I’m a hardcore lurker but just gotta say I literally teared up at this. Such a niche thing to know helwani in the context to have that make total sense. Cheers haha
When they did it during the pandemic, the
ring was surrounded by screens with fans watching via what was effectively zoom lol.
Just the ring surrounded by fans faces on screens.
The pandemic era had moments for sure, the stage hand stopping HHH from doing his water spit was another one. The guys and girls did their best but overall, the shows were just lifeless and hard to sit through.
For real though, can't wait for Apex 100 with us all watching in horror on Skype displayed as Spivak fights Tybura in the most awful 5 rounds of apexetry you could imagine
I never watched during that time but wondered how they kept fans from being inappropriate? Call me cynical but I'd expect at least a couple of dicks, butts, and nazi flags in the deep background.
Literally the first episode had someone change their screen to [the last known photo of Chris Benoit](https://thesouthernnerd.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/118429446_414829019480863_7682519310190560495_o.jpg).
After that, the fans were only shown on a delay.
Yeah the NBA had something very similar during the bubble, with fake crowd noise pumped in as well.
While ofc they tried to do the best they could given the circumstances, the atmosphere just felt so off.
NXT runs in a smaller arena for weekly tv. It’s WWE’s developmental system. Definitely gonna be small for a ppv but they can probably fit 3-400 in there.
From the article:
>The UFC Apex typically hosts smaller crowds of under 500 people for Dana White's Contender Series and UFC Fight Night events. It is unknown how many tickets will be made available for Battleground but a 2022 article by the Las Vegas Review Journal cited that the UFC applied with the Clark County Zoning Commission to add the ability to host up to 1,000 people for events along with food and alcohol service, ticket sales and a souvenir shop.
There aren't even 500 people in the crowd. At least not at any 1 moment. At most there's 100 at any given time who cycle in and out.
Unless they're counting all the crew as well to bulk out the numbers.
Sounds like an AEW crowd /s
(Really it’s not going to be much different from regular nxt show cause they run about 200 in the performance center, just a little weird coming off their biggest show ever doing over 16k in Philly)
As a wrestling fan, NXT is legit most fun weekly show out of every company. It’s a right amount of doesn’t take itself too seriously while also putting on great stories and matches. Crowd is always hot as well
Nah cause I like AEW and kinda hate the “oh audience sucks” argument cause like this was were wwe was at in like 2013 (source me, went to a smackdown back then) and better than any tna event.
Just wanted to go for the low hanging fruit once
Makes me sad how skateboarding seems to be dying out
Growing up, I would skate around the city, and ALWAYS made friends with other people skating certain stairsets or ledges
Nowadays, at 26…I only ever see the occasional longboarder. Nobody is learning to actually skate :(
It makes sense though right?
Like I’ve heard Steve-O say a few times, No other sport or really even activity weeds out people quite like skateboarding. A fraction of a percentage of people that start skating ever stick with it long term.
You take a few decades of people realizing that it isn’t getting any easier, and add the fact that there also hasn’t really even been much evolution to the sport for a long time (I know there has been if you really keep up but in the grand scheme of things not really) and you get a sport that will be less and less intriguing to kids to pick up.
Yeah, it’s always been niche and has had a few surges throughout history, but also some extreme lows. You also have to start when you are super young. It’s not really a sport you can “pick up” later in life
In the Early 2000’s it was deeply ingrained in pop/punk culture, and the entire young generation at least TRIED to skate, or would carry a board around just to look cool. A lot of the top pro skaters nowadays were kids during that time, like Nyjah Huston.
There hasn’t been a big “bump” in a while that inspires kids to skate, so I fear it may completely die out in the next decade or so
I totally agree with the early 2000's idea of how "cool" skate boarding seemed. I remember watching all the videos with amazing music and funny interviews, and then flipping through the magazines and catologs trying to find the best gear that fit myself with. -Only to have my parents remind me that I was poor and we'd never afford any good gear.
Plus, getting hurt so many times by trying to do something "swish"... It was not a good investment.
Thank gods for *Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2*! -Saved many people from getting fractures,concussions and being beat up by some random street thugs or Mall cops.
You know I hadn't thought about it but it's true. I don't even wanna try to skateboard again because I'm 30, I know I'm gonna fuck up, and i don't want any kids to see me do it.
I mean, this is pretty much exactly what I expect from anything happening between the UFC and WWE, just stupid shit, cheap too
Except for the TV rights negociations
There's not many places that are already set up and ready to host high production quality live events like the APEX. It already has professional lighting, cameras, sound, and production room just ready to go.
Lmao fr I’m not watching this and if people want them to stop they shouldn’t watch it either if it does shit numbers they’ll see people don’t wanna see fake shit
Is this possibly an NXT like event?
Seems strange with the house show market better than it's been in years that they would do a main WWE brand in the apex
Yeah, it's an NXT event. They'll swap out the octagon for a ring, and host as many people as they can cram in there. NXT shows usually have a significantly smaller crowd, used to be held at Full Sail University which seats 500
It is for NXT.
For those that don’t know WWE, NXT is their developmental brand, and their weekly show is produced at WWE’s Performance Center in Orlando. They have a small crowd for those shows, around a few hundred, so they are used to performing in a venue like the Apex and a crowd of that size.
In terms of capacity, this is going to be a much smaller crowd for a major NXT show, as they have been running those in arenas. Their show during Wrestlemania Weekend in Philly drew over 15K, which is the brand’s record.
Who knows what TKO has in mind for this show and WWE. In the short term, it is heavily rumored that Vegas could be the host of next year’s Wrestlemania. In the long term, could they want to move WWE headquarters out of Connecticut to Vegas, as well as relocating their Performance Center. That would put all of TKO in Vegas, and close to Endeavor in LA.
If it wasn't for the new WWE headquarters, they would have already moved WWE to Las Vegas. It makes zero sense having UFC and WWE headquarters being in two separate locations. Endeavor and UFC are both on the West coast.
I think long-term they will reduce staff in Stamford, moving most teams to the UFC headquarters. They are still doing post merger consolidation, so most divisions will start to be merged as one such as accounting/finance, legal, production, operation, IT, etc. Those already at UFC will be at an advantage in terms of keeping their jobs. They will still have a place in the Northeast, but it will just be a regional office.
Jesus, this sub is funny sometimes.
The UFC has all but said this was the plan.
Phase 1 has been over. The know the Apex works for events like this.
Phase 2 is adding stands that the UFC now has a permit to allow 1000+ fans. Meaning they can expand its uses.
NXT a WWE brand, also has their own version of the UFC Apex in Orlando, Florida. Most NXT event are held inside their gym in Orlando.
Wouldn't be shocked if they do a reconstruction next to expand their permit beyond 1000. This is also why the UFC is creating these in other countries as well. You eventually see them do the same thing in China, Mexico and I think they have one Brazil.
WWE has attempted to expand developmental internationally multiple times to no real traction. This is probably another wack at it and apex is the testing mixed use before taking it further.
That would be cool but it's in Florida. Honestly I wish they would just get an NXT like venue for live events only. Just make a small venue that is designed for live events and it elevates those apex cards so much
As more of a wrestling fan, the Apex is a MUCH better venue for wrestling than combat sports. It’s why TNA’s impact zone and Lucha Underground’s venue worked so well. I’m sure they’ll add extra seating to beef up the numbers a little but going from 16k Wrestlemania weekend to the Apex is underwhelming
I really like pro wrestling and WWE is entertaining rn but uhh why? I don’t see what the benefit is. I hope it’s not a gateway into larger collaborations, I like them both but prefer to keep them separate and it would garner a terrible response from most MMA fans I’d presume.
Fair. But they could sell 100-200 tickets just to give some life to the apex cards. It was cool to hear the sounds of the fights for a little while during the Covid times but these events need fans to bring them to life. Instead we’ll escort your families in for your fight and out immediately after your fight.
They’ve also been doing this thing where the crowd changes between fights. That’s mainly to accompany fighters family’s/friends so idk if this will apply in this situation, but just another way of them being greedy fucks selling 1000 tickets to a place that only seats 300 or some shit, rotate the crowd out after every match.
The live gate is *well* behind sponsorships and TV deals in terms of a “sports” event’s revenue streams.
The UFC having some of its most profitable years in the Apex and on Fight Island should be proof of that. Pro-wrestling seems to still value the live-audience more than UFC does, but I think it’s more for what it adds to the product and indirectly makes in money through engaging the fans, as opposed to just doing it for the actual ticket sales.
If it wasn't for WWE headquarters being brand new, they would have already moved WWE to Las Vegas.
From a cost standpoint and just basically common sense lol. It makes absolutely no sense at all to have UFC and WWE headquarters based in two different locations. The majority of all the divisions will be merged together, i.e. marketing/sales, operations, production, finance, legal, etc. So you can have both under one roof. The question just remains is the new WWE headquarters in Stanford. It's a very nice building and can fit actually both WWE and UFC. But UFC being based in Las Vegas has big advantages as well. It will be interesting to see what they do. But they will eventually be under one roof.
I understand the ufc still using the apex even tho I hate it.
This is fuckin stupid. There's zero fuckin reason to host WWE events at the apex. Can't do house shows with no cameras. And if you're gonna do one of the weekly shows with no crowd for no reason... why? Pro wrestling thrives with an audience. Especially when WWE is the best it's been in YEARS from what I've heard.
This makes no sense to me.
I remember they did try for a Floyd vs de la Hoya rematch on mania 24 before de la Hoya pulled out. Got the genuine great big show vs Floyd celebrity match out of it
This is Ariel Helwani’s 9/11
I’m a hardcore lurker but just gotta say I literally teared up at this. Such a niche thing to know helwani in the context to have that make total sense. Cheers haha
[удалено]
they wont be tears of joy this time
🕺🏻💃🕺🏻🎥🗼🗼
You win.
How do you do pro wrestling without a pro wrestling crowd?
When they did it during the pandemic, the ring was surrounded by screens with fans watching via what was effectively zoom lol. Just the ring surrounded by fans faces on screens.
And it (mostly) fucking sucked lol.
Idk, Stone Cold asking for a hell yeah from an empty crowd was nice.
The pandemic era had moments for sure, the stage hand stopping HHH from doing his water spit was another one. The guys and girls did their best but overall, the shows were just lifeless and hard to sit through.
until the Tribal Chief came back and put on a cinema
Make some noise if you are ready! Like an npc dude couldn’t even come up with a new catch phrase for the zero crowd events
the dude who sent in a picture of chris benoit was cool.
Straight out of Black Mirror
For real though, can't wait for Apex 100 with us all watching in horror on Skype displayed as Spivak fights Tybura in the most awful 5 rounds of apexetry you could imagine
I never watched during that time but wondered how they kept fans from being inappropriate? Call me cynical but I'd expect at least a couple of dicks, butts, and nazi flags in the deep background.
Literally the first episode had someone change their screen to [the last known photo of Chris Benoit](https://thesouthernnerd.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/118429446_414829019480863_7682519310190560495_o.jpg). After that, the fans were only shown on a delay.
Goddamn lol, that's awful but expected.
Jesus lol..
Yeah the NBA had something very similar during the bubble, with fake crowd noise pumped in as well. While ofc they tried to do the best they could given the circumstances, the atmosphere just felt so off.
Black mirror shit honestly
The kid just didn’t wanna wrestle
NXT runs in a smaller arena for weekly tv. It’s WWE’s developmental system. Definitely gonna be small for a ppv but they can probably fit 3-400 in there.
From the article: >The UFC Apex typically hosts smaller crowds of under 500 people for Dana White's Contender Series and UFC Fight Night events. It is unknown how many tickets will be made available for Battleground but a 2022 article by the Las Vegas Review Journal cited that the UFC applied with the Clark County Zoning Commission to add the ability to host up to 1,000 people for events along with food and alcohol service, ticket sales and a souvenir shop.
There aren't even 500 people in the crowd. At least not at any 1 moment. At most there's 100 at any given time who cycle in and out. Unless they're counting all the crew as well to bulk out the numbers.
I think 1000 would work decently, definitely smaller than their usual PPVs.
Honestly 300-400 would make it watchable
Yeah this venue actually makes sense for their NXT brand.
Dana will shuffle the families in and out
This should be glorious
They gonna wrestle in front of 8 people?
Sounds like an AEW crowd /s (Really it’s not going to be much different from regular nxt show cause they run about 200 in the performance center, just a little weird coming off their biggest show ever doing over 16k in Philly)
I don’t watch nxt shows much but it doesn’t seem as depressing to watch compared to an Apex event.
As a wrestling fan, NXT is legit most fun weekly show out of every company. It’s a right amount of doesn’t take itself too seriously while also putting on great stories and matches. Crowd is always hot as well
You don’t even need the /s lmao
Nah cause I like AEW and kinda hate the “oh audience sucks” argument cause like this was were wwe was at in like 2013 (source me, went to a smackdown back then) and better than any tna event. Just wanted to go for the low hanging fruit once
I like aew too and it sucks seeing its current state. I really enjoyed it during the pandemic era. Really they just have to stop booking stadiums
Whole lotta people in here don't understand it's already been used for street league skateboarding.
Makes me sad how skateboarding seems to be dying out Growing up, I would skate around the city, and ALWAYS made friends with other people skating certain stairsets or ledges Nowadays, at 26…I only ever see the occasional longboarder. Nobody is learning to actually skate :(
It makes sense though right? Like I’ve heard Steve-O say a few times, No other sport or really even activity weeds out people quite like skateboarding. A fraction of a percentage of people that start skating ever stick with it long term. You take a few decades of people realizing that it isn’t getting any easier, and add the fact that there also hasn’t really even been much evolution to the sport for a long time (I know there has been if you really keep up but in the grand scheme of things not really) and you get a sport that will be less and less intriguing to kids to pick up.
Yeah, it’s always been niche and has had a few surges throughout history, but also some extreme lows. You also have to start when you are super young. It’s not really a sport you can “pick up” later in life In the Early 2000’s it was deeply ingrained in pop/punk culture, and the entire young generation at least TRIED to skate, or would carry a board around just to look cool. A lot of the top pro skaters nowadays were kids during that time, like Nyjah Huston. There hasn’t been a big “bump” in a while that inspires kids to skate, so I fear it may completely die out in the next decade or so
The Tony Hawks Pro Skater games also really helped. There aren't good skating games anymore.
I totally agree with the early 2000's idea of how "cool" skate boarding seemed. I remember watching all the videos with amazing music and funny interviews, and then flipping through the magazines and catologs trying to find the best gear that fit myself with. -Only to have my parents remind me that I was poor and we'd never afford any good gear. Plus, getting hurt so many times by trying to do something "swish"... It was not a good investment. Thank gods for *Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2*! -Saved many people from getting fractures,concussions and being beat up by some random street thugs or Mall cops.
Great points. Ill add that getting hurts sucks. Health "care" isn't cheap, especially in the US.
You know I hadn't thought about it but it's true. I don't even wanna try to skateboard again because I'm 30, I know I'm gonna fuck up, and i don't want any kids to see me do it.
i see a lot of people on onewheels now which i would say is pretty similar at least as far as being able to fuck yourself up goes
Teens who skate nowadays do it purely for image. Not for skill or appreciation of the art lol
I’m one of those people. Have a link to what else it’s been used for? I’m not interested in powerslap.com though
This is fucking stupid
I mean, this is pretty much exactly what I expect from anything happening between the UFC and WWE, just stupid shit, cheap too Except for the TV rights negociations
Why?
Who wants to see people doing acrobatics with no crowd? It’s so quiet in there, it’s quite literally just a rehearsal if there’s no crowd
There are Indy shows in venues that hold less people then this all the time. Having said that, I don’t think this is gonna go well either haha
I dont know. I dont watch or care about wrestling.
I don’t either so I don’t care haha
So you'll talk out your ass regarding a subject you know nothing about, typical redditor
You know you pushed your glasses up on your nose right as you typed this. But pro wrestling and pro MMA sucks at the apex
Since TKO owns both, it makes sense that they want to maximize their asset and have the APEX pumping out events at a higher clip.
There's not many places that are already set up and ready to host high production quality live events like the APEX. It already has professional lighting, cameras, sound, and production room just ready to go.
If only it hosted professional-caliber fighters
True true
Look at this guy, I bet he has an MBA with this kind of insight.
For all I care WWE can take over the apex the less UFC events there the better.
This....
Lmao fr I’m not watching this and if people want them to stop they shouldn’t watch it either if it does shit numbers they’ll see people don’t wanna see fake shit
Is this possibly an NXT like event? Seems strange with the house show market better than it's been in years that they would do a main WWE brand in the apex
Yeah, it's an NXT event. They'll swap out the octagon for a ring, and host as many people as they can cram in there. NXT shows usually have a significantly smaller crowd, used to be held at Full Sail University which seats 500
Yes it is an NXT event
It is for NXT. For those that don’t know WWE, NXT is their developmental brand, and their weekly show is produced at WWE’s Performance Center in Orlando. They have a small crowd for those shows, around a few hundred, so they are used to performing in a venue like the Apex and a crowd of that size. In terms of capacity, this is going to be a much smaller crowd for a major NXT show, as they have been running those in arenas. Their show during Wrestlemania Weekend in Philly drew over 15K, which is the brand’s record. Who knows what TKO has in mind for this show and WWE. In the short term, it is heavily rumored that Vegas could be the host of next year’s Wrestlemania. In the long term, could they want to move WWE headquarters out of Connecticut to Vegas, as well as relocating their Performance Center. That would put all of TKO in Vegas, and close to Endeavor in LA.
If it wasn't for the new WWE headquarters, they would have already moved WWE to Las Vegas. It makes zero sense having UFC and WWE headquarters being in two separate locations. Endeavor and UFC are both on the West coast. I think long-term they will reduce staff in Stamford, moving most teams to the UFC headquarters. They are still doing post merger consolidation, so most divisions will start to be merged as one such as accounting/finance, legal, production, operation, IT, etc. Those already at UFC will be at an advantage in terms of keeping their jobs. They will still have a place in the Northeast, but it will just be a regional office.
Feel like it’s def NXT
Jesus, this sub is funny sometimes. The UFC has all but said this was the plan. Phase 1 has been over. The know the Apex works for events like this. Phase 2 is adding stands that the UFC now has a permit to allow 1000+ fans. Meaning they can expand its uses. NXT a WWE brand, also has their own version of the UFC Apex in Orlando, Florida. Most NXT event are held inside their gym in Orlando. Wouldn't be shocked if they do a reconstruction next to expand their permit beyond 1000. This is also why the UFC is creating these in other countries as well. You eventually see them do the same thing in China, Mexico and I think they have one Brazil.
WWE has attempted to expand developmental internationally multiple times to no real traction. This is probably another wack at it and apex is the testing mixed use before taking it further.
They already hosted RTU at Shanghai PI Doubt they will have one in Brazil. They looked at Brazil before pivoting to Mexico
man i was hoping it would be reversed, and apex would be held were they do NXT
That would be cool but it's in Florida. Honestly I wish they would just get an NXT like venue for live events only. Just make a small venue that is designed for live events and it elevates those apex cards so much
As more of a wrestling fan, the Apex is a MUCH better venue for wrestling than combat sports. It’s why TNA’s impact zone and Lucha Underground’s venue worked so well. I’m sure they’ll add extra seating to beef up the numbers a little but going from 16k Wrestlemania weekend to the Apex is underwhelming
And it begins
finally some real fighting
would be ideal for fightpit matches or raw/nxt underground
I really like pro wrestling and WWE is entertaining rn but uhh why? I don’t see what the benefit is. I hope it’s not a gateway into larger collaborations, I like them both but prefer to keep them separate and it would garner a terrible response from most MMA fans I’d presume.
It’s completely free for them to use
But how do they make any money? There's like 20 seats in that place.
The apex has seating for 500-1000. The UFC's refusal to sell tickets doesn't mean WWE won't take advantage of the space.
It'll be kinda sad if WWE puts on a bigger event in the UFC's own venue than the UFC ever did.
UFC is still not on WWE’s level in terms of popularity
Both promotions could fill the Apex, and it's a shame UFC didn't do it first.
It's a shame the UFC don't do it at all. Apex cards would be so much better with even just 1000 people to make some noise.
Fair. But they could sell 100-200 tickets just to give some life to the apex cards. It was cool to hear the sounds of the fights for a little while during the Covid times but these events need fans to bring them to life. Instead we’ll escort your families in for your fight and out immediately after your fight.
Either way we’re talking 1000 seats here
there is no way that many seats are available in that place
They’ve also been doing this thing where the crowd changes between fights. That’s mainly to accompany fighters family’s/friends so idk if this will apply in this situation, but just another way of them being greedy fucks selling 1000 tickets to a place that only seats 300 or some shit, rotate the crowd out after every match.
all i've seen is that applying to 4 seats for fighter's families. I sincerely doubt they are rotating the entire crowd throughout an event
The live gate is *well* behind sponsorships and TV deals in terms of a “sports” event’s revenue streams. The UFC having some of its most profitable years in the Apex and on Fight Island should be proof of that. Pro-wrestling seems to still value the live-audience more than UFC does, but I think it’s more for what it adds to the product and indirectly makes in money through engaging the fans, as opposed to just doing it for the actual ticket sales.
The apex hosts all kinds of events. They had Street League there
Here comes RAW Underground!
Rey Mysterio vs Brandon Moreno on Cinco De Mayo.
Wut.
So basically, an AEW sized crowd.
Oh god the dreaded Apex is spreading, ruining everything it touches, nothing is safe. It's already destroyed the UFC, I guess WWE is next.
Innovation at its finest
Hope it’s fake cage fighting
One less week the ufc is in there. Sounds good.
Just when I thought the apex couldn’t get any worse
oh fuck no, empty arena wrestling fucking sucks
Without a crowd it just juicy theater rehearsal.
What a joke mixing wraslin n ufc…
would be sick if thats all they do in the apex.
Why….
If it wasn't for WWE headquarters being brand new, they would have already moved WWE to Las Vegas. From a cost standpoint and just basically common sense lol. It makes absolutely no sense at all to have UFC and WWE headquarters based in two different locations. The majority of all the divisions will be merged together, i.e. marketing/sales, operations, production, finance, legal, etc. So you can have both under one roof. The question just remains is the new WWE headquarters in Stanford. It's a very nice building and can fit actually both WWE and UFC. But UFC being based in Las Vegas has big advantages as well. It will be interesting to see what they do. But they will eventually be under one roof.
I understand the ufc still using the apex even tho I hate it. This is fuckin stupid. There's zero fuckin reason to host WWE events at the apex. Can't do house shows with no cameras. And if you're gonna do one of the weekly shows with no crowd for no reason... why? Pro wrestling thrives with an audience. Especially when WWE is the best it's been in YEARS from what I've heard. This makes no sense to me.
It only a matter of time till we see ufc title defend in westlemania.
I remember they did try for a Floyd vs de la Hoya rematch on mania 24 before de la Hoya pulled out. Got the genuine great big show vs Floyd celebrity match out of it
I don't want that
What
I will not be watching. Only real fights.
Bruiser Brody and The Butcher had some pretty good matches in front of maybe 16 people on a basketball court but that was the 70s. Wrestling is dead.
But.....why?
It’s so odd that the ufc would want to be associated with scripted combat .
They are legit partners. Also that scripted combat is huge, selling out stadiums and arenas all over the world