Mae Young Classic “Parade Of Champions” To Air This Thursday

WWE will be hosting a “Parade Of Champions” to introduce all 32-women who are participating in the Mae Young Classic tournament. Below is the official statement released by WWE:

“Watch the Mae Young Classic Parade of Champions this Thursday on Facebook Live

The WWE Universe can get its first look at the likes of Toni Storm, Princesa Sugehit, Jazzy Gabert, Rhea Ripley and all 32 Mae Young Classic competitors when they take part in the Mae Young Classic Parade of Champions. Watch this Thursday at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT at Facebook.com/WWE to see who will take part in this historic tournament!

The Mae Young Classic begins Monday, Aug. 28, when the first four episodes will be available on demand, exclusively on the award-winning WWE Network. And be sure to tune into WWE Network on Sunday, Aug. 20, immediately following WWE SummerSlam, for Mae Young Classic: Bracketology, a special look at the inaugural 32-woman tournament.”

GFW Issues Statement On Alberto El Patron Domestic Battery

Alberto El Patron is under investigation for a domestic violence battery incident which is alleged to have taken place Orlando International Airport on Sunday.

In an update, GFW has announced in a statement they will be conducting their own internal investigation of El Patron‘s alleged domestic violence incident. Their brief statement reads as follows:

“Global Force Wrestling takes all legal situations very seriously and is looking into this matter. GFW is a privately-held company and will thoroughly investigate this incident and fully cooperate with law enforcement.”

Alberto El Patron Being Investigated For Domestic Battery

Unified GFW World Champion Alberto El Patron is being investigated for an alleged domestic violence incident at a Florida airport, according to TMZ Sports.

The former WWE Superstar who recently joined Impact Wrestling allegedly "roughed up" a female companion following an argument which escalated in the terminal building. Police were called and a witness at the scene confirmed: "There was an altercation."

At this stage, there is no confirmation from Police that the female was WWE Superstar Paige, who Del Rio is in a relationship with, but people said she was at the airport with Alberto that day.

Law enforcement has noted that Alberto has not be arrested or changed as yet, but investigators are in the process of gathering information about the incident.

Massive WWE Leak Exposes 3 Million Fans' Data; WWE Issues Statement

WWE fans should take note that an IT error has left personal information open. Earlier this week, Bob Dyachenko from Kromtech, a security firm, spoke to Forbes saying he had uncovered a huge, unprotected WWE database which held data on more than 3 million users and noted it was open to anyone with access to the web address. Looking at samples of the leaked information provided the data was stored in plain text.

The data, which contained home and email addresses, birthdates as well as customers' children's age ranges and gender was sitting on an Amazon Services S3 server without username/password protection. It is likely the database had been misconfigured by WWE or an IT partner much in the same manner as other recent leaks on the Amazon-hosted infrastructure. WWE stated it is currently investigating.

WWE issued the following statement:

"Although no credit card or password information was included, and therefore not at risk, WWE is investigating a vulnerability of a database housed on Amazon Web Services (AWS), which has now been secured. WWE utilizes leading cybersecurity firms Smartronix and Praetorian to manage data infrastructure and cybersecurity and to conduct regular security audits on AWS. We are currently working with Amazon Web Services, Smartronix and Praetorian to ensure the ongoing security of our customer information.”

WWE Looks to Pin Down Advertisers

The sight of former World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. wrestler Paul Levesque, best known as “Triple H;” his wife Stephanie McMahon, who has notched up several stints in the ring herself; and their security entourage at the Cannes Lions advertising festival earlier in June turned some heads.

Unlike some of the celebrities invited to Cannes by ad agencies hoping to pull big crowds inside the sessions at Palais conference center, Mr. Levesque and Ms. McMahon were chiefly there to educate attendees about what WWE stands for. Mr. Levesque is now the entertainment company’s executive vice president of talent, live events and creative, and Ms. McMahon is WWE’s chief brand officer and the daughter of CEO Vince McMahon.

One of WWE’s key missions this year is to build its corporate brand. Ms. McMahon has been increasing her speaking engagements at business events, and Cannes was a vehicle to boost awareness about how and why brands should partner with the entertainment company through sponsorships and advertising.

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Impact Wrestling Set To Re-Brand As GFW

We noted earlier in the week that Impact Wrestling has officially acquired Jeff Jarrett's Global Force Wrestling promotion. The Tennessean reported today that Impact is re-branding as GFW.

The Tennessean reports that the acquisition is designed to distance the company from the financial struggles and legal drama that has followed the brand. The story is that Impact parent company Anthem Sports will re-brand as GFW and Jarrett will take over the creative aspects of the promotion. The Thursday night show on POP TV will continue to be called Impact.

Sunday's Slammiversary event is being seen as the re-launch of the company's pay-per-view business. GFW will be headquartered at Skyway Studios in Nashville, where they currently do pre and post-production work.

"We're a global brand," Jarrett said of the re-branding. "We have partnerships in Mexico, Japan, other places. Collectively coming together, we've combined forces and basically the rebrand final touches happen (on Sunday) at 'Slammiversary.'"

Anthem's Ed Nordholm told The Tennessean that the company is developing an on-demand streaming service to tap into the valuable tape library they have. Nordholm also said the re-branding was done for two reasons - the double meaning of "TNA" was a turnoff for some potential marketing partners and the name was tainted because of negative media coverage.

"When Anthem got involved we saw a rare opportunity to get involved with an asset that already had global distribution," Nordholm said. "It's a 3,500-hour library, broadcast in 120 countries, existing distribution contracts in India, Africa and now the United Kingdom. The timeline to take a ground zero promotion to that kind of penetration was 15 years. The work now is to fix some things."

Impact Wrestling Acquires Global Force Wrestling

IMPACT Wrestling Acquires Global Force Wrestling

NASHVILLE | TORONTO – Anthem Wrestling Exhibitions LLC, a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp. and parent company of IMPACT Wrestling, announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Global Force Entertainment, LLC d/b/a Global Force Wrestling.

Jeff Jarrett, the founder of both IMPACT Wrestling and Global Force Entertainment, will join Anthem Wrestling Exhibitions as a member of its board of managers, equity owner and Chief Creative Officer.

“We are thrilled to be joining forces with Anthem as a partner to build the business,” said Karen Jarrett. “This partnership will be complementary of our strengths and bolster our capabilities to grow the IMPACT Wrestling brand. Ed Nordholm as President and Jeff Jarrett as Chief Creative Officer make a great tag team”

“We are excited by the progress we have made with IMPACT Wrestling since acquiring the business in January,” said Ed Nordholm, president of Anthem Wrestling Exhibitions. “Jeff and his team have been instrumental in this success and we are pleased that we have reached an agreement on the basis of which we can combine our businesses to continue to grow. Slammiversary XV will be a fitting occasion to bring the promotions together and merge the titles under the new IMPACT combined belts. By combining our resources and talent, we can produce the best product for our global audience.”

Jim Ross' Announcing Partner For 'Mae Young Classic' Revealed, Triple H Comments, New Details

WWE announced that Lita will be joining Jim Ross to announce the upcoming Mae Young Classic.

The tournament will be shown on the WWE Network, starting with the first four episodes available on demand on Monday, August 28. Episodes five through eight will then be available on demand on September 4 with the final match streaming live on September 12 at 10pm ET.
Here is WWE's full statement:

"WWE has announced that the first-ever Mae Young Classic women's tournament will stream exclusively on WWE Network, starting Monday, Aug. 28, with the first four episodes available on demand. Episodes five through eight will be available on demand on Monday, Sept. 4. The final match will stream live from Las Vegas on Tuesday, Sept. 12 at 10 p.m. ET.
The Mae Young Classic will be called by WWE Hall of Fame announcer Jim Ross, who will be joined on color commentary by four-time Women's Champion and WWE Hall of Famer Lita. The tournament, named after WWE Hall of Famer and one of the greatest WWE Superstars in history, Mae Young, will feature 32 of the top female competitors from around the world participating in a single-elimination tournament.

"The Mae Young Classic is a unique and exclusive offering for WWE Network subscribers and further highlights our ongoing commitment to the 'women's evolution' in sports and entertainment," said Paul "Triple H" Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events and Creative. "It's a privilege to showcase these talented women from around the world and to provide them with an opportunity to shine before a global audience on WWE Network."

Competitors announced thus far include Toni Storm from New Zealand; Princesa Sugehit from Mexico; Lacey Evans, Sarah Logan, Tessa Blanchard, and Abbey Laith from the United States; Kavita Devi from India; Jazzy Gabert from Germany; and Taynara Conti from Brazil.

WWE Network will also stream an exclusive special entitled, Mae Young Classic: Bracketology immediately following SummerSlam, on Sunday, Aug. 20 at 11 p.m. ET."

AdWeek Names Stephanie McMahon One of their Most Powerful Women in Sports

AdWeek has named Stephanie McMahon as one of their Most Powerful Women in Sports. Here is an excerpt of what AdWeek wrote about her…
“Divas” are dead, and “superstars” are born, thanks to McMahon, who retired the old-school name for WWE’s women grapplers and replaced it with the same title superstars given to the sport’s male competitors. McMahon, daughter of CEO Vince McMahon, has spent two decades in nearly every facet of the WWE, both on-air and in its business operations, helping make WrestleMania 33 a $14.5 million-grossing, attendance-breaking event at the Orlando Citrus Bowl this spring (besting a 2015 concert by the Rolling Stones).

Mauro Ranallo Returning To WWE

WWE has officially confirmed via WWE.com that Mauro Ranallo will soon be returning to the company as a color commentator. However, instead of calling action for SmackDown LIVE as he did before, Ranallo will be joining the NXT announce team.

WWE Announces A New Weekly Television Show To Be Broadcast In Hindi

WWE has issued the following press release:

SONY PICTURES NETWORKS INDIA (SPN) AND WWE® ANNOUNCE EXCLUSIVE NEW WEEKLY HINDI SHOW, WWE SUNDAY DHAMAAL

MUMBAI, India & STAMFORD, Conn. June 22, 2017 – Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) and WWE (NYSE: WWE) today announced the launch of a new weekly show in Hindi, WWE Sunday Dhamaal, featuring the best action and family-friendly entertainment from WWE’s flagship programs Raw® and SmackDown® beginning this Sunday, June 25 from 6.00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Sony MAX, India’s number one movie channel.

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Triple H Extends Invitation For Conor MacGregor And Floyd Mayweather To Appear On Raw

If Triple H has things his way, we could see an in-ring confrontation between Conor MacGregor and Floyd Mayweather on a future episode of Raw

It's no secret everyone is paying attention to the upcoming fight which is scheduled to take place on August 26 and everyone includes the WWE who is attempting to capitalize on this hype train. Triple H discussed the bout in a recent interview with Sky Sports

“Can a world-class boxer, probably the best ever, can he stand in the ring with an MMA guy? And can that MMA guy bring his striking skills up to the level of somebody like Floyd Mayweather?”

Triple H then extended the invitation for both men to make an appearance on an episode of Raw

“You say it is sports entertainment and, if they want to really showcase what they can do, I would invite both guys to come to Monday Night Raw. There is no bigger platform that they could have to show the world and tell the world, who they are, and why they are the man.”