Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter
According to some new reports, it appears WWE’s “Million Dollar Mania” contest isn’t as random as it might appear to the viewing audience. One individual involved in the contest has revealed that the sponsor of the giveaway, E-Prize, called him before the start of Raw to confirm his name and address. He was also told he was a finalist and to keep his phone line clear until 11:10 p.m. Eastern as well as his television tuned to the USA Network.
This was apparently done to a group of finalists so they had others on standby if the pre-selected winners could not be reached by phone during the live broadcast. Many fans picked up on how some of the winners didn’t sound excited at all when called, so this process explains that the phone calls were not as spontaneous as originally thought. Given the release of this information, it’s safe to say that if you don’t receive a call before Raw tonight then you won’t be getting one during the show.
As for the future of this contest, we reported earlier that TV Guide is advertising that it will continue on next week’s big three-hour edition of Monday Night Raw that will feature the 2008 WWE Draft. Whether or not that will happen remains to be seen as reports earlier this week stated WWE had plans in play already to end the contest. Many within the company felt this was a huge risk not worth taking in the first place simply to bump ratings. Last week’s show ended up drawing a 3.03 cable rating with 4.59 million viewers, slightly below what the previous week’s show drew.
It appears one of Vince McMahon’s reasons for going ahead with the decision to do the contest was to act as a “one-man lottery” given the current state of the economy. McMahon even called this his own version of an economic stimulus package during an appearance on Fox News with Neil Cavuto.
Remember: Tomorrow night on WrestleZone Radio we run down several rumored draft names including John Cena and where he’s headed. I hope you’ll join us LIVE at 9EST.
