AfterBuzz hosts Cathy Kelley, Mark Donica and Boxcar Superstar The Hobo recently spoke with WWE NXT Superstar Finn Balor on their "NXT Aftershow" that airs live every Thursday. The full interview can be heard at this link. The following highlights were sent in:
AfterBuzz TV: Which NXT talent do you think is underrated and people should look out for?
Finn Balor: There’s a lot of guys you know, obviously for different reasons. One guy you know I think doesn’t get the credit he deserves is Scott Dawson. He’s a tremendous, tremendous competitor and I would love to get in there one-on-one with him. I’m also a big fan of Enzo and Cass. I don’t know how that would work with teaming up with them in a six man tag team, but I’m a big fan of their work too.
ABTV: We recently had CJP (CJ Parker) on the show, he’s planning to work the indies and wrestle in Japan. Did you give him any advice?
Finn Balor: We spoke about it….CJ was someone I was fortunate enough to get to work with when he was still here. He’s a tremendous competitor…The indie circuit is a tough circuit, but you know there’s a lot of good people out there. There is a lot of places you can learn. There’s a lot of people you can learn from and I’m sure that he’ll spend a year or two there growing himself not only personally, but as a performer and I’m sure he’ll be back in the future even better.
ABTV: Is there anyone on the indie scene you think WWE should have their eye on?
Finn Balor: I’m a little bit biased because this fella, he started in the same gym as me in England…and hopefully he’ll be able to make the transition some day into WWE, Zack Sabre Jr. He’s doing tremendous in the independents, not only in Europe but in America you know, but he’s holding his own in Japan.
ABTV: You recently traveled with WWE overseas. How was it wrestling with your home crowd?
Finn Balor: It was quite surreal. It was only less than a year ago that I said goodbye to everyone back home in Ireland and within 10 months to be returning with the WWE main roster. Going to the 3Arena in Dublin which was an arena I used to go and watch WWE when I was a kid. To walk up through the curtain and hear the roar of the hometown crowd, that was incredible.
ABTV: There have been many rumors that you will soon accept John Cena’s open challenge for the US Title. Do you see that happening in the near future?
Finn Balor: Well, Believe it or not, in London when John was in the ring making the open challenge, I was actually putting my gear on trying to get into the ring…but I just got beat to the punch.
ABTV: Where do you see yourself in 10 years and do you have a plan after wrestling?
Finn Balor: I live by the motto “Take one step at a time.” Obviously, there are a lot of short-term goals that I want to achieve, both at NXT and WWE. In 10 years time, maybe I’ll be Triple H’s right hand man, pulling the strings up in the office and helping coordinate this incredible company.
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May 1, 2015
Finn Balor on WWE NXT Stars to Look Out For, Where He Sees Himself In Ten Years, More
Ring of Honor Clears Big TV Market
Ring of Honor issued the following press release on Thursday.
Dallas, Texas has a deep wrestling history on professional wrestling that dates back to April of 1959. Ring of Honor Television has now added to that history with our debut on KTXD-TV airing every Saturday at 1pm.
Professional wrestling fans in Dallas grew up with legends like The Von Erich's, The Fabulous Freebirds, Bruiser Brody, Gino Hernandez, "Gentleman" Chris Adams, Playboy Gary Hart and so many more. Now you get to see the stars and legends of today in ROH World Champion Jay Briscoe, ROH World Television Champion Jay Lethal, ROH World Tag Team Champions The Addiction, "Mr ROH" Roderick Strong, The Kingdom and so many more.
Do not miss The Best Wrestling on The Planet, Ring of Honor every Saturday afternoon at 1pm on KTXD-TV!
Where to Watch KTXD-TV
AT&T: 47
DirecTV: 47
Dish: 47
Charter: 22 / 746 HD
Time Warner: 24 / 429 HD
Verizon: 18 / 518 HD
April 30, 2015
Chris Jericho - Stephanie McMahon Podcast Recap: Ronda Rousey, Shane McMahon, Her Parents, AJ, More
Chris Jericho's live WWE Network interview with Stephanie McMahon kicks off from WWE TV studios in Stamford, CT. Jericho welcomes us to the second edition of "Live! with Chris Jericho." He welcomes his old rival Stephanie and says people want the hard-hitting questions so he's going right to that. Stephanie just came from the annual WWE staff party and Jericho says he never knew that party existed. Stephanie says it's just a way of saying thanks to their employees. Jericho imagines Vince McMahon walking around with a tray of h'orderves and Stephanie says he doesn't do that. Jericho says he's been at the studios all day and it's "insane." Stephanie says WWE currently has 800 employees.
Stephanie talks about being in Singapore, Beijing and Shanghai recently on behalf of WWE and as an Eisenhower Fellow. Stephanie talks about what the program is. She notes that she will be going on another trip for the program later this year. Stephanie mentioned having to defend WWE while on tour and Jericho can't believe that they still have to defend WWE but they do. Stephanie says that's part of her job. She touts some WWE talking points and says they're a pioneer. Jericho asks about working for dad and she says it's very challenging. She says Vince is exceptionally driven and passionate. Jericho says Vince is off to the side right now giving them the middle finger. Stephanie says there's a lot of pressure on Vince's kids to do better. She says Vince didn't grow up with a silver spoon in his mouth and while he's given her all of her opportunities, he still wants her to fight for it every day and that's what she does. She talks about messing up before and says disappointing Vince is the worst. As a performer, Vince has made her re-shoot certain angles. Jericho says he has had to do that before and it makes you feel like a loser. Jericho says Stephanie is just like Vince on TV. Stephanie says her brother Shane McMahon calls her the "Vincess." Stephanie says she's unaware that she emulates him but she's watched him all her life and there's no one better.
Jericho says Vince has left the set and jokes that he scared him off. Jericho asks if people get the Chief Brand Officer mixed up with the on-screen Stephanie when she's out working. She talks about how she tells kids at the "be a STAR" anti-bullying rallies that she plays a bully on TV but that's not who she is in real life. They talk about her childhood and she says she did understand what her dad did. One of her earliest memories was between 3-6 years old, walking backstage and running into George "The Animal" Steele in full character. She says she was scared to death and ran back to Vince but George just started laughing. She says George was laughing as if he didn't take her fear seriously and that confused her at the time. She says Vince also thought it was hilarious and that's when she started putting it together. She would watch Vince announce on WWF and she had her favorites - The Killer Bees and Tito Santana. She says she gravitated more towards the heels as a kid and did not root for Hulk Hogan.
Former WWE Writer On If WWE Voting Is Legit
Former WWE creative writer Kevin Eck has a blog here about WWE App voting. He noted that while he can't vouch for the voting since he left the company, during his time with WWE from 2011 - 2014, the voting was completely legitimate. He said that creative would suggest to Vince McMahon that they rig the voting to get a desired outcome, but Vince would always refuse because it would "compromise the integrity of the voting."
WWE Q1 Earnings Call Recap: WrestleMania Success, Network Price Increase?, Total Divas, More
* George Barrios mentions they released their quarterly financial results on their website earlier.
* WrestleMania happened in quarter 1 of 2015, as opposed to quarter 2 2014. This has an effect on the huge profits.
* WrestleMania was the highest grossing live event in WWE history.
* Total Divas was E! network's number one show. Vince McMahon says this is because the Kardashians were on hiatus.
* McMahon mentions Smackdown will move to USA, and thinks that will improve viewership alone.
* McMahon jokingly invites listeners to join Tough Enough.
* 196,000 WWE Network subscribers were international. 94 percent of subscribers access the Network at least once a month.
* "From inception to 3/31/15, WWE Network had attracted nearly 1.8M unique subscribers w/ 74% of subscribers active as of that date"- George Barrios. They aren't going to update subscriber numbers on this call.
* Barrios repeatedly mentioned that WrestleMania was in Q1 this year instead of Q2.
* WWE video game profits improved over 30 percent. WWE Supercard is mentioned as a contributor. PPV revenue was also ahead of expectations.
* The Q&A portion starts. WWE says they're always looking at expanding the advertising model for the Network, but doesn't think it'll be in 2015.
* McMahon says it's possible they could change the price of the Network for WrestleMania or Summerslam, but have to look at the info. He says as of now they're not, but it's possible in the future.
* Most of the WrestleMania PPV buys were international, according to Barrios.
* "Advertisers aren't interested in simple rating. Our programming is engaging. Not just an experience, but immersive."- McMahon
* Laura Martin calls Vince McMahon the best business man of anyone she covers.
* Someone's phone goes off, and their alert tone was Michael Cole yelling "Oh my!"
* Barrios is asked what they've learned incrementally about the sources of churn. Barrios says he doesn't think they've learned anything.
* CableVision in Canada is targeting for cutters. This could open up the possibilities for more deals with Rogers, but they say the Canadian model is different.
WWE Reports Record Quarterly Revenue
WWE today announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2015. For the quarter, the Company reported Net income of $9.8 million, or $0.13 per share, compared to a Net loss of $8.0 million, or $0.11 per share, in the first quarter last year.
“During the quarter, we generated record quarterly revenue and strong earnings growth, reflecting our strategy to realize greater value from our content across multiple platforms,” said WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon. “We believe that we are on a path to significant growth as we continue to expand WWE Network and innovate faster than ever.”
“Our strong earnings growth was driven primarily by the escalation of our television rights fees and the expansion of WWE Network subscribers. For the quarter, our OIBDA surpassed our public guidance,” added George Barrios, Chief Strategy & Financial Officer. “WWE Network subscribers watched an estimated average of 53 hours of content per household over the quarter putting it among Netflix and the top cable and broadcast networks in terms of viewer hours per household. Additionally, WrestleMania 31 was viewed in more homes globally than ever before. Our ability to engage our global fan base reinforces our view that successful execution of our WWE Network strategy can generate meaningful economic returns.”
April 28, 2015
Verne Gagne Passes Away
Verne Gagne, one of sports-entertainment’s most celebrated performers and promoters, has passed away at the age of 89.
Growing up in Robbinsdale, Minn., Gagne was a three sport athlete in high school. While he also played baseball and football, his true skill was in wrestling, where he won multiple state championships. He then went on to the University of Minnesota, where he continued to play football and wrestle. He left after one year to join the Marines at the end of World War II, but returned to finish his college career a few years later. When his amateur wrestling career was over, Gagne had four Big Ten Wrestling Championships, two NCAA Wrestling Championships, the 1949 AAU Wrestling Championship and a slot on the 1948 United States Olympic team on his resume.
Gagne debuted as a pro in 1950 and won several regional championships throughout the 1950s before heading to the newly formed American Wrestling Association in 1960. In August 1960, he was awarded his first AWA World Heavyweight Championship when the first recognized champion, then-NWA World Heavyweight Champion Pat O'Connor, failed to defend the championship against Gagne.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Verne became both a wrestler and a promoter, eventually becoming the sole owner of the AWA. He remained an active competitor until the early 1980s, holding the AWA World Heavyweight Championship 10 times between 1960 and 1981. Although Gagne officially retired in 1981, he would later wrestle in several special matches while still maintaining ownership of the AWA.
During the AWA's existence, it was the breeding ground for several other future WWE Superstars, including Hulk Hogan, Jesse "The Body" Ventura, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Pat Patterson, The Legion of Doom Hawk and Animal, Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty, “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig, Scott Hall, "Mean" Gene Okerlund ,"Sensational" Sherri Martel. Jerry "The King" Lawler, Larry Zbyszko, Sgt. Slaughter and numerous other legends also wrestled in Gagne's AWA, and Verne's son Greg also had a lengthy and successful career there as well. In addition, Gagne had a hand in training several future Superstars, including Ric Flair, Ken Patera, Bob Backlund, The Iron Sheik and Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat. On April 1, 2006, Verne Gagne was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
April 27, 2015
Did "TKO: A Night of Knockouts" Help Friday's TNA Impact Wrestling Viewership?
Friday's episode of TNA Impact Wrestling, a special Total Knockouts edition, drew 381,000 viewers, down from the previous week's 401,000 viewers.
Friday's Impact ranked #51 out of the top 100 cable originals for the day. We will have viewership numbers for the replay later.
WWE To Hold Pat Patterson Appreciation Night
WWE will hold Pat Patterson Appreciation Night on May 4th at the WWE RAW in Montreal. WWE had Pat Patterson Appreciation Night scheduled a few years back for the same venue but it was the same night Jerry Lawler had a heart attack on RAW so it was nixed. The ceremony will take place after RAW ends. John Cena, Randy Orton and Roman Reigns vs. Rusev, Big Show and Seth Rollins is the advertised dark main event.
King of the Ring Returns and WWE Network Schedule Announced
Monday, April 27
Jerry Springer Presents WWE Too Hot For TV – Available on demand after Raw
Too extreme for live TV, WWE Too Hot for TV goes straight to on demand after Raw. Hosted by legendary talk show host Jerry Springer, this new series brings you the most outrageous stunts and cringe-inducing moments in WWE history.
Tuesday, April 28
King of the Ring – 8 ET/ 5 PT
Continuing the action from Monday's Raw, the King of the Ring Tournament finals will take place live on the award-winning WWE Network.
Wednesday, April 29 – Mick Foley Night
Have a Nice Night! – 9/8 C
Renee Young and Byron Saxton host this entertaining assemblage of Mick Foley’s most memorable and entertaining moments. Relive the timeless 'This is Your Life' segment with The Rock, laugh as Mr. McMahon meets the lovable Mr. Socko, experience the Three Faces of Foley and much more.
Cheap Pops – 10/9 C
Join Mick Foley as he shares humorous tales full of wit and wisdom from the WWE Hall of Famer's storied career. It’s an eclectic trip into the surreal mind and life of the Hardcore Legend like you've never seen before.
Thursday, April 30
LIVE! with Chris Jericho with Stephanie McMahon – Following SmackDown
Chris Jericho brings his uncensored show live to the award-winning WWE Network with special guest, WWE’s Chief Brand Officer, Stephanie McMahon.
Friday, May 1
Floyd Mayweather vs. The Big Show: The Money vs. The Giant – 9/8 C
Just in time for Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, which is expected to be one of the biggest boxing matches in history, go behind-the-scenes of the most anticipated fight on The Grandest Stage of Them All, as undefeated professional boxing sensation Floyd “Money” Mayweather took on the 7-foot “Giant”, Big Show at WrestleMania 24.
Monday, May 4
WWE 24: Roman Reigns – Following Raw
The acclaimed 30-minute docu-series takes you on a lightning-fast journey through a day in the life of one of WWE’s most intriguing Superstars and groundbreaking events.
