WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon commented on AEW vs. WWE NXT, Paul Heyman being dismissed from his creative job, and Triple H working creative during WWE's Second Quarter 2020 earnings call with investors from this evening.
Vince took the loaded call from Brandon Ross of Lightshed Partners. Ross asked Vince why he thinks WWE NXT and AEW Dynamite have bounced back from the initial COVID-19 shock better than RAW and SmackDown have, if Triple H could help in an elevated creative role on RAW and SmackDown given his NXT success, why why he fired Paul Heyman from the RAW Executive Director job and if firing Heyman means that Vince has abandoned the strategy he spoke about during the Q1 call in January, where he indicated that they had to be patient with the plan to get over new talents on the main roster.
"That was a lot," Vince first responded to the question. He took the NXT - AEW question and said they are looking to make RAW and SmackDown have a more youthful feel. "I think some of those are new. It's something that's new, and what have you, and it's up to us to make RAW and SmackDown feel more youthful. That is where we're going."
Vince then commented on the strategy that he firs talked about during the Q1 call in April, where he said they are working on building new main roster Superstars, and that it will take some time to get them over. He did not directly answer if Heyman's creative dismissal means a change in direction when it comes to getting over new stars.
"As far as continuing on, acting on what's new and building and characters, you always have to build new characters. Constantly," Vince said.
Regarding Triple H possibly taking on an "elevated role" with the RAW and SmackDown creative teams, based off his success on the NXT brand, Vince noted that he already helps out.
"As far as Paul Levesque helping out on RAW and SmackDown, that happens," Vince said. "It's 'all hands on deck' in terms of all that we do."
Finally, Vince commented on Heyman's work in creative. While he will remain with the company as an on-air talent, Heyman was released from his role as RAW Executive Director on June 11 of this year, one year after he was hired for the role. Vince briefly spoke on Heyman but said he did a good job.
"As far as Paul Heyman's concerned, he did a very good job in terms of creativity," Vince said.
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July 30, 2020
Vince McMahon On AEW Ratings Rebounding While RAW And SmackDown Drop, Paul Heyman, Triple H
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Kaliqo~
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10:26 PM
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Labels: All Elite Wrestling, Paul Heyman, Raw, SmackDown, Television Ratings, Triple H, Vince McMahon, WWE, WWE NXT
July 29, 2020
Triple H: No One Is Allowed To Enter A WWE Closed Set Without A Negative COVID-19 Test
WWE has not taken a full week off of producing content since the start of the global Coronavirus pandemic. Throughout the time that has elapsed since March when the pandemic began, Florida, where WWE films most of its content, has become a bit of an epicenter for the pandemic. As such, WWE has had to ensure the safety of its staff and performers and Paul Levesque aka Triple H continues to Champion the forward-thinking efforts of WWE and their partners. During The WWE annual shareholders meeting (via Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics), Triple H opened up about WWE testing procedure and how serious the promotion takes the COVID-19 threat.
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Kaliqo~
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12:30 PM
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Labels: Raw, SmackDown, Triple H, Vince McMahon, WWE, WWE NXT
July 16, 2020
Monday Night's RAW Draws Lowest Viewership Of All Time
This past Monday's edition of WWE Raw, featuring a Women's Tag Team Championship main event, drew it's lowest viewership in the history of it's 27 years as a television show at 1.56 million viewers.
Below is the hour-wise breakup of viewers for RAW:
Hour 1: 1.70 million viewers (last week: 1.70 million)
Hour 2: 1.60 million viewers (last week: 1.75 million)
Hour 3: 1.50 million viewers (last week: 1.61 million)
June 11, 2020
Paul Heyman Removed From His Position As Executive Director Of WWE RAW
June 1, 2020
WWE Launches Free Version Of The WWE Network
WWE today unveiled the free version of WWE Network. The free version features a vast portion of its content library with more than 15,000 WWE titles now available for free, with no credit card required.
The free version of WWE Network includes:
* New shows including Raw Talk, streaming Monday nights each week immediately following Raw
* Original series including Monday Night War, Ride Along, Table for 3, Photo Shoot and Story Time
* Recent episodes of WWE's flagship programs Monday Night Raw, Friday Night SmackDown and NXT
* Select historical WWE pay-per-views and NXT TakeOver events
* Weekly WWE highlights, Top 10, WWE's The Bump, WWE Now, The Best of WWE and WWE Timeline
"The launch of WWE Network's Free Version is a key component of our company's digitization strategy and a new way for all fans to be able to experience premium WWE content," said Jayar Donlan, WWE Executive Vice President, Advanced Media. "As we continue to reimagine WWE Network's offering, the Free Version will serve as an effective way to reach a broader group of consumers and allow them to experience the history and spectacle of WWE."
To access WWE Network's free version, download the WWE App on any device, including TVs, gaming consoles, mobile phones, tablets and computers.
April 17, 2020
WWE Superstars will climb the corporate ladder at WWE Money In The Bank
This year’s WWE Money In The Bank Men’s and Women’s Match participants will have an even more unique challenge ahead of them than usual.
The match begins on the ground floor of WWE Headquarters, but the briefcases – containing contracts for a championship match anytime, anyplace – will be hanging all the way up on the roof of the corporate tower.
Catch the historic, groundbreaking matches when WWE Money In The Bank streams live on the award-winning WWE Network on Sunday, May 10, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.
~ Kayfabe by
Kaliqo~
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9:41 PM
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Labels: Raw, SmackDown, WWE, WWE Network, WWE NXT, WWE Womens Division
April 15, 2020
WWE PC Coach And Others Released, WWE To Cut Hundreds Of Employees, More On Today's Departures
WWE NXT Superstar MJ Jenkins, Performance Center coach Norman Smiley, Spanish announcer Jerry Soto and on-air talent Josiah Williams to the list of wrestlers, creative writers, producers, referees and other talent released today by WWE.
Regarding the releases, @Wrestlevotes noted that the number of staff and talent releases will be "well into the hundreds" when everything has been finalized. Casey of Squared Circle Sirens also noted on Twitter that staff from the WWE Performance Center are being let go.
Below is the updated lists of confirmed cuts made today by the company, along with the tweets from Jenkins, Smiley, Soto and Williams:
* MJ Jenkins
* Deonna Purrazzo
* Aleksandar Jaksic
* Rusev
* No Way Jose
* Mike Kanellis
* Maria Kanellis
* Primo
* Epico
* Rowan
* Sarah Logan
* Karl Anderson
* Luke Gallows
* EC3
* Drake Maverick
* Curt Hawkins
* Heath Slater
* Eric Young
* Lio Rush
PRODUCERS (Furloughed or released):
* WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle (Released)
* Billy Kidman
* Mike Rotunda
* Pat Buck
* Fit Finlay
* Shawn Daivari
* Scott Armstrong
* Sarah Stock
* Shane Helms
* Lance Storm
ANNOUNCERS:
* Aiden English
* Jerry Soto
REFEREES:
* Mike Chioda
CREATIVE:
* Andrea Listenberger
COACHES:
* Norman Smiley
OTHER ON-AIR TALENT:
* Josiah Williams
~ Kayfabe by
Kaliqo~
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8:23 PM
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Labels: Raw, SmackDown, WWE, WWE NXT, WWE Performance Center, WWE Womens Division
April 13, 2020
WWE Considered An Essential Business By Florida Governor's Office
"I think initially there was a review that was done and they were not initially deemed an essential business. With some conversation with the Governor's office regarding he Governor's [stay-at-home] order, they were deemed an essential business. Therefore they were allowed to remain open."
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Kaliqo~
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7:38 PM
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Labels: Raw, SmackDown, WWE, WWE NXT, WWE Performance Center
October 31, 2019
NXT Will Be Part Of Survivor Series This Year For The First Time
During tonight's WWE Crown Jewel event an advertisement confirmed Survivor Series this year will include Superstars from Raw, SmackDown and NXT. This is also an indication that NXT is being adopted more as a main brand, rather than a "developmental" one as it has been since inception. Survivor Series takes place on November 24 at the Allstate Arena in Illinois.
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Kaliqo~
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6:47 PM
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September 19, 2019
WWE NXT Draws Strong Audience For USA Network Premiere
Last night's WWE NXT premiere on the USA Network drew 1.179 million viewers, according to Showbuzz Daily.
The show ranked #4 for the night in the Cable Top 150 18-49 demographic, behind American Horror Story, Basketball Wives and Black Ink Crew. NXT ranked #19 for the night in viewership.
These numbers are for the first hour that aired on the USA Network. We do not have viewership for the second hour that aired on the WWE Network. Both hours will begin airing on USA with the Wednesday, October 2 episode.
To compare, Monday's RAW drew an average of 2.272 million viewers, up from last week's 2.130 million viewers. Tuesday's SmackDown drew 2.064 million viewers, barely up from last week's 2.061 million viewers.
USA aired a special NXT episode back on Wednesday, December 13, 2017 and that show drew 841,000 viewers, and ranked #22 on the Cable Top 150.
September 15, 2019
WWE Draft Official Announcement, Celebrities From Fox And NBCUniversal To Announce Picks
As noted earlier, the 2019 WWE Draft has been confirmed to begin on the October 11 SmackDown episode, then wrap on the October 14 RAW episode.
WWE has announced that Superstars will be appearing on RAW and SmackDown along with personalities from Fox and NBCUniversal programming, who will announce the picks.
WWE issued the following press release to us this afternoon to confirm the Draft:
WWE® DRAFT SET FOR FOX AND USA NETWORK ON OCTOBER 11 AND 14
STAMFORD, Conn. – September 15, 2019 – The destiny of WWE's Superstars will be determined during a two-night draft taking place live on Friday Night SmackDown® on October 11 at 8 pm ET on the FOX broadcast network and Monday Night Raw® on October 14 at 8 pm ET on USA Network.
On both nights of the draft, Superstars from Raw and SmackDown will appear along with personalities from FOX and NBCUniversal programming who will announce select picks from each brand. The draft will determine the Superstars that compete for Raw and SmackDown, which feature distinct casts, unique storylines and dedicated writing teams.
Friday Night SmackDown on October 11 will emanate from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas while Monday Night Raw on October 14 will take place at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
Raw and SmackDown are the #1 and #2 longest-running weekly episodic television shows in U.S. primetime history. The programs have aired more original episodes than The Simpsons, Gunsmoke, Lassie and Monday Night Football.
Raw will continue airing on USA Network while SmackDown moves to FOX beginning Friday, October 4.
~ Kayfabe by
Kaliqo~
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5:05 PM
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September 4, 2019
WWE RAW Nominated For People's Choice Award
RAW was nominated for "The Show of 2019" award. They are going up against Game of Thrones, Grey's Anatomy, Riverdale, Stranger Things, The Big Bang Theory, The Walking Dead and This Is Us.
Fans can vote for RAW at this link. Voting ends on Friday, October 18, and fans can vote up to 25 times.
The E! People's Choice Awards will air on Sunday, November 10 on the E! network.
August 8, 2019
Triple H On Why He Was Not Given WWE Executive Director Role, Vince McMahon "Outliving All Of Us"
Paul "Triple H" Levesque took part on a conference call today to hype NXT Takeover Toronto and WWE SummerSlam taking place this weekend.
During the call, the NXT Senior Producer was asked about the new roles of Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff as Executive Directors of RAW and SmackDown, respectively. In particular, Triple H was asked if he was under consideration for one of those roles.
"You have to understand the way it's laid out, the scope of what they're doing is very specific to those shows," Triple H explained. "While I'm still at the shows there are many weeks where due to my schedule and other commitments I can't be at every single RAW or every single SmackDown. The scope of the things that I do are way beyond live events, it also encompasses creative regarding shirts, billboards and the things you don't see they just sort of appear; as well as everything to do with talent.
"There are only so many hours in the day, even though the WWE and Vince [McMahon] are working hard at creating an eighth day, as well as extra hours added onto the 24 hours in a day, so we can get more accomplished.
"I'm thrilled it is those guys and think they'll knock it out of the park. I'm excited to work with both of them. Heyman, I have been working with for a while and Bischoff, it's been a while but this is the first time I've kind of worked with him in this manner. So far it's an exciting process so I'm really happy and already see the positives from it."
Triple H was also asked about if WWE has a plan for who will eventually take over WWE, the COO was quick to stress that succession plans constantly change and that those who think Vince McMahon is stepping away are mistaken - stating that the chairman of the board will probably "outlive all of us".
"In any company of this size and with everything that we do you have to have some succession plans and you have to have a plan for the next level of where you want to go. I think sometimes people get caught up in just the product that gets put out there thinking it's just about RAW or SmackDown and someone is the heir apparent to this, that or whatever. There is no heir apparent.
"There are succession plans to everything, those plans change on the regular because this company changes on the regular. There's a lot of factors involved regarding who goes where, how and what happens - it's a constantly evolving thing.
"But all of us, Vince, myself, Steph, everybody in this company is constantly looking at when things shift, who can take who's place and who does what. You're constantly looking for people who can step up and take things off your plate so you can advance to something different."
Source: Wrestling Inc.
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Kaliqo~
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9:02 PM
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Labels: Eric Bischoff, Paul Heyman, Raw, SmackDown, Triple H, Vince McMahon, WWE
July 25, 2019
Vince McMahon On WWE Staying PG But Getting Edgier, Why Eric Bischoff & Paul Heyman Were Hired
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
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Kaliqo~
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8:07 PM
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Labels: Raw, SmackDown, Television Ratings, Vince McMahon, WWE, WWE Network
June 28, 2019
Triple H Praises Paul Heyman And Eric Bischoff, Welcomes Them Back To The WWE Team
WWE Hall of Famer Triple H took to Twitter this evening to issue his first public comments on Paul Heyman being hired as WWE's Executive Director of RAW and Eric Bischoff coming back to the company as the Executive Director of SmackDown.
"Two people who pushed our industry and @WWE forward over the last 25+ years. Great to have @HeymanHustle and @EBischoff working on #Raw and #SDLive. Welcome BACK to the team," wrote Triple H, WWE's Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative.
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Kaliqo~
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10:14 PM
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Labels: Eric Bischoff, Paul Heyman, Raw, SmackDown, Triple H, WWE
June 27, 2019
WWE Names Eric Bischoff And Paul Heyman As New Executive Directors Of RAW And SmackDown
WWE has named Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman as Executive Directors.
Bischoff is set to become the new Executive Director of WWE SmackDown while Heyman is set to become the new Executive Director of WWE RAW. Both will report directly to WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.
The new roles are full-time executive roles. According to Sports Illustrated, there are no current plans for these roles to be introduced as part of a TV storyline.
Bischoff will also work directly with Fox executives as the blue brand plans to premiere on Fox Friday nights in October, SI reported.
The major move will allow WWE to establish "two distinct creative processes for its flagship shows."
Below is the full press release that WWE sent Wrestling Inc.:
WWE® NAMES PAUL HEYMAN AND ERIC BISCHOFF EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS
Stamford, Conn., June 27, 2019 – WWE (NYSE: WWE) today announced that it has named Paul Heyman as Executive Director of Monday Night Raw and Eric Bischoff as Executive Director of SmackDown Live, newly created positions reporting directly to WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon.
In their executive roles, Heyman and Bischoff will oversee the creative development of WWE's flagship programming and ensure integration across all platforms and lines of business. The creation of these roles further establishes WWE's ability to continuously reinvent its global brand while providing two distinct creative processes for its flagship shows.
With more than 30 years of experience in the sports entertainment industry, Heyman served as President of ECW from 1993-2001, securing pay-per-view distribution for the company as well as a national cable television deal with TNN. After his time with ECW, Heyman joined WWE's Creative team and is widely credited with helping launch the careers of many current and former WWE Superstars.
Bischoff is a former WCW President and New York Times bestselling author. During his WCW career, Bischoff oversaw the signing of some of the biggest names in sports entertainment and helped create and develop the NWO storyline. He was also instrumental in securing a television deal for WCW Monday Nitro on TNT and WCW Thunder on TBS. After WCW, Bischoff co-founded Bischoff-Hervey Entertainment, a production company that launched TV reality shows and mobile games.
~ Kayfabe by
Kaliqo~
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12:41 PM
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Labels: Eric Bischoff, Paul Heyman, Raw, SmackDown, Vince McMahon, WWE
June 26, 2019
Exclusive Details On Harvard's WWE Case Study: Who WWE Sees As Their Main Competitor, Royalties
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Kaliqo~
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7:07 PM
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Labels: Puroresu, Raw, ROH, Ronda Rousey, SmackDown, Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, Vince McMahon, WWE NXT
June 3, 2019
WWE NXT Takeover Draws More Than RAW And SmackDown
As noted, Mauro Ranallo announced that Saturday's WWE NXT "Takeover: XXV" event from the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, CT was sold out, but no attendance figure was given. Triple H revealed in his post-show media call that the 25th Takeover special was the highest-grossing event WWE has done at that arena.
"This brand can stand on its own, and tonight was special. This was the highest-grossing WWE event we've done in this building. We've done RAW and SmackDown here, and this outdrew them."
There's no word yet on the actual number of fans in attendance but the Webster Bank Arena has a capacity of 10,000 for concerts, up to 9,000 for basketball games, and around 8,400 for hockey games.
May 30, 2019
Triple H On Tyler Breeze Back On NXT Roster, Creative Decisions When NXT Stars Join WWE Main Roster
In WWE as in life, sometimes things don't go as planned and adjustments are made. An example of that is someone in NXT being called up to the main roster because of necessity which then affects both NXT and whatever brand they join.
Triple H was asked by Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman about those creative decisions and also the possibility of the 24/7 or Women's Tag Titles being defended in NXT.
"It's definitely a possibility on both," Triple H said. "When Sasha and Bayley had the tag team championships, they talked about it. It's something I would love to have, but it really just comes down to scheduling. Trying to match the schedules up is the biggest problem. But who knows? You could see any of them at any time."
~ Kayfabe by
Kaliqo~
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8:10 PM
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Labels: Raw, SmackDown, Triple H, Tyler Breeze, WWE, WWE NXT