WWE chairman Vince McMahon wasn't pleased to see the Lakers win on Sunday, and it's not because he's a closet Houston Rockets fan. (Although, when you think about it, Ron Artest could have a nice post-NBA career on the professional wrestling circuit ...) Because the No. 1 seeded Lakers advanced to the conference finals, the No. 2 seeded Nuggets are now scheduled to host Game 4 on Monday, May 25 ... the same date the WWE reserved at the Pepsi Center for a televised Monday Night Raw episode. Had the fifth-seeded Rockets won, the Nuggets would be on the road that date.
"Even though the Denver Nuggets had a strong team this year and were projected to make the playoffs," McMahon said in a statement, "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."
McMahon also states that the WWE reserved their date all the way back in August, which, if you recall, was when the Nuggets were still in full-fledged cost-cutting mode, having sent Marcus Camby to the Clippers while receiving nothing in return just weeks earlier.
The Nuggets eventually reversed their fortunes with the Chauncey Billups trade in November, but it's not a stretch to think the front office went through most of the summer expecting yet another first-round flameout. Obviously as the regular season progressed, the Nuggets started to think a lengthy playoff run was possible, right?
Actually, maybe not. According to WWE spokeman Robert Zimmerman, the Pepsi Center actually confirmed the May 25 date as recent as a month ago. From the AP:
Zimmerman said the Pepsi Center confirmed in March with the 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. Tickets went on sale April 11.That's a little more difficult to justify, and it's justifiable for McMahon and Co. to be a little miffed (even if they're milking this annoyance for as much publicity as possible with inflammatory statements). Apparently as many as 10,000 tickets for Raw have already been sold, though a new date and/or venue for the event has yet to be determined.
Hat-tip: Darren Rovell
Comments (Page 1 of 2)
who in there right mind would pay to see "pretend" wrestling? That stuff is joke, I would rather watch real athletes than a bunch of mullet head hillbillies
Ok seriously more people watch wwe than nba. Not to mention NBA is scrpited as well. Your analisys of wwe is wrong. They booked the areana before the nba season started. It's not the job of wwe to follow the season of a nba team. My opinion RAW should be held live from denver come monday night.
This is NOT just a dispute between the WWE and the Nuggets/NBA/Disney. There's one HUGE group no one's thinking about:
The thousands of people who already bought tickets to the already scheduled event at the Pepsi Center.
Have you ever got a refund for Ticketmaster tickets? You LOSE all the fees and charges. The clear loser in this are, ironically, the people of Denver.
No matter how you feel about pro wrestling (and sports talk hosts are happy to shout about their imagined moral superiority over the WWE) forget who it is using the hall, and think about the citizens who end up being screwed.
Who in their right mind would want to watch a bunch of ghetto thugs that don't give a crap about a team sport. Everything is individualized and each "player" only concers himself with what he has done for the game. These uneducated gang-bangers have destroyed a once great sport. Once this traveling thug-life carnival known as the nba has finally disbanded, come watch real athletes perform in the squared circle. Your first ticket is on me.
first come first serve, Vince will get screwed on this deal.
I would love to see you step in the "pretend" ring, and find out how pretend it is. Those people are athletes.
I correct my statement about them being mullet head hillbillies, I meant to say steroid taking mullet head hillbillies. sorry, my bad
someone please inform mcmahon wrestling is fake and to take a back seat
I dare you to get in that ring with these so called "fake" wrestlers and you will see how truly fake it is. It may be chreographed but its sure not fake what these guys go through. Guys have been hurt badly (and ladies) in the ring so you tell them is fake
dude even admitted it to being a big act, a huge theater, one that has a script (including the ending).so not matter how athletic those wrestlers may be it still comes to to being a straight up television show. I don't want to hear anyone call the nba that, especially in the playoffs when there isn't one player who wants to win and will put everything out there on the court to do it.
what was that ref's name again?
yea, atleast the WWE knows what it is.
Evidently some of you idiots don't know what a contract means. Nor are clueless about contract law.
How could the league make such a stupid mistake? Is there anyway they get out of this without giving significant compensation to the WWE?
Real or fake, WWF (yes I will always refer to it as the WWF) or NBA, Circus Vargas or Barnum and Baily's; a contract is a contract and the Pepsi Center and the Nuggets should have better known better.
I say let Kroenke and McMahon fight it out in a hell in a cell match, whoever wins gets the pepsi center, and besides I would rather see a bunch of mullet hillbillies beat eachother senseless then seeing the Denver gang members in Basketball jersies play 'ghetto tennis'
And besides the WWE has a contract for that night.
And PS Mark Cuban was right Kenyon Martin is a thug and a punk.
Lakers will sweep the series and we in Denver can go back to the dudgery of Rockies baseball until Bronco Season.
How many different articles does AOL need about this? geeeeeee.
I would be willing to bet that there was some sort of clause in this contract allowing the Nuggets to back out if a playoff birth became possible. If this was a legitimate contract barring any clause legally they would have no option but to either let WWE use the facility or reimburse them as they deem necessary. This is obviously another ridiculous publicity stunt by McMahon to promote the garbage that is professional wrestling.
Well I haven't read the contract but according to McMahon's speech there was no such clause. How do these idiots own professional teams? Oh well, hopefully the revenue from the game is enough to cover the reimbursement to the WWE and we can all move on.
vandervoorts steroids are used in just about any sport even probably the nba so to not like a sports because of steroids is stupid bcuz many athletes use them
LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING BROTHERRRR, MY GOOD FRIEND VINCE MCMAHON IS 100% RIGHT IN THIS SITUATION BROTHERRRR. A CONTRACT IS A BINDING AGREEMENT BROTHERRR, THAT'S WHY THEY DO THEM, BROTHERRR. SO LET ME TELL YOU THIS BROTHERRR, THE GREAT ATHLETES FROM THE WWE BROTHERRR WILL BE IN THAT ARENA THAT NIGHT BROTHERRR, AND TO HEADLINE THE MAIN EVENT BROTHERRR WILL BE NONE OTHER THAN VINCE MCMAHON VS STANK KROENKE IN THE CONFINE OF A 15 FOPOT HIGH STEEL CAGE BROTHERRR. SO STANLEY, WHATCHA GONNA DO, WHEN VINNIE MAC AND THE WWE RUNS WILD ON YOU, BROTHERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!! "UNTIL NEXT TIME, AND ALWAYS REMEMBER, YOU HEARD IT FROM HERE FIRST."
PAGS...PROFESSIONAL BROADCAST JOURNALIST...SPORTS ICON...YALE GRADUATE...AND SMATER THAN ALL OF YOU!!!