ESPN And Jonathan Coachman XFL Project

Jonathan Coachman stated during today's episode of The Ross Report with Jim Ross that ESPN is currently working on a "30 For 30" special on Vince McMahon's XFL football league. Coach noted that they've been watching all the old XFL tapes, reliving the games and commentary.

Dana White Responds To UFC Sale Reports

As noted, Darren Rovell of ESPN reported this evening that the UFC was in "advanced talks" to sell the promotion. According to the report, at least four bidders have submitted offers to purchase the company, including WME/IMG, The Blackstone Group, China Media Capital and Dalian Wanda Group. It was noted that the winning bid will be in the $3.5 billion - $4 billion range, with the Chinese-based Dalian Wanda Group being in the lead. UFC President Dana White responded to the report, telling The Las Vegas Review Journal that the story is "overblown."

"The UFC is not for sale," White said. "The ESPN story is overblown. Darren Rovell is not a fan of facts. His facts could not be further off."

Rovell responded to White on Twitter, writing:

LOL: @danawhite says UFC is not for sale and that I'm not a "fan of facts." We had 5 independent sources on this.

Hey @danawhite, once you hire an investment back to give out your financials, it's hard to say you're not for sale.

We had three different independent sources that said that UFC volunteered a full year EBITDA of in between $200M & $250M to investors.

WWE Off The Top Rope: HHH Talks Wrestlemania Moments, Working With Ultimate Warrior, Returning At MSG After His Quad Injury

The following is a recap of highlights from tonight’s new ESPN WWE Off The Top Rope segment with WWE World Heavyweight Champion Triple H:

Triple H talks about Wrestlemania 32 marking his 20th Mania match, and he says it feels like just yesterday where he was at Wrestlemania XI backstage. He talks about all of the pageantry back then with Jenny McCarthy and Pamela Anderson and how it changed the next year with getting his own match against the Ultimate Warrior. Coach asks about their relationship, and HHH says it’s mind-boggling because of Warrior’s passing, but his Mania debut doesn’t bother him like most people think. He says Vince asked him to work with Warrior, and now they built a relationship 20 years later with Warrior coming back for the WWE Hall of Fame before he passed. HHH says he stays close with Warrior’s family like it should have been, then Coach asked about HHH’s favorite Mania moment. He says Wrestlemania 28’s “End of an Era” match stands out, especially the moment at the end where they were on the stage together at the end of the night. He talks about how much it meant to him personally, and he made up plaques to mark the occasion, but it’s a night he won’t ever forget.

Coach asks about this Sunday’s crowd being bigger than the Wrestlemania III crowd, and Triple H says he’s just as nervous now as he was the first time. HHH says they may break the attendance record and him getting that type of moment one time is just really special. Coach talks about HHH’s quad injury and infamous return at Madison Square Garden, and HHH talks about how it all went down and fighting to come back. HHH says he stayed in an Alabama Embassy Suites and trained for nine months, and just worked to come back. HHH says they did return videos and hype his return, but once he made the return it clicked and it was one of the biggest nights of his career. He talks about being away for so long and having doubts, and you can’t get outside of your own and just hoped people would react the right way. He says WWE stars rely on the connection with the fans more than anything, and there’s nothing like it, so people keep coming back and hopefully that happens Sunday at AT&T Stadium.

Media Circus: Why ESPN is featuring WWE on SportsCenter

ESPN Appearances Set For Brock Lesnar, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Shane McMahon, The Undertaker

As noted, several WWE Superstars will be appearing on ESPN as part of the special WrestleMania 32 Week programming. Below are the scheduled appearances:

* Monday: Brock Lesnar on SportsCenter at 8:45am and 10:30am EST

* Tuesday: Stephanie McMahon at 10:30am EST on SportsCenter

* Tuesday: Triple H at 9pm on SportsCenter

* Wednesday: Shane McMahon at 9pm on SportsCenter

* The Undertaker TBA

WWE Announces WrestleMania Week TV Appearances For John Cena, Stephanie McMahon, The Flairs, Others

WWE takes over the airwaves starting March 24 with Sheamus appearing on "Conan" on TBS at 11/10 p.m. C.

Two-time WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair and his daughter – WWE Divas Champion Charlotte – will appear on the March 25 episode of "Boomer & Carton" on WFAN and CBS Sports Network starting at 6/5 a.m. C.

The Celtic Warrior will also appear on the March 28 episode of "Men in Blazers" on NBC Sports Network and NBCSports.com at 11/10 p.m. C.

On March 27, WWE Chief Brand officer Stephanie McMahon will be featured in a special segment on "CBS Sunday Morning" at 9/8 a.m. C.

John Cena returns to NBC's "TODAY' as co-host during the 9 a.m. hour for three days beginning on March 28. Cena will also appear on "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon" on Tuesday, March 29, at 11:30/10:30 C on NBC.

Also, starting on March 28 with an appearance by Brock Lesnar, WWE will be featured on ESPN throughout WrestleMania Week, including appearances by Stephanie McMahon, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Triple H, Shane McMahon and The Undertaker.

Eva Marie will appear on Hallmark Channel's "Home & Family" on March 28 at 10/9 a.m. C.

Check your local listings for exact times and channels.

ESPN’s WWE Off The Top Rope Recap: Shawn Michaels Talks Wrestlemania Moments, Ric Flair, Why He Knew It Was His Time To Retire

The following is a recap of Shawn Michaels’ appearance on ESPN’s WWE Off The Top Rope segment tonight:

Coach welcomes Shawn Michaels to the show and talks about his reputation as ‘Mr. Wrestlemania’, and asked why he shined at the event. Shawn says just getting to Wrestlemania is a feat in itself, and he focused on making each one count, deciding around Wrestlemania IX to get everyone to talk about his match each year. He says he wanted to do it to honor his job as a wrestler, then Coach asks about which Wrestlemania match is his favorite. Shawn says that’s hard to answer, citing Wrestlemania X and XII for his individual accomplishments, but also notes working with Ric Flair and Undertaker later on. He says all he can do is be thankful for how many special moments he was involved with, and it’s hard to pick just one.

Coach talks about Shawn wrestling Flair at Wrestlemania XXIV, and Shawn says it went from him admiring Flair as a kid all the way to being the person to be picked in that match, and it meant a lot to him. Shawn talks about honoring Ric Flair at Wrestlemania 24, and he says he wanted to do as much as he could to show his appreciation. Shawn says he wanted Ric to have a sense of pride, and he also wanted everyone who worked with Ric and knew him to know it too.

Coach brings up Shawn’s final match two years later and asks why Shawn knew that night was it. Shawn says it was ultimately about his family, telling a story about how time was passing and his son would be grown up soon enough. He says that cued him to start thinking about life after WWE, and walking away was huge, but he wanted to do this for his family and be an active part of his raising his family. He says all he knows is to perform at the best he can, and luckily he had a great opponent that night.

Coach thanks him and says maybe they will see him at Wrestlemania 32, and Shawn says it’s basically in his hometown and he might have to make some moves, but they could see him there.

HBK’s Top Wrestlemania Moments

Top Feud
Shawn Michaels vs Undertaker

Top Move
Shawn Michaels’ dives off the ladder at Wrestlemania X

Top Moment
Shawn Michaels says ‘I’m sorry, I love you’ and superkicks Ric Flair, pinning Flair to retire him

Top Win
Shawn Michaels defeats Bret Hart at Wrestlemania XII to win the WWE Championship

Read more at http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/682925-espns-wwe-off-the-top-rope-recap-shawn-michaels-talks-wrestlemania-moments-ric-flair-why-he-knew-it-was-his-time-to-retire#UcTpmu4ItaRdUIMX.99

Reported Reason For Michelle Beadle ‘Burying The Hatchet’ With Triple H At RAW Last Night

Wrestlezone Radio regular and Pro Wrestling Sheet editor-in-chief Ryan Satin is reporting Michelle Beadle and WWE ‘buried the hatchet’ after Vince McMahon had called Beadle.

Sources told Satin that Beadle was contacted by McMahon a few months ago, and he was very understanding as to why Beadle stopped watching WWE. Beadle had announced she was boycotting WWE last year after Triple H had publicly endorsed Floyd Mayweather.

For those that don’t know, Beadle was very critical about the way Mayweather has been promoted, given his issues with domestic violence reports. Beadle wrote a detailed post about her feelings towards Mayweather and cited HHH’s social media role, noting she did not agree with him being a supporter of Mayweather while also being a public face of a company like WWE with such a strong push for anti-bullying and anti domestic violence policies.

According to Satin, Beadle then accepted an invitation to attend last night’s WWE RAW taping, feeling like enough time had passed and she could talk to Triple H about her issues. It was also noted that Beadle understands people won’t share her feelings about Mayweather, and the talk backstage between the two went smoothly.

Triple H and ESPN Personality Bury the Hatchet Backstage at WWE Raw Tonight

As you might recall, ESPN personality Michelle Beadle stated last year, via Twitter, that she would no longer be a WWE fan since Triple H supported Floyd Mayweather in his fight against Manny Pacquiao. She posted the following on Twitter in May 2015:

"I've loved @WWE for a long time. But @TripleH and his love for a serial abuser is too much. I'm turning in my fan card. #WasFunWhileItLasted"

Last night Triple H posted the following:

"Awesome to reconnect with old friends and bury the hatchet… Good things to come. @MichelleDBeadle @StephMcMahon"

And Michelle posted the following:

"Good friends. Great overdue conversation. Thanks @StephMcMahon & @TripleH"

Daniel Bryan Talks Retirement, Explains His Injuries, Reveals How Many Concussions He’s Had, Talks Medical Testing & More

The following is a recap of ESPN's WWE Off The Top Rope segment, featuring special guest Daniel Bryan.

Jonathan Coachman starts the show by playing highlights of Daniel Bryan’s retirement speech from WWE RAW, then welcomes Bryan to the show. Coach asks how difficult it was for Bryan to make his speech in his hometown, and Bryan talks about trying not to cry and getting emotional in front of his family.

Coach asks about his injuries and Bryan says they have ten documented concussions, but it’s impossible to define each one. Coach then asks about how Bryan found out about his career being over, and Bryan says he went to New York for some EEG tests, and this one measured electrical brain activity while doing reflex testing. Bryan says it’s a newer form of the test, but he wanted evidence to support his petition to come back to wrestling. Bryan says his other EEG and MRI test were great, but this one showed he had some slowing, and evidence of “a small or subacute or chronic lesions” in the area of his brain that causes seizures. Bryan says he has had post-concussion seizures that he hid and it was unknown why, but now they found out something to link the symptoms. Bryan says he’s learned that you need to report concussions, and you need to heal your brain before returning to a contact sport like wrestling or football. He says it’s about the responsibility you have to yourself and your family.

Coach then asks about the YES chant, and Bryan says it caught on, but Bryan started it to be annoying. He says it looks great when people in the arena do it, and it really propelled his career forward. Coach talks about last night’s speech and the locker room being their for him, and Bryan says the coolest thing about last night was he could feel the reaction when he closed his eyes, and it was unbelievable.

Coach asks how Bryan made it to the top despite his size, and Bryan says he likens it to a writer, and he can’t explain it, but the audience connected with him. Bryan says he is very fortunate, then Coach asks about his favorite moment. Bryan says he mentioned it last night, but the Seattle Slammy Awards show where the fans hijacked the show and his father seeing him wrestle again was his favorite.

Coach asks if Bryan thought about what’s next, and Bryan laughs and says he’s had time to think, but he’s not sure. He says he wants to do something to help people and the world, and he might get involved with concussion awareness. He says working with WWE allowed him to do some great charitable things, and mentions Connor’s Cure, and says he wants to help with stuff like and just needs to figure out what’s next.

Coach asks how Bryan would like to be remembered, and Bryan says he doesn’t necessarily need to be remembered himself, but he wants people to remember the experience of just going to the show together. Bryan tells a funny story about his family going to a show and the Ultimate Warrior pantsing Rick Rude, and says that is still a great story in his family. He says it means a lot for a family that isn’t a wrestling fan family, and he hopes everyone remembers good times about going to wrestling shows.

Backstage News on Ric Flair’s Upcoming ESPN 30 for 30 Special and What it Will Cover

According to F4WOnline.com, Vince McMahon reportedly signed off on allowing ESPN to use archival footage for the upcoming ESPN “30 For 30” special that Ric Flair has been filming. Flair spent four hours being interviewed earlier this month and camera crews were filming backstage at WWE Survivor Series in Atlanta.

The ESPN special will reportedly cover Flair’s entire career, his personal life, financial issues, Reid Flair’s death, the 1975 plane crash and more. There will be a focus on the 1980s when he was at the peak of his career as NWA World Heavyweight Champion with the Four Horsemen.

ESPN's Relationship with WWE

ESPN was credited by WWE for breaking the news of Seth Rollins tearing his ACL and MCL, and it appears as if the relationship between WWE and ESPN will see WWE crediting the sports with network more breaking news, according to Bryan Alvarez. On the most recent edition of Wrestling Observer Live, Alvarez noted we should expect to see more WWE breaking news being reported from ESPN in the future, which will in turn be cited by WWE.

HBO Releasing Documentary On All Time WWE Great

Vanity Fair reports that former ESPN personality Bill Simmons will be releasing a documentary on WWE Hall of Famer Andre the Giant for HBO. No word yet on when it will be available.

Ric Flair Talks ESPN 30 For 30 Special, Hurdles With WWE, Which Other Wrestler They Were Considering

Two-time WWE Hall Of Famer Ric Flair will be featured on an upcoming episode of ESPN's 30 for 30 series. Flair recently took to his podcast, WOOOOO! Nation, to share some details on the upcoming project.

According to 'the Nature Boy', the special will be a full 30 for 30 episode, unlike the 30 for 30 Shorts episode detailing the Von Erichs. Flair stated that his episode of 30 for 30 will cover his whole life, including his professional wrestling championships, his personal life, and more.

"Well, it's my whole life. It [has] a little bit to do with my airplane crash, of course, and then coming back from that. And then the titles and the championships and it touches a lot on my personal life, which has been up and down. Right now, it's perfect, but I had a couple rough years there. And it talks about my son, Reid. [ESPN] wanted to talk about him, how special he was to me. And then, a lot about Ashley, Charlotte, who is now the champion in WWE, the Divas division. And about my other two children, Megan and David. So, it was very nice. And then, it talked about where I am today".

Flair stated that the project has taken over a year and a half to come together and the main hurdle was getting permission from WWE to use its video footage.

"The WWE is very, very protective of their intellectual property," Flair claimed. "[The project] is mutually beneficial for all of us, but it just took a while to get everybody on the same page and to work on it diligently for, I guess, it has been a year and a half now. And all of a sudden, it's coming to fruition."

Flair said that six hours of interview footage has already been shot and another 12 or 13 hours of interviews are left to shoot.

"We shot the first six hours and we'll shoot another six or seven hours, which [WOOOOO! Nation co-host, Conrad Thompson] will be a part of, at [WWE] Survivor Series. And then, there will be another six hour shoot. And then, of course, all of the stuff [ESPN] will pull from the library in Stamford, Connecticut with the WWE to put together the whole film. So it'll be exciting!"

For Flair, being the subject of ESPN's 30 for 30 is a point of pride both as a fan of the series and as a legendary professional wrestler.

"For me, I love watching that show. I've seen, probably, 25 or 30 of the 30 for 30 [episodes] in the last couple of years. It's a great, great format and to be the first [professional] wrestler they've ever even considered doing it with, I know they were entertaining the idea of [doing an episode on] Andre the Giant, and how they arrived at me, I don't know, but I'm very proud of that fact. And, certainly, there are a lot of guys in our business that have been successful, but, at the same time, I guess they feel like I've kind of transcended pop culture and stuff like that. And all the years of entertaining myself have paid off!"

Also, on this episode of WOOOOO! Nation, Flair talked with former professional wrestling announcer, Tony Schiavone. Click here to listen to the podcast.

source: WOOOOO! Nation podcast

Seth Rollins suffers knee injury, new WWE World Heavyweight Champion to be crowned at Survivor Series

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins has torn his right ACL, MCL and medial meniscus, and will not be able to defend the title against Roman Reigns at Survivor Series. A tournament to determine a new champion will instead take place at the event.

As first reported on Twitter by ESPN, Rollins suffered the injury last night at a WWE Live Event in Dublin, Ireland, and is expected to miss six to nine months of action.

Details surrounding the Survivor Series tournament have not been finalized. The event takes place Sunday, Nov. 22, and will air live only on WWE Network.

Last Night's WWE RAW Draws Record-Low Viewership

Monday's episode of WWE RAW, with Team Seth Rollins vs. Team Roman Reigns in a Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match, drew 3.248 million viewers. This is down 3% from last week's 3.354 million viewers. This is the lowest non-holiday viewership since RAW went to three hours.

For this week's show, the first hour drew 3.375 million viewers, the second hour drew 3.180 million viewers and the final hour drew 3.189 million viewers.

RAW was #3 for the night in viewership behind the NFL on ESPN, which drew 12.404 million viewers, and ESPN SportsCenter. RAW was #4 for the night in the 18-49 demographic, behind the NFL, SportsCenter and Love & Hip-Hop.

ESPN's Partnership With WWE Is A Game-Changer

Professional wrestling is real.

That would be the implication of WWE highlights appearing on—or, as some may consider it, blaspheming—the hallowed grounds of the world’s premier sports network.

During Tuesday’s edition of SportsCenter, ESPN announced a partnership with WWE to feature weekly segments of wrestling highlights. The partnership couldn’t have come at a better time for both industry-leading franchises.

ESPN has been struggling with declining subscriber numbers and ratings. Ad revenue was off 3 percent in the three months ended June 27, according to the Wall Street Journal, which dissected the network’s troubles in detail here. ESPN’s ratings dip is tied in part to the rise in popularity of online streaming services like Netflix NFLX +0.91%, which is posing big problems for the television industry at large.

ESPN cut ties with three of its biggest stars this year — Keith Olbermann, Colin Cowherd and Bill Simmons – in an exodus that was not without its share of controversy. ESPN is now looking to regroup by ”nurturing big-name stars,” as President John Skipper put it, in a climate where ratings are shrinking.

Sound familiar?

WWE has had its own share of struggles that are eerily similar to that of ESPN’s. Monday’s edition of Raw once again drew a record-low viewership, 3.285 million. With John Cena nearing the end of his run on top of WWE, the promotion is in a transitional period as first-time champion Seth Rollins (who guested during the aforementioned SportsCenter broadcast) looks to be one of many fresh faces to lead WWE into the future...More?

source: forbes.com

ESPN Announces Weekly WWE Recap Segment; Highlights Of Seth Rollins Appearance On ESPN News Tonight

On ESPN News, former WWE personality and ESPN anchor Jonathan Coachman announced WWE and ESPN will feature a weekly segment recapping the “top moments” in the WWE Universe.

He did not say if the segments would rotate or return each week, but tonight’s topics were:

Top Line
Top Moments

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins also joined Coachman via satellite, and asked why he wasn’t featured in the highlights. They talked about Rollins’ feud with Kane, and Rollins called himself the New England Patriots of the WWE.

Rollins talked about making fun of Cleveland and Johnny Manziel, then Coachman asked him if there should be an age requirement in wrestling like other sports. Rollins said no he thinks people should be able to pursue their passion, then they talked about Chase Utley breaking Ruben Tejada’s leg. Rollins says accidents happen and it’s healthy competition, so he doesn’t think it was done maliciously. Rollins joked about breaking John Cena’s nose recently, then Coachman made a remark about the New York Mets not liking what was said, and thanks Rollins for being the first guest on the new segment.

CM Punk's UFC Debut Slightly Postponed Due to Injury Suffered While Training

ESPN reports that CM Punk's UFC debut has been slightly postponed due to an injury.

Punk's head coach Duke Roufus told ESPN that Punk has been sidelined for a few weeks after tweaking his shoulder while scrambling in training. Punk will see a doctor on October 14th and could be cleared then.

"He got caught in a scramble, so right now he's taking a little time off," Roufus told ESPN. "He was doing great before that. His progress has been good. He's got a great attitude and he's a hard worker. He got a place in Milwaukee where he lives all week when he's here training, so he's in it to win it. Our biggest thing is we want him to 101 percent before [we resuming training]. We don't have a hard date for his fight to force the issue, so making sure he's completely healthy is possible."

Roufus has stated multiple times that he wants Punk completely prepared before making his UFC debut. When asked how close Punk is to that point, Roufus told ESPN he's at 50%. He said:

"The UFC will probably book him a fight three to four months in advance -- a guy of his magnitude. We're probably looking at a fight in the next six to 10 months. The injury throws us back one month. We had a ballpark. We were looking at mid- to late-spring. Now, we'll just have to see how he comes back from the injury."

WWE SummerSlam returns to Barclays Center in 2016 and 2017

Barclays Center, NYC & Company and WWE have agreed to a multi-year deal to bring SummerSlam, Monday Night Raw and NXT back to Barclays Center in Brooklyn in August 2016 and August 2017. This announcement comes on the heels of an extraordinary SummerSlam Week last month which saw WWE sell out Barclays Center for an unprecedented three consecutive nights with NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, SummerSlam and Monday Night Raw.

2016 Key Dates:

Saturday, Aug. 20 – NXT
Sunday, Aug. 21 – SummerSlam
Monday Aug. 22 – Monday Night Raw

2017 Key Dates:

Saturday, Aug. 19 – NXT
Sunday, Aug. 20 – SummerSlam
Monday Aug. 21 – Monday Night Raw

This year’s SummerSlam Week combined the best of sports and entertainment while leaving a lasting impact on the host community. Jon Stewart served as host of SummerSlam in his first public appearance since retiring as host of "The Daily Show," and "Arrow" star Stephen Amell teamed up with WWE Superstar Neville to take on WWE Superstars Stardust and King Barrett. ESPN’s coverage of SummerSlam included exclusive interviews with WWE Superstar Brock Lesnar, and ESPN’s SportsCenter broadcast live from SummerSlam throughout the day. In addition, WWE joined forces with Charity Buzz to raise more than $200,000 for Answer The Call, the New York Police and Fire Widows’ and Children’s Benefit Fund, while hosting 10 community outreach events, including the record-setting 500th wish granted by WWE Superstar John Cena for Make-A-Wish.

"We are thrilled to build on the success of the 2015 SummerSlam and welcome WWE back to Brooklyn in 2016 and 2017. Big events like SummerSlam help cement New York City's appeal as a dynamic, high-energy destination," said Mayor Bill de Blasio. "We're thankful for WWE's commitment to Brooklyn, and look forward to a long partnership that benefits the City."

“We’re excited to be hosting WWE SummerSlam for the next two years,” said Brett Yormark, CEO of Barclays Center. “We had an incredible experience this past August and are looking forward to continuing our partnership with WWE and NYC & Company.”

“Barclays Center, NYC & Company and the City of New York have been incredible partners to WWE, and we are pleased that SummerSlam Week will once again take over New York City in August of 2016 and 2017,” said John P. Saboor, WWE Executive Vice President, Special Events. “We look forward to building on the success of this year’s event to take SummerSlam Week to even greater heights.”

SummerSlam, which is broadcast around the world live on WWE Network, features the biggest stars of WWE alongside other celebrities, entertainers and athletes. SummerSlam Week in Brooklyn will feature a series of activities including fan events, autograph signings, WWE’s Be a STAR anti-bullying rallies, hospital visits and other community outreach programs designed to leave a lasting impact throughout the region.

Ticket information for SummerSlam in 2016 will be announced in the near future.