— Though many have condemned WWE’s decision to cast ZZ Top’s Dusty Hill and Billy Gibbons as the hosts of RAW this coming Monday, it is worth noting that there is often a misconception regarding WWE’s audience. The company has actively targeted families and young viewers in recent months due to their propensity to buy merchandise and live event tickets, but the median viewership age is still well over 30, according to F4WOnline.com. Consequently, while the band, which has not had a major hit record since 1985’s “Afterburner,” is no longer a force in modern music, it is relevant for many RAW viewers.
Industry sources do not, nonetheless, expect ZZ Top to serve as a huge viewership draw. The band, with its long-time wrestling fan members, has kept active in pop culture–they performed at a past edition of the “Guys Choice” awards and accompanied “American Idol” winner David Cook during last year’s finale–but it has not elicited huge fan response; its most recent studio album, 2003’s “Mescalero,” peaked at 57 on the Billboard 200.
— PWTorch.com reports that lead writers on the WWE creative team have become very involved in the house show booking process, which supposedly has bothered WWE’s John Laurinaitis. The writers, notably Michael Hayes, have a tendency to “make changes just for the sake of making house show changes,” which reportedly frustrates WWE’s talent relations VP.
