Rumor Mill - Triple H Open To The Idea Of WWE Cross-Promoting With New Japan Pro Wrestling

New Japan Pro Wrestling is carving out a huge place for themselves in the pro wrestling landscape and hearts of fans all over the world. Many people watched Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada's epic Dominion confrontation in awe and although there will always be detractors, the general consensus is the match was a masterpiece.

It seems WWE is being a bit more friendly toward the Bullet Club recently as both The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega were featured in a huge way in WWE's promotion of The New Day's E3 escapades. The Cleaner is also featured on the WWE Network as a "Hidden Gem" where WWE utilized one of the only pieces of footage they had of Omega in Deep South Wrestling to capitalize on his incredible name value.

With New Japan Pro Wrestling and their high match quality making headlines all over the world causing Dave Meltzer to create new spaces for more stars to hand out ratings, a partnership with WWE would be ideal. After all, if the two companies converged or even shared talent it could be a huge advantage all around. But we are still dealing with baby steps at this point and while The New Day and Golden Elite's E3 Street Fighter war was a good start, there is plenty more room to go before the companies actually start sharing talent.

But Triple H seemed open to the idea of joining forces with New Japan eventually when he spoke with Sunsport and compared it to a partnership WWE currently has with a few other companies.

"We have an alliance with PROGRESS in the UK, a situation with ICW in Scotland, two very well run and respected promotions that do good business – but more importantly they are cultivating talent. They are not just exploiting talent and grabbing guys to do a show with them, they are teaching talent and trying to make them better, which is what it is all about for me."

"Is there opportunity for cross-promotional events?" Triple H continued, "Absolutely, with the right things. It's a blank slate and I'm open to just about anything if the right situation shows itself."

It looks like there could be a chance down the line for some incredible cross-promotional opportunities between WWE and New Japan. Because since Triple H could very well eventually find himself in the position where he's the one making the call to join forces with NJPW, it sounds like he's already very open to the idea provided the right situation comes along.

Source: SunSport

Triple H, WWE U.K. Champion Pete Dunne make surprise appearance at Insane Championship Wrestling

Should we maybe add a fourth "H" for "hustle"? Triple H continued to make headlines in the United Kingdom when he joined WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne at an Insane Championship Wrestling event in Cardiff Sunday night.

The Game's surprise appearance was met with utter shock by the ICW faithful, as The King of Kings thanked them for their support and for being crucial to the success and growth of sports entertainment overall.

The Young Bucks Receive A "Cease And Desist" From WWE

The Suck It "crotch chop" made famous by D-Generation X in the late 90s during the Attitude Era may be one of the most iconic and memorable taunts ever created in professional wrestling and it's often imitated across the industry, none more so than in independent promotions who attempt to tow the line when it comes to intellectual property.

Today, top indy tag team The Young Bucks revealed on Twitter that their use of the crouch chop would no longer be permitted by WWE after they received a cease & desist notice from the company which they discuss on episode 68 of The Elite.

The Young Bucks haven't stayed silent on the matter posting a humorous tweet in which they claim WWE has taken away everything including Christmas, in reference to WWE's decision to air Raw live on Christmas night.

What do WWE superstar Triple H and real-life women wrestlers think of 'GLOW'?

The Netflix original series "GLOW" has catapulted women's wrestling into the pop culture spotlight.

The dramatic re-creation of the 1980's all-women's wrestling promotion, Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, is a timely reminder of the WWE's ongoing women's evolution.

Just three weeks after the show's release, the WWE began taping of the inaugural Mae Young Classic: an all-women's single-elimination tournament featuring 32 competitors from WWE's NXT and independent circuits around the world.

espnW asked Mae Young Classic women competitors Tessa Blanchard, Toni Storm, as well as Paul "Triple H" Levesque -- a longtime WWE superstar turned executive who is overseeing the tournament -- their thoughts on "GLOW."

espnW: Have you had a chance to watch the show?

Paul "Triple H" Levesque: I mean, I saw it then. Now I have not had a chance to actually see the [Netflix] show, but I've heard nothing but rave reviews. Popularity in our industry ebbs and flows, but it seems people have come to accept what we are -- not only what they see, but the behind-the-scenes of how it comes together.

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List Of Competitors For The Mae Young Classic

PWInsider reports the following list of competitors for the Mae Young Classic

* Candice La Rae
* Mia Yim aka Jade from Impact Wrestling
* Tessa Blanchard
* Rachel Ellering
* Lei’d Tapa
* Deonna Purrazzo
* Santana Garrett
* Renee Michelle
* Marti Belle, formerly of Impact Wrestling
* Mercedez Martinez
* Kay Lee Rae
* Ayesha Raymond
* Rhea Ripley
* Sage Beckett (formerly Andrea/Mary Kate)
* Kairi Sane (formerly Kaiji Hojo in STARDOM)
* Dakota Kai (formerly Evie)
* Bianca Belair (formerly Bianca Blair)
* Vanessa Borne (current NXT talent Danielle Kamela)
* The former Kimber Lee, Abbey Laith
* Multi-time STARDOM champion Jazzy Gabert
* Taynara Conti
* Kavita Devi, a Great Khali trainee from India
* Lacey Evans
* Sarah Logan aka the former Crazy Mary Dobson
* Toni Storm
* Lucha Libre star Princesa Sugehit
* Reina Gonzales, formerly Victoria Gonzales, the daughter of Rudy Boy Gonzales.
* Zaeda, formerly Julia Ho
* Zhao Xia
* Barbi Hayden
* Shayna Baszler
* Nicole Savoy

Additional names are in town most likely as alternates. Tapings take place tonight and tomorrow with the first four episodes set to air August 28th and the following four episodes set to air September 4. The finals will take place September 10th at 10:00pm

Several Names Revealed For WWE's Mae Young Classic

As noted, WWE will tape The Mae Young Classic on July 13th and July 14th at Full Sail University. The following names have been confirmed for the 32-competitor tournament:

* Bianca Blair - standout at the WWE Performance Center and signed in April 2016
* Danielle Kamela - WWE developmental talent, trained at WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi's school

* Julia Ho - WWE developmental talent with MMA background, trained with Brian Kendrick

* Kimberly Frankele - WWE NXT talent, formerly known as Kimber Lee on the indies

* Lacey Evans - NXT talent and a Marine, formerly known as Macey Estrella

* Mary Kate - NXT talent and formerly known as Rosie Lottalove in TNA

* Sarah Logan - NXT talent, formerly known as Sarah Bridges in NXT and Crazy Mary Dobson on the indies

* Taynara Melo - WWE developmental talent signed last year, black belt from Brazil

* Victoria Gonzales - WWE developmental talent signed in 2016, college athlete and daughter of Rudy Boy Gonzales

* Zhao Xia - WWE's first female Chinese talent

The tournament will tape on July 13th and July 14th but there are plans to hold live finals on Tuesday, September 12th, possibly at the WWE SmackDown tapings in Las Vegas that night. The plan is to release the first round of the tournament in late August with the second round being released in early September via the on-demand section of the WWE Network.

Starz Is Developing A Drama Series About Independent Wrestling

Ever since Netflix announced their upcoming series based on G.L.O.W., it seems like everyone in television is trying to get a piece of that sweet, sweet pro wrestling content. The Rock and Will Ferrell are developing a comedy set in a wrestling promotion, and people like Norman Mailer and Billy Corgan had wrestling-based shows in development at one time or another.

Deadline reports that the cable network Starz is the next into the fray, as they are in active development on an hour-long drama called (for the moment) Heels. Starz is considering a direct eight-episode order of the first season, which has yet to shoot a pilot. The details as of now, such as they are.

Written by Michael Waldron and to be directed by Kyle Patrick Alvarez (The Stanford Prison Experiment), Heels is the story of two brothers and rivals – one a villain, or “heel,” in the ring; the other a hero, or “face.” Real conflicts play out in fake matches as they war over their late father’s wrestling promotion, vying for national attention in small-town Georgia.

I don’t know about you, but I’ll never get tired of non-wrestling outlets being forced to explain wrestling terminology. It’s basically just one of these:

Anyway, it’s clear that pro wrestling television shows are the new hotness. If any studio honchos are reading this and need ideas and/or staff for a pro wrestling show, the entire With Spandex family is available. You’re welcome.

source: uproxx.com

Triple H Confirms Plans for a WWE Women’s Tournament

Triple H made an appearance on the FOX Sports Wrestling Compadres Slamcast this week and confirmed WWE does have plans for a Women’s Tournament similar to the UK Title tournament. Below is an excerpt from the show:

DALE RUTLEDGE: “Last time on the show, [Stephanie McMahon] mentioned an idea for the women’s talent that you were working on. Has there been any further development on that?”

TRIPLE H: “So, that’s another one of my big, big kind of passions, is to go do that, a women’s tournament. And we’re down the road a bit of — the harder thing now, in a changing landscape, I feel like sometimes in WWE, like, you know, Tuesday, I’m like, “Okay, so this is where we’re going, right? No changing it? Yes!” On Wednesday morning, you have to call, it’s like, “We’re not doing that anymore.”

So you look at the landscape and how much it’s changed in the last year. NXT Takeovers now are attached to our “Big Four” pay-per-views. Raw and SmackDown have split brands and have pay-per-views of their own, but there’s more pay-per-views. When you look at the big calendar of where do you stick an event, that’s changed. And you have to look for the space where you go like, “Do it here! … no, that’s not good, you have a holiday.” Right?

So it’s really just been a process with the women of us finding the right time and space. This one worked out great with the little gap before Rumble here, to fit this tournament in and doing it in a shorter time frame, doing it live.

The women, we’re probably going to do this summer, is what I’m hoping, and a lot of women performers just [reacted] when I said that, but that’s the plan anyway. And you know, again, much like cruisers, it’s to go scour the globe and maybe find the girls that are out there doing this that no one’s heard of, that no one has seen, that are like these diamonds waiting, and bring them up. And let’s see what they can do, and entertain people with the tournament, and let them be exposed to this new talent. And at the same time, just massively increase the opportunity and the talent pool for us, and for everyone, really.”

Kenny Omega On WWE Becoming A Monopoly

"It seems as though we're headed towards a monopoly, if I were to speak honestly. WWE is hiring people just to hire them. That's fine, and I'm happy for whoever's happy to collect a paycheck from them. A lot of my good friends are now receiving work and receiving money. But sadly, a lot of those people are signing with WWE just to ride the pine. You can't put all these guys on TV. On one end, you have these mom-and-pop indy superstars getting TV time, and people all around the world are able to see the art of what they do. And in a lot of cases, they're enjoying it, which is fantastic. I'm really happy about that," he said. "But as everyone gets picked up, as all these independent promotions have to shut down and close their doors because of WWE scooping everyone up, everyone's going to lose an option. And that guy you saw for that one tournament, you're not going to see him anymore. You can't put him on TV, there's only so much time. So eventually, people are going to run out of options."

Pro Wrestling Has A Scott Boras-Like Super-Agent, And His Client List Is Mind Blowing

In football there is Drew Rosenhaus. In baseball there is Scott Boras. And in pro wrestling there is Bill Behrens. You may not know his name, but you know many of his endless list of clients. A virtual who’s who of elite squared-circle performers that dominate cable television on Monday or Tuesday nights. Just a few months ago he brokered a once unthinkable deal to finally landed AJ Styles in a WWE ring. In fact, even he admits he was surprised it happened. It seemed as though Styles was heading back to TNA before Triple H gave him a call and intervened.

Behrens has Hall of Fame announcer Jim Ross on speed dial and is proudly the booking agent for the man that nearly put WWE out of business in the late 1990s, Eric Bischoff. Everybody who’s ever been anybody in wrestling is seemingly connected to him. Kevin Nash trusts him to find the perfect dates on the independent wrestling circuit. As does Scott Hall and Sean “X-Pac” Waltman.

And even though he’s negotiating for the icons of the wrestling business, he’s not afraid to negotiate a deal without a contract with one of the largest wrestling companies in the world. It’s a matter of trust.

Behrens is the equivalent of the Dos Equis guy. He’s the most interesting man in the world… the wrestling world anyway.

You can listen to the full interview here.

source: cbslocal.com

Chris Hero Talks WWE Return And News Getting Out, Gives Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Farewell?, More

As noted, former WWE NXT Superstar Chris Hero, known then as Kassius Ohno, is reportedly set to return to the company soon. There's still no word on if he will be returning to NXT or headed to the main roster. Hero may have had his farewell for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla at their December 16th Mystery Vortex show in Reseda, California. Hero took the pin as he and JT Dunn lost to Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly.

After the match, Hero took the mic and put over the other talents in the match. According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, he then said he wanted to talk about "the elephant in the room" and called himself the elephant. Hero wasn't happy about the news of his WWE return getting out and was blindsided by it. He said he wanted to tell certain promoters he's regularly worked with about the return to WWE before they read it on the internet but that wasn't possible after Dave Meltzer of The Observer broke the story. Hero also wasn't happy because people read the story on his WWE return and took it as he's already gone from the indies but he was still awaiting the final confirmation.

Meltzer first heard about Hero returning to WWE several weeks ago, from a WWE source off the record, but didn't get multiple sources saying so on the record until the day it was reported. Hero has apparently agreed to the deal and has done his medical tests but it appears the process is still not completed as of this week, according to Meltzer. Hero mentioned in his PWG speech how Willie Mack and other talents have been told they were coming in but then were not brought in due to various medical issues. Hero's first run with the company was delayed due to his own medical issues.

Hero is not booking indie dates for 2017, which could indicate he will be starting soon if the deal goes through. Hero did say he wasn't sure if the PWG show on December 16th was his last for the promotion.

NJPW Owner Talks WWE Global Expansion

Owner of Bushiroad and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Takaaki Kidani recently took to Twitter to talk a little bit about NJPW's strategy towards WWE's ever-growing global presence. Just this past week, WWE announced a brand new UK Championship and tournament that will help build their influence in England and its surrounding areas going forward. Kidani sees WWE is trying to build new global territories as another way to generate revenue and to tour internationally at a lower cost. Here are his tweets translated by Chris Charlton into English.

"WWE strategy 1: raise roughly 2 billion Yen from the network to create a network of global territories and tie up talent. It's very possible WWE purchase a promotion in Japan. WWE are shoring up their network because of cable cutters and prevalence of streaming, meaning declining TV ratings. The cable TV structure as is will collapse in the US within 3-5 years."

Kidani continues about WWE's attempt to cut costs and create new stars:

"There are many reasons for WWE to create local territories. It cuts cost just to send talent on international tours and not the whole infrastructure. WWE are only functionally profitable in the U.S., Canada and U.K. They have TV elsewhere but that's all. By creating territories, they're able to actually create products with awareness of cultural differences and characteristics of markets. WWE have had difficulty in creating new stars. By going to local territories and broadcasting them, they can create network stars. WWE are taking big gambles, in IT for one."

While keeping things vague, Kidani finishes with this bombshell:

"This isn't the platform to discuss NJPW strategy fully, but we will announce something soon. We are entering a phase where you are either with WWE or against them. WWE have a lot of weaknesses and time is not on their side."

Baltimore a pipeline for professional wrestling stardom

Hundreds of wrestlers across the country are wrestling in front of small crowds on cards in high school gymnasiums, flea markets and minor league baseball stadiums in pursuit of the dream of making it as a professional wrestler.

Many of those wrestlers are based in Maryland, a state which that has gained a national reputation for producing some of the top up-and-coming wrestlers in the business today...More?

source: wbaltv.com

Triple H announces that WWE will crown the first-ever WWE United Kingdom Champion live on WWE Network this January

Today in @WWEUK we announce the @WWE UK Championship Tournament to crown the FIRST EVER UK Champion. #GetReady pic.twitter.com/KkZGGp5ERF

— Triple H (@TripleH) December 15, 2016

WWE Expected To Make Several Talent Acquisitions In Early 2017, Agents Watching Indie IPPV Events

WWE officials are expected to make several talent acquisitions during the first quarter of 2017, according to PWInsider. In addition to a WWE Performance Center tryout scheduled for early February, WWE has talents set to report to the Performance Center on January 3rd.

Among names scheduled to report in January include talents for the rumored all-women's tournament - Heidi Lovelace, Nixon Newell, Evie and Kimber Lee, who lost to Ember Moon on this week's WWE NXT episode.

WWE is said be in signing mode right now and officials are working harder than ever to evaluate talents and watch the indie scene. WWE reportedly has people watching iPPV events and doing complete agent reports on them, similar to reports the company creates for their own live events to track talents and see how they're improving.

WWE Reportedly Offering “Mark Deals” to Indy Talents to Keep Them Off UK TV, News on Possible Big Competition for WWE in the UK

According to The Wrestling Observer, ITV recently taped a pilot for the World of Sport revival, which is set to air at the end of the month. ITV is the #2 network in The UK, and WWE could end up being in a situation in which it’s no longer the #1 promotion in The UK, as Raw draws about 150,000 viewers on Sky Sports, whereas ITV could be seen by millions of people. When it comes to live attendance, however, WWE would still be the #1 promotion in The UK.

The World of Sport Revival special, which was taped back in November, will air later this month and feature commentary by WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross. A series has yet to be picked up, but it’s strongly being considered, with one idea being to hold a large taping in a few months in which about 10 episodes of TV is shot all at once.
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In related news, WWE has been very aggressive as of late in offering UK talents new deals, and speculation is that the deals being offered are simply an attempt to keep the talents off potential competitor’s TV programs. Furthermore, it appears as if WWE vs ITV is already a battle brewing behind-the-scenes, as ITV recently sent talents amendments to their contracts stipulating talents cannot appear on other major TV shows while under contract to ITV.

As it pertains to the talent deals being offered by WWE, the contracts are said not to be for the main roster or even for NXT or the Performance Center, and are being labeled “competition-killer” deals. The contracts are said to be low-dollar guaranteed deals, which would allow key UK talents to work the independent scene, but WWE would have the right to approve any and all bookings the talents take. The appeal here for the talents is that the deals would give them a financial cushion from WWE, as well as the value of being associated with a big promotion. The appeal for WWE is the company would then be able to lock the talents into deals preventing them from working for ITV.

The new deals were reportedly a hot topic at the last ICW show in Glasgow, and some talents there were urging other talents not to sign the deals, calling them “mark deals”, with the idea being WWE doesn’t actually want the talents, they just don’t want them working anywhere else.

There’s also speculation on WWE possibly doing some kind of TV show with these new UK talents for that market only. The idea is that just being associated with WWE will be a big boost to the local marketability of each talent signed.

WWN Live Announces New Championship To Be Defended Across All Company Promotions

WWN Live issued the following update today, announcing a new WWN Championship that will be defended across all of the WWN promotions:


The World Wrestling Network (WWN) will crown the first ever WWN Champion in Orlando, FL on April 1st at the WWN Supershow: Mercury Rising 2017. Go to www.MoreThanMania.com for more event info. The WWN Supershow will be broadcast at www.FloSlam.tv live.

The WWN Family is a variety of promotions, each with its own championships. Now that all the WWN promotions are broadcast live on FloSlam, WWN officials have decided to tie everything together with a WWN Champion. The WWN Champion will defend the WWN Title across WWN promotions. The format of the tournament to crown the first WWN Champion will be announced in the upcoming weeks.
The WWN Family includes:
-EVOLVE: The prestige men’s promotion.
-SHINE: The prestige women’s promotion.
-Full Impact Pro: The Wild West promotion.
-Style Battle: A tournament based promotion.
-American Combat Wrestling: The old school, regional promotion
-WWN Supershow: A conglomerate of all the promotions on one special event.
The WWN Champion will stand on top of The WWN Family. Who will represent WWN into the FloSlam era? Stay tuned.

More Wrestling Promotions Drop Joey Styles

As noted, former WWE employee and ECW announcer Joey Styles was fired from EVOLVE over the weekend for making a Donald Trump related joke during a broadcast. Beyond Wrestling and CHIKARA have announced that they have also parted ways with Styles.

Beyond Wrestling posted on Twitter:

"Despite his unprofessional behavior I would like to extend him the professional courtesy of a phone call before making an announcement."

"Joey Styles will no longer be appearing at Sunday's live event in Worcester or any future Beyond Wrestling live events. Thank you."

CHIKARA founder Mike Quackenbush also posted a blog piece noting that the company would not be using Styles any further, as seen below:

The events of the last few days have been just cause to take a look at the state of professional wrestling. The art form that I love, and have dedicated my entire adult life to, is embarrassingly behind the times. It is beholden to outdated tenets that threaten to render it...obsolete at worst, and a punchline at best.

I know there are others, influential and celebrated, that imagine pro-wrestling to be a bubble in which the social norms from a bygone era are still relevant and valid. At CHIKARA, we rail against them, and those ideals, with everything we make. It is one thing to speak, to voice an opinion. It is one thing to call for change, to wish for change, to imagine how that change might come about. It is another thing to make it. At CHIKARA, we make it happen. It doesn't matter to us in the least how many people show up to see it, or how many people recognize it for what it is. Our mantra is not about critical acclaim or pats on the back: "We believe pro-wrestling should be fun. That's why we make it for everyone."

Effective today, we are terminating our relationship with Joey Styles. Effective today, we are instituting a zero tolerance policy for misogynistic, racist, and/or homophobic speech, written or verbal, whether it's directed toward our cast, our crew, or our patrons. This is the shape of CHIKARA.

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Gabe Sapolsky Talks Working Relationship With WWE, Triple H's Influence, Opportunities For Talents

Co-Founder and Vice President of EVOLVE and WWN Live, as well as former Ring of Honor booker, Gabe Sapolsky joined Busted Open with Doug Mortman and Dave LaGreca to discuss EVOLVE's relationship with WWE, Triple H's influence in it, and much more. You can check out some highlights below:

The relationship between EVOLVE and WWE:

"The WWE has been a tremendous help to us and we still continue our relationship with them. It's important that we have this relationship with WWE, not just for the company but for the wrestlers as well and have that conduit for the wrestlers to go to WWE, and that's something they'll always have with WWN. We made sure our relationship there is healthy, they have William Regal coming to our show in Maryland on November 13th, and EVOLVE show, and we're gonna keep going. Hopefully you see these guys move on. Drew Gulak and Tony Neese, they're on RAW almost every Monday, and you're gonna see them at our upcoming events in Queens, New York.

"It's an unreal time where you see this talent going from our evolve shows, and then being on RAW, and then coming back, and then going to NXT, and then we're able to have a farewell for someone like Johnny Gargano like we had last month, and see all the hard work he put in and move on. The opportunity is there, WWE has made this such an exciting time for wrestling fans because of this, because you never know who's going to pop up where next. They've made it an exciting time for the wrestlers, and most importantly WWE has played a huge part in helping the overall health in professional wrestling, and making this work for everybody."

WWE having their finger on the pulse of pro wrestling's streaming service after the WWE Network and their financial backing of FloSlam:

"It's freaking crazy (chuckles). I'm still at the point -- it's been like this all year where I wake up everyday and I don't know what the next e-mail, or the next phone call, or the next text is going to bring. It's amazing because it's like limitless opportunity all over the place, and there is no telling what tomorrow is gonna bring. We'll just have to see what happens. Flo Sports and FlowSlam.TV is gonna have a very progressive attitude, and WWE has shown how much they respect and value the independents and the health of everything by everything they've done. This isn't something they're talking about, they have actually demonstrated it and shown it. I mean when you have Triple H showing up at one of our shows, that is unbelievable to me and that's what happened last January. I still can't believe it and we're ten months later. It's just one of those things where all of this crazy stuff is going on, and nobody really knows what's going to happen next."

Triple H's influence in their relationship with WWE:

"Yeah, Triple H is the man, I mean if you want to talk about a guy that is really right on the cutting edge, and sees the landscape, and has an understanding of where it's gonna develop and the vision of where it's gonna develop, that's Triple H. This thing has been very important to him, our House of EVOLVE has been very important to him, and he's backed up his words with actions. In turn hopefully they've benefited a little bit as far as this talent exchange goes, and we hope it continues. Most importantly I love seeing the talent get this opportunity. This is something that back in the ROH days I'd sit around and I saw these guys working their asses off and the sacrifices they made, and I sad down and said 'hopefully Bryan Danielson will be able to scratch out a living one day.' CM Punk, hopefully the same. Samoa Joe, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, I go 'I hope it pays off for these guys, maybe they can go to Japan or something.' Now we see it really is paying off for these guys, and the fact that their future is limitless. Daniel Bryan, I know he's got the injury thing and everything, but it looks like he's got a job there for life doing various roles or whatever pops up. I just like seeing it pay off for everybody and hopefully it continues like this, and I don't see any reason why it won't."

New Streaming Player With WWE Connections Expected to Announce the Acquisition of Independent Pro Wrestling Content

According to PWInsider.com, FloSports, a tech company based out of Austin, TX, built around live, streaming subscription content, has been in contact with a number of top independent professional wrestling companies, regarding bringing their content to the FloSports platform. Over the past year, FloSports has been streaming live sporting events, and last week the company unveiled apps for Roku and AppleTV as a way to expand their reach as a streaming platform.

Back in August of this year, FloSports issued a press release, and the following is a release excerpt, noting World Wrestling Entertainment is one of the investors in the budding tech company:

FloSports today announced it has received $21.2 million in new funding to accelerate the online sports network’s growth into new sports and expand its existing verticals. DCM Ventures and Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI) led the financing, with participation from World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Discovery Communications and existing investor Causeway Media Partners.

PWInsider is adding FloSports is planning to make a number of announcements this week revealing relationships with independent wrestling promotions which will see their content exclusively shift over to Flosports for streaming. As of now the plan is to charge $20 a month for access to live and video on demand programming, including older events and documentary style features, under the name FloSlam.

It’s also worth noting that background images for the FloSlam website, which you can check out at this link, feature John Cena and Randy Orton while a “People” section on the website includes just about the full WWE roster, complete with profiles. Images used on social media also feature WWE Superstars.