a luggage handler, without any question or regret–his love [...]
  • Oscar Nominations Snub Ryan Gosling, But Not Jonah Hill With two critically-acclaimed lead acting performances and another scene-stealing, comedic supporting role, many felt this was the year Ryan Gosling solidified his standing at the absolute top of the acting ladder. Unfortunately, the Academy voters did not think so–neither his performance in “Drive” nor “The Ides of March” earned an Oscar nomination. Gosling had been viewed as a virtual shoo-in for a nomination, if not an outright win, which would have made for his first nod since 2006′s “Half Nelson.” The lack of such recognition, combined with the somewhat disappointing box office returns on the two films (his collaboration with Steve Carell and Emma Stone in “Crazy Stupid Love” was more successful), makes the year seem far less significant for Gosling than many felt it was. “Shame” star Michael Fassbender, who is in the midst of his own breakout, also failed to land a nomination. Not all fan favorites were snubbed, however. “Moneyball” co-star Jonah Hill is in the mix for the Supporting Actor Oscar, a victory that probably makes the failure of his animated sitcom “Allen Gregory” much easier to swallow. The acting nominations for the 84th Academy Awards are below: LEAD ACTOR Demián Bichir, A Better Life George [...]
  • “The Walking Dead” Star Joins “LA Noir” Pilot; Is Character Dying? In what could effectively be a major spoiler, one of the leads on AMC’s “The Walking Dead” is close to nearing a starring role on another television show. THR reports that Jon Bernthal, who plays Shane on the breakout zombie series, is finalizing a deal to star in TNT’s “LA Noir,” which comes from former “Dead” showrunner Frank Darabont. Bernthal would play Joe Teague, the LAPD police officer leading the effort against mobster Mickey Cohen. Given that “The Walking Dead” is in no jeopardy of cancellation and Bernthal’s role on the show is almost as big as one could possibly get, it seems unlikely that he would join another series as a “hedge” against his current situation. As a result, speculation is running wild that the Shane character will be written out at some point in the ongoing second season. Very interesting about the situation is the existence of a November 2011 “blind item” from TVLine, which said that a cast member loyal to Darabont asked to be released from his “Walking Dead” contract after the showrunner was ousted. While the report said that the actor ultimately had a “change of heart” and asked to stay, it was possible plans [...]
  • Complete WWE RAW Results Report for January 23, 2012 WWE.com RAW Results Report for January 23, 2012: PHOENIX – With only one week until the 25th Anniversary of the Royal Rumble, calling WWE Raw SuperShow “eventful” would be a gross understatement. Chris Jericho informed the WWE Universe that “it’s going to be the end of the world as you know it,” while Dolph Ziggler managed to upstage WWE Champion CM Punk on two separate occasions. Also, Zack Ryder horrifically suffered a broken back after Kane chokeslammed him through the entrance stage in a Falls Count Anywhere Match. WWE Champion CM Punk vs. John Laurinaitis did not take place Moments before Interim Raw General Manager John Laurinaitis battled WWE Champion CM Punk, he received word from WWE’s Board of Directors that his job performance would be evaluated. The Board of Directors is bringing Mr. Laurinaitis’ decision-making into question, especially his declaration that he would screw CM Punk at Royal Rumble. Furthermore, the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations’ job performance would be evaluated personally by WWE’s COO, Triple H. David Otunga and Mr. Laurinaitis read the letter to CM Punk inside the squared circle. Mr. Laurinaitis apologized to Punk, announcing he would fairly call the WWE Title Match at Royal [...]
  • “American Idol” Ratings Disappoint After Monster Giants-49ers Game Though it technically delivered its best adults 18-49 rating of the season, Sunday’s “American Idol” performance was arguably the most underwhelming thus far. FOX confirmed Monday that “Idol,” which aired at 10:57PM out of a monster, overtime NFC Championship game between the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers that looks to have beaten the 50 million viewer mark by a comfortable margin, only posted a 7.9 adults 18-49 rating and 19.8 million viewers. While the substantial tune-out during the NFL post-game coverage undoubtedly took some of the bite out of the lead-in, the reality is that “Idol” had the second biggest synergy platform of the year, behind only the Super Bowl, to recapture viewers who did not tune in this week. It failed to do so. Irrefutably, the rating and viewership are massive for a FOX broadcast in the timeslot. But given the disappointing lead-in retention and the limited growth from Wednesday’s premiere numbers, it is difficult to call this scheduling decision successful for FOX. As such, it is hard to argue FOX would not have instead been better off airing a younger series, such as the very cinematic, accessible, standalone pilot for new series “Touch.” While the ratings [...]
  • Randy Orton Makes WWE Return, But When Will He Be Back on TV? Randy Orton made his return from injury at a WWE house show Sunday, and his subsequent re-emergence on television is imminent. After taking several weeks off to rehabilitate a back injury, Orton returned to continue his feud with Wade Barrett at the house show in Las Cruces, NM. Orton attacked Barrett, who was responsible for his injury in storyline, leading to a pull-apart angle in front of the live crowd. WWE had initially been advertising Orton’s television return for last Monday’s RAW but ultimately scrapped the plan and killed the promotion. But based on Orton’s return this past Sunday, it seems a certainty that the wrestler will return to television in time for next weekend’s Royal Rumble match, for which he is considered a favorite to win (along with Chris Jericho). F4WOnline.com initially noted there was talk of holding Orton’s return off as a Royal Rumble “surprise,” but the current plan is apparently for the wrestler to appear on this week’s SmackDown! taping following a promotional build-up on Monday’s RAW.
  • Giants Clinch Super Bowl Rematch with Patriots; Give “American Idol” Ratings Boost In a near-mirror image of the NFC Championship game in 2008, the New York Giants scored a clutch overtime win to earn a trip to the Super Bowl. There, the team, which again entered the playoffs as a wildcard, will battle the New England Patriots for a chance to reclaim its standing as the best football team in the world. Three years ago, the Giants survived the formidable Patriots’ threat to win the Super Bowl and give New England its only loss of the season. Both the Giants and Patriots earned their bids on three-point victories; the Giants topped the San Francisco 49ers 20-17, while the Patriots overcame the Baltimore Ravens 23-20. While Sunday’s NFC Championship game between the Giants and San Francisco 49ers was going to be a ratings hit regardless, and the fact that it remained tightly-contested all through overtime would have made FOX happy no matter what, the network gets an additional bonus in terms of a massive lead-in for “American Idol.” The lead-in will not quite be as monstrous as that given to rival series “The Voice” when it airs out of NBC’s Super Bowl in two weeks, but it represents the best FOX could do [...]
  • “American Idol”‘s Steven Tyler Catches Heat for National Anthem Screwup The gig might come with a huge paycheck, but there are some costs of judging on “American Idol.” Namely, when you deliver a vocal performance that is not up to the technical bar expected of contestants on the show, you are going to be obliterated by social media users. Steven Tyler, who opened Sunday’s AFC Championship game with a rendition of the National Anthem, is experiencing that heat. While he did give fans an irrefutable reason for condemnation–he messed up the lyric “the bombs bursting in air”– most of the criticism is simply due to complaints about the quality of his vocals. And that is where the elevated standard comes into play. Tyler seemed shaky, uncomfortable and undoubtedly less-than-stellar from a technical standpoint, but this was not too far below the caliber of performance that would historically be expected of Tyler; the live audience, in fact, popped huge for his signature screech at the very end. Had Tyler not been tasked with determining the fate of aspiring singers, this performance likely would have had an easier time flying under the radar.
  • “Underworld” Wins Box Office, “Red Tails” Impressive, “Haywire” Weak “Underworld: Awakening” claimed a comfortable box office victory this weekend, although the controversial “Red Tails” delivered an impressive number for a second place finish. Kate Beckinsale’s return to the “Underworld” franchise helped the film claim first on $25.4 million this weekend, which nearly matches the $26.9 million grossed by 2006′s “Underworld: Evolution.” “The Rise of the Lycans,” the in-between film that did not feature Beckinsale, generated $20.8 million in 2009. “Red Tails” earned a clear second place on $19.1 million, which topped most pre-release projections. “Contraband” ($12.2 million) and an expanded “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” ($10.6 million) followed. Gina Carano’s feature debut in “Haywire” made little noise, with the critically-acclaimed but audience-panned film earning just $9 million. No other new releases bowed this week.
  • “Underworld: Awakening” Dominates “Haywire” at Box Office Despite its glowing critical reviews and the debut of MMA fighter Gina Carano in a lead role, “Haywire” had simply failed to generate any notable pre-release buzz. And when combined with the difficulty of opening against “Underworld: Awakening,” a brand name release with the more-popular Kate Beckinsale to fill the “sexy, ass-kicking, action female lead” role, “Haywire”‘s fortunes looked bleak going into the weekend. Sure enough, the film garnered just $2.9 million in receipts Friday, which positions it for a sub-$10 million opening weekend at the low end of projections. “Underworld,” meanwhile, will easily win the weekend; it earned $9.4 million on Friday. “Red Tails” followed “Underworld” with $6.0 million Friday, good enough to top the second Friday of “Contraband” ($3.2 million) and the expansion of “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” ($3.2 million).
  • “The Big Bang Theory” Ratings Already Outdeliver “American Idol” Marks That was fast. While the disappointing premiere numbers for “American Idol” made it seem inevitable that the show would find itself in a heated ratings battle with timeslot competitors like “Modern Family” and “The Big Bang Theory,” few figured it would come so quickly into the winter season. Though subject to slight change in the finals, as of right now, CBS can claim its comedy “The Big Bang Theory” outdelivered “American Idol” in head-to-head competition. From 8-8:30PM, the 100th episode of what is now the most-watched sitcom on television delivered a 5.2 adults 18-49 rating, besting the 5.1 for “Idol.” “Idol” technically won the timeslot–its hourly average rating of a 5.6 defeated the 4.4 for the combination of “Big Bang” and “Rob”–but the head-to-head loss at 8PM still makes for compelling television industry drama. As of right now, this marks the first time a regular scripted series has ever defeated “Idol” in the demo. And even if the final numbers adjust “Idol”‘s 8PM mark to a higher number than that of “Big Bang,” the battle was still dangerously close. Though “Idol” historically delivers its worst numbers of the night in the 8-8:30PM half-hour, based on the evidence from the Wednesday [...]
  • “American Idol” Ratings Nosedive, Bigger Drop Than First Thought As bleak as the overnight ratings report looked, the fast national ratings paint an even worse picture of the eleventh “American Idol” season premiere. According to the data, the show fell a whopping 26% year-over-year to a 7.2 adults 18-49 rating. Premiere viewership was also down notably, from a final 2011 number of 26.3 million to just 21.6 million in 2012. Given the strong response to last season, which actually closed its season with more finale viewers than season 9, such a massive drop for the season eleven premiere is far steeper than would be expected due to “age.” It is thus impossible to ignore the role FOX’s “The X Factor” played in accelerating a loss of interest in the music competition genre. With it clear that “Idol” has lost a significant chunk of mass relevance, the hope now is that there was less “curiosity” tune-in for the audition episodes than in prior seasons and thus will be more season-long investment from the audience. In recent years, by the time the competition reached its final weeks, at least 20% of the initial adults 18-49 audience had departed. If that trajectory were to hold up, “Idol” could conceivably lose almost all [...]
  • “American Idol” Ratings Drop for Season Premiere, Still Dominate Update: The fast nationals paint an even worse picture for the “Idol” premiere. The show dropped 26% in the key adults 18-49 demo. Whether the cause was the aging of the “American Idol” franchise or the disillusionment and saturation caused by the introduction of shows like “The Voice” and “The X Factor,” ratings for the eleventh “Idol” season were projected to come in below those of the prior season. Sure enough, “Idol” returned down. While the more-relevant performance in the adults 18-49 demo will not be revealed for a few hours, the overnight metered market number has emerged as a 13.6. That represents a 17% decline from the season ten opener, which drew a 16.4. That 2011 opener, which was the lowest-rated one since the show’s premiere in 2002, was down by 11% from the 2010 kick-off. Given the strong reaction to last season, the fact that this year’s premiere suffered a steeper drop than that of last year suggests more than mere “age” was at play here. Still, even down, the ratings were head-and-shoulders above those for shows like “Modern Family” and “Criminal Minds.”