Brad Maddox Fired As WWE RAW General Manager

On Monday night's edition of WWE RAW, Brad Maddox was fired as the on-screen General Manager of the show. There is no word on who Maddox's potential replacement could be.

WWE Announces NXT Takeover Pre-Show Panel

WWE has announced that the panel for the NXT Takeover pre-show will consist of Renee Young, Christian, Paul Heyman, and Cesaro.

The pre-show will air on Thursday at 7:30PM EST on the WWE Network, half an hour before the two-hour NXT Takeover event airs live also on the WWE Network.

Total Divas Recap 05/25/14

Wrestling at the Chase first broadcast on KPLR 55 years ago

Vince and Linda McMahon Named As Republican Mega-Donors

WWE Chairman Vince McMahon and his wife Linda McMahon have been named as Republican mega-donors according public finance records acquired by The Washington Times.

The McMahons have given around $1 million to Republican candidates, party committees and super PACs this year, including Karl Rove’s American Crossroads and TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts’ group Ending Spending.

The donations for the most part have been made in Linda’s name. Before Linda’s run for Senate, the McMahons donated only around $30,000 in 2006 and 2008.

Video: Jim Ross shoots on why he was fired by WWE

WWE Network News and Notes: Monday Night War, Advertisements, Subscribers, Apple, More

* WWE CFO George Barrios participated in a presentation at the Global Technology, Media & Telecom conference in Boston this week. Here are some highlights:

* The Monday Night War will debut "in the fall" on the WWE Network.

* Assuming WWE loses all of their pay-per-view business, they need 1.3-1.4 million WWE Network subscribers to break even. They believe they can reach 2-4 million subscribers globally within 2-3 years

* They monitor the quality of the WWE Network "by the second" after going through some rough patches during launch week.

* On March 30th, they had "about" 500,000 subscribers for the Network. By WrestleMania XXX Sunday on April 7th, they had 667,000 subscribers. They will announce numbers quarterly going forward.

* Apple gets 30% of any subscribers made through them. There are similar deals for other platforms, such as a Roku.

* They have discussed running advertisements on the Network but haven't made a decision on that.

* WWE doesn't maintain credit cards on file from Network subscriptions as they use partners to process that material.

Miami Herald Offers In Depth Look at Why WWE is NOT in Bad Shape Financially, Takes Aim At Those Who “Gleefully Knock WWE” & More

The Miami Herald has posted a new article covering the misconceptions which came out of the report of WWE recently losing $350 million in one day. The article speaks to those "who gleefully knock WWE by claiming the company doesn’t know what it’s doing, is losing money and will soon be going out of business."

Below are some excerpts, and you can read the entire piece at this link.

WWE’s stock took a downward spiral late last week, falling hard from the $20 price per share to the $11 range, after investors did not like the TV deal WWE signed with NBCUniversal. Investors expected a bigger deal financially.

Let’s look at two areas.

1) The television deal

WWE did not get the dollar amount investors wanted, but WWE did increase the amount of money it will receive from NBCUniversal annually for its television rights.

It’s been reported WWE’s new contract with NBC Universal will net $150 million annually, which is nearly a 70-percent increase from the previous deal worth $90 million per year.

What? The stock dropped. I thought WWE was losing money.

This is a fact and a big one. The company received a 70-percent raise from NBCUniversal.

Rumor Mill - Details On The Return Of Tough Enough, Change Of Philosophy In WWE

It looks like the WWE is going in the direction of using actual trained wrestlers for the return of Tough Enough as opposed to starting from scratch and offering a developmental deal. Preliminary information suggests the cast will feature talent already under developmental contract.

Speaking of WWE developmental, there may be a change in philosophy in the company’s system. There have been internal talks about signing talent solely for use on NXT. The thinking is that NXT is its own brand and the company has to decide if it could be a permanent home for some talent where there isn’t a spot for them on the main roster.

While WWE has heavily considered producing a cruiserweight-only show as original WWE Network programming, the thinking is they may already have that with NXT.

The use of Tyson Kidd and Natalya on NXT are good examples of the company slightly pivoting when it comes to developmental. While the core purpose of NXT will always be to develop new talent, it’s not the only purpose with the evolution of WWE Network.

This Day In Wrestling History - Owen Hart Passes Away

Owen Hart died in a tragic fall during the WWF(E) PPV "Over the Edge"

May 23, 1999

And Another One...

SHAREHOLDER ALERT: The Law Firm of Levi & Korsinsky, LLP Launches an Investigation into Possible Breaches of Fiduciary Duty by the Board of Directors of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.

Another law firm opens investigation against WWE

The following press release was issued today on the Wall Street Journal website:

INVESTOR ALERT: The Law Office of James C. Kelly Announces Investigation on Behalf of Investors of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.

NEW YORK, May 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Law Office of James C. Kelly is investigating potential claims on behalf of investors who purchased shares of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. common stock (NYSE: WWE) during the period between August 1, 2013 and May 15, 2014, concerning possible violations of federal securities laws. Such investors are advised to contact James C. Kelly at 888.643.7517 or jkelly@jckellylaw.com.

On May 15, 2014, WWE updated its business outlook by disclosing that if it achieves one million subscribers for its WWE television network by the end of this year, it would have operating losses of between $35 million and $45 million. Significantly, the company also disclosed that the WWE Network would need at least a range of 1.3 million to 1.4 million subscribers "to offset the complete cannibalization of the Company's Pay-Per-View and" video-on-demand businesses. However, as recently as January 16, 2014, WWE's CFO represented that at 1 million subscribers "we break even" for 2014 assuming the pay-per-view business goes away.

On this news, WWE common stock declined $8.66 per share or more than 43%, to close at $11.27 per share on May 16, 2014.

The Law Office of James C. Kelly has extensive experience representing shareholders and bondholders in securities class actions. Visit our website for additional information at http://www.jckellylaw.com.