"Celebrating Champions: 2014 Special Olympics USA Games" to Air on FOX Sports 1 This Monday, June 30 at 7 PM ET

The Rise & Fall Of Vince McMahon: Get Him Away From Daily WWE Content Decisions

NXT programming is becoming consistently better than WWE.

I can't call NXT competition because it's the developmental system, and those who run WWE can manipulate NXT if they wanted.

Many of the big names involved with the WWE main roster aren't controlling NXT week to week. Many who control NXT are guys who should be, but haven't been involved as much in the main roster of WWE.

That is the major advantage of NXT. Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn don't have their hands in NXT, which is huge.

McMahon has grown the WWE brand far beyond what anybody could have envisioned 30 years ago. A lot of people have made a lot of money on his watch. That can never be taken away.

However, while he can be king of the boardroom, I think he's lost a major touch in his abilities to lead the creative direction of specifics for his programming.

Dunn has been the executive in charge of WWE television for a long time. He's a driving force in aiding McMahon's questionable views of what is entertaining. I preach and remind a lot of people that WWE is an entertainment brand, with their main stage being what we know as a wrestling ring. Even I have to say Dunn's reputation of hating wrestling and loving anything else ridiculous he can fill the segment with often is out of control.

NXT is terrific to watch. It reminds me of an old-school territory in how intimate the crowd is and how many of them are repeat customers coming to so many of the shows at Full Sail University. It makes the talent have to work harder at getting over in front of the same live crowd.

NXT is like an indy show with a six-figure production budget.

Not everything we see on NXT will instantly succeed once it gets in the hands of McMahon, Dunn or the 15,000-seat arenas for RAW and SmackDown. Case in point — Adam Rose.

McMahon and Dunn stay away from NXT, but the street is two ways. There are guys who have more influence on NXT than they ever do the main WWE product that are secret weapons to have.

William Regal, Joey Mercury, Billy Gunn and Sara Del Rey are a few. Their knowledge stemming from foot work, timing, facial expressions and psychology of constructing a character is impossible to measure.

The sad reality of it all is it only matters so much.

Natalya and Charlotte had a phenomenal match on NXT. As great as it was to watch and as great as those two are, the rules of what succeeds on the main roster under the current decision-makers are much different.

As long as McMahon and Dunn run the show, we'll never see Natalya and Charlotte do that match on RAW, SmackDown or Main Event.

I can hear the creative meeting now — “Who wants to see two hot blondes in a back and forth wrestling match or 20 minutes? Somebody tell them they got three minutes bell-to-bell and then we're making them have a food fight.”...More?

source: triblive.com

Rumor Mill - Backstage Update on the WWE Network & Talent PPV Bonuses

One of the major questions coming out of the WWE Network launch back in February was how the Network would affect the PPV bonuses regularly given to the talents who worked the monthly events. This topic was said to be a major issue for CM Punk, and WWE's failure to inform talent as to how their pay may or may not change was one of the reasons why he decided to leave the company.

According to PWInsider.com, word coming from backstage in WWE is that nothing has been said to talents yet regarding their the Network and their pay. We are four months into the launch of the Network, and no one truly knows how PPV bonuses will work as it relates to PPV events airing on the Network.

Rumor Mill - WWE Holds Talent Meeting, Reinstates Dress Code & More, Have Talents Been Paid For WM30?

WrestleZone.com is reporting that WWE talent relations held a meeting with all the wrestlers in the past week or so and instituted a dress code again, which is a sore subject with the talent considering the brutal schedule they've been on.

Fines will be levied for any violation of the dress code.

Wrestlers were also told there is a zero tolerance rule in effect for showing up to Raw or Smackdown after the designated call time, which is usually 2pm eastern time for Raw and 2pm local time for Smackdown. Needless to say, with WrestleMania checks and video game payments still not distributed, the talent in WWE is, according to one source, "jittery" to say the least.

WNS Column: HHH In, Vince Out?

Redskins Name Debate Makes WWE Raw

Stephanie McMahon, Triple H announce 'Connor's Cure' charity fund in honor of Connor Michalek

WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon and WWE Executive Vice President of Talent, Creative and Live Events, Paul “Triple H” Levesque have announced the formation of “Connor’s Cure,” a charity that they have personally funded through Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation named in honor of Pittsburgh native Connor Michalek. Connor passed away at age 8 earlier this year from Medulloblastoma, a rare tumor that affects the brain and spinal cord. Donations to Connor’s Cure will provide funds for pediatric brain and spinal cancer research, and medical care for children and their families.

Through the love of his family and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, Connor persevered over his affliction. His fighting spirit made him a local celebrity in Pittsburgh, including getting Superstar treatment from both the Pittsburgh Pirates and WWE. Although Connor lost his battle to cancer, his message of light and love continue to thrive.

Donations can be made by visiting: www.givetochildrens.org/CONNORSCURE.

Vickie Guerrero "Fired" On RAW

Vickie Guerrero was "fired" by Stephanie McMahon on tonight's RAW. We've noted that Vickie has been planning on taking a lengthy absence from WWE and there is no timetable for a return yet.

Total Divas Coming To WWE Network

WWE announced on Monday night's edition of RAW that the first season of Total Divas will begin airing on the WWE Network this coming Thursday night.

WWE Wins Three Sports Social TV Awards

WWE received three awards from the second annual Sports Social TV Awards this week.

The company captured awards for:

*WrestleMania 29 – Best Special Event Award

*WWE – Best Social Commerce or Marketing Program Award

*John Cena – Social TV Sports Entertainer of the Year Award.

The Sports Social TV Awards, "Bring together the top people, platforms and programs in the Sports Social TV space, nominees were recognized for excelling in the fast-moving industry of social TV, specific to the sports market, and pioneering the future of television with second-screen experiences."

Joe DeFranco Discusses Triple H's Training

Triple H's trainer Joe DeFranco recently appeared on The Podcast for Skinny Bastards. During the episode, he discussed how tore up Triple H was when he starting working with him. You can listen to it by clicking here.

Is it time for a new WWE CEO?

With this past week's announcement of World Wrestling Entertainment releasing 11 people from its roster added to the already horrendous drop in the WWE's stock price by almost 50%; reports that Vince McMahon personally lost over $750 million dollars over the last few months; the market's disappointment in WWE's new U.S. television deal; and the number of WWE Network subscribers being stuck at 667,287 which is quite far off the reported 1.5 million subscribers needed for it to break even; questions are being asked about the company's direction.

As is inevitable when a company has this kind of downfall in such a short amount of time, reports have been circulating that many investors are calling for Vince McMahon to resign as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company. However, the obvious query is whether or not that should happen and if so who would replace him?

Before devolving further into this issue, though, it has to be noted that Vince McMahon owns roughly 57% of WWE’s Class A common stock - 39.9 million shares - which gives him controlling interest in the company. So if he doesn’t wish to be removed as CEO of the company it would be almost impossible to force him to do so. Additionally, it also means that any successive CEO would need his stamp of approval.

Regardless, this does not mean that it hasn’t come time for someone else to guide the WWE as the CEO...More?

source: slamwrestling.com