Former World Heavyweight Champion Batista was a guest on F4Wonline.com's Wrestling Observer Radio this week to discuss his time with WWE, MMA, the future and lots more. Here are highlights from the excellent interview:
Batista said he left WWE because he felt like he didn't fit in anymore. He feels like wrestling is in a bad spot right now and has gone down hill since the whole PG direction. Batista said it leaves a bad taste in his mouth and became too unbelievable & hokey. He added that the things he learned from guys like Triple H and Ric Flair, you couldn't do anymore. He said you couldn't use your tools anymore. Batista said he felt like he became disconnected from the business and became unhappy with it. He still believes in WWE as a company but there wasn't a place for him anymore.
Regarding his most recent run where some felt it was the best work of his career, Batista said he knew he was leaving and basically did what he wanted to do and eventually it worked. He didn't care about pissing anyone off on the mic and just put his thoughts out there more without worrying about upsetting anyone. He said this started to work so Vince McMahon let him work with it. He recalled one promo before his last WrestleMania in San Jose, California where he let it run how he wanted to do it, ripping on several people. When he got backstage, Vince told him that he went too far with the promo and gave him a good earful.
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June 16, 2011
Batista Comments On Why He Left WWE, His Future In Wrestling, More
The McMahons and WWE Stock
The McMahon family currently owns 46,483,000 shares of WWE stock, which would be 61.4% of the company. The new stock dividend of 12 cents per share per quarter would come out to $5,577,960 per quarter to the McMahons or $22,311,840 per year, about half of what it was last year.
source: wrestling observer newsletter
Rumor Mill - Monday Night Raw Pre-Show Coming
Wrestlezone.com is reporting that there is a plan to add a pre-show to RAW from 8:30-9pm EST. It would be a countdown show to RAW that would take place at the arena where RAW is being held each week. The production would include Superstar interviews, fan interaction and obviously further promoting the major stories going on. It would be something similar to a college game day live countdown like ESPN on any major network might do leading up to a big game.
This addition to WWE's programming is very close to being a done deal and would likely start this fall. Its more time on the USA network during prime time hours on a Monday night which can mean more money. The ability to insert sponsors and promotions in the countdown show also can mean more profit for the WWE. This is apparently an idea that the WWE has been discussing for quite some time.
The Mystery and Marvel of Masks
Is a mask ever just a mask? For the list of professional wrestlers who have been privileged enough to wear one, it is as valuable as any World Championship.
"We all have split personalities. We all wear masks at some point in our careers," WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio told the Houston Chronicle in a 2009 interview. "I literally wear a mask."
Despite having different meanings to different people, the masks always add some mystique to a wrestler's character. Everyone wonders who's behind it, but nobody ever wants to see that identity revealed. It's an idea that's similar to the mystique of comic book heroes. The main difference is that all of the readers usually know the identity of the superheroes, while the wrestlers almost always do a good job of keeping themselves covered up...More?
source: slam wrestling
Sin Cara Expressing Frustration; Praises Triple H
Sin Cara has noted to friends how much help Triple H has been with him and has talked about the frustration he's feeling with having to learn a new style of wrestling, all while the spotlight is on him. Cara is said to be fully aware of his situation of being in the right place at the right time and Triple H's first guy brought in as an international star.
source: wrestling observer
Tough Enough Winner Andy Leavine Reveals What's Next
In a new interview for WWE.com, Tough Enough winner Andy Leavine says that he's heading back to WWE's training facility, FCW, which I'd gather is a logical next step for the rookie Tough Enough winner. Leavine says in the interview,
"First in 'Tough Enough,' and now in preparation for my impending WWE career, I get the opportunity to learn from the best," WWE's new Superstar added, describing the privilege of studying with the likes of Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat and "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes. "Their overall influence and wisdom are the biggest advantages I have toward becoming a true force to be reckoned with."
This Day in Wrestling History
At WCW's Great American Bash in Baltimore, MD, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash attacked Eric Bischoff. Nash powerbombed him off the stage.
June 16, 1996
June 15, 2011
Update on Shane McMahon's Company: Partnership with Warner Brothers; Structure Called a "Shell Game"
In a statement issued from Beijing, Warner Bros. Entertainment announced China’s "first national Pay-Per-View and Video On Demand platform" in partnership with YOU On Demand Media, the exclusive 20-year joint venture partner of the pay-TV arm of state-run broadcaster China Central Television’s dedicated movie channel, CCTV-6.
Warner Bros. said CCTV-6’s pay TV arm, China Home Cinema and YOU On Demand’s platform will provide films such as the Harry Potter series to three million cable TV homes in China by the end of this summer, a number comparable to the subscriber base of top cable operators in the United States.
Sources claiming to be familiar with the Warner-YOD-CCTV-6 deal’s structure say that YOD’s contract is actually with a private Beijing-based VOD solutions company called Zhonghai, which, in turn, has a non-exclusive contract to source video content for the VOD unit of CCTV-6’s pay TV platform.
In China’s tightly controlled media landscape, it could be only a matter of time before media regulators in the ruling one-party government in Beijing crack down on any foreign entity trying to sell content directly into China, even through a series of middlemen.
“All the middlemen do not make things more or less legal in the eyes of the regulators. It just makes for a complicated scheme by which investors can be manipulated,” Dickinson said.
In a market where movie theater ticket sales soared 64 percent last year to $1.5 billion, there’s still very little revenue to be made from the Chinese home entertainment, undercut by pirated discs of Hollywood films costing less than $1 and free illegal Internet download.
“The real money in China is from a release in theaters, not the sale of DVDs and not television broadcast,” Dickinson said. Some analysts are more skeptical still. One, who asked not to be referred to by name for fear it would jeopardize business, referred to the Warner-YOD-CTV-6 structure as a “shell game.”
According to the source, who has consulted for multiple media entities both Western and Chinese over the years, YOD’s McMahon approached the Los Angeles-based executives of all the Hollywood studios several months ago, saying he’d secured a platform to distribute content in China, “bypassing their China people, who know how things work here,” the analyst said.
“This is an over the counter stock looking for a boost to its price by making an announcement,” the analyst said.
Shares of YOD, whose market capitalization is about $72.7 million, according to financial filings, have traded at less than 15 cents for the last year.
McMahon on Wednesday described the deal as "groundbreaking because we are going to be able to monetize content in the largest market in the world." He said it was difficult to leave the family business but the opportunity to be a licensed distributor of entertainment in China was too irresistible. "I didn't want to look back and regret not having done this." The deal took more than a year to come to fruition, said McMahon, and all the studios expressed interest with Warner being the most aggressive. McMahon said he expects other studios sign on as well.
Requests to speak with Warner Brothers and YOD were not met by deadline...More?
source: hollywoodreporter.com
Randy Orton Suffers Concussion
WWE sources have confirmed that current World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton did indeed suffer a concussion over the weekend during the Smackdown brands overseas tour following an event in Madrid, Spain. The early assumption was that the concussion mention on Raw this past week was a storyline, but that is not the case. No decision has been made as to whether or not Orton will be ready to go Sunday for the Capitol Punishment PPV, with PWInsider.com stating that it would be a "day of game" decision to be made by company doctors. It was also noted by The Wrestling Observer how serious WWE is taking concussions in attempts to keep people out of the ring as long as possible.
Orton was not used in a wrestling role on Raw or at the Smackdown tapings on Tuesday.
