Is Raw going to get slam-dunked by the NBA?
Next Monday’s Raw is in danger of being canceled, WWE announced in a news release Monday. It seems that Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets may be elbowing Randy Orton, John Cena and company out of the Pepsi Center in Denver that night.
It sounds inconceivable that such a blunder could occur, but the arena has been double-booked. WWE reserved the date last August for Raw and more than 10,000 tickets have been sold, according to a WWE spokesperson, but Game 4 of the Western Conference final between the Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers is scheduled for the same night.
NBA and NHL franchises that are in playoff contention usually put a hold on their home arena months in advance. That’s why a scheduling conflict such as this has never occurred before for WWE – at least I don’t recall it ever happening.
The Pepsi Center confirmed in March with WWE that the organization wanted to keep the May 25 date, and sent a contract on April 15 — the final night of the regular season — which WWE signed and returned, the WWE spokesperson told the Associated Press.
If the woeful Washington Wizards and Verizon Center failed to plan ahead, that would be one thing. The Nuggets, however, are the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, so something like this happening is inexcusable. Understandably, WWE isn’t pleased.
“Even though the Denver Nuggets had a strong team this year and were projected to make the playoffs, obviously Nuggets and Pepsi Center owner Stan Kroenke did not have enough faith in his own team to hold the May 25th date for a potential playoff game,” WWE chairman Vince McMahon said in a statement.
I have a hard time believing that Raw will not take place next Monday. I’m guessing that WWE will move it to another arena, but between ticket refunds and exchanges, that sounds like a major headache. Since this situation is not WWE’s fault, I think the right thing to do would be to move the NBA game to the next night, but that probably won’t happen.
Comments
They will probably move the NBA game to Sunday. It is perfectly normal for NBA teams to play back to back.
Posted by: Greg | May 18, 2009 8:08 PM
I suspect that Colorado Springs is going to see back to back WWE events, with the Tuesday Smackdown already scheduled for there. It'll be easier for the Nuggets to buy out Vince, even at an extravagant price, than it will be to get the NBA, ESPN, and TNT to agree to any kind of schedule change.
The only question left is to see how Vince milks this. If he can extract enough of a settlement to cover costs and lost profits, a Memorial Day freebie at Fort Carson (which has units overseas) could be an excellent source of publicity and goodwill.
Posted by: Mike | May 18, 2009 8:41 PM
Did you know: Raw has had more live shows canceled than Gunsmoke, Bonanza, etc. Sorry.
They should try having an outdoor event somewhere provided that the weather is OK. (Why don't we see more open air shows?)
I rarely ever watch Raw. Just so SmackDown and ECW aren't canceled...
Posted by: Another Wrestling Mark | May 18, 2009 8:45 PM
Believe there is a 2nd arena in Denver, and my bet is Raw ends up there.
Posted by: Matt | May 18, 2009 9:23 PM
I don't think WWE is the victim here. I think they made a bad business decision by holding onto the building after Denver made the playoffs (the building contracts were signed in mid-April). ESPN.com had a good article up about the situation and it sounded as though WWE accepted this risk in the contract.
Posted by: Mr. Sarcasm | May 18, 2009 11:47 PM
I didn't understand at the time why JR made his jab at the Nuggets ownership. It just seemed out of place, but after reading this post it all falls in line now. What a poor decision by the NBA to mess up their scheduling. I love basketball and am a Lakers fan, and I feel that this is just wrong by the NBA
Posted by: Mike in AZ | May 19, 2009 12:22 AM
McMahon will suck it up & have RAW in the Denver Coliseum. Right now, he's just thrilled about all the publicity & coverage that WWE is getting about this, so he's going to milk for it's all worth.
Posted by: Ben | May 19, 2009 12:34 AM
So what are the options? Can't reschedule a live show. Denver Center and McNichols are long gone. I don't see a second arena to broadcast from. From the floor to the rafters can't just build the Raw set anywhere like the Coors Field, Well Fargo Theater or the middle of Invesco Field. Really unfair to the fans and the road crew.
Posted by: Chris33613 | May 19, 2009 3:39 AM
The Denver Coliseum holds approximately 10,000 people. WCW held a pay per view there before.
Posted by: Jack Windham | May 19, 2009 4:24 AM
The Capitals and Penguins had to play back to back games in their playoff matchup because of a Yanni concert.
Posted by: Steve | May 19, 2009 6:25 AM
Why is it "the right thing" for RAW to move? They have a signed contract and sold tickets. The arena screwed up, not WWE. Let the NBA move the date of its games. The NHL did it last round with WAS-PIT - The Mellon Arena had already booked Yanni, so the teams ended up playing on back-to-back nights, which never happens in the playoffs.
Let the NBA move its date. The WWE is just enforcing a valid, signed contract.
Posted by: Bil on da Shore | May 19, 2009 7:16 AM
Vince could take this to court and likely win. If the man has a signed contract, that building is his for the time he has reserved it. Since Vince loves publicity, I am sure he could make a spectacle of it.
Posted by: PikesvillePerson | May 19, 2009 7:55 AM
Weather forecast won't allow for outdoor show here Monday - with Invesco Field the only option, as Coors Field has baseball. Loveland and Colorado Springs are way too small to hold the alleged ticket sales by WWE of 10000 - but both are free on Monday. Denver Coliseum as someone mentioned would be cramped - again SRO - and isn't camera friendly.
Posted by: AJ | May 19, 2009 8:11 AM
Oh man, the potential for an angle to come out of this is incredible. Imagine, David Stern vs. Vince McMahon at Wrestlemania 26! Oh, how about Commissioner vs. General Manager! David Stern vs. Vickie Guerrero! Oh, what about a mixed tag match! Chavo and Vickie vs. S-Squared- Stern and Santina! Kobe vs. Big Show! MVP vs. Lebron! Carmelo vs. Cena! Hey, how about "The Battle of Two Crazy SOB's"- Ron Artest vs. Randy Orton! Dennis Rodman can defend the Celebrity Wrestling Championship against Triple H, who will squash Rodman to become a 14 time world champion! The possibilities are endless!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Cliff | May 19, 2009 8:57 AM
I liked where Vince challenged the Nuggets owner to a cage match to see who gets the arena. You know Vince will milk this for all the PR its worth, as he should.
Posted by: etucker | May 19, 2009 9:17 AM
To my knowledge, Denver doesn't have a second arena that is close in size to the Pepsi Center. McNichols Sports Arena was demolished in '99.
WWE says they've sold over 10,000 tickets for Raw, and expect to sell out. I would love for Vince and the WWE to stand their ground and force the Dark Overlord, David Stern, to move Game 4. The NBA could do a noon local time start. But I don't know that it would give arena officials and WWE crewmembers enough time to set it up for Raw. I've heard that because of the large set, they set up in the arena the night before, if possible.
But it won't happen. The WWE will fold and either move Raw or postpone it altogether. Sucks, b/c I'd love to see someone, especially Vince, stick it to David Stern.
Posted by: Zane in NC | May 19, 2009 9:23 AM
I was watching Mike and Mike this morning and they were getting a kick out of playing all of Vince's quotes regarding this situation. One thing I noticed though was at one point he actually says "World Wrestling Federation" something I'm sure he hasn't said on purpose in many years.
Posted by: Bill | May 19, 2009 9:25 AM
Didn't this just happen to the Capitals/Pens. It didn't involve the WWE but rather it involved Yani. They forced the Caps and Pens to play on back to back nights in order to keep the arena booked for Yani. So you could see the same thing happen here.
Posted by: Randy | May 19, 2009 9:45 AM
maybe wwe could change one of their wknd house shows into a taping for raw. if raw is cancel i dont see wwe going back to denver for a long time
Posted by: jason | May 19, 2009 11:41 AM
Simple economics will rule this decision - you will see basketball on Monday at the Pepsi Center. Lets see - 10,000 tickets sold for Raw and it will seat over 21,000 for that event(not even half full) - OR - Basketball – 19,155 seats, they will all be sold at an average cost of $225 per ticket. Plus the TV ratings that the basketball game will have - it's a NO-BRAINER.
Besides, there is another event on Tuesday at the Pepsi Center, so they can't move it to that night.
Posted by: Christian | May 19, 2009 12:17 PM
I live in Loveland, CO -- used to live in Denver -- and I am a BIG Nuggets fan...but I'm a HUGE wrestling fan, and am pretty pissed that WWE is getting bumped. The bottom line is, WWE signed a contract with Kroenke and it should be honored, otherwise, Vince should sue them for everything he can get.
They (the Nuggets) can reschedule for Sunday (there's nothing scheduled for that night at the Pepsi Center), but how can the WWE reschedule RAW? It's always on Monday night, so they have to have SOMETHING to broadcast in that time slot (for USA's sake and their sponsors who are running commercials). They can't tape it and air it Monday because Sunday night WWE is putting on a show in Loveland at the Budweiser Events Center. I doubt they could reschedule to Invesco Field at such short notice and not eve sure that would work as it's an outdoor venue. There's not really another venue in Denver the size of the Pepsi Center (McNichols was razed in 1999).
Kroenke and the NBA just want this date because it's Memorial Day, which will probably be great for ratings, but I'm sure Vince wants it for the same reason. And besides, by law, he should get it.
The frustrating thing is that the NBA (and I am a fan, like I said) are the darlings of the media here, and in typical fashion the mainstream media has written off the WWE (and in effect, it's fans) with jokes and derision. Why dont' they report the fact that there are probably more WWE fans worldwide than there are NBA fans? Or how about all the great things Vince and WWE has done for our military (this being relevant because it will be Memorial Day, after all, and I'm sure they had something planned).
It'll be interesting to see what happens, to say the least...
Posted by: Curtis Ellzey | May 19, 2009 1:01 PM
or they could have Raw to Boulder, Colorado and get a lively college crowd. Nuggets fouled up, they didn't expect their own team to go this far.
Posted by: Shawn Patrick | May 19, 2009 1:32 PM
This is an easy decision...
One event has pre-determined endings and the other is Professional Wrestling.
(I heard this on Jim Rome today.)
Posted by: C Double | May 19, 2009 1:41 PM
why is the nuggets and the NBA getting the blame for 1 man or management team the nuggets players or coach don't have anything to do with this and shouldn't be held accountable for their owner same with stern and the NBA they have no control what their owners do they don't control them. so if u want to rant on the owner but don't blame the team itself or the league for 1 mans blunder other than that I'm quite sure by next week vince will have a new venue i would love if it were the Staples center if their open then hopefully the nuggets will reimburse the fans because its not the WWE fault so why should they pay then take him to court.
Posted by: frank | May 19, 2009 7:07 PM