WWE will be making a major announcement at the 2014 International CES, a consumer and electronics trade show, on January 8th in Las Vegas.
Besides Vince McMahon, it's now confirmed that Shawn Michaels, Triple H, John Cena and Steve Austin will also be appearing.
Speculation has been that WWE will make a Network announcement.
Regarding the recent WWE corporate changes, Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon's noted to The Wrestling Observer in Santa Clara this week that since she is also a talent, she may have ideas at times but as far as working creative on a day-to-day basis, she will no longer be part of that process. Stephanie was always more of an administrator in creative than an idea person and the person running creative at the end of the day, the real head writer is, was, and for the foreseeable future, is Vince McMahon. Triple H will take over the administrative parts of the creative department.
.@TripleH @VinceMcMahon backstage recording #TributetotheTroops right now! The set is a C-17! pic.twitter.com/kmYHuu4SV0
— Stephanie McMahon (@StephMcMahon) December 12, 2013@TripleH @VinceMcMahon @CHRIS_Daughtry @WWE #troops pic.twitter.com/7QI9mBGgXX
— Stephanie McMahon (@StephMcMahon) December 12, 2013
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WWE's Chief Strategy and Financial Officer George Barrios spoke at the UBS Annual Global Media and Communications Conference today. Here are some notes:
* If WWE were to leave USA Network, USA would go from #1 in prime-time to #4 or #5, which gives WWE leverage.
* Barrios said any top 50 network could pick up RAW or SmackDown and it would get them into the top 10
* WWE viewers watch their TV shows like a sports shows and sports are getting big increases in rights fees.
* They still may start the WWE Network on TV and not the internet. On the internet, WWE still needs 1 million subscribers per month to break even because there are additional costs they wouldn't have running a network on TV.
* They are hoping to sign new contracts for RAW and SmackDown by the end of April.
* Barrios noted that WWE gets one-fifth to one-tenth the money for their programming per viewer watching than NHL, NASCAR, NBA and MLB.
* They believe India will be huge for them long term.
* They believe their TV is more valuable than NASCAR, which gets six times as much money, because their viewer numbers are the same but NASCAR viewers are far more skewed over age 40.
* One year ago, WWE's data showed doing a network on the internet wasn't viable. Today they believe it is because of changing viewer habits.
WWE has posted their weekly interview with Triple H and Michael Cole. Here are some highlights:
* Triple H wasn't surprised by the reaction for Daniel Bryan on RAW. He said Bryan isn't what's best for business but is a great asset to the company.
* He said RAW got out of control and a lot of people did a lot of stupid things. He had a week to think if Randy Orton vs. John Cena is the biggest match in WWE history and it is. He says Orton vs. Cena might make Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels pale in comparison. He ignored a question about punishment for CM Punk.
* Stephanie is fine after getting knocked down on RAW. Randy Orton wants to apologize on SmackDown and Triple H will grant him that time. Triple H wants to see how sincere Orton is before he accepts the apology.
* Regarding John Cena being the new "flavor" and the way RAW ended on Monday with him and The Authority, Triple H said Cena has always been the face of WWE. He said he knows the future - the winner at TLC will become immortal, will be the champion of champions.
Vince McMahon made a gift of 8,500,000 shares of Class B WWE Stock to a Irrevocable Trust account that he created, which Linda McMahon is the beneficiary of. The trust account was created for "estate planning purposes."
WWE stars at today's WrestleMania 31 press conference in Santa Clara, California were John Cena, Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus, Mark Henry, Big Show, Fandango, The Great Khali, R-Truth, The Bella Twins and Summer Rae. Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon and other WWE executives were also in attendance. Here is the official logo:
As noted, Davey Richards is done with Ring of Honor and will not be having a farewell this month. Richards and partner Eddie Edwards are still under a trial period with WWE developmental and are expected to work the next two sets of NXT TV tapings. Their debut match came against The Ascension last month and may or may not air on the December 18th episode.
WWE had insisted that both Edwards and Richards finish up with ROH, even though they aren't under a WWE deal yet. ROH was willing to continue using them, even having them do an angle where them being on NXT would be part of the storyline in ROH. However, WWE was insistent that while they could finish their commitments to ROH, which were through the end of this year, they couldn't extend those commitments because WWE wanted them on nothing that would air while they were being used on NXT TV.
It's sort of a bad situation for Edwards and Richards because while they're not making big money with the tryout, it's costing them both payoffs for shows until WWE decides if they will be signed or not.
After their appearances at the next two sets of NXT TV tapings, the belief is they will have either convinced Triple H to sign them or the tryout will be over.
WWE announced today that the 2013 Slammy Awards set a new record with 1.64 million votes via the WWE app, an increase of 180 percent from last year’s record-setting awards show.
The winners of the 2013 Slammy Awards include:
• Superstar of the Year - Daniel Bryan®
• Diva of the Year - The Bellas™
• Double-Cross of the Year - Shawn Michaels™
• Match of the Year - The Rock® vs. John Cena® at WrestleMania® 29
• Insult of the Year - Stephanie McMahon
• LOL Moment of the Year - The Rock Concert at Raw 20th Anniversary
• Fan Participation Award - Yes! Yes! Yes!
• Extreme moment of the Year - CM Punk®
