Rumor Mill - WWE Targeting A Former TNA Name About A Return To The Company

The shakeups continue in WWE developmental. As we’ve seen over the last month, Joey Mercury was transferred as an NXT trainer to a main roster producer. This cleared the way for the hiring of Nick Dinsmore to replace him at the WWE Performance Center. The next guy in line for a transfer is Billy Gunn. Gunn is expected to join the main roster as a producer, which operates as a segue into our most interesting piece of information.

WWE has been in talks with Devon Dudley about possibly coming in as a developmental trainer. Devon has experience as a trainer as he a co-owner of the Team 3D Academy, which is also located in Florida. While many in WWE have said the Dudley Boyz would never be welcome back in WWE, it’s really Bully Ray that has the heat. Devon is seen as someone that is generally well-liked.

Triple H has said before he’d never bring the Dudley Boyz back because of his dislike for Bully Ray but he’s not opposed to Devon returning on his own as a trainer. Devon has told friends he doesn’t have interest in returning to TNA and he’s believed to be interested in WWE’s offer.

Rumor Mill - Backstage Talk About Roman Reigns, The Shield, Wyatt Family

Look for Roman Reigns of The Shield to eventually turn into a major babyface, but probably not for several months down the line. No word yet on what this will mean for Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins.

There is talk that with The Shield possibly dissolving soon, The Wyatt Family will take their spot as the dominant heel stable. Look for The Wyatts to have a major feud against CM Punk and Daniel Bryan.

Jack Swagger On How Zeb Colter Became His Manager

WWE Superstar Jack Swagger recently spoke to Music Recall Magazine:

MRM: How did Zeb Colter become your manager?

Swagger: It’s a cool story. We were a couple weeks out from the Elimination Chamber in 2013. And we were in Nashville for a Raw TV taping, and Zeb lives in Nashville, and we knew we wanted another character to go along with the storyline. Triple H had an idea to bring him in, and he came in. He started discussing some ideas, and he did a couple promos on tape and Vince and Hunter just loved it. It was very meant to be. He already had the mustache and fit the character to a T.

Wall Street Loves WWE

The WWE stock had a great day closing at $12.95. It was up $1.11 and 9.37%, closing at its 52 week high on a day when the market was down. It went as high as $13.14 during the day. Obviously, Wall Street reacted well to the company's earnings, and more importantly believes it will get a significant raise in revenue when it gets its next TV deals.

Vince McMahon conference call coverage: WWE Network, SummerSlam disappoints, television rights negotiations, third quarter financial report

Vince McMahon and members of senior management hosted a conference call pertaining to the 2013 third quarter report that was released on October 31, 2013. The following are the highlights of the call.

-The call was hosted by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, WWE CFO George Barrios, and WWE Investor Relations Michael Weitz.

-Vince said the increased television rights fees offset the "disappointing" SummerSlam numbers and video game sales. Regarding SummerSlam, Vince said fans "didn't buy the attraction, as most of you know these events are attraction driven."

-Vince said they are looking for "traditional and non-traditional distribution" for the WWE Network.

-Vince said their largest television contracts are coming up both in the United States and in the United Kingdom. He said India is coming up shortly thereafter.

-Barrios took over the call temporarily and read through the financial presentation. He noted that revenue increased nine percent and said it was largely due to increased licensing fees and to some extent live events.

-Barrios said "Total Divas" has averaged roughly 1.8 million viewers per week. He noted that it performed 150 percent better than the programming it replaced on E! network.

-Revenue from the pay-per-view business was down ten percent "primarily due to the performance of the SummerSlam event." This is despite the fact that WWE added new digital media platforms for their pay-per-view events, such as Playstation 3.

-The movies released under WWE Studios new film model are expected to bring a 13 percent return.

-Barrios said the company is confident that they can double or triple their 2012 results by 2015 via future television agreements and the WWE Network. He said their key domestic television deals are expected to be done by "next April."

-Barrios compared WWE to live sports. He said the similarities make WWE "DVR-proof."

-Barrios also spoke briefly about the potential WWE Network platforms, then opened up the line for calls.

-The first caller noted that the domestic television deals are expected to be finalized by April 2014 and whether they will maintain their current relationships or end up elsewhere. He questioned whether WWE Vince said there is a certain exclusive negotiating window for current partners that ends on the first of the year. He said they can go outside to other potential partners after that. Barrios said the timeline they are offering is typical for television rights negotiations.

-Vince was asked about the pay-per-view numbers. He once again stressed that pay-per-views are attraction driven. He said it was a "swing and a miss" as far as the attraction they went with. He said the declining numbers really don't have to do with anything other than that.

-Vince closed out the conference call by wishing everyone a good say and saying, "The future looks bright."

-It didn't seem like Vince realized he was still on the line, as could be heard saying, "As Daniel Bryan would say..." There was laughter in the room. One of the three men mentioned something about it being "the shortest" and said no one would have saw it coming.

WWE Third Quarter Earnings Up 9%, Beat Estimates

WWE today announced financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2013. Revenues increased $9.1 million or 9%, to $113.3 million from $104.2 million in the prior year quarter driven by a significant increase in rights fees from the licensing of television content. Operating income decreased 36% to $3.2 million as compared to $5.0 million in the prior year quarter as revenue growth was more than offset by increased movie losses due to a $7.0 million impairment charge primarily associated with the Company’s 2010-2012 film release slate, and reduced profits from the Company’s pay-per-view, video game and home entertainment businesses. Net income was $2.4 million, or $0.03 per share, as compared to $3.5 million, or $0.05 per share, in the prior year quarter. Excluding the impact of film impairments, Adjusted Operating income increased 104% to $10.2 million, Adjusted OIBDA increased 62% to $16.7 million and Adjusted Net income increased 100% to $7.0 million...More?

Triple H's Response When Asked About Matt Morgan

When Matt Morgan's name was brought up to Triple H about being hired, Triple H's response is that they are spending millions of dollars on the new Performance Center so their focus is on developing younger guys on their own to bring in as opposed to experienced older guys. Obviously if it was a bigger name there could be an exception made, but that is WWE's mentality in most cases going forward.

WWE Looks To Build Through Second Screen; Targets First Quarter of 2014 For Launch of WWE Network

Multiplatform content is crucial for the WWE, said Stephanie McMahon, executive VP of creative development & operations at the company on Wednesday during the TV Summit at NYC Television Week.

McMahon told moderator R. Thomas Umstead, programming editor, multimedia editor, Multichannel News, that the WWE's app is changing the way people watch their programs.

"It's been downloaded over 8 million times. What we offer is really a revolutionary second screen experience." McMahon said, adding the app offers behind-the-scenes pictures and facts.

When asked about the WWE's plans to create a network, she was unable to disclose specifics on plans but did say, "We are looking at traditional and nontraditional distribution, and we're targeting first quarter next year."

source: broadcastingcable.com

Forbes analysts speculate new WWE TV licensing deal could top recent $4.5 billion NASCAR deal

Forbes SportsMoney did a piece concerning the upcoming TV licensing deal WWE will presumably sign with NBC Universal. Bob Lorenz, Chris Bevilcqua, and Micheal Ozanian speculated that WWE could receive four to six times its current $140 million per year deal when they resign and point to WWE having three times as many annual gross rating points as NASCAR which recently signed a 10 year, $4.5 billion deal with NBC. You can watch the video at http://web.yesnetwork.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=31193663&topic_id=&tcid=vpp_copy_31193663&v=3.

Backstage News on Paul Heyman's Future

It was previously reported that WWE officials are not very happy with Ryback right now and there was some talk of taking Paul Heyman away from him. As of right now it looks like that may indeed be the case. The Heyman and Ryback vs. C.M. Punk feud was originally supposed to go on for a little while longer but now it looks like it might be finished.

Heyman might be kept off of television until Brock Lesnar returns. No word on how all of this affects Curtis Axel.

Ryback Buried in WWE Producer’s Meeting, Main Roster Spot in Jeopardy?

Earlier this week we reported the backstage heat on Ryback, specifically stemming from rumors of him being a danger to work with, was said to be fabricated by someone close to the situation in WWE.

In an update to that story, however, following this Monday's Raw, a high level WWE source has informed WZ that a recent producer's meeting saw Ryback buried, and he indeed has enormous backstage heat, and is not well liked at all. Producers and backstage agents, but not necessarily Vince McMahon himself, feel Ryback is awkward and "not safe enough" in the ring.

"Just look at how Ryback got buried on Monday, getting beat and tapping out after being put through a table in 5 minutes," our source told us.

The source further told us following Hell in a Cell on Sunday and this week's edition of Raw, Ryback is short term for the main roster at best.

Triple H In Charge At SmackDown

PWInsider noted that Vince and Stephanie McMahon were not at last night's taping, leaving Triple H in charge of the show.