Paul Michael Levesque
July 27, 1969
July 27, 1969
July 27, 2019
July 25, 2019
Vince McMahon On WWE Staying PG But Getting Edgier, Why Eric Bischoff & Paul Heyman Were Hired
WWE Chairman Vince McMahon discussed Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff being hired as the new Executive Directors for RAW and SmackDown during today's WWE Q2 Earnings call. While Vince discussed the new hires more than once, he did not mention Heyman and Bischoff by name.
"One the things that we've done is hire 2 Executive Directors, one for Raw and 1 for SmackDown and in doing so, it allows me to look at a longer-range story – our standpoint and also spend more time on talent development and not get into the weeds as much as I had to do in the past. That is a really, really good thing for a long-term as well as short-term. Actually, we've seen a big result already," Vince said in his opening statement. (H/T to Seeking Alpha for the transcript.)
Vince was later asked by an investor about why WWE chose to hire Executive Directors at this time, and how much latitude Heyman and Bischoff will have.
"I can't personally be in the weeds any longer and we have these 2 individuals who have a longer range of point of view and a developmental point of view. Both of these individuals have extensive backgrounds in the business from various aspects and with the organizational aspects that they have and the depth of talent, executive talent we now attract it's going to be really good for our business. And how much latitude they will have, that's again it allows me to have a broader overview of things and escape from just getting in the weeds. So they'll have a lot of latitude."
"As far as the content is concerned, I'll address that. We have definitely turned the corner and again as I've mentioned, we have Executive Directors with each brand now. They're going to grow in a more in-depth I think notwithstanding that, we spent more time on storylines, good ones, and also talent development. It's a combination of a lot of things on the things as far as coming together and what I guess, I'll call it relaunch in terms of our content," Vince said.
"We're going to be a bit edgier but still remain in the PG environment," Vince revealed. "We've just come anywhere close actually to go into another level. So that will be something will do in terms of direction of content, more controversy, better storylines, etc. But at the same time, we're not going to go back to the bold Attitude Era and we're not going to do blood and guts and things of that nature such as being done on perhaps a new potential competitor. We're just not going to go back to that gory that we graduated from. And again, a more sophisticated product. Again attracting much better writers and attracting better management things of that nature. So again, I feel really good about it."
WWE Second Quarter Finances Revealed, Vince McMahon Comments
The WWE's 2019 Q2 Financial report has been released, with revenue dropping from the previous year.
According to the company's finances, the second quarter of 2019 produced $268.9 million in revenue, down 5% from the 2018 Q2 of $281.6 million.
The WWE Network now boasts 1.69 million paid subscribers, which is consistent with the company's guidelines.
The use of digital outlets like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram increased drastically, with 324 million hours being consumed, up 22% from the previous quarter.
Digital video views also increased by 17% over the previous quarter to 9 billion.
In a conference call, WWE CEO Vince K McMahon said how this second quarter of the year had been focussed on making major changes to the company, such as recent deals with BT Sport in the UK and the upcoming Fox-SmackDown move.
He said: "We completed content distribution agreements in key international markets, prepared for the next phase of our WWE Network service, and achieved steady improvement in engagement metrics."
More details can be found from the company's official statement here.
source: wwe
July 24, 2019
Beth Phoenix To Be Inducted Into The George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall Of Fame
The National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum announced that WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix will be inducted into the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame this weekend.
The Class of 2019 also includes Bruno Sammartino (Posthumous Inductee), Thunderbolt Patterson (Lou Thesz World Heavyweight Championship Award) Sgt. Slaughter (Frank Gotch Award), Brian Shields (Jim Melby Award), and UFC's Daniel Cormier (George Tragos Award).
Phoenix is the first female to be inducted into the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall Of Fame. She received the Frank Gotch Award in 2015.
The ceremony will be at the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center in Waterloo, Iowa on Saturday, July 27th.
WWE Network Re-Launch Coming Soon
It looks like we're getting closer to the roll-out of the tiered version of the WWE Network. PWInsider reports that there was a lot of talk at this week's RAW and SmackDown on how the company is finally close to launching the tiered-pricing version of the Network. It's believed that various features and perks will be offered with the different subscription levels. There's no word yet on when the roll-out will begin, but word backstage is that it will happen much sooner than later.
WWE Co-President George Barrios noted during the Q1 earnings call in late April that this will be a "re-launch" of the Network, something they have been working on for more than a year. Barrios said they are very excited for the new version to be released as it will introduce features that fans have been asking for. The new version will develop over the next few years and WWE is very optimistic about what it will grow into. Barrios then confirmed that the re-launch will take place in 2019 some time.
AEW Weekly TNT TV Show Officially Announced For Wednesday Nights
TNT and AEW have announced that the weekly AEW TV show will air on Wednesday nights from 8pm until 10pm ET, beginning on Wednesday, October 2. The debut will take place two nights before SmackDown moves to FOX on Friday, October 4th.
The first AEW TV show will air from the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. AEW will be announcing details on tickets this coming Monday.
July 22, 2019
Variety Calls Out Vince McMahon Over Excuses For Falling Ratings, WWE Q2 Earnings Decline Expected
WWE will be reporting earnings its second quarter 2019 earnings this Thursday, July 25th. Zacks Equity Research reports that Wall Street analysts are expecting a year-over-year decline in earnings on lower revenues for the quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019. They estimated that revenues are expected to be $277.20 million, down 1.6% from the prior year quarter. The company is expected to report a loss of $0.03 per share for the quarter, which is a change of -121.4% from this point last year.
WWE reported disappointing results for the first quarter of 2019, with a net loss of $8.4 million compared to a profit of $14.8 million in the prior year quarter. The decrease was primarily because of the drop in live event revenue and lower merchandise sales. At the time, WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon Vince McMahon blamed the poor results on "superstar absences."
"While engagement metrics over the past two quarters were impacted by Superstar absences, we believe they will improve as our talent return and we launch our new season following a successful WrestleMania," McMahon said last April. "We remain excited about the future, particularly with our debut on Fox in October."
Top media outlet Variety ran a story today calling out McMahon for his past excuses for the drop in business. It was noted that the "superstar absences" have been rectified this quarter, however ratings have continued to fall.
Rumor Mill - NXT Reportedly To Use WWE Main Roster Talent If They Go Head-To-Head With AEW
As previously reported, Fox held a meeting last week with their affiliates to discuss the 2019 fall schedule. During the meeting, Fox confirmed that there are talks about moving NXT to one of their channels.
There has been speculation that NXT may air on FS1 and go head-to-head with AEW. AEW will start on TNT this fall, and is rumored to be airing live on Wednesday nights starting on October 2nd.
Dave Meltzer noted on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE is "absolutely" planning to use main roster talent on the NXT show if they go head-to-head with AEW. One issue with NXT airing on Wednesday nights is that FS1 airs Big East College Basketball that night during their season.
In its current format, NXT has been airing on the WWE Network since 2014. There was a special airing of NXT on the USA Network as part of "WWE Week" in December of 2017, which averaged 841,000 viewers. RAW that week averaged 2.684 million viewers, while SmackDown pulled in 2.481 million, so NXT averaged less than a third of what the two flagship shows drew.
In addition to NXT possibly airing on FS1, a weekly WWE studio show will air on the network Tuesdays with Renee Young as the host.
July 19, 2019
WWE Launches New Talent Brand Management Department
WWE recently established a Talent Brand Management department to help develop the individual brands of their Superstars. They are now hiring a Vice President to run the department and a Director to help. The Director would report to the Vice President, and the Vice President would report directly to WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon.
Both jobs are based at WWE HQ in Stamford, CT. You can see WWE's job listings for the new positions at this link and this link.
WWE described the new Talent Brand Management department like this:
"Talent Brand Management is a division of WWE that has 360-degree oversight of Superstars' individual talent brands and is focused on positioning and growing these inside and outside WWE platforms."
WWE Reportedly Planning 24/7 Championship Segment At San Diego Comic-Con
WWE Reportedly Planning 24/7 Championship Segment At San Diego Comic-Con
The WWE is planning on having a segment with the 24/7 Championship at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend, according to PWInsider.
On SmackDown, new Champion R-Truth and Carmella teased appearing at the Pop Culture Expo, and according to reports, the pair are in San Diego, as well as former champion Drake Maverick.
Truth captured his ninth reign on this week's edition of RAW, pinning the British Superstar whilst he was trying to consummate his marriage to wife Renee Michelle.
The company has already announced that several Superstars will appear at a panel at the convention, with a Mattel toy panel being hosted by Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder.
RAW Women's Champion Becky Lynch, WWE Champion Kofi Kingston and Rey Mysterio have also been announced.
San Diego Comic-Con will take place from today, July 18, until Monday, July 22.
July 11, 2019
Roman Reigns Wins First-Ever WWE Award At ESPN's ESPYS, Reigns Comments, Top WWE Stars In Attendance
Roman Reigns just won the first-ever Best WWE Moment award at the 2019 ESPN ESPYS from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Reigns won the award for his "triumphant return to Monday Night RAW" earlier this year following his second battle with leukemia.
The other nominees were Becky Lynch for winning the RAW Women's Title and SmackDown Women's Title at WrestleMania 35, Kofi Kingston for winning the WWE Title at WrestleMania 35, and Ronda Rousey for winning her first RAW Women's Title at SummerSlam 2018.
As we've noted, this was the first time that WWE had an award category at the ESPYS, under the Best Performance category.
"For to me just to be able to be healthy was the only award I needed. This is just so flattering for everyone to kind of lift me up and show me that support system and love from everybody," Reigns said in WWE's announcement on the award. "It was never about awards or anything like that. It was just about awareness, it was just about sharing my story and hopefully someone could use it for a little bit of hope."
WWE noted that Reigns was congratulated during during the red carpet special by Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, the RAW Women's Champion Lynch, and WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins.
Oderint Dum Metuant: Let Them Hate As Long As They Fear
