WWE RAW May 25 may cancel because of NBA game

[djluis2k6]

Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers are scheduled to be at the Pepsi Center in Denver next Monday night.

Problem is, so are John Cena and a bunch of wrestlers — and they called it first.

World Wrestling Entertainment said it is booked at the arena for an episode of Monday Night Raw, the same night the Nuggets are slated to host the Lakers in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals.

WWE chairman Vince McMahon told The Associated Press he doesn’t believe there was “any malice, just ineptness,” on the part of Kroenke Sports, which owns the team and the building, but can’t tolerate the company “just simply throwing us out on our ear.”

Without a quick resolution, McMahon plans to send his trucks to Denver.

“That’s what we intend to do,” he said. “We’re going to show up.”

Pepsi Center officials told the ABC television affiliate in Denver that the Nuggets game will be played as scheduled and that they are working with the WWE to reschedule or move its event.

WWE spokesman Robert Zimmerman said the organization secured the Pepsi Center last Aug. 15 and has already sold more than 10,000 tickets for the event. He says the organization expects a sellout, with tickets ranging from $20 to $70.

McMahon blamed Kroenke for not believing his team was good enough to still be playing in mid-May.

“The fans in Denver had a lot more faith in making the playoffs than the owner,” he said in a phone interview from Louisville, where Raw was taking place later Monday night.

Denver is usually done with basketball by now. The Nuggets had lost in the first round five straight years, but as the No. 2 seed in the West are in the conference finals for the first time since 1985.

The Nuggets referred comment to the NBA, which handles scheduling during the playoffs. Kroenke Sports also had no comment.

However, the league is leaving it up to the team and the WWE to figure things out.

“The Nuggets and the WWE understand that the date of Game 4 of the Western Conference finals cannot be changed,” NBA senior vice president Mike Bass said. “We are confident that the Pepsi Center and the WWE will resolve their scheduling conflict.”

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.

The conflict didn’t arise until Sunday, when the Lakers beat the Houston Rockets in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals. Had the Rockets won, Denver would have had home-court advantage in the next round, hosting Games 1 and 2 and putting the May 25 game in Houston.

As of Monday afternoon, the schedule on the Pepsi Center’s Web site listed WWE for 6:30 p.m. local time and Western Conference finals Game 4 at 7 p.m. Tickets for the wrestling event could still be purchased online.

McMahon said he couldn’t guess how much he would make from the show, but that canceling wasn’t easy because of how much is involved in moving his equipment, plus filling its obligated time slot on USA Network. Litigation is likely — but he plans to be putting on a card.

“When you do have a date, you plan everything around it,” he said, adding, “we may be holding an event in a parking lot somewhere.”

The most important part of this issue is what's in bold, there was a contract signed....enough said. Quite frankly, if they didn't find out until yesterday that they were going to face the Lakers, there should not even be a discussion on this issue. Very simple fix....move the game to L.A., duh! Or move it to Tuesday again. Their first game is on a Tuesday, what's wrong with Game 4 next Tuesday? It's not like Denver has done some crazy quick promotion for their game next Monday, they got a week to tell people to buy tickets in L.A. instead, where as WWE has a illegitimate claim to the arena, as per their pre-negotiated contract.

[MaCruz]

Haha... damn, who knew the nuggets would still be alive? I didn't

[toef]

Originally Posted by djluis2k6

The most important part of this issue is what's in bold, there was a contract signed....enough said. Quite frankly, if they didn't find out until yesterday that they were going to face the Lakers, there should not even be a discussion on this issue. Very simple fix....move the game to L.A., duh! Or move it to Tuesday again. Their first game is on a Tuesday, what's wrong with Game 4 next Tuesday? It's not like Denver has done some crazy quick promotion for their game next Monday, they got a week to tell people to buy tickets in L.A. instead, where as WWE has a illegitimate claim to the arena, as per their pre-negotiated contract.

Well I don't think moving it to LA is a possibility, because of the way the playoffs are set up. If anything they should try to push the game to Tuesday, or find another place to play a game... there must be some big university somewhere in the area that has a basketball arena to play in.

The Rockies will be back in town that day, but a basketball game can't be played outdoors, and I don't think WWE should be forced to relocate (re-assigning tickets for a new venue could be quite the headache).

Or, of course, they can just break the contract. Big deal, they agree to some settlement with WWE, and carry on.

[djluis2k6]

Originally Posted by toefer

Well I don't think moving it to LA is a possibility, because of the way the playoffs are set up. If anything they should try to push the game to Tuesday, or find another place to play a game... there must be some big university somewhere in the area that has a basketball arena to play in.

The Rockies will be back in town that day, but a basketball game can't be played outdoors, and I don't think WWE should be forced to relocate (re-assigning tickets for a new venue could be quite the headache).

Or, of course, they can just break the contract. Big deal, they agree to some settlement with WWE, and carry on.

I think it's beyond breaking the contract and WWE losing out on money, the fact is they signed on to take the arena for that date and time specifically. If they do it this time, what would keep them from doing it again for another reason? I know that's probably taking this to the extreme, but it is possible. Plus, Denver should realize that WWE makes stops there pretty much every time they're near Colorado, and they make that city a lot of money as well. So I'm sure they don't want to upset the WWE to make them never come back. I'm not saying it would get that far, but it's possible.

Vince McMahon speaks about the double booking on ESPN News http://www.wwe.com/content/media/vid...?cid=2009EP-00

[Monkey]

Go Lakers, haha

[BRu-LAy]

that would be funny if......right at the end when Nene/Chauncy/Melo/Any Nugget is about to do something to try and win you see John Cena come out of nowhere and hit them with a chair.

[jadedeath]

Originally Posted by toefer

Or, of course, they can just break the contract. Big deal, they agree to some settlement with WWE, and carry on.

I'd say that would be a very VERY bad idea.

If you pi$$ off Vince, Vince will take his toys and go home with regards to that particular venue and the owners of the {stink} Nuggets will kiss away all the revenue that goes along with it.

Logan

[Frank White]

kroenke picked the wrong guy to mess with. vince will not back down. the nba like the wwe, is obviously predetermined these days, just ask tim donaghy.

anyway, i cant wait till monday to see what happens

[DonRSD]

i have a feeling vince will win and the nuggets either

A) will play @ noon on memorial day
or
B) move the game to sunday as part as a double header with the cavs game on as-well

if they break this contract vince will get a boatload of $$$

dont forget that wwe has obligations with USA to put on a show (raw) @ 9pm est every monday
who do you think will be held liable for that show NOT coming on the air as scheduled!?


GO VINCE!!!!!
stick it to that crappy nuggets owner.
do you see cleveland management booking dates with the wwe for this time of the year? and if they DO they would tell the nba about a scheduling conflict when the nba asks the teams about conflicts of interest with scheduling dates.
the nuggets never said a THING about the wwe event

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4176082

[djluis2k6]

They say that that game MUST happen on Monday. MUST?? Damn, I know it's the playoffs, but if you have a game on the previous Tuesday, what's so hard about switching that game to the next day, too? Or even easier, what about just switching the venues? Forget about home court advantage, I guess that's the Nuggets fault for not doing better. Fact is, there is a contract, and no judge in the world should over like that because the almighty NBA just HAS to have their game at the same time.

[Azyiu]

Blame it on Kroenke, the owner of the Nuggets. It seems like he didn't even believe his team would make it out of the first round to begin with. Or else this whole thing wouldn't even happen ever.

[Rob71]

What about a 5 Man Battle Royale between the WWE and the NBA on Sun. night? Winner gets the arena on Monday.

[djluis2k6]

Originally Posted by DonRSD

i have a feeling vince will win and the nuggets either

A) will play @ noon on memorial day
or
B) move the game to sunday as part as a double header with the cavs game on as-well

I don't think playing earlier in the day is an option, unless RAW goes on with a scaled back set. They take all day setting up the arena for Monday Night RAW, and they'd also have to worry about covering up the court with such short amount of time. This wouldn't even be an option, and just because of this, I doubt Vince McMahon would old school-it with the original RAW letters as an entrance way just so the NBA can get there way in a matter where they are clearly the only ones at fault.

Originally Posted by Rob71

What about a 5 Man Battle Royale between the WWE and the NBA on Sun. night? Winner gets the arena on Monday.

NBA players take a seat when they take a step a wrong way. Triple H tore his quad and kept going another 5-10mins. I think we know who will come out on top.

[fatediesel]

I don't understand why the NBA didn't just switch the schedule so the Cavs-Magic started tonight and the Lakers-Nuggets started tomorrow. Then game 4 of the Cavs-Magic series would be on Monday, and Lakers-Nuggets game 4 would be Tuesday. Did the NBA not realize until yesterday that there was a scheduling conflict? I say play game 3 on Saturday and game 4 on Sunday. There's no reason the WWE has to pay for the Nuggets owners' stupidity. This happened earlier this month in the NHL playoffs when the Penguins booked wrestling and a Yanni concert at their arena and therefore had to play one night in Pittsburgh and the next night in Washington.

[Mike53421]

Didn't the NHL bump game one of the conference finals to Sunday afternoon for TV? I am 100% with Vince on this one, and as a wrestling fan growing up. He booked the arena first, case closed. If they cancelled RAW next week that would disrupt the WWE's plans for building towards their next event and everything, possibly affecting their own revenue due to lack of proper promotion for their show.

I would love to see WWE come out on top here, they could use the positive press.

[Azyiu]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

I don't understand why the NBA didn't just switch the schedule so the Cavs-Magic started tonight and the Lakers-Nuggets started tomorrow. Then game 4 of the Cavs-Magic series would be on Monday, and Lakers-Nuggets game 4 would be Tuesday.

True, but the NBA generates way too much money from TV rights that, they really can care less about anything else.

Originally Posted by Mike53421

Didn't the NHL bump game one of the conference finals to Sunday afternoon for TV? I am 100% with Vince on this one, and as a wrestling fan growing up. He booked the arena first, case closed. If they cancelled RAW next week that would disrupt the WWE's plans for building towards their next event and everything, possibly affecting their own revenue due to lack of proper promotion for their show.

I would love to see WWE come out on top here, they could use the positive press.

The NHL generates WAY less money than the NBA from TV. For one thing, the conference finals are shown worldwide live to over 200 countries and regions. That's just way too much money to lose if the NBA is to change their schedule.

On the other hand, I agreed with Vince too... but it's too bad, the NBA pays way more for the arena. So much so that amount is way more than enough to repay Vince for his losses, and there is still money left for profit!

[Another_Dude]

Vince may be an idiot, but he sure isn't stupid. He'll use this to get "WWE" mentioned in the media as many times as he can until the event.

There is enough money on the line between the WWE and the NBA that whoever loses this deal will lose big, and I don't think it will be Vince.

[Mike53421]

I just don't get it, yes money talks but Vince booked the facility first, shouldn't that be the end of discussion right there?

But I suppose I answered my own question, money.

[Azyiu]

Originally Posted by Mike53421

I just don't get it, yes money talks but Vince booked the facility first, shouldn't that be the end of discussion right there?

But I suppose I answered my own question, money.

I bet either the NBA or the Kroenke Sports pays Vince some sort of penalty.

[b0bby]

i think an NBA playoff game is a million times more important than a wrestling event. local residents, nugget fans would want to watch basketball over fake wrestling. interesting to see what will happen though.

how did the nuggets people not plan on beating the mavericks? come on